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Comedy
Full-length, 60-75 minutes
4 females, 6 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Miss Nelson can't control her crazy classroom because she's just too nice. But when she disappears, her replacement is the hard-as-nails, detention-loving, recess-canceling, homework-overloading substitute teacher Viola Swamp! With the Big Test approaching, the kids suddenly realize how much they miss Miss Nelson and they'll do anything -- including hiring a private eye -- to solve the mystery of her disappearance and bring her back.
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Snapshot
by Tanya Barfield, Lee Blessing, Michael Bigelow Dixon, Julie Jensen, et al. |
 
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Drama/Comedy
Full-length, 80-100 minutes
11 females, 11 males (4-25 actors possible: 2-15 females, 2-15 males)
$75.00 per performance; $9.99 per book
NOTE: Each piece in this anthology can be licensed and performed separately.
A photograph captures and documents a single moment in time and space -- a snapshot of history, of a reality bounded by the photo's frame. But what lies outside, beyond, behind the photograph? And what stories, memories, or associations does an image of place inspire? In this multi-writer project from Actors Theatre of Louisville, a diverse assortment of talented playwrights encounter and transform Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, 1969, a compelling image of the monument by renowned photographer Lee Friedlander. Their thought-provoking scenes and monologues range from delightful comedy to utterly serious tragedy, each approaching the photo's themes through a new lens.
To perform the entire collection, click "Order this play" above. To perform an individual piece independently, click on its title below:
A Quick Tour of the Monument by Craig Wright Monument by Honour Kane Scene at Mount Rushmore by Quincy Long Tyler Poked Taylor by Lee Blessing Rock Scissors Paper by Deb Margolin Little Pezidents by Michael Bigelow Dixon and Val Smith Defacing Patriotic Property by Tanya Barfield Her First Screen Test by Dan O'Brien Thrift of the Magi by Annie Weisman Night Out by Sunil Kuruvilla Here and Now by Chay Yew The Great Father by Victor Lodato American Klepto by Allison Moore Becoming American by Lynn Nottage History Lesson by David Lindsay-Abaire Bomb Squad by Craig Wright On Lincoln's Head by Julie Jensen
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| "A terrific collection of perspectives -- both directly and indirectly inspired by the photo, ranging from serious to sassy..." |
| --Back Stage |
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Comedy/Drama
Full-length, 60-80 minutes
8 females, 8 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
When the quiet town of Deerpoint, Vermont is hit by the biggest blizzard in 107 years, a mysterious girl named Eva steps out of a snow bank and into the lives of 15 confused teenagers who are asked to help her in her search. What Eva's searching for -- and who she truly is -- becomes a mystery that baffles, divides, and energizes the teens of Deerpoint. Told through journal entries and interactions among the students over the course of a single snow day, Snow Angel is a funny and eerie tale of teen angst, discovery, and the power of believing.
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Anon(ymous) by Naomi Iizuka
based on Homer's The Odyssey |
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Drama
Full-length, 90 minutes
6 females, 5 males (11-35 actors possible: 6-20 females, 5-15 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Separated from his mother, a young refugee called Anon journeys through the United States, encountering a wide variety of people -- some kind, some dangerous and cruel -- as he searches for his family. From a sinister one-eyed butcher to beguiling barflies to a sweatshop, Anon must navigate through a chaotic, ever-changing landscape in this entrancing adaptation of Homer's Odyssey.
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| "Anon(ymous) is [a] stunning retelling of an epic quest." |
| --Dominic P. Papatola, St. Paul Pioneer Press |
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Trepidation Nation
a phobic anthology
by Keith Josef Adkins, Stephen Belber, Hilary Bell, Glen Berger, et al. |
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Drama/Comedy
Full-length, 80-100 minutes
12 females, 11 males (4-23 actors possible)
$75.00 per performance; $9.99 per book
NOTE: Each piece in this anthology can be licensed and performed separately.
We all have instinctive fears -- but what if a fear becomes inexplicable, illogical, and just plain weird? Then you're dealing with a phobia, one of those most extreme and fascinating of terrors. Actors Theatre of Louisville asked 16 frighteningly creative playwrights to find inspiration in real phobias, and the resulting collection of pieces might prove that not only is fear humankind's oldest emotion, but it's also one of our silliest, most serious, and stage-worthy.
To perform the entire collection, click "Order this play" above. To perform an individual piece independently, click on its title below:
The Gallows Monologue from Sidney Ryan's 'Gunpowder and Blood' by Glen Berger
The Message by Hilary Bell
Down to Sleep by Victoria Stewart
Cobra Neck by Keith Josef Adkins
Seal Skin by Erik Ehn
I Am Not Alone by Richard Dresser
The Joys of Childhood by Kirsten Greenidge
Octophobia by James Still
Hold This by Sheila Callaghan
Naked Lunch by Michael Hollinger
Normal by Cusi Cram
Euxious by Bridget Carpenter
I'm Here for You by Warren Leight
Safe by Gina Gionfriddo
Phobophobia by Julie Marie Myatt
Yes by Stephen Belber
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Drama
Short, 20-25 minutes
1 female, 1 male
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
A defense lawyer cross-examines a woman during her testimony in a sexual assault case -- and in doing so, horribly distorts her perfectly innocent walk in the park.
