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| Mam, There's a Spaceship in Our Backyard by Sarah Cowan |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 6. Minimum Female roles = 5. Minimum total with doubling = 21. Minimum total without doubling = 21. No chorus. The men from the MOD are written as men. They might not be! The gender of the aliens is anyone's guess. (The numbers of MOD personnel, aliens and police could be treated flexibly.) Could be played by children or mixed adults and children. |
| Run Time | Around 30 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | One act play. Single set, complicated slightly by the arrival of the spaceship. Written in northern English with a northern English rude word (which could be excised if you are sensitive to such things.) |
| Synopsis | When a spaceship lands in their back yard, the Brown family aren't at all sure what to do about it. Until they discover there's a reward, that is. |
| 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 Man of Quality by Richard Morris |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 6. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 12. Minimum total without doubling = 15. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 30 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | One act play, exploring slavery and its abolition in the West Indies. Multiple settings, but suitable for minimal staging, with location changes indicated mainly by lighting. |
| Synopsis | A historical drama based on the experiences of Janet Shaw and her father, the English Abolitionist James Shaw. Janet travels to Antigua to see for herself the treatment of slaves on the sugar plantations. She is impressed by the intelligent and gentle Robert, a house slave of her hosts. |
| 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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| Master Shakeshafte by Peter Parkinson |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 8. Minimum Female roles = 5. Minimum total with doubling = 13. Minimum total without doubling = 18. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 84 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A full length play, with a variety of settings, generally indicated by furniture and atmosphere. |
| Synopsis | There is much speculation over the 'missing years' of Shakespeare's life, and this play offers a glimpse into what may have happened if the bard of Avon really did spend time as a tutor in Hoghton Hall, before becoming a playwright in earnest. There are numerous nods to familiar plays and characters, and also lines or titles which may delight an alert audience. |
| 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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| Matt Freeman's San Antonio by Sandy Radford |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 4. Minimum Female roles = 5. Minimum total with doubling = 9. Minimum total without doubling = 18. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 60 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Drama, running somewhere on the boundary between a one-act and a full-length play, though structured in four acts. Multiple sets, but described very feasibly. Contains mild swearing. |
| Synopsis | Matt is a playwright, but he's not happy with his level of success, either in his professional or his personal life. He decides to throw everything into a new play and a trip to San Antonio to try and recapture a lost love.
A play that plays with theatre to lead the audience on a journey through what is, what chould be, and what might have been. |
| 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 May Dream by Sally Kinnell |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 5. Minimum Female roles = 5. Minimum total with doubling = 14. Minimum total without doubling = 32. No chorus. In addition to the 32 human roles (playable by a cast of 14) there is Crumble the Dog who can double as Starveling's Dog. There are two brief (silent) appreances of children ('School Boy' and 'Child' who could probably be doubled). |
| Run Time | Around 110 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Full-length drama. Multiple locations but simple settings. Contains mild (Shakespearean) swearing. |
| Synopsis | A collection of Shakespeare's Rustics pursue their own plotlines outside their plays, converging on Hecate's shop and Doll Tearsheet's bar. Philosophy, love, conspiracy and the unmasking of a villain, in genuine Shakespearian language.
A May Dream was specially written in response to the Royal Shakespeare Company's Open Stages Project in 2012. |
| 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 Mayhem on Smuggler's Pier by Richard Coleman |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 9. Minimum Female roles = 5. Minimum total with doubling = 16. Minimum total without doubling = 19. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 90 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Murder mystery set within a cabaret show and therefore interspersed with cabaret acts. Simple sets. |
| Synopsis | The Pettigrew Players have assembled for their annual summer show on Smuggler's Pier, but just as they begin their rehearsals, maverick financier Cornelius Van De Vellt announces that he has bought the pier and is closing them down. With all the players depending on the success of the show, there are plenty of suspects when Van De Vellt is found murdered. Will Inspector Bacchus solve the case (or will he just sit back and enjoy the cabaret)? |
| 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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| Medieval Help Desk by tlc Creative |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 0. Minimum Female roles = 0. Minimum total with doubling = 3. Minimum total without doubling = 7. No chorus. The Herald and Advisor are written as male roles. It is not imperative that they should be played as males. Likewise the Messenger is referred to as 'he' and as only one person, though there could be as many as five of her! |
| Run Time | Around 10 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Comedy sketch - a torrent of parody and puns - set in a medieval office. |
| Synopsis | You've reached the Medieval Help Desk. How can we give you excellent service? |
| 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 Merchant of Venice [60-minute abridgement] by Shakespeare, abridged Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 9. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 12. Minimum total without doubling = 16. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 60 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Every word is Shakespeare's, but the cast list has been reduced, with four minor characters and all servants/court officials removed.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Bassanio needs money so that he can court the noble lady Portia. He goes to his friend Antonio, who helps negotiate a loan from the moneylender Shylock. If the money is not repaid, Shylock will demand a pound of Antonio's flesh. This leads to a court case with an unexpected judge.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| 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 Merry Wives of Windsor [60-minute abridgement] by Shakespeare, abridged Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 8. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 16. Minimum total without doubling = 20. No chorus. 17 speaking parts (playable by 13 actors) plus at least three fairies, who might be played by doubled by some of the speaking roles, if they are not busy doubling other people. |
| Run Time | Around 60 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A 60-minute abridgement of the Shakespeare comedy.
(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 | Down on his luck, Sir John Falstaff arrives in Windsor and plots to turn his fortunes around by seducing the wives of two wealthy gentlemen. But the wives detect his unscrupulousness and put their own scheme together to humiliate him. |
| 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 Midsummer Night's Dream (Comedy Crew 60 Minute Version) by Jack Shaw
New |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 3. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 9. Minimum total without doubling = 16. No chorus. 14 on-stage characters (played by a minimum of 9 actors) plus two offstage voices, which might be pre-recorded. |
| Run Time | Around 63 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A very amateur theatre company present their take on Shakespeare. |
| Synopsis | Cowmoor Comedy Crew, a rural amateur group, perform a sixty-minute version of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
The same story, with a preceding act, showing how the production came together, is told in The Dream! |
| 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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