comedy

M1/F0 (a woman could deliver the narrator's direct female speech)

Monologue, drama, comedy

School bores troublesome teenager Luke. He addresses Max, who’s regarded as ‘a good influence.’ Lockdown has enabled them to spend time together. Luke is a ‘harder to place’ child in foster care, awaiting his annual review.

Why is his foster carer, Rob the knob, behaving strangely?

“Important and original-unexpectedly moving” M6 Theatre judges, Love in the Time of Corona competition.

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M6/F1 

Full length, comedy drama

Adrian has worked in an office for a long time; the same desk, the same telephone, the same office window. Having just turned forty he’s decided that the time has come to change the view.

He sets out on an hilarious journey to walk the length of Hadrian’s Wall, and finds far more than just backpacks, blisters and bricks.

A school reunion, a few military ghosts, and a short eighty-four mile wander, what could possibly go wrong?

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M1/F2 

Short, comedy drama

‘Why does something as simple as sex have to be so complicated?’ A mother posts on Mumsnet asking if she is being unreasonable for constantly snapping at her husband whenever he pesters her for sex. She sometimes gives in to his demands and asks if she should leave her husband.   

In the light of #MeToo, is it ever acceptable to expect sex in a long term relationship?
 

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M6/F8

(Please note some characters can change gender as required.  Jamie is a young role. Ensemble is also required which can include some of the characters. Some characters expected to sing)

Full length, comedy

Two life-long friends are reunited. One is an angel on a mission to try & save the other. The other is an atheist & doesn’t know his friend has died.

Can a group of angels get someone to believe before it is too late or will the past prove to be the biggest barrier?

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M10/F5

Full length (approx. 2 hrs), comedy (Mock Renaissance Tragedy)  

Ben Jonson’s Dogsbody is a mock Shakespearean tragedy in blank verse based on the real life history of Sir Henry Norris. 

A comedy in five acts, it tells the story of King Henry VIII’s best friend & political ally, executed after being accused of sleeping with Anne Boleyn. Henry lived a tragic life with shit upon his hands before he died with it upon his name.

A shittier tragedy has yet to be written.

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M3/F1 

Full length, comedy

Julius is an award-winning gritty Director. Raymond is an independently wealthy posh Producer. Their much-anticipated production of Hamlet is about to premiere but their Hamlet and Ophelia have run off together.

They have until 6pm to overcome this problem or the money gets pulled. Such is the state of arts funding, such are the problems of casting!

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M7/F5 (+2-4 non speaking men)

Full length, comedy (Mock Tragedy)

This is a mock Renaissance tragedy based on the life of Henry Fitzroy, bastard son of King Henry VIII and one-time contender for the crown of England.

Henry was married at 15, died at 17, and NEVER consummated his marriage. A greater tragedy has yet to be written.  

This is not just a comedy about sex and erectile dysfunction written in blank verse, it is a story of a love that grows out of friendship.

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M4/F3

Short, comedy, Murder Mystery Event  

The Cloak & Dagger pub is hosting a quiz night with their regulars.  Arthur Lager, the landlord, has chosen the occasion to announce he's moving to Italy to open a new restaurant and bar with his latest conquest - Delilah from the Brewery. Problem is, he hasn’t told his current partner, Sue, who's on holiday with Arthur’s daughter, Amber.  

But when they return unexpectedly all hell lets loose!

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M2/F2

Full length, dark comedy

Matt and Louise having come into money decide to buy a house in a very upmarket area. However, they soon attract the attention of the neighbours, Michael and Vicky.  

One power struggle leads to another as each couple tries to outdo the other. Matt and Helen feel the need to protect themselves with alarms and flood lights and CCTV – but have they taken things too far? Both couples seem on a collision course. The question is who turns first.

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M5/F3 (M4/F3 with doubling)

Short, comedy, Murder Mystery Event

Come Die With Me takes place in the arrival/dep. lounge of a budget airline co. at a local airport.  When the Captain is found squashed to death under the front wheel of his plane, arguments ensue - was this was an accident or murder? Inspector Grey, on secondment from the French police, is called in to solve the mystery.  

Expect affairs, drug smuggling shenanigans & audience participation in this fun script.

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M3(1 boy)/F2

Full length, drama, black comedy

What is the true price of education? 

