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| A Forty-Minute Pericles by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 10. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 14. Minimum total without doubling = 40. Chorus. The episodic nature of the story makes lots of doubling possible. (Or, if you have a lot of actors, there are lots of roles.) |
| Run Time | Around 40 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Pericles, Prince of Tyre', 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 | On the run from the King of Antioch, Pericles is shipwrecked and washes up on the shores of Pentapolis. There he wins the hand of Thaisa, daughter of the King of Pentapolis. On their return voyage to Tyre, Thaisa gives birth to a daughter during a violent storm. Thaisa is thought to have died and is thrown overboard in a casket. The grieving Pericles leaves his daughter, Marina, in the care of the King and Queen of Tarsus. Years later, Pericles returns to seek Marina , but is told that she died. In fact she escaped an assasination plot, and eventually Pericles finds a happy ending.
Bill Tordoff started this series as abridgements for primary schools. We think that some of the themes in Pericles are too adult for that demographic! |
| 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 Forty-Minute Timon of Athens by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 10. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 12. Minimum total without doubling = 31. No chorus. Lots of flexibility in numbers - lots of doubling is possible or, conversely, roles like the senators and lords can be shared out. Few specifically female characters, but many could be cast female. |
| Run Time | Around 40 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Timon of Athens', 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 | Timon is berated by the sour philosopher Apemantus, but Timon ignores his advice, preferring to enjoy himself through banquets and acts of generosity. However, when Timon runs into debt his friends prove false and he leaves Athens in anger and disgust. In the wilderness his fortune changes. but not his view of his fellow man. |
| 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 Forty-Minute Winter's Tale by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 9. Minimum Female roles = 6. Minimum total with doubling = 15. Minimum total without doubling = 28. Chorus. The characters are adults plus one child and, famously, a bear, whose only role is to exit in pursuit of Antigonus (for an offstage lunch appointment - although only one of the parties is hungry.) |
| Run Time | Around 40 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'The Winter's Tale', 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 | Leontes, King of Sicilia, suspects his wife Hermione of having an affair with Polixenes, the King of Bohemia. (Herminone and Polixenes are innocent.) Polixenes escapes Leontes' wrath, but Hermione does not and is imprisoned. Hermione gives birth to a daughter, but Leontes does not believe the child, Perdita, to be his and sends her abroad. She is abandoned on the coast of Bohemia (a feat which would be frowned upon these days, owing to Geography) and Perdita is brought-up by a Shepherd. Time (making a guest appearance) moves the play on sixteen years, and Florizel, son of Polixenes, meets and falls in love with Perdita, the shepherdess, thus setting-up the inevitable reconcilliation and happy ending. |
| 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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| Heksejag by S. Ardern (vertaal deur Ronèl de Beer) |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 4. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 12. Minimum total without doubling = 14. Chorus. Minimum mansrolle = 4. Minimum vrouerolle = 2. Minimum totaal met doeblering = 12. Minimum totaal sonder doeblering = 14. Koor. Alle karakters is volwassenes, maar die teks is geskryf vir tieners. |
| Run Time | Around 40 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | 'n Eenakter met basiese rekwisiete en geen dekorvereistes nie. Baie koorwerk. |
| Synopsis | Wanneer 'n ou tannie in haar gehuggie intrek, word sy eers met vyandigheid begroet. Mettertyd veroorsaak haar kennis van natuurlike medisyne egter dat sy die gemeenskap se respek wen. Die moeilikheid begin wanneer siektes en hongersnood uitbreek en die ou tannie van heksery beskuldig word. (Heksejag is an Afrikaans translation of Witch Hunt by Stuart Ardern.) |
| 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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| I Love You When It's Raining, Roy G Biv by Martin R. Collin |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 4. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 10. Minimum total without doubling = 14. Chorus. The chorus covers a school class, a choir and a funeral congregation, so very flexible numbers!
The structure of the story implies a mixture of adults and children, but of course it could be performed by a youth company. |
| Run Time | Around 40 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | A couple of public domain songs are suggested for use in the script. Lazy Bee Scripts does not supply any sheet music with this script. |
| Style | One-act play with various simple settings. |
| Synopsis | Roy is that inspirational teacher everyone remembers. He arrives at a small school in Ohio and immediately makes a mark on every pupil he comes into contact with. His death is sudden and unexpected but his spirit lives on as his pupils move into adulthood. |
| 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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| In The White Time by Tony Frier |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 6. Minimum Female roles = 6. Minimum total with doubling = 12. Minimum total without doubling = 25. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 62 minutes. [Estimated!] Structurally in one act, but could be performed as a full evening's entertainment. |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A Victorian historical drama, based on a true murder case |
| Synopsis | As a young teenager Mary Wheeler had witnessed her father being convicted and hanged for murder. The trauma resulted in her having intermittent blackouts which she termed her ‘White Time’. Mary invites her lover's mistress Phoebe around one afternoon, leading to her disappearance. Mary is trialled for murder, and only a mysterious letter may reveal the truth of the case. |
| 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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| Journey To The End Of The Rainbow by Sian Nixon |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 8. Minimum Female roles = 7. Minimum total with doubling = 15. Minimum total without doubling = 30. Chorus. Additional cast members can be included in the non-speaking roles. |
| Run Time | Around 75 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A family fantasy show with colourful settings. |
| Synopsis | Young Lenita's quest to find the end of the rainbow is prompted by her family's poverty. Her fantasy journey through the colours of the rainbow takes her through various lands and dangerous adventures, ultimately fulfilling her dreams. |
| 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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| Julius Caesar [75-Minute Abridgement] by Shakespeare, abridged Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 7. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 12. Minimum total without doubling = 32. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 75 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A 75-minute abridgement of Shakespeare's Roman history.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but, because all the words are Shakespeare's and therefore out of copyright, performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | 'Beware the Ides of March!'
'Caesar shall go forth.'
'Et tu, Brute?'
'Brutus is an honourable man.'
'Revenge!'
'This was the noblest Roman of them all.' |
| 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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| King Henry IV, Part 1 [60-minute abridgement] by Shakespeare, abridged Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 7. Minimum Female roles = 1. Minimum total with doubling = 10. Minimum total without doubling = 23. No chorus. Most of the doubled roles are male (so the numbers without doubling are 18M, 2F, 3 Either), but of course you can cast whoever you like. There are options to increase the cast size with non-speaking court retinue. |
| Run Time | Around 60 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A 60-minute abridgement of the Shakespeare history.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but, because all the words are Shakespeare's and therefore out of copyright, performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | King Henry, two years after seizing the throne, is looking less secure as his erstwhile supporters, principally the Percy family from Northumberland, turn against him. The play follows the course of their rebellion until the decisive Battle of Shrewsbury. |
| 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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| King Henry IV, Part 2 [60-Minute Abridgement] by Shakespeare, abridged Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 8. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 12. Minimum total without doubling = 35. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 60 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A 60-minute abridgement of the Shakespeare history.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but, because all the words are Shakespeare's and therefore out of copyright, performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | After the Battle of Shrewsbury, Falstaff is sent with Lord John of Lancaster to deal with the rebellion in the north. King Henry, who has been ill for some time, dies after a reconciliation with Prince Hal, who, as Henry V, abjures his former friendships. |
| 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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