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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!

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Items 1 - 10 of 20
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  • In the Forests of the Night - Stage Partners

    In the Forests of the Night

    Written By: Del Martin
    Length: 25-30 minutes
    Cast Size: 13 actors (suggested casting: 13 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    Thirteen students are compelled by their dreams to play a game in the woods to keep a mysterious monster at bay. Not everyone gets to play it again. (If you like The Giver consider In the Forests of the Night.)
  • Will You Be My Nemesis? - Kathryn Funkhouser - Stage Partners

    Will You Be My Nemesis?

    Written By: Kathryn Funkhouser
    Length: 35-40 minutes
    Cast Size: 5-30 actors (suggested casting: 10 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    It's hard to find your perfect match, someone you really connect with; someone who will dedicate their life to destroying you at all costs. Yes, sometimes it feels like you'll NEVER meet your nemesis. But Captain Battle and Dr. Nightmare are willing to try out every hero and villain in town to find the enemy of their dreams. Of course, you're going to meet a few weirdos along the way... An ultra-f...
  • #Censored - Stage Partners

    #Censored

    Written By: Maria McConville
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 7-30 actors (suggested casting: 12 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    In this ensemble-driven drama, a school art fair becomes embroiled in controversy when a student unveils a divisive painting. Students, parents, and teachers must ask themselves tough questions about freedom of speech, appropriateness, what art is supposed to do and "what is the cost of censorship?"
  • Tara, Shaped by the Figures - Stage Partners

    Tara, Shaped by the Figures

    Written By: Emily Hageman
    Length: 40-45 minutes
    Cast Size: 11 actors (suggested casting: 6F, 3M, 2 any)
    Genre: Dramedy, Drama
    Synopsis:
    After Tara's best friend Clara dies from a heart condition, she is afraid to get close to the group trying to befriend her at her new school. The figures from history and fiction who Tara loves (including Anne Frank, Annie Oakley, Churchill, Sherlock Holmes, and Captain America) are joined by Clara in guiding Tara through her grief, until she tells her new friends about her loss.
  • My First Lockdown - Stage Partners

    My First Lockdown

    Written By: Jason Pizzarello
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-20 actors (suggested casting: 5F, 5M, 5 any)
    Genre: Dramedy, Drama
    Synopsis:
    Inspired by true events, a group of theater students have just finished performing a play when the unthinkable happens - the school goes under lockdown. Caught in various rooms throughout the school, the students have to figure out what to do, who to trust, and if they're ever going to feel safe again. (There is a version with more roles available. Contact Stage Partners for details.)
  • Too Many Detectives at the Murder Mansion one-act murder mystery comedy play script by Ian McWethy - Stage Partners

    Too Many Detectives at the Murder Mansion

    Length: 30-45 minutes
    Cast Size: 14-24 actors (suggested casting: 5F, 7M, 5 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Sure, you think you've seen this type of murder mystery before. A cast of eccentric characters meet at a mansion, only to become suspects of a murder that a singular genius detective will eventually solve. But what happens when all the suspects are the detectives? Sherlock Holmes, Nancy Drew, Miss Marple, and Batman are just a few of the guests. Too Many Detectives at the Murder Mansion is a...
  • Barn Wood and Blue Roses - Stage Partners

    Barn Wood and Blue Roses

    Written By: Jacquelyn Priskorn
    Length: 30-40 minutes
    Cast Size: 7-20 actors (suggested casting: 3F, 7 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    When Devon learns that best friend Chelsea has cystic fibrosis, Devon creates a fantasy world for the two of them to live in. They live in their new imaginative world as L'Sea, a woman who becomes a dragon twice a day, and D'Nova, renowned artisan of comical barn wood signs and a magician's apprentice. But Devon has kept a secret, too. And it is about to bring their whole fantasy world crashing do...
  • Baby Yoga by Elissa C. Huang, a ten-minute play, part of the short play collection Ten(ish): Comedies - Stage Partners

    Baby Yoga

    Written By: Elissa C. Huang
    Length: 10 minutes
    Cast Size: 7 actors (7F)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Some mothers always seem to have it all together, and others... not so much. When Chaos Mom and Chaos Baby arrive in a community yoga class for babies and mothers, all pretenses and expectations of what motherhood should be quickly fall apart. Baby Yoga is a hilarious ode to all those moms who are just trying to get through the day. This play is part of the short play collection Ten(ish...
  • Instructions for Hugs - Stage Partners

    Instructions for Hugs

    Written By: Patrick Greene
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 7-25 actors (suggested casting: 1F, 20 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    After isolating at home for what feels like forever, Sunny is finally ready to go out into the world again to see a friend’s play. Except...maybe she’s not. Maybe she has forgotten how to do simple things like smile, and greet a friend, and hug someone. Maybe she should just stay inside on her comfy couch, and eat beef jerky with Brandon, the embodiment of her need to isolate. Fortunately for...
  • Ten(ish): Horror - Transfer by Elinor T Vanderburg. 10-minute horror play

    Transfer

    Written By: Elinor T Vanderburg
    Length: 10 - 20 minutes
    Cast Size: 5 actors (suggested casting: 4F, 1M)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    Bow returns to her senior year of high school after a personal tragedy that no one wants to discuss head-on. But coming back isn't easy – especially not with the presence of a transfer student who is all smiles, light, and brilliance – and taking over every relationship Bow holds dear. A little Black Swan, a little more Hitchcock, Transfer is a sparse, noir-inspired drama t...
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