Plays
Stage Partners publishes some of the most exciting playwrights working in theatre today. From popular one-act comedies to riveting full-length dramas, we have a wide selection of award-winning play scripts for middle schools, high schools, colleges, community theatres, and professional theatres.
Browse our selection below and read every play script for free!
Go to filters
-
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (one-act)
Length: 40-50 minutes (the playwrights also allow additional cuts for time, competitions)Cast Size: 8-30 actors (suggested casting: 7F, 8M)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
America’s first great ghost story, Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow follows the quirky and superstitious antics of schoolmaster Ichabod Crane, who is haunted by the dreaded Headless Horseman. This imaginative adaptation stays true to the world that Irving creates in this American gothic tale, but adds a lyrical quality that further enhances the humor, the magic, and th... -
This Murder Was Staged
Length: 100-120 minutesCast Size: 8-25 actorsGenre: ComedySynopsis:
It's opening night of a brand-new mystery play, but just as the killer is about to be revealed, the body of the play's director falls onstage instead. In that moment, the theater becomes an active crime scene, and everyone from cast to crew to even the audience becomes a suspect. But how is the intrepid detective supposed to find the killer when everyone and their mother (literally) has a motive t... -
Citizen Crane
Length: 75-85 minutesCast Size: 15+ actors (suggested casting: 1M, 3F, 11 any)Genre: ComedySynopsis:
Who is student filmmaker Vernon Triumph? Some say a visionary. Some say a madman. But he’s pretty convincing, so everyone from the volleyball team to the custodian gets involved in making his masterpiece, The Crane Man (an important, artistic film about a guy who gets bitten by a radioactive crane and becomes a superhero). The budget is zero, the cast and crew are clueless, and the whole product... -
A Talkback
Length: 10 minutesCast Size: 6 actors (6 any)Genre: ComedySynopsis:
Once in a while, after the actors have taken their final bows, the audience of a play is given the opportunity to interact with an actual, living playwright. But talkbacks don't always go as planned, and sometimes a writer can face difficult questions, and hungry theatregoers that demand more than the playwright is willing to give. A Talkback is a comedy about the absurdity of facing your aud... -
Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?
Length: 80-90 minutesCast Size: 9-25 actors (suggested casting: 8F, 8M)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
While wandering Worcester, England in 1943, a teenage boy happened upon the skeleton of an unidentified woman inside the trunk of a large tree. An investigation commenced to determine who the woman was and how she died, but it raised more questions than it answered. Was she a spy? Was she a prostitute? Had she been part of an occult ritual? Theories abounded, but no definitive answers emerged. The... -
Elephant/Man
Length: 100 minutesCast Size: 8-30+ actors (suggested casting: 2F, 2M, 8 any)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
The story of Joseph Merrick (a.k.a. The Elephant Man) comes to life in this highly theatrical retelling featuring an ensemble of performers that share the role of Merrick. Whether on a bare stage or with an elaborate set, this adaptable play shines the spotlight on the vivid inner life of Joseph Merrick, and his relationship with the good Dr. Treves. This classic story of the ultimate outcast feel... -
Moriarty's Daughters (one-act version)
Length: 35-40 minutesCast Size: 11-30+ actors (suggested casting: 11F, 5+ any)Genre: Dramedy, DramaSynopsis:
In 1897 New York City, Lucy and Louise Bullard are trying their best to live a quiet life, untouched by the legacy of their father Adam Worth, an internationally infamous conman and art thief whose exploits inspired the character of Moriarty in the Sherlock Holmes stories. However, upon discovering that their father has a third daughter, kept in the care of their aunt, and that the aunt in questio... -
Moriarty's Daughters
Length: 65-70 minutesCast Size: 11-30+ actors (suggested casting: 11F, 5+ any)Genre: Dramedy, DramaSynopsis:
In 1897 New York City, Lucy and Louise Bullard are trying their best to live a quiet life, untouched by the legacy of their father Adam Worth, an internationally infamous conman and art thief whose exploits inspired the character of Moriarty in the Sherlock Holmes stories. However, upon discovering that their father has a third daughter, kept in the care of their aunt, and that the aunt in questio... -
Queens (one-act)
Length: 40-45 minutesCast Size: 9-35 actors (suggested casting: 6F, 2M, 7 any)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
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.) -
Queens
Length: 90 minutesCast Size: 10-35 actors (suggested casting: 7F, 2M, 7 any)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
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 one-act version of this play is also available.)