Alec finds it just enough to live on, whilst his student Michael finds it an unwelcome distraction from his own imagination. Sally and Marcus are counting the cost of self-improvement whilst scouring the wreckage of previous dalliances, and Julia is trying to make sense of the logic of paying for education when you can get a perfectly good one for nothing.

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M8/F4 (1 vo)

Full length, comedy

It's the first night for Sir Andrew Samson's new play. The preview was a disaster, with the harshest critic in town giving it a terrible review.

In the audience are Michael & Fiona, a young couple. They are sitting next to another young couple, Lawrence & Charlotte, both of whom Michael hates & there's every chance the harshest critic in town might well be in the crowd. 

What ensues is a very interesting first night...

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M3/F2

Full length, comedy

Norman is an island. Actually, Norman is a telecoms engineer and has been sent to the small island of St Peters to disconnect the old red telephone box, which is no longer commercially viable. The residents are not happy about it.

With a boat to catch and a job sheet to complete, will time and tide wait for Norman? Or like the island will he end up disconnected?

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M1/F1

Short, Comedy

Love in these modern times – when Liz’s husband buys her a robot to keep her company they both might get more than they bargained for.

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2 actors - either gender  

One Act, comedy, dark comedy, fable/folktale, radio drama, science fiction 

The world has become submerged under water. 

Icarus, with the help of his loyal sidekick Meander, is searching for their only remaining link to the humans of old: a box containing a priceless treasure. 

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M6/F3

Full length, comedy/parody

Lord & Lady Ownalott are hosting their annual soiree, one dark and stormy night, inviting neighbours, Mr & Mrs Fortune, and the local clergyman, Reverend Churcher, for dinner. However, the guests get more than they bargained for when one of them ends up dead...  

A hilarious, light-hearted, fast-paced stage play which gently pokes fun at the classic "whodunnit" format.

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M5/F10 

(Please note that there are small ensemble parts needed which can be doubled up 2 male and 2 male are young characters. Some characters expected to sing)

Full length, drama comedy

A journey of family life told through the eyes of a stranger who becomes involved when tragedy strikes. Join two families who experience life’s twist and turns, laughter and tears, happiness and sadness. 

Even in life’s greatest tragedy, can a miracle still be found?

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M2/F0 (could be M3/F1)  

Short, comedy drama

26.2 miles in under 26.2 minutes! Danny is convinced that running his first marathon with best friend B will enable him to write his first novel. 

Why do two unexpected fellow competitors so unsettle Danny? Can Danny learn something from ex-world record holder Dr Ron Hill MBE? Why is B furtive about his wife’s texts? Will Danny and B’s friendship survive?

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M8/F8/4 extras

Full length, comedy

Hooley runs a psychotherapy practice (unsuccessfully, as she remains only one step ahead of creditors). Her personal life fares little better, having bought a vicarage occupied by squatters who are impossible to evict.

Meanwhile Pollock, a client of Hooley’s, believes Hopkins, a religious fanatic, is about to commit murder, while Hopkins thinks the universe is caught between good & evil resulting in a life & death battle.

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M4

Full length, comedy 

Andrew was an English teacher. He now cleans toilets. He has a wife, a child, half a cat, and isn’t quite making ends meet.

He’s decided that if Shakespeare was indeed ‘for all time’, then he must belong in the twenty-first century too. So Andrew is off to London to seek his fortune by bringing Will Shakespeare into the digital age. Is he Fortune’s fool, or is there method in his madness? That is the question.

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M3/F2

(A voiceover of a news reporter is also required)

One act, comedy

(Please note that this play has also been adapted to be a pilot episode for television and has an alternative ending)

A family are trying to come to terms with isolation during the lockdown but with two teenage boys in the house, this is going to be a struggle for anyone.

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M5/F2

Full length, comedy

Saying ‘I do’ is easy, but finding that special someone to say ‘Will you?’ is an entirely different proposal. It’s a big step, especially when it’s the second time around and the first ended in disaster.

A groom with a past, a best man losing his best mate, and a father of the bride with just a little too much pride. It’s fair to say they all have jitters.

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M2/F1

Short/one act, comedy   

Fresh out of Music College a brother and sister with their friend formed a Music Trio and began to make their mark. Then the friend won a music competition and left the other two in the lurch.

Now some thirty-five years later the brother and sister are scratching out a living – he marking exam papers, she giving piano lessons, until the friend returns to ask a favour. Then all the old enmities come bubbling to the surface.  

