- The Weavers by Jonathan Talmadge
Comedy/ 30+ Characters, gender neutral, flexible casting/ One Act
Synopsis: As Emperor Coco and her loyal assistant Nadia host Sartoria’s annual fashion show, the renowned Weavers arrive, announcing that they are on vacation and are definitely not available to create clothing from their unique, magic cloth that only the wise can see.
Coco convinces them to make the garments for her anyway. As they work, she sends her staff and cabinet to check the progress. They see nothing, but say that they do. Only Nadia tells the truth, and Coco banishes her in anger.
Nadia teams up with Karski, a member of The ...
Read more . . . - Fly A Kite by Fred Rohan-Vargas
Comedy/ 2 Characters, 2 males/ One Act
Synopsis: An off-duty policeman releases his frustrations with his wife by going to the park and flying his kite. While there, he comes across a teacher lying in the grass, reading his newspaper. The teacher is startled by the policeman shooting birds who come near his kite. The two are soon at odds, until they start talking about the problems they’re having with their significant others, which creates a testosterone bond between the two.
Performance rights must be secured before production
Contact information:
Amateur and professional rights:
Fred Rohan-Vargas
rohanvargas@gmail.com
fred@miuprod.com
About the Playwright: Fred Rohan-Vargas is the author of several full-length, ...
Read more . . . - Dear Miss Ophelia by Maria Rio
Comedy/ 18-20 Characters, gender flexibility; Ophelia is female, all other characters can be male or female/ One Act
Synopsis: Miss Happy, Mr. Hurry, Miss Shy and various other children in New York City have a problem: Nobody understands them, and their parents and teachers criticize them just for being themselves! They decide they’d like to try being someone else for awhile, and write to Miss Ophelia of the “Dear Ophelia” advice column to ask for help. When they don’t hear back, they embark on a journey to Ophelia Headquarters in Chicago to demand some answers.
Alarmed by their disappearance, the President of ...
Read more . . . - The Dangerous Christmas by Charles Carr
Drama/ 9 Characters, 4 men, 5 women, some gender flexibility/ Full Length, Three Acts
Synopsis: “It’s the holidays. Keep murder in the family,” suggests The Dangerous Christmas, the newest hit comedy-thriller from master storyteller and multiple award-winning author Charles Carr. Inspired by actual events, The Dangerous Christmas details how a mysterious antique and the man determined to possess it by any means pull friends into a decades-old murder that turns their world upside down and threatens their very lives.
The Dangerous Christmas deftly blends a challenging mystery that will keep you guessing with wry humor and a heartfelt message about the meaning ...
Read more . . . - The Goodies by Alan Rossett
Comedy/ 2 women, or 8 women play 8 characters/ Full Length, Two Acts
Synopsis: Beware au pair girls! Annie, a first-time mother at 35, hires Bibi, an exuberant 18-year old, to care for her baby while she returns to work. Bibi is keen, but when Annie returns home one evening to find that her new hire has gone off dancing and the baby has nearly burned down his nursery, she fires her.
An agency sends her a series of replacements, each more dreadful than the last. Meanwhile, Bibi’s next employer is Granny, an old crone who has gained custody of her grandson ...
Read more . . . - Tide Beyond The Rift by Fred Rohan-Vargas
Comedy-drama/ 4 Characters, 2 men, 2 women/ Full Length
Synopsis: Liza, a middle school teacher, has found happiness with her husband, Bill, and their daughter, Kelly. In her past is an emotional wound: As a child, she was brought to America as part of Operation Peter Pan, a CIA-run mission to remove children from Fidel Castro’s Cuba. As a result, she spent most of her youth in an orphanage. But she has put that behind her — or so she thinks.
One day, she receives a letter from her long-lost father, Sebastian, asking if he may visit her. She is reluctant at first, ...
