funny British plays Archives - Off The Wall Plays

A QUEEN AND THREE SLAVES – BRITISH FARCE ABOUT CLEO, JULIE AND THREE VERY ‘ESSEX’ SLAVES

The time: The Roman Empire at its height. Caesar has invaded ancient Britain and has attempted to extend the glorious Roman Empire, introducing all things great: Roman culture, architecture and best of all, plumbing. It’s a pity the locals don’t want these things, preferring to live in hideously free squalor instead in this British farce.

Despite his slightly (okay, extremely) unsuccessful conquest of Britain, Caesar has taken slaves from the local population and brought them back with him to Rome. As a gesture he gives them to Cleoptra, who is currently living in one of his villas in Rome. Now, just which slaves has he chosen to be slaves to the greatest Queen history has ever known? Only the best Essex has to offer!

A Queen and Three Slaves” played successfully for four weeks at the little theater in the Actors lab in San Francisco.
Slaves and Tyrants Theatre Group, Vigo, Spain- 2022

Author: Richard Goodman

Type: Two-act play

Genre: British farce in the style of the ”Carry On” films

Cast: 5F, 3M

Ages of the actors: Adult

Suitable for: All ages to watch, teens up to perform

Length: 90 minutes

Set: A large chamber in a Roman villa on the right bank of the Tiber in the year 44 BC. There are several chairs and a large couch in the centre of the room. Against the back wall a door leads to a small room which is a closet for some of CLEOPATRA’S clothing and wigs. A door on the left leads off to the entrance hall and other rooms in the village. A door on the right leads to CLEOPATRA’S other private chambers.

Level of difficulty: 7/10 – getting the accents and colloquial mannerisms right

Read a Sample of the Script

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Contact Off the Wall Plays with any queries about A Queen and Three Slaves

Copyright © September 2018 Richard Goodman

Like this play? Other British farce and comedy scripts:

The Rat Trap – larfe cast comic farce about a fortune
Holiday Island – British comedy about typical holidaymakers

THIRTY MINUTE COMEDY SCRIPT

SQUAWK – THIRTY MINUTE COMEDY SCRIPT

In this thirty minute comedy script, Patience Warriner is trapped in a recurring dream that she cannot escape. What is real ? She doesn’t know anymore, but the one constant thing is her hatred of the seagulls who continually inhabit her area and whose squawking, excreting presence regularly sets off her car alarm, wakes her up and drives her to the brink of insanity, or perhaps even beyond it ? The play is set on a night where she is awoken, yet again, by squawking seagulls, while her younger partner Albert sleeps like a baby. As the car alarm goes off she is so angry she storms outside and, from noises heard, it is obvious that she has thrown a stone at them and a gull has dropped from the sky, landing on her car, setting her alarm back off. Patience comes back in, sheepishly climbs back into bed and in no time the bedroom is an Avian Court of Law, and she is on trial for the unlawful killing of Sidney the Seagull.

She then wakes up to find herself back in the normal world. But was it a dream? When she comes home the next day to find her partner is having an affair and the same seagulls return to her flat as well, everything becomes a lot weirder. An off beat comedy that’s ‘for the birds!’

Squawk was runner-up at the 2015 Somerset Drama Fellowship Original Play writing Competition.

PERFORMANCE HISTORY

Players on The Isle of Lewis, UK – 2018
Bold as Brass Productions, Stoke on Trent, UK – 2020

Author: Troy Banyan

Type: One act play

Genre: Thirty minute comedy script

Length: 30-35 minutes

Cast: 3M 3F (one of the M parts is a voiceover only)

Ages of the actors: Adult, from young to fifty something

Suitable for: All ages

Set: The set is a simple one. It is a bedroom with a double bed – preferably with metal head and foot boards – running from centre back to mid centre stage. Downstage left is the door that leads into the rest of the bungalow. Upstage left is a door that leads into ALBERT’S walk-in wardrobe. In between this door and the left side of the bed is his bedside table. Downstage right is a door that leads into the en suite bathroom. Upstage right is a door that leads into PATIENCE’S walk-in wardrobe. In between this door and the right side of the bed is her table, with mirror at its back. In the wall behind this table is the curtained window.

Level of difficulty: 8/10 – the actors play multiple parts including birds so would need to be good physical comedians.

Read a Sample of the Script

Cost is $7.50 for this digital runner up script. Just click Shakespeare above!

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