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Comedy
Short, 30-35 minutes
5 females, 3 males, 2 either (8-24 actors possible: 5-13 females, 3-11 males)
$45.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
It's the end of the world and hordes of rampaging zombies are about to kill you. What do you do? Try your hand at kung fu against the undead? Attempt to reason with creatures that would rather eat brains than use them? Turn to this handy and hilarious guide to survive the apocalypse! (Hint: sacrifice the weak is step number one.)
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Comedy
Short, 40-50 minutes
2 females, 5 males, 12 either
(9-19 actors possible: 1-19 females, 1-19 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
It's doomsday, and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have been called into action. Unfortunately, it turns out they're completely unprepared and have accidentally killed their horses. Luckily, the four contentious personalities (Conquest, War, Famine, and Death) meet Phyllis -- a recently deceased Midwestern woman and their human liaison for the End of Days. Together, they hitchhike their way to Earth, but various forgotten cultural figures keep delaying their progress. Will the Horsemen reach their destination in time to cause the end of the world?
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Comedy
Short, 35-45 minutes
2 females, 3 males, 11 either
(10-36 actors possible: 2-28 females, 3-28 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
Ms. Rabbitoff, an insane Francis Bacon enthusiast, poses as a substitute teacher and takes an AP English class hostage in an attempt to convince them that Bacon was the real genius behind Shakespeare's plays. By acting out imagined versions of Shakespearean plays (sometimes hilariously blended with other great works of literature), Rabbitoff and the students battle it out to prove who knows more about the literary canon. Only the students can defend Shakespeare's great name, and fight for their right to attend their next class.
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Comedy for Young Audiences
Full-length, 65-75 minutes
3 females, 3 males, 2 either
(6-11 actors possible: 3-5 females, 3-6 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Megan and Ben are orphaned siblings alone in the world. She earns pennies as a human statue -- painted silver -- while her little brother draws marvelous portraits with only a stubby pencil. One fateful day, his artwork catches the eye of the malicious Mrs. Crawley, who has a scheme to make millions with a magic paintbrush. When she captures Ben and puts him to work, it's up to Megan and their new friend Pierre to help him escape, discovering the value of kindness and bravery along the way. An enchanting story from olden times comes to life in this modern-day fairy tale.
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| "It will have the kiddies cheering its heroes and (on occasion) jeering one of youth theater's most deliciously detestable villains." |
| --The Daily Pilot |
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Drama
Full-length, 115-125 minutes
4 females, 6 males (10-40 actors possible: 4-20 females, 6-20 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Based on actual events, A Bright Swarm of Beetles follows the breathtaking career of the greatest writer of the Soviet Union: Mikhail Bulgakov. From his beginnings in the Red revolution as a nearly homeless opium addict to the dizzying heights of literary stardom, Bulgakov struggles to write in a world fraught with madness and betrayal. After his work is denounced and banned, Bulgakov is offered a chance at redemption by the sinister dictator Joseph Stalin -- but he must choose between his art and his survival. A wild, fast-paced journey through fifteen years of one of the darkest periods of modern history.
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Comedy
Full-length, 60-70 minutes
3 females, 10 males, 8 either
(13-35 actors possible: 3-14 females, 10-21 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
IT'S ALIVE! Albert Einstein's brain, that is. Sci-Fi geek and pizza delivery boy Otto must make the most important delivery of all time when the mad scientist Dr. Harvey Thomas gives Otto and his talking dog, Swamp Thing, the task of safely delivering Einstein's brain to a college in Berkeley, where it will be properly studied. Sounds easy, right? Save for a few hilarious distractions (a musical group of preserved body parts, a horde of zombies, and an evil, even madder scientist) it should be a piece of cake! Can Otto and his dog make it to their destination in relatively one piece? Pun intended.
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Fat Beckett
by Gab Cody in collaboration with Rita Reis |
 
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Comedy
Full-length, 75-90 minutes
2 females
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
In this female homage to Waiting For Godot, two women find themselves trapped in an existential everywhere. Instead of an endless wait for an absent figure, however, Sophie and Kiki embark on an eternal search for their little lost goat, Biquette. The pair is fated to travel always together -- gorging on profiteroles, discussing the merits of a festival of vomiting donkeys, and arguing over whether it is worse to be condemned to stay in one place or to travel your entire life. Utilizing repetition, shadow puppets, slapstick, and mistranslation, Fat Beckett is a clever interrogation of the absurdities of human existence.
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| "Deconstructed and reconstituted by two cheery female comics, the result is a continually renewing riff, comic improv on a Beckettian theme, but with the greater vaudevillian freedom of the Marx Brothers." |
| --Chris Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
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Drama
Full-length, 85-95 minutes
3 females, 2 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Something is different about teenage Phoebe when she returns from her summer vacation in Italy. Suddenly, she can't bear society's obsession with youth and beauty. She becomes reckless -- skipping school, and going out with guys she barely knows. Her fragile self-image is further shaken by her family and friends' constant commentary on her appearance, her neighbor's plans for plastic surgery, and her father's recent move to live with a much-younger mistress. When Phoebe's behavior takes a drastic turn, it's up to those she loves most to save her from herself before it's too late.
