It is 1937. Sybil is worried as her husband, Norman, has been held overnight by the Police. Josie, her sister-in-law, calls to inquire why her brother isn’t at work at the bank.
When she finds Sybil doesn’t have the answer, she leaves to investigate what has happened to him. Soon after, Norman returns home, followed a little later by Josie.
What Norman and Josie explain to Sybil so outrages her, that she is tempted to do something that could affect all of their lives.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
Bispham CastAways, Lancashire, UK – 2019
Author: Peter Pitt
Genre: One act Period drama
Type: One act play
Cast: 4 1M 3F
Ages of the actors: All 30’s-40’s
Suitable for: PG 10 – alludes to issues of homosexuality
Length: 20-25 minutes
Set: Front room of a house in a London suburb in 1937
Level of difficulty: 7/10 – building the tension till the final climax
WHEN SUMMER DIES OF SHAME – ONE ACT DRAMA FOR THREE ACTORS
A bloody Civil War has been raging in the fictitious country of Carthinia. One of the many atrocities committed during the war was Colonel Ivan Karovitch’s rape of a young Carthinian girl, the murder of her boyfriend and her parents. The rape victim takes refuge in a convent where she gives birth to a daughter Natalie. When just a few months old Natalie is adopted by an English couple and brought to the UK.
Ivan flees to the UK and begins a new life here. He marries and runs a flower shop with his English wife revealing nothing of his past to her. They have a daughter Jessica. When Jessica’s mother dies, her father Ivan comes to live at Jessica’s house in an annex. Ivan retires and spends his days tending his allotment and the garden.
Natalie visits Carthinia and finds her birth mother who tells her about the rape and that she must track Ivan down and ensure he’s brought to justice. Natalie is focused on the crime and is oblivious to the implications of her existence being a result of the rape. Natalie enlists the help of a journalist and Ivan’s army photograph and details of his crimes appear in an edition of the Guardian. Ivan sees the article and suffers a seizure and is taken to hospital. They can’t find anything physically wrong with him but it is decided he is unable to look after himself and he is put into a nursing home.
Natalie who is a trained nurse and already working in a care home, traces Ivan through Jessica’s Facebook page, and she then takes up a vacancy at the nursing home where Ivan is being looked after
The play is set in Ivan’s room in the nursing home. The play opens with a short introductory scene – set in the present – three weeks after Ivan has committed suicide. We then flashback to the day before Ivan’s suicide and the story of the events leading up to his death unfolds. In the final scene we are back in the present and this is when the increasingly confrontational relationship between Natalie and Jessica reaches its climax.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
Shetland County Drama Festival, Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK – 2017
French-American International School, CA, USA – 2019
Ages of the actors: M 50-70 years, F 20-40 years – one older than the other
Suitable for: All ages
Length of play: 20 minutes
Set: Ivan’s room in the nursing home with an armchair.
Level of difficulty: 7/10 – although there are 3 actors, thi is in essence a duologue for two conflicting F parts.
RESTAURANTS AT BEAUTIFUL TIMES – ONE ACT DRAMA FOR FOUR ACTORS
In this one act drama for four actors, the stage and the actor’s lives are divided into the ‘restaurant’ and the ‘place where the food is prepared.’ Jean and Myceneaus live and work in the place where the food is prepared. They have never known another existence, and theirs is grim existence at best. Their only interaction is with the head waiter who liaises between both sides of the stage – both worlds, as it were. This one act drama for four actors compares the worlds of the very rich and the very poor, and plays on the fact that neither side has any no idea what happens on ‘the other side.’ The play has been produced in Las Vegas by the Nevada Conservatory Theatre and in New York by Working Man’s Clothes thus far.
The author would request that he approves/disapproves any dialogue changes or renaming of characters, but genders may be altered at the theatre’s discretion. Read more about David McGinnis
Author: David McGinnis
Genre: Drama
Type: One Act Play
Suitable for: All ages
Number of actors: four, 4
Ages of actors: Middle aged actors
Set: Simple. A table, a chair, a rope hung from the fly/ceiling/rafters, and some clutter in Jean and Myceneaus’ area.
Level of Difficulty: 6/10 – achieving tension and maintaining it
In this art festival style play set in a park, Roger, the central character is constantly harassed by various members of the public, some of whom he knows and some of who he is meeting for the first time. Each character that joins Roger in this one act drama script, interacts with him in a way that allows Roger to reflect on his own life and who he is. Many of the characters are humorous in their outlook on life, in contrast to Roger. As the play culminates with a twist, the audience will get to understand exactly why Roger is where he is and who the man inside is.
This one act drama play is ideal for festivals as it requires minimal set and is largely dependent on the skill of the actors.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
Greensboro Fringe Festival in North Carolina – 2014
Sagewood College, Midrand, South Africa – 2017
Panorama Theatre, WA,USA – 2019
Author: Alex Emerson Acuff
Type: Medium to long one act play – one act drama scripts
Genre: Dramedy
Length: 45 -55 minutes. Forty five minute long play script
Number of actors: 7, seven, 5M 4F ( one male is a child)
Ages of actors: one middle aged to older man,
Set: minimal – a park bench
Level of Difficulty: 6/10 – maintaining audience focus
The play must be produced unaltered from the original script.
