Tag Archives: one act dramas

Snow in July – collection of one act plays

collection of one act plays

SNOW IN JULY – COLLECTION OF ONE ACT PLAYS

A collection of one act plays by American playwright James Campbell. From the comedic absurd to the dark and sinister, these plays are both thought provoking and enjoyable to stage.

Hossback: This satirical off the wall comedy rips off typical cowboys from the old west, or at least modern society’s idea of what cowboys actually were like by taking an over the top view of them. From the way they loved their hosses like real women, to their predilection for hanging ‘criminals’ of an description to their manner of speaking – all those cowboy traits we are so fond of are chewed up and spat out again.

Murder in the asylum: The patients and the staff in the local lunatic asylum are getting murdered one by one until there’s only two men standing. One of them’s the murderer…. But, since they’re mad as hatters, they both think it isn’t them.

Sunset on the Potomac: Under absurdia, but poignant comedy about a music teacher and her family, her loves, life and children at the end of which a dark twist is finally revealed.

Baboons: It’s the time of the Romans and those annoying Christians (sorry Baboons) keep getting in the way! Should they kill them like wild boars and baboons? Or do they put on a play?

First to see the lights go on: A drama about post natal depression and its consequences. When Frank meets Arlene at the bus stop and they strike up a conversation, Arlene seems both child like and innocent. But her innocence hides a deathly secret.

Jumping the league: A comedy for a small cast. A priest (who has a foul mouth) and his best friend in 1960’s Pre Vietnam have both decided, and chosen this day to tell each other that they are literally both ‘jumping the league’ and leaving their old lives behind forever.

The Restaurants are Screaming: In this period drama set at the end of the second world war, Ludwig has been living with his daughter, Marcia and his son in law, Joe for the past three months. The play focuses on an abusive father, who now he is old, struggles to understand the consequences of his actions as well as the effect he has on other people. The play draws parallels between his two adult children freeing themselves from their abusive father, the death of the old way of life and the rebirth of the new way of life as the allies win the war in 1945.

Style: A drama about a rough group of factory workers on the line and the day they get the news their factory is closing and their work is gone. It’s all they’ve ever known.

The Watch Below: A group of sailors on a boat in the war are isolated due to an outbreak of deadly meningitis. It’s a tension filled situation as the sick man is at first missing then aggressive and no one can get away.

Read other plays by American playwright James Campbell – The Ragged Trousered Philanthropsists – the musical.

Author: James Campbell

Type: Collection of one act plays

Genre: Comedy, theatre of the absurd, drama

Cast: Various from cast of 2 (First to see the lights go on) to 10 for Style.

Ages of the actors: All adult

Suitable for: Some of the plays are for adults only due to suggestions of sex and the occasional bad language.

Length: From ten minutes to forty minutes

Set: As per play

Level of difficulty: 7/10 – play dependent – plays tend to be character driven, and explore the human condition

Many of these plays are also available to purchase singly.

Read a Sample of the Script for Hossback

Read a Sample of the script for Murder in the Asylum

Read a sample of the script for Sunset on the Potomac

Read a Sample of the script for Baboons

Read a Sample of the Script for First to see the lights go on

Read a Sample of the script for Jumping the League

Read a sample of the script for The Restaurants are Screaming

Read a Sample of the script for Style

Read a Sample of the script for The Watch Below




Cost is $12 for the digital compilation.

Contact Off the Wall Plays with any queries about Snow in July, the play compilation

Copyright © 2015 James Campbell and Off The Wall Play Publishers

Like this play? Others like it:

Mirror – a collection of ten minute plays all revolving around a mirror
The Dark Chronicles of the Golden Raven society – horror anthology
Holiday shorts – collection of plays for the holiday

The Girl Who Didn’t Exist – one act drama for 4 actors

one act drama for 4 actors

THE GIRL WHO DIDN’T EXIST – ONE ACT DRAMA FOR 4 ACTORS

Lucan is a bitter old man, on his deathbed. His only company is his dead wife, Maria, who may either be a ghost or part of Lucan’s imagination, depending on how the play is interpreted. Lucan’s children haven’t talked to their father for years, but now that they realise that he is ill, they have come back into his life. Lucan is bitter, feeling that the only reason they are there is for their inheritance. Have they truly come to make amends in this one act drama for 4 actors?

