Tag Archives: plays for the holidays

The three unwise men – Spoof on Nativity plays: The REAL bureaucratic story

spoof on nativity plays

THE THREE UNWISE MEN! – SPOOF ON NATIVITY PLAYS: THE REAL BUREAUCRATIC STORY

Once upon a time, a baby boy was born in Bethlehem. And everyone was very, very late for it.

Mary and Joseph were late, because they got held up in traffic; but actually, they had left late because Mary had nothing to wear. The wise men were late because they were arrested for having an expired camel license. (Luckily they escaped and made their way to the stable) The shepherds were late because someone forgot to turn on the star above the stable. The Angel Gabriel, however, was early. Being divine, he doesn’t suffer from the side effects of bureaucracy.

This is a spoof on the events leading up to the birth of Jesus Christ. Guaranteed to annoy everyone including Australians and Englishmen, Jewish people, Muslims, Christians and, in particular, Catholics, Zoroastrians, Hindus and Confucians. It should not annoy Shintos or Buddhists. It will also annoy trade unions, civil servants, policemen, customs officers and shepherds.

For everyone who enjoys the ”Carry On” films and ”The History of the World,” this play smacks of them.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

Fremen College, Hertfordshire, UK – 2017

 

Author: Tom Considine

Type: Two act very short play. Can be played as one act for festivals.

Genre: Spoof on Nativity Plays, offensive funny plays

Cast: Cast of 18. 2F, 13M, 3N

Ages of the actors: All adult

Suitable for: Adults

Length: Thirty minutes

Set: The desert, the customs office and the stable.

Level of difficulty: 7/10 – quickness in delivery and a deadpan expression.

Read a Sample of the Script

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Cost is $6.50 for this new digital play script. Just Click Shakespeare!

Contact Off The Wall Plays with any queries about The three unwise men Nativity Play

Copyright © November 2016 Tom Considine and Off The Wall Play Publishers

Like this play? Other Christmassy type plays for your to enjoy:

The Rocking Horse Christmas – movie scripts
A contemporary Christmas Carol – modern day Scrooge!
Santa’s holiday – South African Christmas Play

Snow White and the seven dwarves – Pantomime Snow White

pantomime snow white

one act comedy

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES – PANTOMIME SNOW WHITE

Many years ago, in the kingdom lived a beautiful princess, Snow White who was forced to work in the castle for her stepmother, the Evil Queen Evilynn, along with Delilah Dumpling (the cook), Douglas (Delilah’s assistant) and Rose Red (The kitchen maid). One day, a handsome Prince, Prince Valliant, arrives in the kingdom in search of ‘The most beautiful lady in the land.’ Queen Evilynn likes the look of the Prince and wants to marry him but unfortunately he fancies Snow White.

That very day, the Queen’s magic mirror tells her again that Snow White is fairest in all the land, so she plots to kill her. Mandalay, the Queen’s henchman is asked to take Snow White on a picnic with the wood choppers (Horace, Doris, Norris and Boris). Mandalay can’t carry out his task and the wood choppers come up with the idea that Snow White remains behind in the forest. After saying goodbye to her friends Snow White becomes scared and faints. Fairy Good-at-heart sends her to live with the Seven Dwarves, who take Snow White into their home.

Thinking she has won, Queen Evilynn plans a big celebration but is soon told that Mandalay failed in his task and she poisons Snow White. The Prince has learned of the Queen’s evil plan and sets out along with Sir Richard, Delilah, Douglas, Rose Red and the wood choppers. The Prince gets there to find Snow White ‘dead’ but he wakes her with a kiss. The good fairy defeats Queen Evilynn, with the help of the audience, and all is well again.

This is a pantomime Snow White packed full of songs, jokes, slapstick and family entertainment.

Other plays (Aladdin) by playwright Bradley Coffey.

Author: Bradley Coffey

Genre: Pantomime snow white

Type: One act play

Length: 60 minutes

Cast: 15 M (if one takes all the dwarves as M, but they could be mixed M and F if one has a larger female cast, 6F, and chorus

Ages of the actors: Cast all ages

Suitable for: Panto suitable for all ages

Set: Simple set but various decorations at director’s discretion. Locations include the market square, the forest, the caste etc.

