|
| The Comedy of Errors [60-minute abridgement] by Shakespeare, abridged Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 4. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 14. Minimum total without doubling = 19. No chorus. Speaking roles - 4M, 4F, 8 either, plus at least 3 non-speaking townspeople. |
| Run Time | Around 64 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'The Comedy of Errors', with every word remaining Shakespeare's.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Antipholus of Syracuse has come to Ephesus with his servant, Dromio. Unknown to them, their identical twin brothers, also called Antipholus and Dromio, have been living in Ephesus for many years. There is a heap of comic confusion until their true identities are at last revealed. |
| 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. |
|
|
| CosPlay by Damian Trasler |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 4. Minimum Female roles = 1. Minimum total with doubling = 5. Minimum total without doubling = 6. Chorus. The chorus is optional, but could add a lot to the piece. |
| Run Time | Around 37 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | One-act play. Two settings but a simple set design will allow an easy switch between them. |
| Synopsis | The boss wants everyone concentrating on the big presentation, but excitement has gripped the office - this weekend is HeroCon, and people are planning their costumes! It soon becomes clear that what you wear on the outside can hide the real you. |
| 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. |
|
|
| Counsellor Extraordinary by Stewart Boston |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 13. Minimum Female roles = 1. Minimum total with doubling = 14. Minimum total without doubling = 27. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 91 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A full length historical drama with various settings. |
| Synopsis | Set between 1598 and 1600, the play recounts the downfall of the Earl of Essex, once the aging Queen Elizabeth I's greatest favourite in the light of the differing attitudes of brothers Anthony and Francis Bacon towards Essex as their patron. Anthony served in the feudal manner, bound forever to his lord, right or wrong. Francis, the contemporary thinker, limited his allegiance and served save his loyalty to Queen and state. He finally stops supporting Essex during his trial for treason and it is Francis' skill as a prosecutor that leads to a guilty verdict and results in Essex being beheaded. |
| 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. |
|
|
| Cowards by Stephen Gillard |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 11. Minimum Female roles = 1. Minimum total with doubling = 12. Minimum total without doubling = 22. No chorus. Four principal male roles plus one female cameo. All other roles can be doubled. |
| Run Time | Around 80 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A full-length drama set at the front during World War One (a cell block and General Haig’s office). Contains appropriately placed adult language. |
| Synopsis | Sixteen-year-old Private Harry Blaydon stands accused of cowardice and faces execution by firing squad. He is mentored by old sweat Sarge who acts as a father figure for him. Harry's predicament is compared with the situation General Douglas Haig finds himself in as their destinies play out. |
| 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. |
|
|
| The Epic of Gilgamesh by Adrian Jarvis |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 4. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 7. Minimum total without doubling = 28. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 75 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Four thousand-year-old Sumerian epic brought to life. This play skilfully combines dance, mime and music with challenging acting and technical opportunities together with a gripping story, ideal for Secondary Schools, Drama Acadamies, and Youth Groups. |
| Synopsis | King Gilgamesh is convinced that he can find the secret of eternal life and his dramatic odyssey is brought to life as he wanders the mythological world in his quest for immortality. We travel with him as his travails become ever more arduous and he becmes embroiled in ever more dramatic conflicts. |
| 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. |
|
|
| A Fifty-Minute Cymbeline by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 14. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 17. Minimum total without doubling = 29. Chorus. Thre are 29 speaking roles (with considerable doubling possible), plus a non-speaking chorus with plenty of roles on offer! |
| Run Time | Around 50 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Cymbeline', with the original text cut down to 50 minutes or so.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Posthumus Leonatus has married Imogen, daughter of Cymbeline, the King of Britain, without permission. That gets Posthumus banished, leaving Imogen behind. Meanwhile, the King's second wife is trying to engineer her son's route to the throne. An Italian braggart causes a rift between Posthumus and Imogen, and with Cybeline's court in disarray, the Romans mount an invasion. How then can the kingdom be saved? |
| 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. |
|
|
| A Fifty-Minute Duchess of Malfi by John Webster abridged by Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 11. Minimum Female roles = 5. Minimum total with doubling = 17. Minimum total without doubling = 25. No chorus. Characters include a small boy and optional non-speaking servants, etc. |
| Run Time | Around 50 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of John Webster's 'The Duchess of Malfi', with the original text cut down to 50 minutes or so.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | The eponymous heroine is a rich widow. Her brothers - a duke and a cardinal - want control of her wealth and so have forbidden her from marrying. They set the loyal but troubled Bosola to spy on her, and he discovers that the duchess has, in secret, married Antonio, her steward. The news sets the Duke and Cardinal into such a rage that nobody escapes unscathed.
(Whilst the abridgement reduces the length of the text, all of Webster's gory details are preserved - which is more than can be said for the principals.) |
| 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. |
|
|
| A Fifty-Minute Henry VI Part 2 by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 21. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 25. Minimum total without doubling = 47. Chorus. As with most of the history plays, the cast of characters is huge, with over 40 speaking parts, but lots of doubling is possible. |
| Run Time | Around 50 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'The Second Part of King Henry VI', with the original text cut down to 50 minutes or so.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Subtitled 'Cade's Rebellion'.
The wars with France are over, but there's trouble brewing for King Henry within his own court. There's the Duke of Suffolk, trying to manipulate the King through Henry's wife, Margaret , there's the Duchess of Gloster trying to put her husband, Henry's uncle, on the throne, and there's a growing faction around the Duke of York and his two sons, Edward and Richard Crouchback. Matters come to a head with a rebellion led by Kentish tradesman Jack Cade. |
| 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. |
|
|
| A Fifty-Minute Henry VI Part 3 by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 21. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 24. Minimum total without doubling = 41. Chorus. As with most of the history plays, the cast of characters is huge, with over 30 speaking parts, but lots of doubling is possible. (They are also mainly male, but don't let that put you off.) |
| Run Time | Around 50 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'The Third Part of King Henry VI', with the original text cut down to 50 minutes or so.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | The Wars of the Roses in full force, with the Duke of York rebelling against the weak Henry VI. York is killed, but his three sons continue the fight. |
| 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. |
|
|
| A Fifty-Minute Henry VIII by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 20. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 24. Minimum total without doubling = 40. Chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 50 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Henry VIII', with the original text cut down to 50 minutes or so.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | We meet Henry VIII when he has been king and married to Katharine of Aragon for some 20 years. The court is under the sway of the manipulative, acquisitive Cardinal Wolsey, but Henry falls for Anne Boleyn (or Anne Bullen, as Shakespeare calls her) and in the ensuing turmoil he ditches both Wolsey and Katharine. |
| 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. |
|