PRODUCTION HISTORY

TH Rogers MS, TX, USA – 2018
Newman International Academy, TX, USA – 2019

 

Other family dramas by James Hanson – A Castle: Broken Apart – drama about leaving home and your sister behind with a bitter crazy old father

Author: James Hanson

Genre: One act drama for 4 actors

Type: 1 act play

Cast: Cast of four – 2M 2F

Ages of the actors: One elderly, three in their 20’s-30’s

Suitable for: All ages to watch and also suitable for all ages to perform

Length: 15 minutes

Set: Lucan’s room, with a bed, a dresser with a glass of water on top of it.

Level of difficulty: 7/10 – creating a real situation and a ghost who is real to Lucan at the same time

Read a Sample of the Script

pay now shakespeare

Cost is $7.50 for this new digital play script. Just Click Shakespeare!

Contact Off The Wall Plays with any queries about The Girl Who Didn’t Exist

Copyright © July 2017 James Hanson and Off The Wall Play Publishers

Like this play? Others like it:

The Promise – an eerie psycho thriller script
Tranquility Disturbed – comedy drama about a frazzled family and dying grandmother
Aldous remembers – drama about a man who battles to remember reality

The Best Policy – one act drama about the death of a spouse

drama about death of a spouse

 THE BEST POLICY – ONE ACT DRAMA ABOUT THE DEATH OF A SPOUSE

Death sets the tone for a chain of events that Penny DuPont did not
see coming when her husband, Bob, dies suddenly, leaving Penny,
their two boys and secrets behind. When she finds a ring hidden in his clothing, her suspicions come to a head in this drama about the death of a spouse. As Penny’s suspicions of Bob’s unlived life make her more uneasy by the minute, she tries to glue the pieces of what’s been broken back together and at the same time has to find a way to honour Bob’s memory for the sake of the boys and her own good sense. This one act drama explores the loss of a loved-one and the pursuit of contentment.

…and in death, life’s secrets are revealed.

Other plays – a Man’s home – family drama about a wife’s death by Donna

Author:  Donna Hopkins

Genre:  Family Drama about the death of a spouse

Type: One act play

Cast: 4M, 2F

Ages of the actors: Four adult, 2M boys/teens, any age

Suitable for: Actors of all ages and to perform to a cast of all ages but aimed at an adult audience.

Length: Twenty five to thirty minutes

Set: The living room of a middle-class home in a mid-sized town in
the Midwest, maybe Wisconsin. It’s decorated in shades
of brown with blue accents. Early dusk. A jack-o-lantern is
grinning eerily in the picture window. And in another scene:  an office with desk and chair. 

Level of difficulty: 7/10 – a character based play.  Good for drama college/school

Read a Sample of the Script




Cost is $5.50 for this digital play script

Contact Off The Wall Plays with any queries about The Best Policy

Copyright © March 2017 Donna Hopkins and Off The Wall Play Publishers

Like this play? Other family dramas in one act for you to enjoy:

The appointment with God – one act family drama
The things that happen in new York – a young couple loses their apartment in this one act drama
Mateo Falcone – classic tale of a father taking his own son’s life

Antigone – Greek Tragedy play

Greek tragedy PLAY

ANTIGONE – GREEK TRAGEDY PLAY

Shortly before Oedipus’s death, his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices quarrelled over who was to rule Thebes. Polynices sought help and support for his claim to the throne and requested Oedipus’s blessing, but Oedipus was appalled at the behaviour of his sons and cursed them both, a curse that each would kill each other. Eventually Eteocles ruled Thebes alone and Polynices raised an army and attacked the city. Eteocles with the aid of the brothers’ uncle Creon resisted the attack, which resulted in the brothers meeting in combat in this Greek Tragedy play.

A Greek tragedy play about two sons of Oedipus both seeking to succeed their father. Their sister, Antigone, defies her uncle, a leader out of touch with the people who has decreed that her traitorous brother should go unburied and therefore find no rest in the afterlife. Ultimately, her and her uncle’s actions have tragic outcomes.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

Woodcroft College, SA, Australia – 2022

Read about playwright Keith Passmore. Other classic tales by Keith (The last time I saw Paris – teen comedy on the whole horse of Troy thing)

Author: Keith Passmore

Type: One act play

Genre: Greek Tragedy Play, drama

Cast: Total cast of 11. 7-9 M, 3-5 F as some parts may be played by either sex.