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M2/F3

One act, comedy, radio drama

When the post office branch of his shop closes down, Simon Wong decides to open a bird-post service. 

But things don't all go according to 

plan... 

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M3/F4 or M4/F3 or M3/F6 

Short, comedy Murder Mystery Event  

The Happy Wanderer and its hapless crew are about to set sail for a one-night taster cruise to promote its recent refurbishment. But the Captain makes a few enemies when he reveals some of the crew’s secrets.   Soon tragedy strikes as he's seen in the water, Accusations fly as to who could have thrown him overboard .

Was he thrown or was it an accident? And was it really the Captain that went overboard? 

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M7/F4 or M6/F5

Short , comedy, Murder Mystery Event

The Rusty Spur saloon is short of customers and Diamond Lil is looking for big spenders.Dirty Dick arrives wanting to buy up the bar, with Wyatt Twerp in hot pursuit.

Lil’s daughter is getting married, but Peaches upsets everyone with startling revelations. 

Lil is found murdered, and her twin sister Sapphire arrives to try and sort out this tragedy.Can the Milky Bar Kid help or is he here just to give out the chocolates?

 
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M5/F2

Short, comedy, Murder Mystery Event  

A book signing has been arranged for Ray Bentos, a well-known author. Unfortunately, he won't be there in body because he's just been murdered. But his soul is alive and well and although he can't be seen or heard by the suspects, he is able to present himself to the library guests (ie the audience).The family argue amongst themselves over who could be responsible for Ray's death. And hidden secrets start to be revealed... 

  
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M6/F3 or M4/F5

Short, comedy, Murder Mystery Event  

Gordon Bennett runs a run-down hotel, but he has plans to get it into shape.It seems he has cousins helping out but is it really Gordon in disguise in order to give the impression he has more staff?  The plot thickens when some guests are invited to an all-expenses paid meal and overnight stay by a mystery benefactor.

Revelations are made, tragedy strikes and mayhem ensues as Gordon tries to uncover who is behind it all.

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M15/F7 (Min without doubling 22, 13 with)

Full length, comedy drama

A fast paced comedy about the printing of the first complete works of Shakespeare – The First Folio of 1623.

In the play, Shakespeare appears as a ghost; actors become editors & a wayward apprentice turns order into chaos.

The play also propels the story forward to Washington DC in the 19th Century to unravel the story of the greatest collector of First Folios – Henry Clay Folger of the Folger Library.  

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M1

Monologue, comedy

1 minute monologue. Script available on request.

A senior whose adult daughter regularly reproaches him for reading The Daily Mail is buying his copy. Surprised to see an eligible man also buying a copy, the senior wishes his daughter could witness this. But his ‘conversation’ with the younger man does not go quite as planned. 

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10 characters - M4/the rest can be either M or F

Short, comedy

A news broadcast with a fairy tale twist (part of the news desk series).   

Here at ‘L8 Nite News,’ Phil, the anchor man and Stan, the roving reporter bring you all the latest info on your favourite fictional characters.   

Tonight, join us for the first annual fun run between the hares and the tortoises. Who will win? Tune in and find out…  

Read an extract of the play here.  

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M18 speaking (7 non-speaking, can be paired with other roles)/F2 

Full length, comedy

Shakespeare’s Robin V is a mock Shakespearean tragedy based on the legends of Robin Hood & the history of Richard the Lionheart.

A comedy in five acts, we follow Robin of Loxley as he struggles to convince his merry band of men to use their stolen wealth to save his true love, King Richard, from captivity in Germany before the dummy-prince John usurps the throne of England.

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M2/F1

Short, comedy 

Liz is determined to wait until she has her theatre programme signed. Robert is impatient, and persists in undermining her and Russ, an actor, because of her infatuation with him. 

Can they overcome their differences and bickering, and is Liz able to hold on to her secret?

A fun script with a plot twist half way through. 

Running time: Approximately 17 minutes.

In 2019, this reached the short list of Pintsized Plays.

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M2/F1

Short, comedy    

Have you ever thought about what it’s really like to be a magic mirror? The things they see and hear would be enough to drive anyone to drink!  Well, one mirror has had enough of all the lies and that can only mean one thing…  

Read an extract of the play here.

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M2/F1 plus 2 other characters that could be M or F

Short, comedy  

It’s the age-old struggle between good and evil. With a human soul at stake, this clash between the forces of heaven and hell will be played out…at the local bus stop.  

