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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Adapted & Destroyed: A Tale of Storytelling Gone Wrong
Length: 25-30 minutesCast Size: 10-28 actors (suggested casting: 5F, 10 any)Genre: ComedySynopsis:
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... -
The Sisters Grimm
Length: 40-45 minutesCast Size: 9-35 actors (suggested casting: 4F, 2M, 6 any)Genre: ComedySynopsis:
It’s 2020, and sisters Jo and Riley have just moved into Grandma and Grandpa’s spare bedroom. Dad is deployed overseas and Mom is suddenly working 24/7 as an E.R. nurse. Spring Break has been extended indefinitely, the end-of-the-year musical has been canceled, and Grandpa hasn’t turned off the news in days. Follow along as Jo tries to get her younger sister's mind off of the chaos around th... -
The Heart and Soul of Thomas Elegie
Length: 35-45 minutesCast Size: 7 actorsGenre: DramaSynopsis:
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
Length: 25-30 minutesCast Size: 12-25 actors, gender flexibleGenre: ComedySynopsis:
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... -
Yellow Wallpaper
Length: 35-45 minutesCast Size: 6-30+ actors (suggested casting: 2M, 10F)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
When Eleanor stumbles upon a hidden diary, she unlocks a family secret - and finds that danger lives closer to home than she possibly could have imagined. An ensemble of trapped spirits crack open the door between generations in a theatrical adaptation that wraps the classic psychological horror story The Yellow Wallpaper in a Hitchcockian thriller. -
When Jack Met Jill
Length: 25-35 minutesCast Size: 4-20+ actors (suggested casting: 2F, 2M, 4 any)Genre: Dramedy, ComedySynopsis:
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. -
Antigone: 3021 (one-act version)
Length: 35-45 minutesCast Size: 14-24 actors (suggested casting: 2F, 1M, 20+ any)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
It's the year 3021 and Thebes has just been through a bloody civil war. Chancellor Creah has decreed that anyone who buries the body of the traitor Polyneices will face the death, but Antigone is determined to bury her brother, no matter the penalty. She brazenly breaks Creah’s law and broadcasts her crime on the public cloud. Now Creah must decide if she will bend to the will of the people or p... -
The Blue Hour
Length: 30-35 minutesCast Size: 5-8 actors (suggested casting: 2F, 2M, 1 any)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
Theo's grandpa has died, and he would give anything to see him one more time. A remarkable miracle sends him back in time to meet his grandpa while he was serving in the Korean War. A powerful and poetic play about grief, and what we can do with it. -
The Cages We Build
Length: 30-35 minutesCast Size: 8 actors (4F, 4M)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
Dean's dad isn't around, his mom is deeply broken, and everyone at school either hates him or fears him. That's just who he is. But then, he meets Lucy and learns that life can be whatever you make it, and no matter what cage you build, you always have the key. -
As If, Cassandra
Length: 40-45 minutesCast Size: 9-20 actors (suggested casting: 9F, 2M, 4+ any)Genre: Dramedy, DramaSynopsis:
Everybody's whispering: Something's wrong with Cassie. She walked out on her squad mid-routine; won't help her mom put up Christmas decorations; suddenly wants to back out of prom plans. Well, Cassie hears taunts about how fate is inescapable in every cheer, her mom doesn't seem to notice it's February, and she's haunted by premonitions of something terrible that will happen if prom night continue...