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A Thirty-Minute Hamlet by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 7. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 10. Minimum total without doubling = 17. No chorus. Whilst there isn't a formal chorus, the numbers of attendants and courtiers could easily be increased. |
Run Time | Around 30 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', with the original text of around three hours cut down to 30 minutes. (The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
Synopsis | Hamlet, the Danish prince, finds himself haunted by his father's ghost. The ghost confirms that he was murdered by his brother, Claudius, who is now king. Hamlet dithers in his course of action - should he avenge his father or submit to Claudius? Ultimately it ends tragically for the whole court. |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
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A Thirty-Minute Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 14. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 16. Minimum total without doubling = 28. Chorus. The chorus is flexible - there is a crowd, and unnumbered soldiers and servants. |
Run Time | Around 30 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar', with the original text of two hours and more cut down to 30 minutes. (The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
Synopsis | Fresh from military conquests, Caesar returns to Rome in triumph. His friend, Mark Antony, offers him a crown. The Roman senate takes offence at this - the senators want to maintain the republic, rather than have Rome submit to a single ruler. Thus is born a conspiracy against Caesar, leading to his murder on the Ides of March and setting up a confrontation between Caesar's supporters and the conspirators. |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
Feedback | Click here to find out what other customers said about this script. |
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A Thirty-Minute Macbeth by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 16. Minimum Female roles = 5. Minimum total with doubling = 21. Minimum total without doubling = 28. No chorus. The male characters include Macduff's son who should be aged around 7. No formal chorus, but a flexible number of soldiers and offstage voices. |
Run Time | Around 30 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Macbeth', with the original text of around three hours cut down to 30 minutes. (The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
Synopsis | Witches foretell that, against expectations and the laws of inheritance, Macbeth will become king of Scotland. Urged on by his wife, Macbeth tries to make the prophesy come true. All goes well (in a gruesome sort of way) until the shrubbery starts walking up the drive. An introduction to Shakespeare for primary schools. |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
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A Thirty-Minute Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 10. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 14. Minimum total without doubling = 22. No chorus. |
Run Time | Around 30 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet', with the original text of two hours and more cut down to 30 minutes. (The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
Synopsis | Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. So the Montagues and Capulets are at each other's throats, but the Montague's son and Capulet's daughter, meet, fall in love and pledge to be married in secret. Things begin to fall apart when Tybalt, a hot-headed Capulet, picks a fight. Romeo intervenes to calm things down, but this only results in Tybalt killing Romeo's kinsman and Romeo killing Tybalt. Further sorrow follows not far behind. A tragic love story, with an awful lot of fighting. |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
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A Thirty-Minute Tempest by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 9. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 11. Minimum total without doubling = 15. No chorus. Like much of Shakespeare, the cast is male-heavy. Don't let that put you off! |
Run Time | Around 35 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', with the original text of two hours and more cut down to 30 minutes. (The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
Synopsis | Prospero, the exiled duke of Milan, has raised his daughter Miranda alone on an island with nobody else around but Caliban, a deformed creature Prospero treats as a slave. Using his magic to wreck a ship carrying the usurping Duke of Milan and his entourage, Prospero aims to awe the noblemen, reassert his right to the throne of Milan, and find a match for his daughter. |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
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The Three Bells Inn by Richard Hills |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 3. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 7. Minimum total without doubling = 7. No chorus. |
Run Time | Around 30 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | One-act slice of life from a London pub during the Second World War. (Could be used as an educational piece, but contains some mild swearing and, being set in a pub, drinking.) |
Synopsis | Bombs are falling on London again, but some local residents have opted to spend the evening in the pub, rather than the shelters. A look at the practicalities of wartime life in Britain from a local perspective. |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
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Three Canterbury Tales by Richard James |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 5. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 7. Minimum total without doubling = 7. No chorus. |
Run Time | Around 25 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | One-act verse play. No set requirements, few (deliberately rough-and-ready) props. |
Synopsis | Three of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, told in verse but adapted for the stage. The Miller, The Pardoner and the Wife of Bath are brought to life with the narration of Chaucer and the help of three other pilgrims (the Friar, the Summoner and the Nun). |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
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The Three Little Pigs... I Mean The Three Little Hogs by Larry Brumer |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 0. Minimum Female roles = 1. Minimum total with doubling = 5. Minimum total without doubling = 5. No chorus. |
Run Time | Around 30 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | Small-cast comedy play intended for performance by an adult or high school company to an elementary school audience. Simple sets, costumes and props. |
Synopsis | The tale of the Three Little Pigs (building houses, wolves huffing and blowing - that sort of thing) retold for elementary pupils with audience interaction and a surprise ending. |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
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Tiddley Pum by Frances Bartram |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 3. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 6. Minimum total without doubling = 6. No chorus. |
Run Time | Around 35 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | One-act comedy play. Minimal set (an ante-room for an audition, no particular requirements). Well-drawn characters and sparkling dialogue. |
Synopsis | Six characters meeting each other for the first time as they gather to audition for a television show. Their talents are as disparate as their personalities. |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
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A Time for Farewells by Damian Trasler Winner of the Author's Award, RAFTA One-Act Play Festival, 2003 & (amongst other things) the Buckhaven Trophy [Best Moment of Theatre] SCDA festival 2008. |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 3. Minimum Female roles = 1. Minimum total with doubling = 4. Minimum total without doubling = 4. No chorus. |
Run Time | Around 45 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | Serious, touching play. One act, one simple set. [Includes mild swearing] |
Synopsis | As they dress for a social event that will mark the end of their married life together, Sarah and Alex review their relationship to find out what brought them to this point. |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
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