Read an extract of the play here.

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M8/F5

Full length, comedy 

The curtain has fallen, the performance has concluded and the audience are on their way home. For some however, the evening has only just begun...

Props to pack away, furniture to move, scenery to take down, lights to lower, ropes to haul, a lorry to pack, a romance to conclude, and no accidents please...! 

A technical comedy about keeping the show on the road.

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M6/F3

Full length, comedy 

Bored of life and tired of being down on his luck, Eddie Smith gathers his not-so-merry men for one last heist.  

If tempers aren’t frayed enough as the has-beens dust off their stocking masks and plan the raid of a lifetime, a surprise appearance from a skeleton in the cupboard threatens to throw a spanner in the works. 

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M3/F1

Short, comedy  

A news broadcast with a fairy tale twist (part of the news desk series).   

Here at ‘L8 Nite News’ Phil, the anchor man and Stan, the roving reporter bring you all the latest info on your favourite fictional characters. Tonight, join us for the great boat race between the Owl and the Pussycat.  

Read an extract of the play here.

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4 characters – can be any sex

Short, comedy

What happens when a group of characters discover they’re in a new play – but have no idea what to do next…?  

Read an extract of the play here.

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M4  

Short, comedy  

A news broadcast with a fairy tale twist (part of the news desk series).   

Here at ‘L8 Nite News’ Phil, the anchor man and Stan, the roving reporter bring you all the latest info on your favourite fictional characters. Tonight, join us for an exclusive interview with Trevor (a very large troll) and Rumplestiltskin (a very small man) to find out just what effect fake news has had on their lives.  

Read an extract of the play here.

Visit Ali's profile page here  

M3/F1

Full length, comedy

Albert works the night shift, a porter at an Isle of Man hotel. Comfortable by himself and content in his work he deals with the guest’s night-time requests.

So when two new staff are assigned to his shift he finds that more than his space is invaded. He might cope with the wisecracks of a Liverpudlian lad, but what will he do with a woman!

Is more than two company, is less than three a crowd, and will Albert ever stand on his own three feet?

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M9/F3

Full length, comedy drama

It’s 1598 & Will Shakespeare needs a new theatre.

He & his company are stuck at the ageing Curtain Theatre in the wrong part of town, whilst south of the river business is booming & theatres are packing in pounds & pennies a plenty.

Against this backdrop an audacious plan is hatched with the highest of stakes, life or death, all whilst Will is writing a new little history piece called Henry V.

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M3/F1

Full length, comedy drama

Peter lives in an alley at the back of the supermarket. Has done for years. He knows that at six o’clock every day the food arrives. Food that is past it’s sell-by date, which the supermarket throws out.

Mostly warm and mostly dry, his existence is one of cardboard, coffee and chatting to his friend, the bin. He is king of his road…

… and then David arrives.

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M1/F2 plus one male v/o

Short/one act, black comedy

George & Martha are living on a university campus somewhere in the Mid-West. They seem to have the ideal lifestyle that is until Alice comes to call. Then they all have a take on what happened that afternoon. But who is telling the truth?

Winner of Sterts Cornish One Act Play competition 2012 as well as Segora Competition in 2015: “Excellent piece of craziness... a zany tour de force.”Gordon Simms adjudicator Segora.

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M4/F3/3 extras

Full length, comedy/satire

Marshall Zob, a well-known novelist’s main frustration is that, although frequently shortlisted for the Booker Prize, he's never actually won it. 

His latest novel is longlisted but he & his agent, Cornelius Snell, fear that Zob won’t win without clever publicity scheme. The best that Snell comes up with is a reading at the South Bank complex.

However, Snell has hatched a plan to maximise coverage of Zob's reading: a public riot.

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M2/F3  

Full length, drama, black comedy, modern tragedy, music 

Punk legend, Robin O is on the cusp of being relevant again – she's finally clean enough to tour, her fans are returning after years of neglect, & there is the promise of new material on the horizon. Yet she seems determined to see this long-overdue revival go down in flames. 

Faced with the prospect of a reunion with her former band mate, her love of music is enough to conquer any personal demons. Surely? 

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M6/F1

One act, comedy

Based on a true story, the customers and staff of a 1970's betting shop devise and carry out a betting 'coup' that nets one of them a small fortune.

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