Read more . . . - Cathexis…or is it something else? by Julie Marino
Comedy/ 6 Characters, 3 men, 3 women/ Full Length, Two Acts
Synopsis: Tony-winning playwright Brett has lost his creative mojo and ended up at a small regional theater as Artist-in-Residence, hoping to fix the disaster that is his latest script. But Brett does not play well with others, and he especially doesn’t want input from those he considers small-town wannabes and not in his league.
Meanwhile, the members of the company, all hard-working professionals with years of experience, have no patience for the carryings-on of divas. After weeks of putting up with Brett’s resistance and tantrums, the cast decides to rewrite the ...
Read more . . . - James Joyce on the Witches’ Sabbath by Giuseppe Cafiero
Drama/ 13 Characters, 9 men, 4 women, doubling possible/ Full Length, Two Parts
Synopsis: 1934. Kusnacht, Switzerland. Herr Dr. Gustav Jung’s clinic for the mentally ill. One of the patients is Miss Lucia Joyce. In a nightmarish atmosphere, her father, the Irish writer James Joyce, is pressed by the ghosts of his past to revisit his life, and his relationship with a daughter lost to madness and love for him.
The ghosts gradually become the protagonists of the drama. In song and word, they reconstruct the fragments of Joyce’s love-hate bond with Lucia, as well as his resentment towards Ireland, which ultimately ...
Read more . . . - Idols by Nicholas Bompart
Comedy-Drama/ 11 Characters, 4 men, 5 women, 2 Either-Or, multiple casting possible/ Full-Length, 70 mins.
Synopsis: As a pianist plays in a corner of the stage, we meet Alex, a 10-year old piano prodigy who has been diagnosed with ADHD after getting into trouble at school. His parents are given an ultimatum: Alex must take Ritalin or face expulsion. As they struggle with the choice, Alex’s grandparents object. Russian immigrants, they have vivid memories of the 2nd World War, when Hitler gave the drug to his troops. They don’t want to see Alex turned into “an obedient little soldier.”
Meanwhile, Alex ...
Read more . . . - Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, adapted by Lee Wilson
Drama/ 40 characters: 21 Nonbinary, 11 Female, 8 Male, 8 actors minumum, doubling/tripling possible/ One Act
Synopsis: Charles Dickens himself takes us through this new adaptation of one of the greatest Christmas stories ever told. Lee Wilson had yet to find a version of Dickens’ masterpiece that satisfied him as a director, so he was inspired to create one. He has endeavoured to create a version that is true to Dickens’ original story and also catered towards non-traditional proscenium theatre spaces (although this version works beautifully on those as well).
Performance rights must be secured before production
Contact information:
Amateur and professional rights:
Lee ...
Read more . . . - The Valiant by Lee Wilson
Drama/ 4 Men, 1 Woman, or non-binary/ One Act
Synopsis: Adapted from the original by Holworthy Hall and Robert Middlemass, The Valiant tells the story of James Dyke, a confessed killer who has been sentenced to die. As he awaits execution at a prison in Connecticut, the warden, chaplain, and others fight to learn his real identity and why he is so determined to take this secret with him to the grave. Then, on the night of Dyke’s execution, a young woman shows up adamant that this prisoner is her long-lost brother.
We are taken through many twists and turns, as she ...
Read more . . . - Wall: A Product of Resourcefulness and Efficiency in America’s Never-Ending Battle for Absolute Supremacy and General All-Around Kick-Assedness — by J.R. Spaulding Jr.
Comedy/ 11 characters + ensemble, 4 men, 2 women, 5 gender-fluid, 3 characters may be doubled/ Full Length, Two Acts
Synopsis: A team of idealistic Americans sets out to build a “grandiloquent wall of epic proportions” as a symbolic testimony to America’s strength and all-around kick-assedness. However, after receiving a cease and desist notice from the Dept. of Redundancy, Waste, and Red Tape, they discover that their blue-collar intentions may not be so well-received by those in charge.
Brilliantly written . . . . Accurately capture(s) the absurdity of the state of the nation. – The Columbus Underground
Most of Wall may be read ...