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| "A feminist classic." |
| --The List (Edinburgh) |
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Drama
Full-length, 70-80 minutes
4 females, 4 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
An eerie cycle of ghost stories, set in the cave country of North Carolina. After a young girl is lost in a cave on the edge of town, there is a Rashomon-like investigation of her disappearance and the fate of those who survive her.
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| "[Iizuka] has taken some of the ghostly structure of the classical Japanese Noh play, recast it in a rural idiom and infused it with a humming, explosive energy -- language used like a loaded weapon." |
| --Seattle Times |
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Comedy/Drama
Various durations
Various cast requirements
$9.99 per book
NOTE: This book contains 6 plays. To perform any of the plays, each must be licensed separately.
Since its founding in 1963, the Guthrie Theater of Minneapolis has pioneered the American regional theater movement, bringing to life both the traditional classical repertoire and a diverse body of new works. The ten-minute plays in this volume were commissioned by the theater for its Guthrie Experience summer acting conservatory. The Volume 2 anthology includes six plays by six outstanding playwrights, every one expanding the possibilities of the ten-minute form.
To purchase this book of six plays, click "Order this play" above. To perform an individual play, click on its title below:
Fairy Tale by Tracey Wilson In Darkness by Kevin Kling The Joy of Having a Body by Julie Marie Myatt The New New by Kelly Stuart Pleasure Cruise by Kira Obolensky The Roads That Lead Here by Lee Blessing
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Comedy/Drama
Various durations
Various cast requirements
$9.99 per book
NOTE: This book contains 7 plays. To perform any of the plays, each must be licensed separately.
Since its founding in 1963, the Guthrie Theater of Minneapolis has pioneered the American regional theater movement, bringing to life both the traditional classical repertoire and a diverse body of new works. The ten-minute plays in this volume were commissioned by the theater for its Guthrie Experience summer acting conservatory. The Volume 1 anthology includes seven plays by seven outstanding playwrights, every one expanding the possibilities of the ten-minute form.
To purchase this book of seven plays, click "Order this play" above. To perform an individual play, click on its title below:
Dive by Melanie Marnich El Santo Americano by Edward Bok Lee The Human Voice by Carlyle Brown Now We're Really Getting Somewhere by Kristina Halvorson Small World by Tracey Scott Wilson Thief of Man by Kevin Kling Zealot by Julie Marie Myatt
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Comedy
Short, 15-20 minutes
2 females
$45.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
When a housewife comes to the end of her rope with her abusive husband, she doesn't expect him to spontaneously combust. Now she has a pile of ashes on the floor, and a life to reclaim.
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Comedy/Drama
Various durations
Various cast requirements
$9.99 per book
NOTE: This book contains 8 plays. To perform any of the plays, each must be licensed separately.
Since its founding in 1963, the Guthrie Theater of Minneapolis has pioneered the American regional theater movement, bringing to life both the traditional classical repertoire and a diverse body of new works. The ten-minute plays in this volume were commissioned by the theater for its Guthrie Experience summer acting conservatory. The Volume 3 anthology includes eight plays by eight outstanding playwrights, every one expanding the possibilities of the ten-minute form.
To purchase this book of eight plays, click "Order this play" above. To perform an individual play, click on its title below:
The Glory of God by Carson Kreitzer
Hurry! by Bridget Carpenter
A Little Lunch by Kristina Halvorson
No More Static by Kevin Kell O'Donnell
The Second Beam by Joan Ackermann
Three Dimensions by Jerome Hairston
Wanting North by Tanya Barfield
Zion Science by Laurie Carlos
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Drama for young audiences
Full-length, 100-120 minutes
13 females, 15 males (20-28 actors possible: 9-13 females, 11-15 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
World War Two. The Nazi Occupation of Poland. Dr. Janusz Korczak -- writer, educator, physician, and passionate advocate for children -- tries to keep the 200 Jewish boys and girls of his famed Warsaw orphanage alive and hopeful in the face of unbelievable deprivation and terror. In the horrible conditions of the Jewish Ghetto, Korczak does everything within his power to make sure his children are fed and clothed, cared for and safe. But there are rumors of a change in the ghetto. Tales of deportations to concentration camps are spreading. And Korczak knows time may be running out. Against the rules of the ghetto, he permits his orphans to stage a magical play -- The Post Office -- to teach them about the one adult subject he has not yet broached with them: death. As the play is rehearsed, the rumors become reality, and Korczak must decide who can be saved and who must go on the final journey together.
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| "Although the subject of Korczak is dark and painful, Hatcher's play is packed with the humor and vigor of children living in an enclosed world that feels separated from the darkness lapping around it...Korczak's Children is a timely and significant play for children old enough to grapple with the consequences of war and deep-seated prejudice." |
| --Elizabeth Weir, Talkin' Broadway |
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Comedy
Full-length, 90-120 minutes
4 females, 5 males (9-11 actors possible: 4-6 females, 5-7 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
A man moves to write the great American novel. A woman moves to Alaska to start a new life. Babies, wild dogs, komodo dragons, and hula dancers abound in this play about finding your tribe in a world gone haywire.
