August is here, which means a new school year is right around the corner. Get your acting students excited for fall with these plays that are perfect for both the drama classroom and school productions.
From comedies and parodies to dramas and adaptations, Stage Partners has plays for schools, drama competitions, and more. Best of all: You can read them all for FREE year-round!
Comedies
Going back to school can feel like a drag, so get your young actors laughing with these hilarious (and sometimes heartwarming!) comedies for middle school and high school drama programs!
On a sunny day in the town of Bloomington, a devastating occurrence happens. No, it’s not famine, or floods, or loss of your basic rights. The internet has gone down! And it will continue to be down! For a week! A whole week! Pandemonium!
In a world that is so dependent on the internet for shopping, mailing, and posting pictures of cute babies, this comedy by Ian McWethy and Jason Pizzarello asks one terrifying question: How will society function? (Not well, it turns out.)
- One-act (30-35 minutes)
- 10-50 actors, gender flexible
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Read this hilarious (and horrifying) tale of modern techno-addiction for free!
After a death threat is found on the set of the hit television show, The Single Man, the producers strike upon a brilliant idea: Have suave mustachioed investigator Henri Poisson fill in for the terrified bachelor in order to root out the presumptive killer. But with eight single ladies vying for his attention on the show, will Poisson be able to discover the killer in time? Who will get the rose, and who will get the thorns?
Get ready for action, romance, and more in this hilarious murder mystery spoof by master of comedy Don Zolidis!
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Full-length (80-85 minutes)
- 10-30 actors, gender flexible
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Read this "charming, funny love story" for free!
Dramas
Are your young actors ready for a challenge? The dramatic roles in these new plays will help stretch your acting students while also introducing important questions and complex themes. These scripts make great choices for both productions and play competitions, and like all our plays you can read them for FREE.
The unexpected divorce of Madison’s parents relocated her to New York City—a place that she has vowed to loathe. Through incredible coincidence, Madison finds a shoebox full of letters belonging to a young woman named Jessica. A connection is formed that will forever change the course of Madison’s life. Narrated by Madison’s older self, Back Cover is a story of loss, courage, humanity, and the painful—but wonderful—experience of growing up.
- One-act (40-45 mins)
- 10 actors, large female cast
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Find out how Madison connects to the past when you read Back Cover by Emily Hageman!
In this ensemble-driven drama by Maria McConville, five high school girls recount a cruel locker room bullying incident that is initially cloaked in secrecy, but ultimately goes viral online. What happens next forces the students to question their respective roles in the events that unfolded in that fateful day.
- One-Act Drama (30-35 mins)
- 7-30 actors, all-female cast (with gender-flexible chorus)
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Read this hit drama by Maria McConville for free!
Adaptations
From Shakespearean classics to cosmic dramas, only Stage Partners has these original adaptions perfect for your school theater productions. From our student-friendly Shakespeare, Clearly series to our exclusive adaptations of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, these plays are great for middle schools, high schools, and community theaters!
These new contemporary Shakespeare adaptations by master playwright Jon Jory take the Bard’s best works and present them in a straightforward manner that emphasizes story and character rather than poetry. With versions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, and Romeo & Juliet, these are the perfect plays for young actors looking to explore the classics!
- Full-length and one-act versions
- 8-35 actors, gender flexible
- Read all the adaptations for free: Check out Shakespeare, Clearly today!
One of literature’s most enduring young heroines, Meg Murry, is back–– braces, stubbornness and all–– in our exclusive adaptations of Madeleine L’Engle’s classic book. Once again, Meg joins forces with Mrs. Whatsit, Charles Wallace, Calvin O’Keefe and more to battle the forces of evil so she can rescue her father, save humanity and find herself. With both full-length and one-act versions, this play is perfect for school theater productions of any size!
Check out these amazing production photos from Shorecrest High School's production of A WRINKLE IN TIME (Tracy Young Version):
Parodies
Looking for some hilarious parodies for young audiences? Look no further than these crazy new comedies that are guaranteed to get your student actors (and their parents) laughing!
The Ashworth daughters (of which there are twelve—or is it thirteen?) struggle to find suitors that will meet their mother's high standard. Her standard, of course, being that they must be filthy rich. It should be easy, but first they have to fend off unwanted proposals, snooty cousins, and the dreaded Dowager Countess. Oh, and all those potential suitors? They keep dying when their horses fall over on them. It's a tough life, but in this Jane Austen parody the daughters are going to make it after all! (Well, at least 8 or 9 or them.)
- One-Act Drama (25-30 mins)
- 12-25 actors, gender-flexible
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Read this hilarious Jane Austen parody by Claire Epstein for free!
Does your school have what it takes to come up with the next million dollar idea? Find out when everyone’s favorite startup competition comes to town, and students, teachers, and parents all gather to pitch their wildest and weirdest business ideas to a panel of eccentric investors.
- Flexible one-act (30-50 mins)
- 9-22 actors, gender flexible
- Make your best pitch: Read School of Sharks for free!
Can’t decide which one to read first? Check out all our plays for schools and young audiences here!