Read more . . . - The Myth of Summer by Conni Massing
Comedy/ 8 Characters, 5 women, 3 men/ Full Length, Two Acts
Synopsis: A lightning strike and the inspirational story of Joan of Arc trigger a series of magical occurrences for 16-year old Jessica and everyone else around her caught up in the fleeting euphoria of this most maddening season of the year. German massage therapist Werner and frantic puppeteer Melanie fall in love over dreams of the Canadian wilderness and French erudition, both of which turn out to be empty promises. Party planning duo Dacia and Kevin orchestrate important events for others while deluding themselves about the lack of meaning in ...
Read more . . . - Bertha and Bertman by Zsolt Pozgai
Drama/ 1 Man, 1 Woman/ Full Length, Two Acts
Synopsis: Bertha, a nurse, lives peacefully in her apartment in Austria. She has had no success in finding a partner, but has resigned herself to the situation. One day, an unexpected guest arrives. Her love from grammar school — an established, wealthy man, youthful and athletic. But lonely. He lives with his mother, who is terminally ill. He needs somebody, a partner who loves him.
Bertha welcomes him. They live together. The man takes her on fabulous journeys. They sometimes visit his mother in the hospital. She is glad that her son is ...
Read more . . . - A Road To Nowhere by David Earle
Drama / 7 Characters, 5 Men, 2 Women/ One act
Synopsis: Lost and alone at night on an unfamiliar, desolate country road following an auto accident, Sam Kaufman, a middle-aged businessman, seeks help at an eerily unimpressive roadside motel. Its bleak and depressing ambience, however, is nothing compared to the bizarre behavior of the manager and his guests. Gradually, Sam comes to realize the macabre circumstances of where he is and that the road that led him to this motel was, in fact, a road to nowhere.
This stage version of A Road to Nowhere is the basis for the multiple award ...
Read more . . . - Oh! Christmas Tree by Conni Massing
Comedy/ 2 Characters, 1 Man, 1 Woman/ Full Length, app. 90 minutes
Synopsis: Algar and Lucy have just moved in together and plan to get married. Lucy, a hysterically busy party planner, is the youngest of four sisters in a claustrophobically close-knit Scandinavian family. Algar, on the other hand, is an only child who has purposely moved to the opposite side of the country from his parents. The two have embraced their differences — and each other — except, now that it’s December, there’s trouble on the horizon.
Algar has thus far managed to avoid much of the seasonal brouhaha during his ...
Read more . . . - Postnuptials by David Earle
Comedy (Farce)/ 10 Characters, 6 Men, 4 Women/ Full Length, Two Acts
Synopsis: A ménage à trois of love, secrets, and drag, set in present-day Fresno, California, that begins shortly after newlyweds Kevin and Lillian cross the threshold into matrimony only to have their first night of wedded bliss degenerate into a nightmare of chaos and confusion. A female impersonator from the Las Vegas strip named Joey (a.k.a. Amber Star) arrives at their apartment with the intent of finding closure with the husband who jilted him the morning after their impromptu wedding in The Little Chapel on the Strip. News that ...
Read more . . . - The Cruel Lesson by Valentin Krasnogorov
Drama/ 4 Characters, 2 Women, 2 Men/ Full Length, Two Acts
Synopsis: The Cruel Lesson is inspired by a real psychological experiment that received broad international attention. Two students, guided by their professor, torture a woman for scientific purposes. As the strange experiment proceeds, the personal relationships of all four participants are rocked by ethical questions and emotional dilemmas. A riveting play about the social and psychological roots of cruelty, and the fine line between moral and immoral actions, The Cruel Lesson, which has proven especially popular among young people, keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.
Performance rights must ...
Read more . . . - Out Among The Dragons by Dan Noonan
Comedy-Drama/ 6 Characters, 3 Women, 3 Men/ Full Length, Two Acts
Synopsis: Ever have trouble getting off the couch? Patrick has the same problem, only it’s been two years, and it’s his Mom’s couch. Being a 26-year old virgin with severe hemophilia, HIV, and lousy joints hasn’t given him much impetus.
