Click on the title of any play below to go to its own page, where you'll find a production information, a synopsis, a short excerpt and an order form. (WARNING: All material on these pages is protected by U.S. and international copyright law. Using any part of it without my explicit permission and without properly crediting me as the author is illegal.) Plays that I consider suitable for school age actors and/or audiences are noted. Some are even specifically written for them! If you wish to produce one of my published plays, please contact the publisher directly. There will be a link on its page to help you do so. Happy hunting!

STEALING SAXOPHONES FROM HOMELESS PEOPLE (1 either, 8-9 minutes)
Dark comedy. When your mother tells you at the age of three that you're going to end up stealing saxophones from homeless people, it's all downhill from there. Order it from Brooklyn Publishers now!

Jake River Fraser performs Stealing Saxophones from Homeless People in
Canberra, Australia at A Bunch of Fives. Photo by Pling.

YARD WARS (1 male, 60-70 minutes)
Comedy. A backyard wrestler traces his career as he wrestles with whether to continue in a match after suffering a concussion. One performer shifts in and out of ten different characters in this challenge for an actor of high school age or older. Available in both an unedited version and in a version edited for language to make it appropriate for high school audiences.

A-BOMB WEDDING (1 male, 1 female)
Comedy. Two twentysomethings strapped to nuclear weapons look for love in a convenience store. Suitable for high school performers/audiences.

CRASH POSITIONS (1 male, 1 female)
Comedy. Two passengers think their airplane is about to crash. Suitable for high school audiences/performer and published by Brooklyn Publishers. Order it from them now!

F-STOP (1 male, 1 female)
Dramedy. A couple sorts out the drowning death of their son--in a water fountain--and their own second-hand lives. Nothing offensive, but probably too difficult for high school performers to handle.

JESUS AT THE TACO STAND (1 male, 2 females)
Dark comedy. A breast cancer survivor working as a waitress at a taco stand receives a new breast as a tip from a customer who claims to be the Messiah. Is her miracle cure merely an insidious plot to push her out of her breast cancer survivors group so that he can take her spot?

LAST RIGHT BEFORE THE VOID (2 males, 1 female)
Comedy. Christian, a teenage boy, hitchhikes along a highway that seems to disappear into a black hole. Is the woman hitchhiking to Alaska on the other side of the road really Medea? Or is she his Mother? Is the man who arrives to join them Elvis, or is it Darth Vader? How many times has Christian's real father committed suicide? When are the aliens landing? Is Christian's real name Jimmy, or is he just a kid having problems with his stepfather? Reality gets seriously bent at the last exit before a highway in Minnesota turns into nowhere. Suitable for high school performers/audiences.

LE^APERS (1 male, 1 female)
Dark comedy. When two jumpers end up on top of the same building, it's a fight to the finish, because nobody likes having their thunder stolen. Order it now from Brooklyn Publishers!

MENAGERIE (1 male, 1 female)
Comedy. A missing roommate. An eight year old thief on the loose. Sleep deprivation. A gift of a chicken. It all comes to a head on Valentine's Day in this ten-minute duet. Order it now from Brooklyn Publishers!

NEWT GINGRICH VISITS A RESIDENTIAL YOUTH FACILITY NOT NEAR OMAHA (2 males)
Dramedy. A pair of residents at a home for troubled teens wait for a photo op with Newt Gingrich. Suitable for high school performers/audiences. Order it now from Brooklyn Publishers!

PEPPERONI APOCALYPSE (5 males--flexible)
Comedy. A pizza delivery man arrives at the exact moment a doomsday cult expects the world to end. Suitable for high school performers/audiences. Though the characters were written as male, women can be cross-cast in the roles. Order it now from Brooklyn Publishers!

SUDDEN DEATH DEBATING LEAGUE (1 male, 1 female)
Dark comedy. When a high school debate tournament's sudden death round turns out to be exactly that, losing is no longer an option... Order it now from Brooklyn Publishers!

THE WASH (1 male, 1 female)
Dark comedy. A strange man and his laundry invade the laundry room of a woman's New York apartment building. Pushes the high school envelope a bit, but not impossible.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GODOT? (3 either--they're written as male, but they could be either to quite comic effect)
The untold story--until now--of why Godot, one of the most famous characters in all of theatre, never showed up. This comedy works best for high school and older. Order it now from Brooklyn Publishers!

X MARKS THE SPOT (1 male, 1 female)
Comedy. A modern-day Moses and Zipporah (Mo and Zippy) try to rekindle their flagging romance with a trip to a middle-American burning bush. Suitable for high school performers. Order it from now from Brooklyn Publishers!