Level of difficulty: 6/10 – simple fun panto with a large cast to suit schools, amdram and community theatre.

Read a Sample of the Script

pay now shakespeare

Cost is $8.00 for this new digital pantomime script. Just Click Shakespeare!

Contact Off The Wall Plays with any queries about Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

Copyright © September 2015 Bradley Coffey and Off The Wall Play Publishers

Like this play? Other pantomimes and musicals for the holidays:

Trolls Stole the North Pole – musical Christmas play
Dr George’s Magnificent Zeppelin – musical plays for children
The Wizard of Odd – pantomime wizard of Oz

 

The Blueberry Balladeer – plays for Youth Theatre

plays for youth theatre

short play for youth theatre

 

The Blueberry Balladeer visits the farmers in Washington
County every year, and she sings a lullaby to put all the
berry blights and pests to sleep until it’s harvest time. But
one year, an ancient pestilence known as the Willisoggle
gives the Balladeer a cold, so she can’t sing. The farmers,
the families and an assortment of characters — from a beauty
queen to a beekeeper to a pair of Bavarian gnomes — have to
band together to figure out how to defeat the Willisoggle
before it eats the entire blueberry harvest!

More about playwright Andrew M. Frohdahl.

Author: Andrew M. Frodahl

Genre: Plays for youth theatre

Type: Two act play

Cast: The cast size is 19 characters. 10M, 6F and 3M or F
*Cast doubling can be done to bring it to 4F and 5M.
*Titus the Honeybee is a sound cue.
*Cast size can be increased with having the bees be actors
rather than sound cues.
*Loafer the Dog can be a stuffed animal attached to Vernon’s
walker or an added actor.

Ages of the actors:  Anything from young teens to an adult cast

Suitable for: All ages, youth theatre, community theatre, school plays

Length: 1.5 –  2 hours

Set: Various – Office of the Berry Pickers Guild, The Giles Farm, The Blueberry Factory, The Barrens, The Berry Bluffs.  Set can be simplified to various offices and outdoor scenes. 

Level of difficulty: 7/10 – managing large cast, scene changes

Read a Sample of the Script




Cost is $6 for this previously produced digital script

Contact Off The Wall Plays with any queries about The Blueberry Balladeer

Copyright © August 2015 Andrew M. Frohdahl and Off The Wall Play Publishers

Like this play? Other plays for youth theatre:

Aladdin – comedy script
Alice in Football Land – comedy version of Alice in Wonderland
The Robber Baron and the Baker Thief – teen adventure play

 

Trolls Stole the North Pole – Musical Christmas Play

musical Christmas play

TROLLS STOLE THE NORTH POLE – MUSICAL CHRISTMAS PLAY

In this musical Christmas play, the trolls decide to steal the ‘North Pole’ and switch it with the very similar looking ‘South Pole’ (It’s literally a pole) That way, Santa’s workshop won’t get any vital deliveries he needs to make presents this year and everyone on earth will be forced to buy the Troll’s toys instead.

What will Santa do? How will he save the day? Or will his wife do it?

A lovely funny play for the holidays for the whole family. TROLLS STOLE THE NORTH POLE was first produced on November 24, 2012 at the Secret Rose Theatre in North Hollywood, California. It ran for seven weeks, through January 6, 2013.

This play is a musical and the music for the play is available through Off the Wall Plays as well.

Author: Art Shulman

Genre: Musical Christmas Play, play for the holidays

Type: Two act musical

Length: 75 minutes

Cast: Twelve, 6M 6F.

Ages of the actors: Children to adult

Suitable for: The whole family

Set: A stage with a pole on it saying ‘North Pole’ on the one side and on the other side, a similar ‘South Pole.’

Level of difficulty: 7/10 – fun lines that need to be delivered quickly to get the humour across.

Read a Sample of the Script




Cost is $7 for this Editor’s Choice script

Contact Off The Wall plays about the music for this play

Contact Off The Wall Plays with any queries about Trolls stole the North Pole

© Copyright 2013 Art Shulman

Like this play? Other plays for the holidays

Call of the Riled – short skit for Thanksgiving
Holiday shorts – collection of plays for the holidays
A Manger carol – funny nativity play

 

Holiday Shorts- collection of plays for the holidays

HOLIDAY SHORTS – A COLLECTION OF PLAYS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Christmas plays

plays for the holidays

Seven short plays for both children and adults written around various festivals and the holidays such as Chanukah, the Chinese New year and Christmas. The entire evening of Holiday Shorts may be done in approximately 60 minutes, or one or several plays may be performed individually.  Together, there are about 35 roles. No play calls for more than seven actors. The use of puppets is encouraged.

