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| The Shakespeare Convention by Christine Harvey (with YAK Drama Camp) |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 0. Minimum Female roles = 0. Minimum total with doubling = 19. Minimum total without doubling = 38. No chorus. There are male and female characters, but in Shakespeare's day, they were all played by men, and there is no reason why the reverse convention should not be applied (or anywhere between the two ectremes). |
| Run Time | Around 60 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | One-act play (which might be regarded as a coherent collection of skits) for kids. There's a lot going on, but it doesn't need a complex set. A fun introduction to Shakespeare! |
| Synopsis | Bumbling producer Burbage and his irate associate Iggy have put together a Shakespeare convention, at which the actors perform four plays and a sonnet in a rather unconventional manner. Iggy is out to ruin Burbage, but loses the plot a little towards the end! |
| Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| The Tempest by Geoff Bamber |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 9. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 12. Minimum total without doubling = 12. No chorus. The characters preserve Shakespeare's original, which means that the Naples court is all male. It need not be cast that way. |
| Run Time | Around 40 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A play originally written by William Shakespeare and completely altered by Geoff Bamber. (This version is in modern, humorous. English. It extends the story back in time to avoid the long exposition speeches of Shakespeare's second act!) |
| Synopsis | Prospero, Duke of Milan and part-time magician, is tricked into undertaking a hazardous sea journey by his treacherous brother, Antonio, who promptly takes over the duchy when Prospero is conveniently shipwrecked in a great storm. Prospero, along with his daughter, Miranda, survives the wreck and finds himself on a desert island. From there he uses his magic powers to gain revenge on Antonio and Alonso, King of Naples, who is unwittingly supporting Antonio under the influence of his own unscrupulous brother, Sebastian. With the principals all gathered on the same island, Prospero sets out to divide and conquer, a task somewhat hindered by the presence of a range of bizarre and possibly deranged supporting characters. |
| Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| A Thirty Minute As You Like It by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 9. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 13. Minimum total without doubling = 17. No chorus. Whilst there is no formal chorus, there is scope for additional lords and servants. |
| Run Time | Around 30 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'As You Like It', with the original text of two hours and more cut down to 30 minutes.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Family persecutions drive Rosalind and Orlando from their respective homes and into exile in the Forest of Arden. Rosalind disguises herself as a boy, Ganymede, who catches the eye of Phebe, a shepherdess who is, in turn the object of the attention of a shepherd called Silvius. Thus is confusion added to the pastoral romance, but, eventually, all the tangled threads are resolved. |
| Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
| Feedback | Click here to find out what other customers said about this script. |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| A Thirty Minute Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 10. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 14. Minimum total without doubling = 19. No chorus. Not many acting companies boast two sets of identical twins! The production notes offer some sensible routes to make the look-alike comedy work. |
| Run Time | Around 30 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'A Comedy of Errors', with the original text of two hours and more cut down to 30 minutes.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | The ultimate tale of mistaken identity as two sets of identical twins, separated as infants, cross paths as adults to the confusion of all concerned. |
| Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| A Thirty Minute Merchant by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 8. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 14. Minimum total without doubling = 17. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 30 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice', with the original text of two hours and more cut down to 30 minutes.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Bassanio is broke and needs ready money so that he can court Portia, a beautiful Heiress. He goes to his friend Antonio - the merchant - for a loan, but all Antonio's money is tied up in his shipping ventures. On the strength of his business, Antonio borrows from Shylock, the money lender, but when Antonio's vessels are lost at sea, Shylock calls in the loan. A court case follows, heard by an unexpected stand-in judge.
An introduction to Shakespeare for primary schools. |
| Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| A Thirty Minute Twelfth Night by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 10. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 16. Minimum total without doubling = 16. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 40 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night', with the original text cut down to around 40 minutes (despite the title!)
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | A comedy of mistaken identity, as the shipwrecked Viola poses as a page boy at the court of the Duke of Orsino, where she falls for the Duke, whilst Olivia, the object of the Duke's affections, is smitten with the handsome page boy! All ends happily, but only after a great deal of confusion, and the arrival of Viola's lost twin brother.
An introduction to Shakespeare for primary schools. |
| Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| A Thirty-Minute Dream by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 7. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 17. Minimum total without doubling = 22. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 30 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', with the original text of two hours and more cut down to 30 minutes.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Fairies make mischief in the Athenian woods, mixing up two couples and pairing the fairy queen with one of the 'Rude Mechanicals' who are in the woods rehearsing a play. When all is straight, we finally get to see the Mechanicals' play mocked by the Athenian nobility.
An introduction to Shakespeare for primary schools. |
| Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| A Thirty-Minute Hamlet by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 7. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 10. Minimum total without doubling = 17. No chorus. Whilst there isn't a formal chorus, the numbers of attendants and courtiers could easily be increased. |
| Run Time | Around 30 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', with the original text of around three hours cut down to 30 minutes.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Hamlet, the Danish prince, finds himself haunted by his father's ghost. The ghost confirms that he was murdered by his brother, Claudius, who is now king. Hamlet dithers in his course of action - should he avenge his father or submit to Claudius? Ultimately it ends tragically for the whole court. |
| Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
| Feedback | Click here to find out what other customers said about this script. |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| A Thirty-Minute Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 14. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 16. Minimum total without doubling = 28. Chorus. The chorus is flexible - there is a crowd, and unnumbered soldiers and servants. |
| Run Time | Around 30 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar', with the original text of two hours and more cut down to 30 minutes.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Fresh from military conquests, Caesar returns to Rome in triumph. His friend, Mark Antony, offers him a crown. The Roman senate takes offence at this - the senators want to maintain the republic, rather than have Rome submit to a single ruler. Thus is born a conspiracy against Caesar, leading to his murder on the Ides of March and setting up a confrontation between Caesar's supporters and the conspirators. |
| Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
| Feedback | Click here to find out what other customers said about this script. |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| A Thirty-Minute Macbeth by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 16. Minimum Female roles = 5. Minimum total with doubling = 21. Minimum total without doubling = 28. No chorus. The male characters include Macduff's son who should be aged around 7. No formal chorus, but a flexible number of soldiers and offstage voices. |
| Run Time | Around 30 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Macbeth', with the original text of around three hours cut down to 30 minutes.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Witches foretell that, against expectations and the laws of inheritance, Macbeth will become king of Scotland. Urged on by his wife, Macbeth tries to make the prophesy come true. All goes well (in a gruesome sort of way) until the shrubbery starts walking up the drive.
An introduction to Shakespeare for primary schools. |
| Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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