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| A Forty-Minute Timon of Athens by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 10. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 12. Minimum total without doubling = 31. No chorus. Lots of flexibility in numbers - lots of doubling is possible or, conversely, roles like the senators and lords can be shared out. Few specifically female characters, but many could be cast female. |
| Run Time | Around 40 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Timon of Athens', with the original text cut down to 40 minutes or so.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Timon is berated by the sour philosopher Apemantus, but Timon ignores his advice, preferring to enjoy himself through banquets and acts of generosity. However, when Timon runs into debt his friends prove false and he leaves Athens in anger and disgust. In the wilderness his fortune changes. but not his view of his fellow man. |
| 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 Forty-Minute Troilus and Cressida by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 16. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 19. Minimum total without doubling = 34. Chorus. Plenty of scope for extras, as we have the population of Troy and the entire Greek army looking on (and occasionally getting involved in the fray - some of the spear carriers get to use their spears!) |
| Run Time | Around 40 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Troilus And Cressida', with the original text cut down to 40 minutes or so.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | The Trojans are trapped in their city as Greek warriors like Ajax scour the battlefield. Troilus, youngest son of the Trojan King Priam, is distracted from the battlefield by his pursuit of the beautiful Cressida. Just when Cressida has submitted to his advances, she is used as part of a prisoner exchange and sent to join her father (who is camped with the Greeks). During one of the periodic truces, Troilus witnesses Cressida in a dalliance with Greek hero Diomedes. Enraged, Troilus takes to the battlefield in pursuit of Diomedes, whilst the petulant Achilles takes on the noble Trojan Hector.
Shakespeare uses the siege to question notions of fidelity and chivalry. |
| 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 Forty-Minute Volpone by Ben Jonson abridged by Bill Tordoff |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 9. Minimum Female roles = 1. Minimum total with doubling = 10. Minimum total without doubling = 15. No chorus. The minimum cast could be achieved by combining the four magistrates into 1 judge and using the boy and clerk as the court officers. |
| Run Time | Around 40 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | Abridgement of Ben Jonson's 'Volpone', with the original text cut down to 40 minutes or so.
(The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
| Synopsis | Volpone is a sly miser. With the aid of his rascally servant, Mosca, he sets out to accumulate more wealth by way of gifts from his gullable acquaintances who think he is ailing and believe that they will be the beneficiaries of his will. Things start to unravel when Volpone sets his sights on Celia, wife of the wealthy merchant, Corvino.
Jacobean comedy, verging on farce. |
| 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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Four Sinister Bookworms by Paul John Matthews
New |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 3. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 6. Minimum total without doubling = 6. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 66 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A quirky and clever comedy - a murder mystery where there hasn't been a murder. Two simple sets (that can be constructed with the same furniture and just minor changes in decoration and layout between scenes). One act. |
| Synopsis | Library employee Mandy is desperate for something interesting to happen. She gets more than she hoped for when the library's four most eccentric regulars all receive anonymous notes that one of them is a murderer, and gather to solve the case. |
| 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 Frame That Fits by William Campbell |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 4. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 6. Minimum total without doubling = 6. No chorus. Interesting crafting of character - especially on the part of Richard Gloster, the unorthodox detective, who, given his name, has a tendency to attempt iambic pentameter. |
| Run Time | Around 30 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | One-act detective story - not so much a 'whodunnit?' as a 'how do we prove that he dunnit?' Multiple locations, but intended to be represented minimally in a single composite set. Contains mild swearing. |
| Synopsis | A family has been found murdered - apparently by their daughter, who then took her own life. The police suspect a frame-up, since the family's nephew stands to profit from their deaths, but they need to call on the unorthodox services of Private Investigator Richard Gloster to prove it. |
| 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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| Framed In A Window by John Chambers |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 1. Minimum Female roles = 0. Minimum total with doubling = 2. Minimum total without doubling = 2. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 32 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A two-handed, one act play, with a single set and containing strong language. |
| Synopsis | Mo, the janitor in the Texas School Book Depository, is startled to come across a figure sitting in the notorious window, holding a very familiar rifle. Is it really the ghost of Lee Harvey Oswald? |
| 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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| Frankenstein Abridged by Richard Brinsley Peake ab. Dwayne Lawler |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 7. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 9. Minimum total without doubling = 9. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 39 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | One-act melodrama. Multiple scenes, but mainly indicative settings. |
| Synopsis | 'Presumption, or, The Fate of Frankenstein' by Richard Brinsley Peake was the first adaptation for the stage of Mary Shelley's pioneering novel. Dwayne Lawler's abridgement has reduced it from 5 acts to 1 and cut the characters from more than 15 to a total of 9.
Peake's adaptation tweaked the novel's plot (not least to reduce locations), nevertheless, the core plot of Frankenstein is here and cutting it down hasn't removed the impact or significantly dampened the themes. |
| 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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| Free For Hall by Cheryl Barrett |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 4. Minimum Female roles = 7. Minimum total with doubling = 12. Minimum total without doubling = 12. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 30 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | The producer's copy of this script contains suggestions for 2 songs, to be played during the comedy dance routines. Lazy Bee Scripts does not supply any sheet music with this script. |
| Style | A one act comedy with a single setting. |
| Synopsis | The local amateur dramatic group are rehearsing their pantomime in the local village hall but the venue has been triple booked and no-one is prepared to budge. With Celeste getting her yoga knickers in a twist and conflict running high amongst the drama group members the chaos is eventually resolved. |
| 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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| Free Time by Helen Foster |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 3. Minimum Female roles = 1. Minimum total with doubling = 4. Minimum total without doubling = 4. No chorus. |
| Run Time | Around 28 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | A one act comedy, with a single (school staff room) setting. |
| Synopsis | Three teachers find themselves trapped in the staff room with no apparent avenue for escape, and with a drop of whisky - handily available! Their previously distant relationships become much closer as they cope with their situation. |
| 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 Friday Night Radio Play by Damian Trasler
Best Seller |
| Roles | Minimum Male roles = 6. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 10. Minimum total without doubling = 10. No chorus. Characters are a range of ages, a mixture of adults and teenagers. |
| Run Time | Around 35 minutes. [Estimated!] |
| Music | None. |
| Style | One-act comedy (arguably a light farce), single domestic set. |
| Synopsis | It's an exciting night for the Branston family. The premier of aspiring writer Geoff's radio play is about to be broadcast and the family is gathered to listen. But just as it is about to start, the fuses blow. To ensure that Grandma is not disappointed, the show must go on... |
| 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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