Click on the link for each play to see sample pages. There are always enough to show the main story-line, character range and style.
M/F indications of cast are NOT set in stone. There have been productions, for instance, of Crowding Me In and Coming Closer with mixed casts. Always feel free to contact Jeni for advice if you want it.
For most plays, Production Notes have been written including set, lighting, sound, costume and prop suggestions, character notes and Page by Page suggestions where there are difficulties posed by the script.
Production Notes, where they exist, are already attached to downloaded plays.
Other resources previously published by DramaWorks are now available from Digital Theatre+…
Suitable For Students of 14-18
Short Plays: Half an Hour to 55 Minutes
| Play | Price |
|---|---|
| A GOOD CAUSE by Marsali Taylor. 5F,4M or more, approx 40 mins. Years 9/10 [ages 13-15] A story of family and political conflict as we follow Janie Sandison and the Women’s Suffrage Movement from 1910 onwards. ISBN: 978-1-911313-55-7 | £20 |
| ALL ABOUT JENNY by Jo Hardy. 3F, 2M, OR 4F, 2M. approx 20 mins. Jenny struggles with self-image issues. Boyfriend killed in London bombing. ISBN: 978-1-911313-40-3 | £20 |
| ALL CHANGE by Jo Hardy. 2M, 3F. Making us aware of the consequences of our actions . If we had a chance, is it possible to alter what we have set in motion? Strong characters. approx 30 mins. ISBN: 978-1-911313-39-7 | £20 |
| BEAUTIFUL INSIDE by Jo Hardy. 5, 6 or 7F. approx 25 mins. the dangers of peer pressure and its effect on personal image. Anorexia. ISBN: 978-1-911313-41-0 | £20 |
| BEHIND THE WIRE by Jo Hardy. 4F/1M approx 30 mins. Set around a women’s labour/concentration camp with echoes of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Strong characterisation. ISBN: 978-1-911313-42-7 | £20 |
| DIRTY MONEY by Joe Maingot. 5M. approx 25 mins. when big business clashes with personal integrity, who is the winner? Bush and the Iraq war the background for the play. Could be adapted to any current conflict. ISBN: 978-1-911313-43-4 | £20 |
| FLAT SPIN by Marsali Taylor. 6/7 F. approx 25 mins. an unselfish act amongst University students sharing a student flat. Realistic setting and situation. ISBN: 978-1-911313-44-1 | £20 |
| FLAT SPIN 2 by Marsali Taylor. 8F doubling poss. approx 25 min. the same students try to persuade their difficult landlady they are fit tenants for another year. Comical Fun. ISBN: 978-1-911313-45-8 | £20 |
| INSIDE SAM’S HEAD by Marsali Taylor. 14F chars. approx 25 mins. about the experience of being deaf and other peoples’ perceptions of it within a school environment. Suitable for doubling roles. ISBN: 978-1-911313-46-5 | £20 |
| IT’S MY PARTY AND I’LL CRY IF I WANT TO by Jo Hardy. 5F. approx 30 mins. snappy role-swapping, physical piece about the dark and light sides of being a teenager. Challenging but fun. ISBN: 978-1-911313-47-2 | £20 |
| PINOCCHIO by Jeni Whittaker. mixed cast, or single sex. 14 – any number. Between half an hour and one hour or more. physical theatre re-interpretation of trad. story, including whole cast all the time. Though commissioned and written initially for youngsters, this play has been performed professionally by a T.I.E. group as a Community Theatre project, with adults playing the parts. It was divided up [which isn’t hard] between 5 people [in that instance] but is adaptable to any number you wish. ISBN: 978-1-911313-35-9 | £20 |
| PUNCHING JUDY by Jo Hardy. 2F/1M. a teenage pregnancy ends tragically. accompanied by moving or still projected images and/or puppetry, this is a challenging, thought-provoking piece. ISBN: 978-1-911313-48-9 | £20 |
| SUSPICION by Marsali Taylor. 13F chars. doubling poss. approx 30 mins. Years 7-10 [ages 11-15] theme of gossip and the damage it can do in a school environment. ISBN: 978-1-911313-54-0 | £20 |
| TERROR by Jeni Whittaker, 30-40min play. flexible cast, approximately 4F, 4M. The build up to a terrorist bomb placed in a busy shopping mall on a Saturday morning. Physical style, role-swapping, Chorus work. ISBN: 978-1-911313-49-6 | £20 |
| THE JOKER Jo Hardy. 3F/2M, 4F/1M or 4F/2M, 5F/1M approx 30 mins. The dangers of on-line gambling. Interesting characters and some physical theatre opportunities. ISBN: 978-1-911313-51-9 | £20 |
| THE REUNION by John Tarrant. 7F, 3M. approx 30 mins. Years 10/11/12 [ages 15-17] the contrast between the aspirations of a group of pupils and what has happened to them ten years after leaving school. ISBN: 978-1-911313-56-4 | £25 |
| WHY MUST I BE A TEENAGER IN LOVE? by Michael Hatfield. – mixed cast of 31, doubling possible. approx 1hr. Years 8/9/10 [ages 12-15]. fun script about gangs, acceptance, boy-girl stuff and rock’n’roll! ISBN: 978-1-911313-57-1 | £25 |
Longer Plays: 1 Hour to Full Length
| Play | Price |
|---|---|
