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| A Fifty-Minute Henry VI Part 2 by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 21. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 25. Minimum total without doubling = 47. Chorus. As with most of the history plays, the cast of characters is huge, with over 40 speaking parts, but lots of doubling is possible. |
| Run Time | Around 50 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'The Second Part of King Henry VI', with the original text cut down to 50 minutes or so.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Subtitled 'Cade's Rebellion'.
The wars with France are over, but there's trouble brewing for King Henry within his own court. There's the Duke of Suffolk, trying to manipulate the King through Henry's wife, Margaret , there's the Duchess of Gloster trying to put her husband, Henry's uncle, on the throne, and there's a growing faction around the Duke of York and his two sons, Edward and Richard Crouchback. Matters come to a head with a rebellion led by Kentish tradesman Jack Cade. |
| 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 Fifty-Minute Henry VI Part 3 by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 21. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 24. Minimum total without doubling = 41. Chorus. As with most of the history plays, the cast of characters is huge, with over 30 speaking parts, but lots of doubling is possible. (They are also mainly male, but don't let that put you off.) |
| Run Time | Around 50 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'The Third Part of King Henry VI', with the original text cut down to 50 minutes or so.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | The Wars of the Roses in full force, with the Duke of York rebelling against the weak Henry VI. York is killed, but his three sons continue the fight. |
| 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 Fifty-Minute Henry VIII by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 20. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 24. Minimum total without doubling = 40. Chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 50 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Henry VIII', with the original text cut down to 50 minutes or so.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | We meet Henry VIII when he has been king and married to Katharine of Aragon for some 20 years. The court is under the sway of the manipulative, acquisitive Cardinal Wolsey, but Henry falls for Anne Boleyn (or Anne Bullen, as Shakespeare calls her) and in the ensuing turmoil he ditches both Wolsey and Katharine. |
| 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 Fifty-Minute Richard The Third by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 21. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 26. Minimum total without doubling = 48. Chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 50 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'The Life and Death of King Richard III', with the original text cut down to 50 minutes or so.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Richard the Third, from the winter of discontent to the kingdom for a horse, as the last of the Plantagenets intrigues and murders his way to the English throne, only to be confronted by the army of the Earl of Richmond - one Henry Tudor.
Historical footnote: Shakespeare derived this account from Henry Tudor's historians. In the view of the editor, this makes it unreliable history, but a cracking play! |
| 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 Fifty-Minute Titus Andronicus by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 20. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 24. Minimum total without doubling = 36. Chorus. Large numbers of speaking roles, many appearing on stage at the same time. Flexibility in the non-speaking roles, with Roman nobility and a whole army of Goths (who probably dressed differently in Roman and Shakespearen times). |
| Run Time | Around 50 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Titus Andronicus', with the original text cut down to 50 minutes or so.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | When Roman general Titus Andronicus returns victorious from the wars against the Goths, he resolves to be king-maker, rather than taking the role of emperor for himself. Having lost many of his sons in the fighting, Titus has the eldest son of Tamora, captive Queen of the Goths, sacrificed to the gods. When Tamora is freed by the new Emperor, she and her lover Aaron set about avenging themselves - a feud that is tragic for all concerned.
Bill Tordoff started this series as abridgements for primary schools. We think that some of the themes in Titus are too adult for that demographic!
Asides: This is not for the faint-hearted, though John Webster probably enjoyed it, and Mrs Lovett would have learned a thing or two. |
| 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 Fifty-Minute White Devil by John Webster abridged by Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 10. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 14. Minimum total without doubling = 35. No chorus. Characters include a small boy and optional non-speaking attendants, etc. |
| Run Time | Around 50 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of John Webster's 'The White Devil', with the original text cut down to 50 minutes or so.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | In his pursuit of Vittoria, the wife of old Camillo, Duke Brachiano abandons his wife, Isabella, then connives with Vittoria's brother, to have Isabella and Camillo murdered. Isabella's brother, the Duke of Florence, and his ally Cardinal Monticelso - Camillo's cousin - set out to get revenge.
(We're in Grand Guignol territory. This isn't going to end happily for anyone!) |
| 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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| Fifty! by Archie Wilson |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 5. Minimum Female roles = 7. Minimum total with doubling = 12. Minimum total without doubling = 13. No chorus. One offstage - radio - voice, could be pre-recorded. |
| Run Time | Around 48 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | One suggested tune is a part of the plot. Lazy Bee Scripts does not supply any sheet music with this script. |
| Style | A one act farce, with a single (living room) setting. |
| Synopsis | Seemingly boring David is fifty years old today! Wife Fran and daughter Jessica arrange a surprise party for him, but unbeknownst to them he is having an affair. Feathers fly as he appears at the surprise party with his semi-clad mistress, and assorted extra visitors also help to make it a special event! |
| 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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Finding Goddard by Deborah Hugill
Performance by Ury Players won the Gallery Trophy in the Aberdeen District of the SCDA one-act play festival 2023. |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 1. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 7. Minimum total without doubling = 16. No chorus. 11 minor roles can be easily shared by two actors. |
| Run Time | Around 29 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A one-act comedy with a variety of locations but minimal set requirements. |
| Synopsis | When it turns out a modest, unassuming man in Helions Bumpstead is really God, everyone has an angle and everyone wants in. But soon enough, people affected by 'Acts of God' want their day in 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 |
| Awards | Click here to see the awards won by (productions of) this script. |
| Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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| The Finish Line by Paul A J Rudelhoff & Jane Hilliard |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 5. Minimum Female roles = 7. Minimum total with doubling = 12. Minimum total without doubling = 12. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 130 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A fast moving farce with a single (kitchen) set. |
| Synopsis | In each Olympic year bumbling Sir Humphrey hosts an international gathering of like minded enthusiasts. He fails to recognise that the 2012 party comprises fake nuns, art forgers and grasping relatives, despite which he manages to get over the finishing line. |
| 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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| Five Americans, Three Murders and a Poisoning by Robert Bloomfield Players/Rebecca Preen |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 5. Minimum Female roles = 15. Minimum total with doubling = 20. Minimum total without doubling = 31. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 125 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A ripping comedy whodunnit with fast paced dialogue and changes of scene very cleverly keeping the audience on its toes. Written for a youth theatre performance but would be equally suitable for an adult cast. |
| Synopsis | Set in the splendour of Grantham Manor, England, 1926, a Murder Mystery unravels. Lady Grantham and her children, Jeremy and Miranda are awoken to discover that Lord Grantham, husband and father respectively, has been murdered - his Brandy glass laced with poison. One of the country's most promising young Inspectors is brought in to investigate along with England's first female Professor of Forensic Pathology. Together they must discover who perpetrated the death of this prominent local dignitary before anyone else falls prey to a roaming killer. |
| 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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