Plays for kids

Our complete selection of play scripts designed for schools' drama, youth theatre and anywhere else children and teenagers get to grips with plays.  (Note that these were written as school plays or youth theatre pieces, in some cases there are scripts for adults which are also suitable for some young actors.)

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The play scripts listed below are designed to be acted by young people, whether as school plays, in youth theatre (or youth theater, if you use American English), in drama workshops or as a part of other youth activities.

All the scripts described below can be read in full on the Lazy Bee Scripts web site. (Click on the links to see the complete play script.) However, all the scripts on this site are copyrighted. They may not be printed, quoted or performed without the permission of Lazy Bee Scripts. Click here for details of the script prices and licensing arrangements.
If you want to search for plays suitable for a specific agegroup, or on a specific theam, then try our School plays search engine.
This page does not cover full-length, full-cast [British] pantomimes, aimed at older performers - they can be found on the pantomime scripts site. Most of the pantomimes on the pantomime site are within the grasp of (and have been played by) teenagers. This page also ignores the one-act play scripts and full-length plays, some of which could also be performed by teenagers.
    Scripts 1 to 10 of 500
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2B Or Not 2BAuthorBill Tordoff
Roles Minimum Male roles = 14. Minimum Female roles = 14. Minimum total with doubling = 29. Minimum total without doubling = 31. No chorus. Characters are (mainly) school children playing the parts of adults.
Run time Around 40 minutes. [Caution! This is very dependent on your production.]
Music None.
Style Single set, simple props, comedy designed to be played by a whole school class.
Synopsis It's the Friday afternoon drama lesson - only the usual teacher has bunked off. The girls want to do a romantic costume drama, the boys want to fight. The time is ripe for an Arthurian romance...
Price Please click on the Price link to find the cost.
A Christmas BoxAuthorSharon Jenman
Roles Minimum Male roles = 0. Minimum Female roles = 6. Minimum total with doubling = 20. Minimum total without doubling = 30. No chorus.
Run time Around 30 minutes. [Caution! This is very dependent on your production.]
Music Sheet music for 10 songs and 2 instrumentals is supplied with the Producer's Copy of the script.
Style Short one-act musical play for (young) children.
Synopsis A school child gets his wish to see the Romanian child open the present he is sending. A Christmas play for infant schools.
Price Please click on the Price link to find the cost.
Plus The following additional items are available (at extra cost) to go with this script:
** A 'rehearsal CD' with piano arrangements of songs from the show
A Double-Decker For Santa ClausAuthorOlivia Arieti
Roles Minimum Male roles = 4. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 6. Minimum total without doubling = 6. No chorus.
Run time Around 15 minutes. [Caution! This is very dependent on your production.]
Music None.
Style Fifteen-minute play, a modern Christmas Carol without the ghosts! Single set.
Synopsis Christmas doesn't mean much to Mr Howard - he just wants people to buy his cars, whatever the time of year. But now there's a customer in a red suit, looking to for something to replace his old sleigh...
Price Please click on the Price link to find the cost.
A Fishy School

Performance by Dean Hole Primary School won the 10th annual Wolfit drama and verse speaking competition.

