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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 [45-minute abridgement] by Shakespeare, abridged Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 7. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 9. Minimum total without doubling = 16. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 45 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | This one-act abridgement retains Shakespeare's original language and focuses on the nobles, the fairies, and the mechanicals. The lovers' plot is unapologetically omitted, but the narrative remains tight. |
| 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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| Much Ado About Nothing [60-minute abridgement] by Shakespeare, abridged Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 8. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 14. Minimum total without doubling = 17. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 60 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing', with every word remaining Shakespeare's.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Don Pedro, prince of Aragon, comes sweeping into town - along with his wayward brother, Don John, who is bent on making mischief. He finds his opportunity when he seeks to spoil the romance between Claudio (one of the Prince's knights) and Hero, the daughter of their host. Meanwhile, Claudio and Hero try to kindle a romance between Hero's cousin Beatrice and Claudio's friend Benedick, who everyone thinks made for each other - if they can ever get beyond their endless verbal sparring. |
| 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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| Romeo and Juliet [75-minute abridgement] by Shakespeare, abridged Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 8. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 12. Minimum total without doubling = 23. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 75 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A 75-minute abridgement of Shakespeare's tragedy.
(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 | Two households in Verona are sworn foes
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows,
do with their death bury their parents' strife. |
| 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 Taming of the Shrew [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 = 15. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 60 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Shakespeare's play efficiently cut down without damaging the flow of the story. A comedy in the renaissance sense of ordinary people, witty dialogue and a happy ending.
Contains Shakespearean insults. |
| Synopsis | Bianca has many suitors, but her father won't let her marry until he has also given away the hand of her hot-tempered and uncontrollable elder sister Katharina. While Lucentio concocts a plan to win Bianca as his wife, Petruchio decides to wed Katharina and subdue her shrewish nature. |
| 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 [60-minute abridgement] by Shakespeare, abridged Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 7. Minimum Female roles = 1. Minimum total with doubling = 11. Minimum total without doubling = 13. No chorus. The character list, like all of Shakespeare's work, is male-heavy. That has not prevented excellent productions by majority female casts! |
| Run Time | Around 61 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of Shakespeare on the boundary between a one-act and a full-lengh play. All words remain Shakespeare's, with one short speech added by the abridger to facilitate a character exit. |
| Synopsis | Since being usurped as Duke of Milan by his brother, Prospero and his daughter Miranda have lived on a deserted island. With the help of the spirit Ariel, he causes a tempest that shipwrecks his passing enemies. He aims to regain his dukedom and marry Miranda to Ferdinand, son of the King of Naples. |
| 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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| Twelfth Night [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 = 14. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 60 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night', with every word remaining Shakespeare's.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | A cross-dressing survivor of a shipwreck, separated from her twin brother, finds herself in the centre of a confusing love triangle. |
| 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 Winter's Tale [60-minute abridgement] by Shakespeare, abridged Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 5. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 10. Minimum total without doubling = 24. No chorus. The 24 roles could be played by 6M, 4F or 5M, 5F. |
| Run Time | Around 60 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A 60-minute abridgement of the Shakespeare comedy-drama.
(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 Leontes of Sicilia, suspecting his wife Hermione of cheating on him with the King of Bohemia, has her imprisoned and her newborn baby sent far away. When Hermione dies in custody, Leontes is left without an heir. But fifteen years later in Bohemia, the abandoned princess Perdita has a royal suitor.
(Includes Shakespeare's most famous stage direction.) |
| 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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