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Comedy
Full-length, 85-95 minutes
4 females, 1 male (5-11 actors possible: 4-8 females, 1-3 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Welcome to a high school where the in-crowd is the thin-crowd. The death of the uber-anorexic Monique, queen of the Carpenters, kicks off a scramble for the crown, and the school's hottest hottie, The Bradley. Renee, with the help of her bulimic best friend Patty, is determined to claim the crown by out-foxing her rival Jeanine and taking her body back to its pre-puberty contours. Let the diet wars begin!
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| "Playwright Wendy MacLeod's bitter black comedy is...sick. It's perverse. It's irreverent. And it's hilarious." |
| --The Washington Post |
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Comedy
Full-length, 90-100 minutes
3 females, 3 males, 1 either
(6-11 actors possible: 3-5 females, 3-6 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Moll, a girl who invents things, wins the science fair with a machine for hearing sounds that can't be heard. But when a shapeshifting Mercenary steals the invention (and her heart), she must embark on a quest to save noise as we know it. Accompanied by the last boy-virgin in the eleventh grade, Moll crosses chasms and rafts rivers into a world where sound is always more than what meets the ear. A quirky fable of innocence and experience, featuring live sound effects, mutinous onomatopoeia, and a host of woodsy temptations.
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| "Stuffed with whizbang sight and sonic gags, sci-fi tropes, fanciful language and self-referential pokes at its own loopiness, Kid-Simple is the work of a fertile, rambunctious imagination...Harrison is an exhilarating wordsmith." |
| --Misha Berson, Seattle Times |
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Frostbite by Lisa D'Amour
Inspired by the Noh play Sotoba Komachi |
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Drama
Short, 25-35 minutes
4 females, 3 males, 4 either
(7-15 actors possible: 4-8 females, 3-7 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
On a chilly night in Duluth, Minnesota, with nothing much to do, Sheila, Kira, and Matt head to a clearing in the woods in search of any kind of excitement. In place of partygoers they find a scrawny, shivering kid who claims to be more than 100 years old. As The Kid enacts his epic story, each teen must face his or her own hopes and fears about identity, adventure, and great love.
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| Act A Lady by Michael Friedman and Jordan Harrison |
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Comedy
Full-length, 90-100 minutes
3 females, 3 males
$100.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
When the men of a small Prohibition-era town decide to put on a play dressed in "fancy-type, women-type clothes," the whole community is affected: gender lines blur, eyebrows raise, identities explode, and life and art are forever entangled. A thoughtful and exuberant Midwestern fable about the woman in every man, the man in every woman and the power of theatre to uncover both. Accompanied by accordion.
(This play is also available in the collection Humana Festival 2006: The Complete Plays.)
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| "The [2006 Humana] Festival's most uproarious comedy, a farce of outlandish proportions, takes on and celebrates the art of theater itself...Part Waiting for Guffman and part Dangerous Liaisons, Act a Lady's dizzying gender-bending explores the theater, the fallibility of stereotypes and the joys of accordion music with a deft wisdom..." |
| --Tony Brown, Cleveland Plain Dealer |
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Drama/Comedy
Full-length, 75-90 minutes
1 male
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
An inner-tube, a bagel, a donut, a lifesaver, a holiday wreath, a tire-swing, a cycle of abuse, a halo of hatred: circles, both real and figurative, whirl out of control in this darkly comic one-man show. And at the center of them all sits an enigmatic squirrel. Orbiting that squirrel is Chester, a self-described rodentophobe who spins the outlandish, funny, and bruising tale of growing up with a father who developed a rabid hatred for squirrels -- a hatred that eventually infected every aspect of his and his son's life. Pursued by memories of his intolerant father and the legacy of bigotry, Chester is pulled into the black hole at the center of his own life where he encounters the mistakes, the fears, the guilt, and the humanity that make him whole again.
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| "Painful memories, tempered by bittersweet rushes of levity and a hint of redemptive power, fill the 90 exhilarating minutes of John Walch's new play Circumference of a Squirrel." |
| --Naomi Siegel, The New York Times |
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Comedy/Drama
Full-length, 115-125 minutes
2 females, 2 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Bored of frat parties and second-run movies, a group of college friends challenge each other to have a three-way with the Christian who lives next door. ("It could be the new Survivor.") In this undergraduate world of irony and internet porn, sex is common but love is the thing that dares not speak its name.
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| "Cleverly written...it's the playwright's way with language that does the trick, her understanding of the versatile uses these sharp kids find for the idiomatic speech of their generation." |
| --Marilyn Stasio, Variety |
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Comedy/Drama
Full-length, 70-80 minutes
3 females, 3 males (5-17 actors possible: 3-6 females, 2-11 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Lucy is on a cross-country mission, looking for the love of her life. Her journey takes her across the American landscape, through hilarious and eccentric relationships in which time and emotion pass in a warped instant. When her quest becomes intertwined with that of a quirky female serial killer (an astrophysicist gone bad), the landscape changes once again, as they cross state lines and faultlines, exploring the geography of the human heart.
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