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.
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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 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... -
Founding Daughters
Length: 30-40 minutesCast Size: 9-25 actors possible (suggested casting: 5F, 4M)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
An episodic look at the heroic deeds of young women during the Revolutionary War that would be long forgotten if not for oral history. Had these women not been so brave and cunning, would the war have ended the same way? There is Sybil Ludington's overnight ride to gather the militia, Kate, an African Princess, forced into slavery, who saved her master from the British and more. Students and audie... -
Barn Wood and Blue Roses
Length: 30-40 minutesCast Size: 7-20 actors (suggested casting: 3F, 7 any)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
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... -
My Brother's Gift (one-act version)
Length: 40-50 minutesCast Size: 5-15 actors (suggested casting: 5F, 3M, 2 any)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
Based on the remarkable true story of Heinz Geiringer -- neighbor and friend of Anne Frank -- we follow the story of a young artist and loving brother living in unconscionable circumstances. A trained musician at only 15 and now forced to live in hiding and silence, Heintz turns to painting and poetry to express his everyday terror but hope of the future. Through Heinz's inspired paintings, nostal... -
The Stowaway
Length: 35-40 minutesCast Size: 10-12 actors (suggested casting: 4F, 3M, 3 any)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
Far in the future, humanity has found peace but has been divided between Earth, the colonies on the Moon, and the Mars Federation. Person to person contact between the worlds is a thing of the distant past, with life existing in islands of division and distrust. But all of that changes when a mysterious girl arrives on Mars with a message of hope and a stark warning. Can humanity come together to... -
The Chips are Down
Length: 35-40 minutesCast Size: 10-30 actors (suggested casting: 8F, 3M, 5 any)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
In 1951, the Red Scare is in full swing, and it migrates to a private girls’ school in New Hampshire when one teacher is suspected of being a Communist. Charged by the administration to find out the truth, Rachel, the daughter of the cafeteria manager, must challenge her own beliefs to figure out the meaning of justice. -
The Silent Sentinels
Length: 40-50 minutesCast Size: 10-30 actors (suggested casting: 19F, 7M)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
It is 1976 and the leaders of the ERA movement are just three states short of their dream of legal equality for women. Kate O’Halloran, barely in her 20s and not interested in feminism, has snagged an interview with suffragette legend and ERA proponent Alice Paul, aged 93. Arriving at her small cottage in Connecticut, Kate, unbeknownst to Paul, has no desire to discuss the ERA but to uncover the... -
Should Not Cause Harm
Length: 30-35 minutesCast Size: 10-25 actors (suggested casting: 7F, 7M)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
A spellbinding story of grief and self-discovery, exemplified through a teenage girl's journey from retribution to redemption. Through the flashbacks of the ensemble cast, we learn of a twisted tale of manipulation, heartache, and self-harm...ultimately they discover that relationships in life "should not cause harm."