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| King Henry IV, Part 2 [60-Minute Abridgement] by Shakespeare, abridged Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 8. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 12. Minimum total without doubling = 35. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 60 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A 60-minute abridgement of the Shakespeare history.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but, because all the words are Shakespeare's and therefore out of copyright, performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | After the Battle of Shrewsbury, Falstaff is sent with Lord John of Lancaster to deal with the rebellion in the north. King Henry, who has been ill for some time, dies after a reconciliation with Prince Hal, who, as Henry V, abjures his former friendships. |
| 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 |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| King Richard the Second [60-minute abridgement] by Shakespeare, abridged Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 8. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 12. Minimum total without doubling = 26. No chorus. All the doubled roles are male (so the numbers without doubling are 22M, 4F), but of course you can cast whoever you like. There are options to increase the cast size with non-speaking court retinue. |
| Run Time | Around 60 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A 60-minute abridgement of the Shakespeare history.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but, because all the words are Shakespeare's and therefore out of copyright, performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | King Richard II, badly advised, banishes Henry Bolingbroke. When Richard seizes the property of John of Gaunt, Henry's father, Henry returns to get restitution. He builds a strong following against the unpopular Richard, who surrenders the crown, is imprisoned, and murdered. |
| 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 |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| Love's Labour's Lost [60-minute abridgement] by Shakespeare, abridged Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 10. Minimum Female roles = 5. Minimum total with doubling = 17. Minimum total without doubling = 18. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 60 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A 60-minute abridgement of the Shakespeare comedy.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but, because all the words are Shakespeare's and therefore out of copyright, performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Ferdinand, King of Navarre, has decided that he and his court will devote three years to an ascetic life of studying, fasting, and forswearing the company of women. However, he has forgotten that the Princess of France and her retinue are due to visit. So, will the court pursue asceticism or pretty women? |
| 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 |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| Macbeth [75-Minute Abridgement] by Shakespeare, abridged Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 5. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 10. Minimum total without doubling = 29. No chorus. Twenty-nine roles, but playable by a cast of ten. (The producer's copy of the script includes a table of roles per scene to help figure out the doubling options.) |
| Run Time | Around 75 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A 75-minute abridgement of Shakespeare's Scottish play.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but, because all the words are Shakespeare's and therefore out of copyright, performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Witchcraft, prophecies, hallucination, regicide, porterage, portents, usurpation, amicide, phantom at the feast, apparitions, equivocations, blood-boltered spectre, family massacre, somnambulation, suicide, tyrannicide, decapitation.
All good clean fun. |
| 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 |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| Macbeth [a 60-minute abridgement] by Shakespeare abridged by Dwayne Lawler |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 8. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 10. Minimum total without doubling = 15. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 60 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Macbeth', with the original text of around three hours cut down to 60 minutes.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Witches, prophesies, murders, battles and ghosts. Shakespeare's Macbeth compressed to the compass of a small cast. |
| 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 |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| Master Shakeshafte by Peter Parkinson |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 8. Minimum Female roles = 5. Minimum total with doubling = 13. Minimum total without doubling = 18. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 84 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A full length play, with a variety of settings, generally indicated by furniture and atmosphere. |
| Synopsis | There is much speculation over the 'missing years' of Shakespeare's life, and this play offers a glimpse into what may have happened if the bard of Avon really did spend time as a tutor in Hoghton Hall, before becoming a playwright in earnest. There are numerous nods to familiar plays and characters, and also lines or titles which may delight an alert audience. |
| 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 |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| A May Dream by Sally Kinnell |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 5. Minimum Female roles = 5. Minimum total with doubling = 14. Minimum total without doubling = 32. No chorus. In addition to the 32 human roles (playable by a cast of 14) there is Crumble the Dog who can double as Starveling's Dog. There are two brief (silent) appreances of children ('School Boy' and 'Child' who could probably be doubled). |
| Run Time | Around 110 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Full-length drama. Multiple locations but simple settings. Contains mild (Shakespearean) swearing. |
| Synopsis | A collection of Shakespeare's Rustics pursue their own plotlines outside their plays, converging on Hecate's shop and Doll Tearsheet's bar. Philosophy, love, conspiracy and the unmasking of a villain, in genuine Shakespearian language.
A May Dream was specially written in response to the Royal Shakespeare Company's Open Stages Project in 2012. |
| 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 |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| The Merchant of Venice [60-minute abridgement] by Shakespeare, abridged Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 9. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 12. Minimum total without doubling = 16. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 60 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Every word is Shakespeare's, but the cast list has been reduced, with four minor characters and all servants/court officials removed.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Bassanio needs money so that he can court the noble lady Portia. He goes to his friend Antonio, who helps negotiate a loan from the moneylender Shylock. If the money is not repaid, Shylock will demand a pound of Antonio's flesh. This leads to a court case with an unexpected judge.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| 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 |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| The Merry Wives of Windsor [60-minute abridgement] by Shakespeare, abridged Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 8. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 16. Minimum total without doubling = 20. No chorus. 17 speaking parts (playable by 13 actors) plus at least three fairies, who might be played by doubled by some of the speaking roles, if they are not busy doubling other people. |
| Run Time | Around 60 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A 60-minute abridgement of the Shakespeare comedy.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but, because all the words are Shakespeare's and therefore out of copyright, performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Down on his luck, Sir John Falstaff arrives in Windsor and plots to turn his fortunes around by seducing the wives of two wealthy gentlemen. But the wives detect his unscrupulousness and put their own scheme together to humiliate him. |
| 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 |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| A Midsummer Night's Dream (Comedy Crew 60 Minute Version) by Jack Shaw |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 3. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 9. Minimum total without doubling = 16. No chorus. 14 on-stage characters (played by a minimum of 9 actors) plus two offstage voices, which might be pre-recorded. |
| Run Time | Around 63 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A very amateur theatre company present their take on Shakespeare. |
| Synopsis | Cowmoor Comedy Crew, a rural amateur group, perform a sixty-minute version of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
The same story, with a preceding act, showing how the production came together, is told in The Dream! |
| 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 |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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