TALK TO ME! by Daniella Hicks and Estefania Morales
Middle Grades; 2 female; contemporary; 10 minutes.
Winner of the 2005 PLAYS/California Student Playwriting Contest (Middle Schools): A heartfelt conversation between two sisters—one in high school, one in middle school—about their relationship.
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BE-SWITCHED by Roger Kise
Middle and Lower Grades; 5 female, 1 male, 2 male or female; 10 minutes.
Fairy-tale subject (Wicked Witch) gets extreme makeover, courtesy of the team of stylists on popular daytime talk show.
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A LOAN FOR COLUMBUS by Inez Carvalho
Middle Grades; 2 male, 2 female; 15th century; 25 minutes.
Bold explorer’s meeting with a bank loan officer goes poorly, but ends up in a lunch date with the Queen. And, the rest is history.
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DEAR JOURNAL by Judy Culp
Upper grades; few to many actors; 10 minutes to 1 hour.
An exciting collection of monologues, dialogues, and one-liners that can be used as a flexible drama workshop piece, introducing “journaling” to a class or a whole school. Author Judy Culp writes, “This piece is highly adaptable: It may be used as is; users may pick certain selections for presentations; or certain selections maybe combined with new original pieces written by students on timely issues.”
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HISTORY IDOL by Kate Wagner
Middle and Lower Grades; 6 female; 4 male; 1 male/female for Terry and as many male and female extras as desired. 20 minutes.
Six famous quotes from history—by Abraham Lincoln, Neil Armstrong, Lou Gehrig, Chief Joseph, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr.—are celebrated in this spoof of a popular TV show.
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THUNDERMUFFS by Cindy Blobaum
Middle and Lower Grades; 4 male; 3 female; 15 minutes.
Mitchell, who likes peace and quiet, comes in conflict with the rest of his family who love the noise of a good storm. Good lessons about weather safety. Can they find a way to live in harmony?
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YOU DON'T SAY by Peg Juffer
Lower Grades; 3 female; 1 male; 8 to 10 male/female; 10 minutes.
Perfect for Book Week: Librarian is stumped about how to get students to read until some creative characters pop out of the book shelves to help out.
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GENUS DE MILO by Christina Hamlett
Upper Grades; 2 male, 2 female; contemporary Gothic; 25 minutes.
Blood relatives join young couple and future mother-in-law for a late-night bite.
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THE PREHISTORIC FOLLIES by Jane Tesh
Middle and Lower Grades; 3 male, 2 female; male and female extras; 10 minutes.
Cheer for your favorite extinct reptile—and learn some interesting dinosaur facts along the way!—in this clever play about an Ice Age talent show.
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THE LUCK OF THE IVIES by Frank V. Priore
Lower Grades; 2 female and 1 male; 15 minutes.
Set in a clearing in the forest, quick-thinking leprechaun thwarts the efforts of two young girls to steal his pot of gold.
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THE FISHERMAN, HIS WIFE, AND THE SEA OF DREAMS by Bruce Berger
Middle and Lower Grades; Radio play for reading; 2 male, 3 female, and 1 male or female for narrator; 10 minutes.
A never-satisfied wife and a talking fish help teach a lesson in being grateful for what you have, in a fun tale that’s nothing to carp about.
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THE BUBBLE GUM ESCAPADE by Jo Ann Memming
Middle and Lower Grades; 5 male, 1 female, and as many extras as desired. 15 minutes.
The situation turns sticky when Grandfather’s most valuable coin is “borrowed” from the home collection and turns up at school—stuck to the bottom of a lunchroom table.
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OCTAVE by Kevin Stone
Lower Grades; 7 male or female; adults for narrator and piano player; 10 minutes.
Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do! Here's a fun, easy way to teach children about the notes in a scale, major and minor chords, and the value of working together.
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THE FIRST THANKSGIVING by Robert Mauro
Middle and Lower Grades; 4 male, 2 female, 1 male/female for turkey; 15 minutes.
With a bit of healthy doubt about the relationship of Native peoples and Puritans, families prepare for a day of feasting that not everyone is happy about—particularly the turkey.
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THE KING'S CREAMPUFFS by Martha Swintz
Middle and Lower Grades; 5 male, 4 female, many male and female extras; 30 minutes.
Wicked witch steals the royal creampuff recipe, upsets the King, and causes havoc in the royal kitchen.
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SNEAKY SAM IN SUNNY JUNCTION, by Ellen M. Eleder
Middle and Lower Grades; 3 male, 2 female, 1 male or female adult or gifted reader for Narrator; 20+ male and female. 1880s; 15 minutes.
Sure-to-please large-cast melodrama with the usual dashing hero, moustache-twirling villain, and sweet heroine named Sue. . .but this one also has plenty of audience participation, songs and choreography.
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THE POLKA DOT THIEF, by Amy Paulson
Middle Grades; 5 male, 3 female, and 1 male or female; 15 minutes.
Police follow a trail of gum wrappers to try to figure out the "whodunit" of a "sticky" crime!
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TURKEY SAVES THE DAY, by Peggy Bauer
Lower Grades, 4 male or female; 10 minutes.
Bird cries "Foul!" when he realizes he's going to be the main attraction for Thanksgiving dinner.
