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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. |
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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 |
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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. |
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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. |
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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 |
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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. |
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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 |
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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. |
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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. |
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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 |
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