AFTER MATH (minimum cast size of 8-10, unlimited maximum size, flexible gender, 30-35 minutes)
Seriocomedy. A student mysteriously disappears in the middle of math class. What happened? Why? In a series of scenes and monologues, those left behind try to find some answers. Did anyone really know who he was? And why is it they've only noticed him now that he's gone? Written specifically for teen actors and ideal for school festivals and competitions, it is available from Playscripts, Inc. Order it from them now!

The Thurston HS (Springfield, OR) production of After Math. Photo courtesy of Michael Fisher.

BEEF JUNKIES (2 males, 1 female, 25-30 minutes)
Dark comedy. A woman addicted to beef searches for her fix, and there's only one cow left on earth. Suitable for high schools, and perfect for colleges. Order it now from Brooklyn Publishers!

BOOKENDS (1 male, 1 female, 1 either, 35 minutes)
Dark comedy. A college student's absurdist nightmare about the break-up of his first sexual relationship. Not appropriate for high school production except in the most liberal of high schools, but ideal for colleges.

DEAR CHUCK (flexible cast of 10-30+, flexible running time of 35-55 minutes)
Dramedy. Through a series of scenes and monologues--everything from taking over the kiddie pool at the local swim club to dealing with a skinhead classmate--the play's eclectic assortment of teen characters, caught between being children and adults, search for their "Chuck," that elusive moment of knowing who you are. Developed specifically for teen performers and published by Eldridge. Order it from them now!

FROM SHAKESPEARE WITH LOVE? (2 males, 2 females—expandable to up to 7-8 males, 6 females, 35-40 minutes)
Comedy. Four of the Bard's characters wait for an overdue flight to London. When Romeo reveals that he plans to revenge himself upon Shakespeare by killing him in a duel, it's up to the others—Titania, Viola and Antipholus—to save Shakespeare by convincing Romeo that Shakespeare “does indeed love love.” Making use of scenes from the characters' respective plays (Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night and The Comedy of Errors), it's ideal for a high school, college or a theatre company interested in touring it and for one act competitions. Order it from Eldridge Publishing!

NOW YOU SEE ME (22+ roles using 3+ males, 5+ females, 30-35 minutes)
Dramedy. A play about what happens when young people slip through the cracks, and what drives them to violence. Written specifically for teen performers, and suitable for high school and middle school audiences. Order it now from Brooklyn Publishers!

City Lights Youth Theatre's (New York, NY) production of Now You See Me.
Photo by Jackson Lynch.

PLAY'S END (2 males, 20-25 minutes)
Tragicomedy. A door-to-door gun salesman comes home from work to learn from his young son that "something happened today." May stand alone or play with TICKING, or with TICKING and YOU'RE NEXT as part of Gunplay. Suitable for high school audiences. Order it now from Brooklyn Publishers!

SUPERMODELS IN JEOPARDY (1 male, 2 females, 1-3 either, 30-35 minutes )
Comedy. When a convention center collapses and all of the world's supermodels are trapped in their dressing rooms beneath the rubble, will the "regular folks" ride to their rescue? No supermodels required to cast this play. Order it from Brooklyn Publishers now!

THANK YOU FOR FLUSHING MY HEAD IN THE TOILET and other rarely used expressions (flexible cast of 8-30+, 30-35 minutes)
Dramedy. Using scenes and monologues and a combination of wild theatricality and quiet, thoughtful moments, the play explores one of the toughest issues facing teens today: bullying. As two bullied students try to survive their daily lives, they wrestle with a terrible question: is the only way out to become the people they hate? Order it from Playscripts now!

The Springfield Academy of Arts and Academics world premiere production of Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions (Springfield, OR).

THIS MAGIC MOMENT (1 male, 1 female, 30 minutes)
Dark comedy. Boone just wants to leave home and start college. Forget that his father has mysteriously disappeared. Forget that there's a man stuck in the garage door. But Debbie, his mother, isn't ready for the days of motherly tips, sipping cocoa and watching car crashes together to end--not by a long shot. Probably suitable for high school production.

TICKING (3 males, 20-25 minutes)
Dark comedy. A gun disappears from the pot on the right rear burner in the Doe family kitchen, replaced by an egg. John Doe, traveling gun salesman, thinks his teenage son Jay has taken it, and he wants it back. It may stand alone, play as the opening play of the Gunplay trilogy (with YOU'RE NEXT and PLAY'S END), or as a pairing with PLAY'S END. Suitable for high school audiences.

