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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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  • Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Your Teachers (but were afraid to ask) - Stage Partners

    Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Your Teachers (but were afraid to ask)

    Written By: Jason Pizzarello
    Length: 30-45 minutes
    Cast Size: 12-50 actors (suggested casting: 20 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Finally your timeless questions about teachers will be answered through a series of hilarious revelations -- from a gameshow revealing your teacher's teenage years to a battle of core subject teachers vs. electives... By the end you'll know why teachers drink so much coffee and what to do if an unexpected encounter occurs in public.
  • Queens - one-act version - Stage Partners.

    Queens (one-act)

    Written By: Kristen Doherty
    Length: 40-45 minutes
    Cast Size: 9-35 actors (suggested casting: 6F, 2M, 7 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    King Henry VIII is trapped in purgatory, bound to his throne by a sinister Fool and the ghostly Women in White. Here in his gilded cage, he is forced to relive the sins he committed against his queens, mistresses and people of the court, over and over again, for an eternity. (A full-length version of this play is also available.)
  • How to Survive Being in a Shakespeare Play - Stage Partners

    How to Survive Being in a Shakespeare Play

    Written By: Don Zolidis
    Length: 30-60 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-50 actors (suggested casting: 5F, 5M, 10 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Some day it’s going to happen: You’re going to find yourself on stage, wearing tights, and saying things in iambic pentameter. Face it, you’re in a Shakespeare play, and that means it’s a pretty good bet you’re going to DIE. The Bard is out for blood, but this play is here to stop him! How could Romeo and Juliet survive? Julius Caesar? A nameless soldier in Henry the Fifth? What if King...
  • The 10 Best/Worst Things About Middle School - Stage Partners

    The 10 Best/Worst Things About Middle School

    Written By: M.G. Davidson
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-40 actors (suggested casting: 2F, 2M, 11 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Ah, middle school. The best worst years of your life! The friends, the memories, the life lessons, and of course the...inevitably haunting embarrassments that will leave emotional scars for years to come! Join a group of real life middle school students as they uncover the wonders perils of their first dance, the marvels horrors of field trips, the joy humiliation of gym class, and many mo...
  • 12 Angry Villains - Stage Partners

    12 Angry Villains

    Written By: Jason Pizzarello
    Length: 25-30 minutes
    Cast Size: 12-14 actors (suggested casting: 5F, 7M, 2 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    The one that debates Peter Pan's alleged murder of an innocent pirate named Captain Hook. A jury of twelve of the most famous villains will decide Pan's fate, if only they could stop arguing long enough to take a vote. (​If you like The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka, consider 12 Angry Villains.)
  • Wild Strawberries - Stage Partners

    Wild Strawberries

    Written By: Jerry Ayers
    Length: 35-40 minutes
    Cast Size: 11-20 actors (suggested casting: 8F, 3M, 4 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    “My brother has been shot dead!” And so begins our tale of lies, love, and lunch. It’s a bright morning on the di Nikoli estates and the loyal maid Truffledina just wants to eat breakfast. But her mistress, Nikolette di Nikoli, wants to disguise herself as her supposedly dead brother and go into the city to take care of his will and her inheritance. Nikolette and Truffledina head off to the...
  • 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...
  • The Elf on a Shelf Must Die - a short Christmas play by Don Zolidis

    The Elf on a Shelf Must Die

    Written By: Don Zolidis
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 12-20 actors (suggested casting: 17 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    When Sammy and Mook's parents present them with Pip, an Elf of a Shelf, they are less than happy. This little snitch is going to be reporting all their activities to Santa, so their hopes to get an Xbox look doomed. And that's before Sammy accidentally murders Pip. What follows is a Tarantinoesque Christmas caper as the two kids race against the clock to bring their elf back to life before Santa...
  • 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...
  • #VIRAL - Stage Partners

    #VIRAL

    Written By: Maria McConville
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 7-30 actors (suggested casting: 7 F, 4+ chorus, any gender)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    In this ensemble-driven drama featuring an all-female cast, five high school girls recount a cruel locker room bullying incident that is initially cloaked in secrecy, but ultimately goes viral online. What happens next forces the students to question their respective roles in the events that unfolded in that fateful day.  A virtual version is also available upon request.
Items 1 - 10 of 80