Tag Archives: 2 act farce

Heir to a Misfortune – a short two act farce

 

HEIR TO A MISFORTUNE – A SHORT TWO ACT FARCE

In this short two act farce, Arthur Aldenbrooke has recently passed away leaving behind his three daughters and a large fortune.  His oldest daughter, Violet, is sweet and innocent, while his younger daughters, Christa and Lynn are greedy trouble-makers.  Nigel Wentworth, Arthur’s attorney, shows up with the sealed will of the late millionaire with instructions to read it in front of a small handful of people.  One of those people being Arthur’s secret lady friend Gabriella, who is evil to the core and only wanted Arthur’s money right from the start.

Gabriella brings her idiot boyfriend Guy along for support in her scheming.  As soon as everyone arrives Christa and Lynn plot to steal the real will and replace it with a false one.  Meanwhile, Guy and Gabriella have their own intentions of stealing the will.  The only problem is that since the will was in a sealed envelope, Hazel, the delightfully unintelligent maid mailed it.  And to make matters worse, Erica, a young woman with a vendetta against the late Mr. Aldenbrooke shows up with a gun demanding money for her own father’s death which she claims Arthur was responsible for.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

This show was produced and performed at Theatre 29 in Twentynine Palms, California in 2001 and was presented as a dinner theater show.
The Friends’ School, Tasmania, Australia – 2018
Iroquois West High School, IL, USA – 2018
Private staged reading, FL, USA – 2020
The White Mountain School, NH, USA – 2020
Five Towns Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, UK – 2020
White River High School – WA, USA – 2021
Inner West Drama, NSW, Australia – 2021
Monroe Central Jr-Sr High School, IN, USA – 2021
St Columba College, South Australia, Australia – 2021
Wayland Community Players, NY, USA – 2021
Community center for English Speakers in Netanya, Israel – 2022

Author: Michael Maxwell

Genre: Comedy

Type: short two act farce (alternatively one act farce with 3 scenes)

Length: Sixty 60 minutes

Suitable for: All ages

Ages of actors: Early twenties to any age

Number of actors: Eight, 8  6F 2M

Set:  The Aldenbrooke Estate. The main entrance is on the stage left wall. A hallway leading to other parts of the house is on the stage right wall. There are stairs leading up and off stage right on the center stage back wall. There is a couch center stage and a chair stage right of that. There is an end-table stage left of the couch. Other furnishings are up to the director.

Level of  difficulty:  7/10 – achieving the element of farce

This show was produced and performed at Theatre 29 in Twentynine Palms, California in 2001 and was presented as a dinner theater show.  Read about playwright Mike Maxwell.

Best selling plays by Mike Maxwell include Jack Masterson and the case of absurdity, Missing the Mark and other plays including I should tell you and The Wandering Bard’s Tale. Screenplays include Once a Pirate and 2093,”  and Darkest Before Dawn.

Read a sample of the script

Cost is $11.00 for this digital play script. Simply click on Shakespeare!

Contact Off The Wall Plays with any queries relating to Heir to a Misfortune

Copyright 2010 Michael Maxwell and Off The Wall Play Publishers

Like this two act farce? Looking for something different?

Don’t say you’re Harry – a two act farce with diamonds, jewel thieves and a minister.
Foulweather friend – a two act dark comedy about raising the dead
Nuns- a two act satire where rebellious nuns run riot

Don’t say you’re Harry – a two act farce script

farce script

DON’T SAY YOU’RE HARRY – A TWO ACT FARCE SCRIPT

In this two act, full length farce script, Snake and Harry, two professional diamond thieves gatecrash the funeral of Miss Amelia Devonport, who was the late owner of the fabulous Devonport diamonds.  Snake and Harry plan to impersonate relatives of the late Miss Devonport in order to get information on the diamonds and where they could be hidden in the old Devonport mansion. Then they plan to steal the famous stones.

Unbeknownst to Snake and Harry, two cops, Capt. Theunis van Staden and his young partner, John Smith have also gatecrashed the same funeral, and are, um, also posing as relatives. The two policemen received an ‘anonymous tip’ earlier in the week that led them to believe that two thieves, masquerading as relatives of the deceased, would crash the funeral and steal the diamonds.  Their task: to find the location of the famous stones, and use them as bait to trap the diamond thieves into revealing themselves.

It all gets rather complicated when each one of them decides to call himself ‘John Smith’ in this hilarious farce script.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

Elgin Theatre Guild, ON, Canada – 2020

The author will allow workshopping of this script.

Claire Linda Demmer is a small festival award winning playwright, whose plays have sold internationally.  A one act version of the same script ,  ‘A cut above the rest,’ has been published previously.

Author: Claire Linda Demmer

Genre: Comedy, farce

Type: Full length two act play

Length: 90 minutes

Actors: 5M (males, men) ,  3 F (females, women),  maid and guests.(2-4)

Ages of actors: Late twenties (20s) up to late seventies (70s)

Set:  Lounge with a coffin on a dais, with a set of stairs upstage right and a door leading the the kitchen on the lower level stage right, and another door leading to the parlour upstage left.  The front door is downstage left. Various chairs are set around the room for the funeral.

Level of difficulty: 8/10 timing of the farce.

Read a Sample of the script

pay now shakespeare

Cost is $9.00 for this produced digital script. Just Click Shakespeare!

Contact Off The Wall Plays with any queries about Don’t say you’re Harry

Copyright  July 2012 Claire Demmer Off The Wall Plays