TWISTING CAROL (flexible cast of 8-30+, 30 minutes)
A one-act comic slaughter of the Dickens classic. Young Ebenezer Scrooge dancing with a popsicle stick, a ghost named Bob, another ghost who thinks his name is Bob and a Tiny Tim who considers himself short but not tiny. Suitable for high school production, it is available from Playscripts, Inc. Click here to order it from them now!

THE WHITE PAGES (2 males, 2-4 females, 25 minutes)
Comedy. A customer takes matters into his own hands when he discovers a used bookstore is removing the pages from classic books and replacing them with blank ones. Suitable for high school production, it is available from Brooklyn Publishers. Order it from them now!

YOU'RE NEXT (2 males, 2 versions—a 15-20 minute version and a somewhat more explicit 35-40 minute version)
Drama. A teenager brings a gun to school for a friend to defend against a school bully. May stand alone or play with TICKING and PLAY'S END as part of Gunplay. Ideal for a pair of talented teenage actors, and suitable for high school audiences in either of the shorter versions.

COLLISIONS IN AIR AND SPACE (2 males, 2 females, 75-80 minutes)
Tragicomedy. In the urban apartment Merc shares with his teenage ward, Alex, while Merc fights to preserve his shrinking personal space, computers hijack the telephone line, angels break in to announce art contests, and the Avon Lady stalks him. Collisions is waiting on a major rewrite and isn't available yet.

DAY ONE (music by James Balmer and Mary Nelson, 3 males, 5 females plus an ensemble of flexible size and gender, 90 minutes)
Musical. Some people wish the high school years would last forever. Others would do anything to get them over with. What if they all had a chance to get their way? Day One is written specifically for teen performers, with a cast that can range in size from as small as 16 to more than 50.

GUNPLAY (4 males, 80-90 minutes)
Dramedy. TICKING, YOU'RE NEXT, and PLAY'S END combine to chronicle a day in the life of the Doe family and their relationship with guns. Lyman High School (Florida) used a short version for its International Thespian Competition entry. Suitable for high school audiences.

The Springfield Academy of Arts and Academics premiere of High School (non) Musical (Springfield, OR; photo by Stephen Speidel)

HIGH SCHOOL (non) MUSICAL (6 males, 5 females plus an ensemble of flexible size and gender, 75-80 minutes)
Comedy. In this parody of Disney's High School Musical, join Toy Boatin, Gaberella, Shitzu, Cryin and the rest of your favorites as the Roswell High bowling team goes for a state championship, students pursue their dreams of performing in the Winter Muse Cycle and surgical decathletes compete in real live surgery. But when Gaberella's singing voice turns out to be so bad it could cause mass casualties, what will win out--following your dreams, or preserving life as we know it? Ideal for high schools, colleges and community/professional theatres, and it could also be done by skilled middle school actors. The cast can range in size from a minimum of roughly 15 performers to more than 50. Order it from Playscripts now!

MILK AND COOKIES (2 males, 2 females, 70-80 minutes)
Dark comedy. Marge Nancy Reagan Ballmoth goes on the lam after her children poison the cookies they give the drive-through teller at a local bank. She meets up with another fugitive, Bruce, who believes there is a milk conspiracy. They hit the road for Montana in search of the mysterious Rufus, a man they believe can provide them with new identities.

NEVERLAND (1 male, 2 females, 90 minutes)
Dark comedy. Eight year old Wendy decides that Peter is the boy for her, then proceeds to "stalk" him, reinventing herself and reappearing in his life each time he moves on. She follows him into a new neighborhood, through college, homelessness, even incarceration--until her own crisis reverses their relationship. Filled with wonderful acting opportunities, including an actress who plays every other character in the play--all substantial roles. Probably not suitable for high school production, but ideal for college or professional theatre. Order it now from Original Works Publishing!

SHINING SEA (2 males, 3 females, 90 minutes)
Tragicomedy. Three squeegee people, two mayors, one Winnebago and a parking authority that gives new meaning to the phrase “parking Nazis,” all set in a self-destructing New York City.

WAR OF THE BUTTONS (10 males, 2 females, 90-100 minutes)
Drama. The youth of a town on the brink of ruin battle the students of a local prep school that is gradually buying up their town, all the while protecting one of their own whose parents have abandoned him. Freely adapted from the novel by Louis Pergaud. One adult (male) plays all the adult roles, and the rest are for teenagers. Written specifically for teen performers, and appropriate as theater for young audiences (ages ten and up). At some point, I will create a version with more women, so stay tuned...