Anansi and his children: An African folk tale about how the fantastic children of Anansi save him when he is swallowed by a giant fish.

Dreidel: A lovely Jewish children’s play set around the festival of Chanukah. A grandparent tells his young granddaughter, Rachel the story of a miracle, that occurred when he was just eight years old. It tells how he accidentally broke his Dreidel that he had carefully made for Chaunkah, and how he was unable to get clay to make another. Until a miracle happened.

First Christmas: A married couple spends their first Christmas together and, despite various setbacks, they discover that their love for each other is all that they need to make Christmas special.

Gifts of the Magi: an adaption of the famous O.Henry tale. A beautiful story about how a poor young couple give up their prized possession to be able to buy each other the perfect Christmas gift.

The Nian: set at the Chinese New Year, a folk tale that tells of how the terrible Nian was banished forever from China by a clever couple that arrive unexpectedly at a terrified village and how the Chinese New year is celebrated every year because of this.

O, Tannenbaum: – a young boy finds his voice at summer camp which brings him closer to his taciturn grandfather.

Yes, Virginia:  a young girl isn’t sure that Santa Claus exists anymore.

Performance History:

December 2015 – The Overseas American Army as part of their Christmas plays
Howard S. Billings High School, Quebec, Canada – 2018
Department of Theater Lafayette College, PA, USA – 2019

Read more about playwright Evan Guilford Blake. Other plays by Evan.

Recently, Evan’ story My Father’s Robe was published online in Wisdom Crieth Without. This is a traditional story, a very gentle piece that I think will appeal, especially, to those who have aging parents.

Author: Evan Guilford-Blake

Genre: Christmas, festival and plays for the holidays for both adults and children. Includes plays to celebrate the African Kwanzaa and the Chinese new year.

Type: Collection of short one act plays

Length: The entire evening of Holiday Shorts may be done in approximately 60 minutes, or one or several plays may be performed individually.

  • Anansi and his Children – nine minutes
  • Dreidel -Twelve minutes
  • First Christmas – Six minutes
  • Gifts of the Magi – Twelve minutes
  • The Nian – Eight minutes
  • O, Tannenbaum – Eleven minutes
  • Yes, Virginia – Eight minutes

Number and ages of actors: Together, there are about 35 roles. No play calls for more than seven actors. The use of puppets is encouraged.

  • Anansi and his Children: 2w (any age), 2m (1 20-50, 1 any age), 1 either (any age), 2 children (1 girl, 1 boy)
  • Dreidel: (1m (80), 1w (45-50), 1 either (50+), 2 children (girl, 8; boy, 8)
  • First Christmas: 1m (54); 1w (37)
  • Gifts of the Magi: 2w (early 20s, 30+), 1m (25), 3 either
  • The Nian: ( 1m (30+), 3 either (2 any age, 1 40+), 2 children (1girl, 1 boy)
  • O, Tannenbaum: 3w (30s, 60s, 30-65), 2m (35-50, 60s), 1 child (boy, 10)
  • Yes, Virginia: 1m (28-35), 3 either (any ages), 1 child (girl, 8)

Suitable for: All ages

Set: Simple – staging with a few simple furnishings can easily be achieved

Level of difficulty:  7/10 – crowd control if the entire show is performed

Read a Sample of Anansi and his children

Read a Sample of Dreidel

Read a Sample of First Christmas




Cost is $17 for the whole collection

Contact Off The Wall Plays with any questions about  Holiday Shorts

Licensing and Royalties for Holiday Shorts

Copyright © 2009 as an unpublished dramatic work by
Guilford-Blake corporation. © Off The Wall Plays July 2014 as a published work

Like this play? Other seasonal and festival plays:

A manger carol – nativity play
Santa’s holiday – South African Christmas play script
A Contemporary Christmas carol – modern day Scrooge