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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Game Night (Humans Only, Please)
Length: 35-40 minutesCast Size: 9 actors (9 any)Genre: ComedySynopsis:
It's game night at the end of the world. The library is one of the only places still above the water line, and the nerds are living it up while they can. But when the soccer team shows up because their field went underwater, they begin a more dangerous game. A high-stakes dark comedy about mutant lizards, climate change, and being the generation born to watch the water level rise. -
Win or Lose
Length: 25-30 minutesCast Size: 10-20 actors (suggested casting: 15 any)Genre: ComedySynopsis:
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... -
No Substitutes
Length: 30-35 minutesCast Size: 8-25+ actors (suggested casting: 16 any)Genre: ComedySynopsis:
It's usually a pretty low-key day when you get a substitute teacher, but not so for Miss Florence's class. The "cool" assistant principal is using them as guinea pigs to try out a series of new prospective subs, from a wannabe inspirational teacher, to a conspiracy theorist, to a border collie. It's almost enough to make you want to quietly finish your work! You never know who's going to sho... -
Mascots
Length: 30-35 minutesCast Size: 6-18 actors (suggested casting: 16 any)Genre: ComedySynopsis:
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... -
Zombie Boyfriend
Length: 30-35 minutesCast Size: 6-30 actors (suggested casting: 5F, 5M, 5 any)Genre: ComedySynopsis:
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?... -
My First Lockdown
Length: 30-35 minutesCast Size: 10-20 actors (suggested casting: 5F, 5M, 5 any)Genre: Dramedy, DramaSynopsis:
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.) -
The Graduation Project
Length: 30-35 minutesCast Size: 8-25 actors, gender flexibleGenre: Dramedy, ComedySynopsis:
The one where two over-achieving, but selfish Seniors must put aside their own ambitions and help their fellow students in order to graduate. The problem? Graduation is in two days. Hashtag uh oh? -
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... -
Don't Wake the Dragon
Length: 30-40 minutesCast Size: 12-35 actorsGenre: ComedySynopsis:
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... -
Pushed
Length: 30-35 minutesCast Size: 10 actors (2M, 8 any)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
This play is coming soon. Contact Stage Partners to request a prepublication perusal script. Rumor is that Mason Humphrey, a shy and quiet young man, pushed Travis O’Neill so hard into the lockers that he sprained his elbow. Nobody knows why. It shouldn’t be a big deal, right? But suddenly, it kind of is.