Ages of the actors: Teen and up

Suitable for: The whole family

Length: Thirty minutes

Set: Various locations in Thebes including the palace, the city walls and corridors.

Level of difficulty: 7/10 – flow

Read a Sample of the Script

pay now shakespeare

Cost is $7.50 for this digital play script. Just Click Shakespeare!

Contact Off The Wall Plays with any queries about Antigone

Copyright © November 2016 Keith Passmore and Off The Wall Play Publishers

Like this play? Other Greek and classic type plays for your perusal:

Oedipus the play – adaptation of the classic Greek tale

Mateo Falcone – Classic story as a one act play

CLASSIC STORY AS ONE ACT PLAY

MATEO FALCONE – CLASSIC STORY AS A ONE ACT PLAY

Mateo Falcone is a disturbing and provoking tale of inexorable justice. Some say that it is the saddest story in the world. A classic story as a one act play.

A ten-year boy dishonors his family by committing a treason. The ten year old boy, Fortunato accepts a silver coin to hide Gianetto, the outlaw in their house. However, when an officer offers him a gold watch to reveal where he has hidden the outlaw, he takes it as well, revealing the hiding place of the villain.

The wretched father, a proud Corsican highlander named Mateo Falcone, cannot but do what seems to him his duty. When Mateo arrives home and finds out what his son has done, he knows that the family’s honour has been destroyed. The only solution he can see to retrieve it is to kill his only son, after allowing him to say a final prayer for his soul. Fortunato’s distraught mother is not able to do anything to save the boy.

The original story was written by French author Prosper Merimée. It was first published in 1829 and has since been considered as one of the best short stories ever.

Other plays (Yvette – tale of a young Parisian beauty coming of age) by B.K. de Fabris

Author: B.K. de Fabris

Genre: Tragedy, drama, classic story as a one act play

Type: One act play

Cast: Cast of eight, 6M 1F 1 boy

Ages of the actors: 7 adults, one child

Suitable for: All ages (although subject may upset some younger viewers)

Length: Fifteen minutes

Set: A pile of hay close by a stone-wall. Some farming tools are scattered around the place.

Level of difficulty: Combining a sense of adventure in the beginning of the play with inevitable tragedy of a traditional society

Read a Sample of the Script




Cost is $5.50 for this new digital script from a well known author.

Contact Off The Wall plays with any queries about Mateo Falcone

Copyright © 2015 B.K.de Fabris and Off The Wall Play Publishers

Like this play? Other tales of adventure and traditional type stories:

The Scepter has Departed – Jewish period drama in two acts
The Royal Blood Cannot be Mixed – traditional African story of love between royalty and a commoner
Waiting for Nelson – South African plays

Road Toll – one act dramas for four actors

one act drama

ROAD TOLL – ONE ACT DRAMAS FOR FOUR ACTORS

In this one act drama for four actors, two police officers arrive at the door of an elderly lady, Delma with the unfortunate news that her son, Willy has passed away in a car accident. Delma flatly refuses to believe them because, according to her, Willy died eight years ago, also in a car crash. The two police officers decide to stay with Delma and unravel the mystery of the car accident victim. As the evening progresses and her daughter, Carol arrives the two policemen are forced to accept the shocking truth about what really happened that day, eight years ago…

PRODUCTION HISTORY

The Little Theatre, Leicester, UK – 2019
Lipscomb Academy (High school) – TN, USA – 2019
LACC (Los Angeles City College) – CA, USA – 2022
The Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School, PA, USA – 2022
River City Players, BC, Canada – 2023

Author: Sarah Tighe

Genre: one act dramas

Type: One act play

Cast: 3F, 1M

Ages of the actors: One elderly, the others young in their twenties to early middle aged

Length: 30-40 minutes long

Suitable for: All ages

Set: A living room, modestly decorated in Christmas paraphernalia. Delma, in her early 70’s is glued to ‘Carols by Candlelight’, which is playing on television.

Level of difficulty: 7/10 – pacing – getting the pace right in this type of drama is fundamental

Read a Sample of the Script

pay now shakespeare

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

Contact Off The Wall Plays with any queries about Road Toll

Copyright © April 2015 Sarah Tighe and Off The Wall Play Publishers

Like this one act drama? Other one act dramas you may enjoy:

The Gold Locket – family saga about an unknown face in a gold locket
Used hearts – romantic drama script
The Pen – South African drama about love, fantasy and reality