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| "...a subtle and devastating play, yet surprisingly funny and ultimately hopeful." |
| --Holyoke Sun |
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$19.95 per book
NOTE: This book contains 10 plays. To perform any of the plays, each must be licensed separately.
Humana Festival 2012: The Complete Plays brings together all ten scripts from the 2012 Humana Festival of New American Plays, the 36th annual cycle of world premiere productions staged at Actors Theatre of Louisville. This unique compilation features an exceptional array of work by some of the most exciting new voices in the American theatre, from a group of suburban kids in the late 80s who forge a cultural identity through hip hop (How We Got On), to a rich, dying woman who suspects her nurse is being paid off to expedite her death (Death Tax), to a 500-year-old Austrian vampire struggling with the existential grind of modern living (Michael von Siebenburg Melts Through the Floorboards). This original and diverse collection of plays is a must-have for anyone seeking fresh, daring, and compelling theater.
To purchase this book of 10 plays, click "Order this play" above. To perform an individual play, click on its title below:
The Ballad of 423 and 424
by Nicholas C. Pappas
Death Tax
by Lucas Hnath
The Dungeons and the Dragons
by Kyle John Schmidt
Eat Your Heart Out
by Courtney Baron
Hero Dad
by Laura Jacqmin
The Hour of Feeling
by Mona Mansour
How We Got On
by Idris Goodwin
Michael von Siebenburg Melts Through the Floorboards
by Greg Kotis
Oh, Gastronomy!
by Michael Golamco, Carson Kreitzer, Steve Moulds, Tanya Saracho, and Matt Schatz
The Veri**n Play
by Lisa Kron
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| "One of the most prestigious showcases for original theater in the country." |
| --The New York Times |
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Mythological Adventure Comedy
Full-length, 80-90 minutes
9 females, 15 males, 12 either
(10-36 actors possible: 4-21 females, 6-27 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Gods and mortals alike are shocked when the scheming Hades kidnaps Persephone from Mt. Olympus and holds her hostage in the Underworld. A pack of vain reporters clamors outside the gates of Zeus's palace to get the scoop, while the Goddess of the Harvest crankily destroys all of the crops in an attempt to win Persephone back. In the midst of it all, two unlikely heroes arise in the form of a young lute player named Orpheus and his bride-to-be, Eurydice, who brave Hades' bizarre kingdom in this clever send-up of Greek mythology.
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Jane Eyre
One-Act Comedy
by Gerald Murphy
adapted from the novel by Charlotte Bronte |
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Comedy
Short, 35-45 minutes
6 females, 4 males, 1 either (9-11 actors possible: 5-7 females, 3-5 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
The classic Gothic tale of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre is deconstructed and transformed into a comedy in this hilarious and fast-paced one-act. Despite a gruesomely unhappy younger life, Jane ascends from lowly orphan to governess at the strange and mysterious Thornfield Hall, where she falls for the brooding master of the house. Narrated by Jane's sassy and spoiled cousins, Georgiana and Eliza, and complete with a talking dog, imaginary horses, and, of course, the agonizing pain of unspoken love, you've never seen plain Jane like this before.
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Line?
The Creative Way for Actors to Quickly Memorize Monologues and Dialogues
by Jared Kelner |
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$14.99 per book
If you've ever struggled to remember your lines, the creative memorization techniques taught in LINE? will help you break through your mental blocks and accelerate the line memorization process. Author Jared Kelner has applied his experience as an actor and acting teacher and combined that with his expertise as a memory improvement trainer and created an imagination and sensory based process for actors to use when memorizing lines. It's an innovative approach to line memorization that taps into the actor's imagination and acting training rather than relying on monotonous rote memorization methods like highlighting, recording and repeating lines over and over. By applying the creative memorization methods presented in LINE? you will instantly recall your lines.
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| "Bottom line, the memory techniques taught in LINE? work. Any actor who's ever struggled to remember their lines needs to buy this book and read it right away. I only wish I learned this memorization method years ago." |
| --Javier Molina, Associate Director of the Action Theatre Conservatory and Lifetime Member of the Actors Studio |
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Comedy/Drama
Full-length, 85-95 minutes
3 females, 1 male
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Meet the Nowaks of Buffalo, NY. Clara and her three grown kids have always known they were special, ever since the miraculous night in 1942 when the Blessed Mother appeared to Grandpa in his barbershop! Since then, the neighborhood has looked upon the Nowaks' 20-foot commemorative shrine as a beacon of hope and faith amidst the urban rubble. And now daughter Ruth unveils her plan to write and star in a one-woman show about the family miracle so the "whole world will know!" However, as her plans for theatrical immortality unfold, the entire family's faith is shaken to the very core when a deathbed confession causes the family legend to unravel. The results are heartfelt and hilarious. (Included is a guide for turning this play into a Christmas Play.)