Encouraged by his therapist, Patrick is determined to shake things up. He decides to cruise his infectious disease clinic for the HIV positive woman of his dreams. But instead of finding “Ms. Right”, Patrick meets two people from the HIV landscape.
The first is Joe, a gay man close to Patrick’s age, who ...
Read more . . . - On The Roof by Donna Hoke
Drama/ 8 Characters, 2 Women, 6 Men/ Full Length, can be played with optional intermission
Synopsis: It’s 1955, at the height of McCarthyism, and years before Stonewall. Mitzi runs a cabaret and gay bar where five men have gathered. Cruz is a playboy bartender, Levi an aspiring composer, Bob a WWII vet, Mac just wants camaraderie with his Coke, and Andy is a newcomer with a law degree. Together they struggle to find solidarity and courage, maybe even love, as they take the first steps towards revolution.
“One of the more authentic and up-close looks at post-WW2/Korea pre-Stonewall eras of LGBT history, bringing ...
Read more . . . - Elevator Girl by Donna Hoke
Comedy-Drama/ 3 Characters, 1 Woman, 2 Men/ Full Length, 90 mins.
Synopsis: Superhero “Elevator Girl” was never meant to be more than an urban legend, a sexual revenge fantasy created by Vanessa and her graphic illustrator boyfriend. But when the character unleashes her boyfriend’s darkest fantasies, as well as a flesh-and-blood copycat, Vanessa must stop EG in her tracks — with the truth.
“Hoke mixes the allure of superhero mythology with the very real subject of rape culture. Metaphoric and evocative, this play delves into a world where villains are often where you least expect, and heroes are not always a single person.”
“Hoke’s ...
Read more . . . - Premiere After-Party by Valentin Krasnogorov
Black Comedy/ 7 Characters, 3 Women, 4 Men/ Full Length, Two Acts
Synopsis: The curtains have just closed on the long-awaited premiere of Shakespeare’s Othello and the actors stay to celebrate opening night. The festivities end, though, when the party is marred by a mysterious death, and suspicions arise that a party participant may be involved. Dark yet humorous, with “whodunnit” plot twists leading to an unexpected finale, Premiere After-Party is riveting until the very end.
The world premiere was staged in 2009 by Russia’s most famous theater director, Roman Viktyuk, to critical acclaim, and has been hailed as an enormous success.
...
Read more . . . - Shave ’em Dry by JG Simmons
Drama/ 1 Woman, 5 Men, and 1 character who could be male, female, or nonbinary/ Full Length, Two Acts
Synopsis: Based on real people and real events, Shave ‘em Dry is about liberty and libertinage, copyright and copulation, and human rights in the flesh. In 1935, Blues singer Lucille Bogan arrives for a recording session in a Manhattan studio, accompanied by Spenser, a white man she met the night before. Egged on by her piano player, Walter, she confronts her producer about the terms of her contract, and spontaneously introduces Spenser as her manager. He’s as surprised as the producer.
Alone in the ...
Read more . . . - The Dallas File by Kenneth Robbins
Drama/ 4 characters/ 2 men, 2 women/ Full Length, Two Acts
Synopsis: The lives of a young journalism student and his wife are threatened after he discovers a file left behind in a security-box. Stolen from the Dallas Police Department 10 years earlier by his father, a policeman, and placed in the security box just before his father’s unexpected death, the file contains the names and testimony of people who saw others besides Lee Harvey Oswald involved in the murder of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.
“Contains the elements of increasing suspense, quick moving dialogue and an ending
that comes ...
Read more . . . - The ProPlay Diversity Project
At ProPlay, we’d like the plays on our site to represent the wide diversity of the communities we live in.
ProPlay will post the script of any play that has received a full professional production. We particularly encourage BIPOC playwrights to submit, and will be featuring the work of BIPOC creators on the top of our site through the end of this year.
There is no charge for posting, and ProPlay does not participate in production royalties. For more information, please see the Submit your play page and our Agreement and submission form.
We look forward to hosting your work, and bringing it ...
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