AuthorRaymond Blakesley
Roles Minimum Male roles = 8. Minimum Female roles = 9. Minimum total with doubling = 20. Minimum total without doubling = 41. Chorus. The characters are mainly fish (with kingfishers and an angler's worm). Speaking chorus, divided up into several groups, commenting on the action.
Run time Around 25 minutes. [Caution! This is very dependent on your production.]
Music None.
Style A large-cast fantasy, set in an underwater school. Minimal set and props. Opportunities for dance routines (music is not provided with the script).
Synopsis The tiddlers in the school are threatened by the pike family, King & Queenie Fisher, and the dangling worm. Only wimpy Wilfred Minnow can save them, but will he do it? Will Old Trout help him and who really is she? Can the stickleback teachers teach the tiddlers? Will the staff room run out of coffee?
Price Please click on the Price link to find the cost.
A Forty-Minute Antony And CleopatraAuthorShakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff
Roles Minimum Male roles = 14. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 18. Minimum total without doubling = 40. No chorus. Lots of small roles (guards, messengers and the like), so either opportunities for a large cast or scope for doubling!
Run time Around 40 minutes. [Caution! This is very dependent on your production.]
Music None.
Style Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Antony and Cleopatra', with the original text cut down to 40 minutes or so.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.)
Synopsis After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Rome is ruled by a triumvirate, locked in a struggle for power. Mark Antony is beguiled by Cleopatra, the Egyptian Queen, and neglects his duties in Rome. Eventually, there is open warfare between Antony and Octavius Caesar. Antony loses, and Cleopatra takes her own life (with the aid of literature's second most famous snake.)
Price Please click on the Price link to find the cost.
A Forty-Minute CoriolanusAuthorShakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff
Roles Minimum Male roles = 19. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 22. Minimum total without doubling = 30. Chorus. As usual with Shakespeare, most of the characters are male - but for your production, you can cast whomsoever you like!
Run time Around 40 minutes. [Caution! This is very dependent on your production.]
Music None.
Style Abridgement of William Shakespeare's tragedy 'Coriolanus', with the original text cut down to 40 minutes.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.)
Synopsis In the early days of the Roman republic, Caius Martius Coriolanus is a brilliant Roman General, but contemptuous of the civilian population. After a successful military campaign against the Volsces (an Italian tribe), Coriolanus runs for Consul. He is supported by the Senate, but the common people are stirred-up to riot against him. Still contemptuous of the people, Corilanus is exciled from Rome and takes his revenge by leading the Volsces against Rome. His mother intervenes and persuades him to sign a peace treaty. Unfortunately, his Volscian allies see this as a betrayal, and Coriolanus pays the price.
Price Please click on the Price link to find the cost.
A Forty-Minute Henry IV Part 1AuthorShakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff
Roles Minimum Male roles = 14. Minimum Female roles = 1. Minimum total with doubling = 15. Minimum total without doubling = 27. No chorus. This is a story about a male-dominated society. This does not preclude inventive casting!
Run time Around 40 minutes. [Caution! This is very dependent on your production.]
Music None.
Style Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'First Part of King Henry IV', with the original text cut down to 40 minutes.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.)
Synopsis Henry IV is at odds with his nobles, even those who helped him usurp Richard II. Meanwhile his son, Prince Hal has absentend himself from court and is spending his time in taverns with Sir John Falstaff and his clique. Things come to a head with a rebellion, led by Harry Hotspur and at last the dissolute Prince Hal proves himself a warrior.
Price Please click on the Price link to find the cost.
A Forty-Minute Henry IV Part 2AuthorShakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff
Roles Minimum Male roles = 21. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 24. Minimum total without doubling = 43. No chorus. This is a story about a male-dominated society. This does not preclude inventive casting!
Run time Around 40 minutes. [Caution! This is very dependent on your production.]
Music None.
Style Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Second Part of King Henry IV', with the original text cut down to 40 minutes.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.)
Synopsis King Henry IV is facing rebellion on a scale close to civil war. Meanwhile, his son and heir, Prince Hal, is spending his youth carousing and brawling in taverns in the company of the wastrel Falstaff. If a successful transition is to be made, the old king needs to keep the kingdom together and his son needs to reform.
Price Please click on the Price link to find the cost.
A Forty-Minute Henry VAuthorShakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff
Roles Minimum Male roles = 20. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 23. Minimum total without doubling = 29. Chorus. As usual for Shakespeare's time, there's a dearth of female characters, which does not preclude inventive casting!
Run time Around 40 minutes. [Caution! This is very dependent on your production.]
Music None.
Style Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Henry V', with the original text cut down to 40 minutes.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.)
Synopsis King Henry the Fifth is at war with the French, and facing daunting odds. He rallies his troops, wanders amongst them in disguise to find what they really think, then leads them, once more, unto the breach.
Price Please click on the Price link to find the cost.
A Forty-Minute King LearAuthorShakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff
Roles Minimum Male roles = 13. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 16. Minimum total without doubling = 23. Chorus. As usual with Shakespeare, the characters are male-heavy. Also as usual, you can cast it how you like!
Run time Around 40 minutes. [Caution! This is very dependent on your production.]
Music None.
Style Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'King Lear', with the original text cut down to 40 minutes or so.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.)
Synopsis The king proposes to retire and divide his kingdom amongst his daughters. The elder two, Goneril and Regan, are happy to sweet-talk their father and go along with his plans - just until they have power. Cordelia, the youngest, loves her father, but refuses to flatter him, and, as a result, is banished. Soon the elder daughters take power and dishonour their father. Edmund, illegitimate son of the Duke of Gloster, aids Goneril and Regan, but becomes a focus for their rivalry. With Lear cast out, there is war between Cordelia and her sisters. Playing-out the themes of pride, deceit and jealousy, all ends tragically.
Price Please click on the Price link to find the cost.
    Scripts 1 to 10 of 500
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