Skip to content

One-Act Plays

Stage Partners is home to some of the best one-act play scripts for high schools, middle schools, and theatres. From large cast comedies to intimate dramas for competition, Stage Partners' exciting collection of short plays features some of the most popular playwrights in the world. 

Browse our selection below and READ EVERY PLAY SCRIPT FOR FREE!

Filter  
  1. Theme Absurd X
  2. Theme Relationships X
Clear All
Collections  
Performance Group  
Length Type  
Genre  
Sub-genre  
Production/Casting Filters  
Theme  
Cast Size  
Approx. Run Time (min)  
Items 21 - 30 of 66
Go to filters
  • Win or Lose - Stage Partners

    Win or Lose

    Written By: Ian McWethy
    Length: 25-30 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-20 actors (suggested casting: 15 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Competition is all that matters, and these kids today have got to learn that...by being pitted against each other in an absurdly grueling four-part race. Winner gets a scholarship. Come in last? You're banned from prom. The parents love it! But when different groups at the beginning, middle, and end of the pack compare notes, commiserate and meet a local cautionary tale, they decide to play a diff...
  • Mascots, a one-act comedy play script by Ian McWethy and Carrie McCrossen

    Mascots

    Written By: Ian McWethy and Carrie McCrossen
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 6-18 actors (suggested casting: 16 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Drysdale High School has a problem. For the first time in their fifty-year history, they need to replace their beloved (but also deeply problematic) school mascot, Cujo. So Principal Gurgins turns to the student body to submit and select a new mascot, one that can represent (and fire up!) Drysdale for the next fifty years. During the play, we’ll see new mascots ranging from an ordinary house cat...
  • Adapted and Destroyed - Ian McWethy - Stage Partners

    Adapted & Destroyed: A Tale of Storytelling Gone Wrong

    Written By: Ian McWethy
    Length: 25-30 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-28 actors (suggested casting: 5F, 10 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    It started as a bedtime story. A story about a bunny that Mary’s mom used to tell her every night. And it was a pretty weird one (with way more digressions about mortgage rates than you’d ever expect in a children's story). But when her mom died, Bouncy Bunny became a way for Mary to remember her. So one day she decided to write it all down. And then, to her great surprise... it took...
  • Murder by the Book - Stage Partners

    Murder by the Book

    Written By: Jon Jory and Michael Bauer
    Length: 35-45 minutes
    Cast Size: 9 actors (suggested casting: 6F, 3M)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    When mystery writer Mary Graves is found dead, it's up to a detective with anger issues to figure out who among Graves' guests is a murderer. Is it the oil tycoon, the scientist, the Shakespearean actor, the countess, the psychic, or the maid? ...Say, this is starting to sound like a mystery novel! A hilarious one-act whodunnit brimming with larger-than-life characters.
  • Holiday Party

    Holiday Party

    Written By: A.M. Dittman
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 3-15 actors (suggested cast size: 3F, 3M, 3 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Make yourself at home—Evelyn’s annual holiday party is always warm, welcoming, and full of surprises. You might meet a pair of wallflowers finding connection in the corner, a pair of elves whose friendship is devolving into bitter rivalry, or a couple sharing a guest room with their host’s improbable menagerie of pets. A sweet one-act treat for the holidays.
  • Zombie Boyfriend - A.M. Dittman - Stage Partners

    Zombie Boyfriend

    Written By: A.M. Dittman
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 6-30 actors (suggested casting: 5F, 5M, 5 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Melissa's best friend has a crush on the new guy, but Melissa's not so sure about Arghn. Maybe it's the grunting, or the insatiable desire for brains. Nobody but Melissa seems to notice as the horde of zombies starts to spread through the school - or if they do, they don't want to rock the boat. Can a zombie hunter and an awkward doctor help Melissa save the staggering population from themselves?...
  • The Heart and Soul of Thomas Elegie - Stage Partners

    The Heart and Soul of Thomas Elegie

    Length: 35-45 minutes
    Cast Size: 7 actors
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    Thomas is a very precise pianist who's being pushed by his mom to win competitions for scholarships, he's losing his love of music in the process and it shows in his playing. He meets a new friend at school who reminds him how to have fun with the piano, but when it turns out she's terminally ill he freaks out - this is a relationship he can't "win" -  but ultimately decides to prioritize love of...
  • Too Many Daughters: A Jane Austen Parody - Stage Partners

    Too Many Daughters: A Jane Austen Parody

    Written By: Claire Epstein
    Length: 25-30 minutes
    Cast Size: 12-25 actors, gender flexible
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    In this Jane Austen parody, the Ashworth daughters (of which there are twelve - or is it thirteen?) struggle to find suitors that will meet their mother's high standard. Her standard, of course, being that they must be filthy rich. Their task is made all the more difficult because their choices are so limited, due to the high number of potential suitors who have been killed when their horses fell...
  • Don't Wake the Dragon

    Don't Wake the Dragon

    Length: 30-40 minutes
    Cast Size: 12-35 actors
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    A mundane school day is hilariously upended in this wild homage to Eugene Ionesco’s classic Rhinoceros. When a fierce and deadly dragon flies over a school, the teachers are rightly alarmed. However, thanks to social media and other influences, the dragon inspires a mass popular movement. Soon students and faculty alike are wearing tails, roaring, and inciting chaos! The only person who seems to...
  • When Jack Met Jill - Adam Szymkowicz

    When Jack Met Jill

    Written By: Adam Szymkowicz
    Length: 25-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 4-20+ actors (suggested casting: 2F, 2M, 4 any)
    Genre: Dramedy, Comedy
    Synopsis:
    You never know what moments will be pivotal. An existential crisis, or a change in your soda-drinking habits. An unfathomable loss, or a moment of uncertainty about whether you’re looking at a possum or not. For Jack and Jill, it’s all of the above, as moments across time (and sometimes, between realities) converge into a poignant collage rendering of their relationship. 
Items 21 - 30 of 66