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| "...a sprightly, gentle comedy, where revelations that might remake a family's sense of itself are each rolled out in service of laughter." |
| --Daniel M. Gold, The New York Times |
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Comedy
Full-length, 100-110 minutes
3 females, 4 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
After leaving her cheating husband, Bea discovers, to her horror, that her nice Jewish son Hal has secretly been running a sex shop in London's Soho district. When Hal closes up shop for a two-week holiday, his prudish mum insists upon smartening-up the ramshackle store while he's gone. Afraid to lose sales in the meantime, she finds she has a flare for counseling the lonely customers who wander in -- and for selling them sex toys. Surrounded by edible knickers and blow-up dolls, Bea discovers more about sexuality than she ever wanted to know, which may be just what she needs to save her own troubled marriage.
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| "Len Richmond is London's answer to Neil Simon." |
| --London Theatre Review |
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Comedy
Short, 30-40 minutes
4 females, 5 males, 3 either (12-16 actors possible: 4-7 females, 5-9 males)
$40.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
Jenna has given Mark a simple task: pass a note to John Stenson. It should have been easy. But when Mark confuses John with Shawn, another student confuses Shawn spelled with a "W" and Shaun with a "U", and so on and so on...it sets off a chain of miscommunications that could lead to World War III. Or not. Probably not. But a series of mishaps and "Who's on First"-esque silliness ensues in a comedy that asks...wait...what was the question again?
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Comedy
Full-length, 85-95 minutes
2 females, 2 males (4-11 actors possible: 2-6 females, 2-8 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Love is hard at any age. In Kindergarten, five-year old Sam falls for Stacey, a tough Girl Scout who wants to be a cowboy when she grows up -- just like he does. But Stacey eventually breaks Sam's heart, and instead of growing up to ride the range, he becomes a jaded radio show host. As "Dr. Love," Sam (not-so-secretly) pines for the long-lost Stacey, and dishes out cynical advice to frustrated couples like Mike and Katie, whose relationship has grown stale after 5 years together. When Mike and Katie cross paths with a grown-up Stacey in a TGI Fridays, she is thrust back into Sam's life with hilarious and touching results.
website: www.playdatestheshow.com
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| "Incisive and hilarious." |
| --Huffington Post |
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Comedy
Full-length, 120-140 minutes
3 females, 2 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Watch Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy fall in love all over again -- this time filtered through the world of the internet. Modern voices interject and build on this classic love story in the form of blog posts, chat room discussions, quotes from film adaptations, and even letters from Ms. Austen herself to create a delightfully postmodern view of 19th century England. Written for five actors to play every role, Pride@Prejudice is a hilarious and moving homage to Jane Austen's most beloved novel, as well our love affair with reading.
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| "I can't think of another new work staged in Columbus in my 24-plus years as a Dispatch critic that has displayed so much promise or polish... This play seems destined to be seen and celebrated across the country." |
| --Michael Grossberg, Columbus Dispatch |
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Dramedy
Short, 30-40 minutes
2 females, 2 males, 5 either (9 actors possible: 2-7 females, 1-7 males)
$40.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
When Alberta, the daughter of a mathematician, struggles to comprehend her parents' impending divorce, she invokes her father's hero and her own namesake: Albert Einstein. The unlikely pair visits the past to study the early strains of her parents' marriage via an incident involving an ambiguous traffic light, a cantankerous judge, and a few amiable Texas Rangers. By examining the incident step by step, Einstein helps Alberta accept the uncertainty that lies in all things, whether it be time and space, or the bond between a husband and wife.
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Rodeo
A Ten Gallon Tale of a Cowgirl in Disguise
by Philip Dawkins |
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Comedy
Short, 50-60 minutes
4 females, 13 males, 25 either (16-20 actors possible: 3-20 females, 7-20 males)
$40.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
Rough and tumble cowgirl Cody and her persnickety mule, Sprezzatura, ride into town fixin' to win the annual rodeo. Only one problem: girls aren't allowed to compete. Unwilling to lay down the lasso so easily, Cody and Sprezzatura whip up the perfect plan to disguise themselves as a boy and a horse and sneak their way into the competitors' ring. Western-y and Shakespearean-y shenanigans ensue when a dastardly villain, a slew of singing horses, and an unexpected romance come between Cody and her master plan to win the day in this rootin-tootin' comedy.
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Comedy
Short, 45-55 minutes
5 females, 3 males
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
After years living abroad, Julia Mahood returns home for middle school. No one is more excited to see her than Michael Fish, her childhood friend who remembers everything about her younger self -- even her second grade Halloween costume. When Will, the inarticulate star of the basketball team, begs Michael to help him woo Julia, he agrees. But as Julia falls for Will (who is actually Michael sending her text messages), Michael realizes that in helping his friend, he is also hurting himself. A hilarious update of Cyrano de Bergerac for our modern technological age.
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