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VOICE AND COUNTERVOICE: THE BLIND DATE by Judine Brey
Upper Grades; 4 female, 2 male; 15 minutes.
Ever wonder what your date is really thinking? An innovative and amusing play about a blind date that bounces back and forth between what's said and what's thought.
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THE RELUCTANT COLUMBUS by Harold Cable
Middle Grades; 3 male, 3 female, 6 male or female; 30 minutes.
The story of how a guy who loved maps and a guy who didn't want to be a prince teamed up to find gold in the West, and prove the earth is round. . .all with a little help from their zany friends.
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DANITA'S DISGUISE by Susan Lee
Lower Grades; 4 male, 3 female; 10 minutes.
Young actors will have loads of fun trying on all sorts of costumes and performing in this Halloween play with a simple setting and easy-to-find props. A little creativity can go a long way!
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RAINFOREST TRIO by Barbara Winther
Middle and Lower Grades. Three plays in one: Play 1, Crocodile Gives Monkey a Ride, 2 male or female, 10 minutes; Play 2, Trapping the Jaguar, 1 male, 2 male or female, 15 minutes; Play 3, Wild Woman, 4 male, 3 female, 7 male or female, 20 minutes.
Set in different types of rainforests, three folktales of mystery and magic, featuring characters with pluck, ingenuity, and common sense.
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MERE MIRROR by Roger Kise
Middle and Lower Grades; 3 male, 6 female, 4 male or female; 20 minutes.
A modern, fun take-off of Snow White (without the dwarfs) featuring a wicked stepmother who finds that vanity comes with a high price.
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CSI: MOTHER GOOSE LAND, by Jane Tesh
Middle and Lower Grades; 7 female, 6 male, male or female for Cat, King's Horses, King's Men; 10-15 minutes.
Did Humpty Dumpty fall. . .or was he pushed? A large-cast mystery featuring a host of familiar fairy tale characters.
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MOTHER GOOSE HAS TALENT by David Ely
Middle and Lower Grades; 34 male and female; 25 minutes.
A wonderful spoof of a make-believe television show—complete with funny advertisements—with nursery rhyme characters participating in the competition and solving the mystery of the missing sheep.
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FIRE IN A PAPER by Loleta Hagy
Middle and Lower Grades; 6 male and female; 15 minutes.
Two new brides have to combine smart thinking and common sense in a test demanded by their mother-in-law. The two young women do what is asked of them, and more, setting the stage for a long life of family harmony.
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TURNABOUT by Margaret Bunel Edwards
Upper Grades; 3 male; 3 female; 1 male or female; 15 minutes.
So you witnessed a traffic accident, and have other things to think about — why get involved? Use this skit as the springboard for a discussion on civic duty and responsibility.
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THE MISSING LIST by Melinda Williams
Middle and Lower Grades; 1 male; 1 female; 8 male or female. 20 minutes.
Christmas may have to be canceled because one of Santa's elves is tired of working and tired of greedy kids.
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CUPID'S WEBSITE by Liz Boiko Burdick
Middle and Lower Grades; 6 male, 7 female, 8 male or female; 20 minutes.
Will web designer's plans take all the charm out of boy-meets-girl?
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THE MIRACLE OF SPRING by Helen Hanna
Middle & Lower Grades; 3 male, 6 female, 19+ male or female; 15 minutes. A large-cast play to welcome Spring and learn about the environment. Petulant King Bartholomew bans Spring, only to realize in a dream courtroom drama that he has upset the cycles of the seasons and destroyed the food supply.
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GREEK PEEK by Carol D. Wise
Middle Grades; 13+ actors: 7 female, 4 male, 2 male or female, as many male and female as desired for Chorus; 30 minutes.
The myth of Persephone, and how the seasons came to be, told two ways: one traditional, one in rap.
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EDITED by David LaBounty
Middle Grades. 7 actors: 4 male, 3 female (or any combination desired); 25 minutes. A take-off on a television game show where contestants are given key words and a short amount of time to write poetry and prose, with judges eagerly waiting to “edit” them out of the show.
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TRAPPED by Carol D. Wise
Middle Grades; 3 male, 4 female, 4 male and/or female. 20 minutes.
What happens when seven people, including an overly cheerful retired teacher, an obnoxious (and nauseous) kid, a chatty cellphone user, and an odiferous fisherman get stuck in an elevator.
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MOUNT RUSHMORE by David LaBounty
Middle and Lower Grades; 8 male, 4 female; as many male and female extras as desired for Other Students; 15-20 minutes. Four presidents have a little fun with visitors to a national memorial.
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HELP WANTED by Amy Green
Middle Grades. 7 actors: 3 male, 2 female, 2 male and/or female; 25 minutes. Zany cast of characters—including a banana-cream-pie-wielding robot—tries to thwart evil mad scientist’s plans to destroy the world.
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GIVING UP THE GHOSTS by Bunny Schulle
Middle & Lower Grades: 4+ actors: 1 male, 1 female, 2 male or female and as many extras as desired; 10 minutes. Friendly ghosts find they are a bit out of practice when it comes to scaring Halloween trick-or-treaters.
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STRICTLY PURITAN by Helen Louise Miller
Middle and Lower Grades; 11 actors flexible male and female; 25 minutes.
Students attempt to recreate authentic Thanksgiving dinner—without using modern-day ingredients.
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