| ADAM AND EVE by Terence Brady. Full-length play. 2M, 1F with poss. chorus. Very witty dialogue. A talented trio of young actors could pull this off. Based on Mark Twain’s story. A great fun version of the familiar story, with witty dialogue and humour. The play does not ignore the darker side of the story: Lucifer, the expulsion from Eden and the murder of Abel by his brother. It is easy to pick and choose scenes which will hang together, without losing the story-line. The late Terence Brady was a professional writer with many screen and television credits to his name, including popular series like Upstairs, Downstairs, as well as stage plays and novels [often co-written with his wife, Charlotte Bingham]. ISBN: 978-1-911313-21-2 | £30 |
| BREATH by Nikki Atkin-Reeves. 4/5F, 2/3M. With the physical approach required, the running time is approx one hour but easy to reduce. Uses fairy-stories and nursery rhymes to explore the issue of stalking. ISBN: 978-1-911313-01-4 | £20 |
| COMING CLOSER by Jeni Whittaker. 4, 5 or 6 F, flexible cast. The play runs at about an hour with the physical and ensemble work involved. A tale in a physical and narrative theatre style about the murder of a young girl. Don’t trust even female strangers. ISBN: 978-1-911313-09-0 | £20 |
| CROWDING ME IN Jeni Whittaker. 5M. Running time: approx. one hour, but it is easy to pick and choose scenes, or alter monologues, to reduce the length. Rebellion in a modern-day big corporation, where pressure and expectations have become too high. Physical theatre and strong characters. ISBN: 978-1-911313-13-7 | £20 |
| LYSISTRATA by Michael Theodorou. 12F / 9M, + chorus of men and chorus of women. Full length play. an accessible modern English version of Aristophanes’ original. Fun, lively and lewd! It can easily be reduced to fewer characters and scenes. ISBN: 978-1-911313-29-8 | £30 |
| MARKED by Nikki Atkin-Reeves. 18F, min 6M with doubling. It is quite easy to follow through one or two patients’ stories and exclude others. Act One stands quite well on its own and deals with the top eight characters only, for instance. It’s easy to reduce still further and to bring the cast numbers down to 4,5 or 6, with occasional doubling. This play was written as a commissioned piece of theatre. Explores attitudes to the mentally disturbed and care in the community. thoughtful, often funny. strong characters. ISBN: 978-1-911313-31-1 | £30 |
| RAIN LIKE GLASS by Andrew Shakeshaft. 7M, 3F. approx one hour fifteen minutes. Andrew Shakeshaft is an award-winning playwright and many of his plays have been professionally performed. Marcus must learn to move on from the shadow of his talented brother and stand up for himself in the worlds of work and girls. ISBN: 978-1-911313-17-5 | £25 |
| SHEHEREZADE by Jeni Whittaker. 41 mixed cast, much doubling possible. Jow our heroine tricks her husband to save her life through telling stories [Arabian Nights]. approx. one hour fifteen minutes. There are many opportunities for cutting this play to make it focus more on the messages about feminism and the role of the artist/writer in society. It is very physical theatre, with often slapstick humour. It has been performed, in abbreviated form, by a much smaller professional cast, focusing on the sisters and the Caliph, with the few additional characters who occur in these scenes doubled. This play was especially commissioned for professional performance. ISBN: 978-1-911313-23-6 | £30 |
| THE ARGUMENT by Andrew Shakeshaft. 4M, 3F. approx an hour fifteen minutes. It is easy to reduce the scenes, which mainly involve two actors at a time, and to pick scenes without certain characters, to reduce the number of players. Andrew Shakeshaft is an award-winning playwright and many of his plays have been professionally performed. Sophia has to find the strength to ditch cheating boyfriend Leon, with the help of her friends. ISBN: 978-1-911313-15-1 | £30 |
| THE REVENGERS by William Meadows. Full-length play. 21 fairly evenly mixed cast. Excellent fun based on the best-known of Shakespeare’s characters and scenes. Ideal school play. Suitable for all Secondary School ages 11 – 18. ISBN: 978-1-911313-59-5 | £25 |
| THERE WERE 7 OF US by Andrew Shakeshaft. 5M, 2F. approx an hour fifteen minutes. Andrew Shakeshaft is an award-winning playwright and many of his plays have been professionally performed. A school leavers get-together weekend goes badly wrong when outsider Simon makes a statement impossible to ignore, which affects everyone’s lives. ISBN: 978-1-911313-19-9 | £25 |
| THE VILLAGE THAT KILLED A MAN by Michael Hatfield. min 10F / 13M or more. full length play. strong, physical, passionate – and often funny adaptation of ‘Fuente Ovejuna’ by Lope de Vega. approx two hours. ISBN: 978-1-911313-27-4 | £30 |
| THE WATCHERS by Jeni Whittaker. approx one hour. 5F, but flexible. Spooky neighbours harass a new arrival to the neighbourhood. Role-swapping and physical/chorus work throughout. ISBN: 978-1-911313-02-1 | £25 |
| TONTINE by Marsali Taylor. 14F / 3M. The running time, uncut, is approx one hour. Or, for a shorter play, it could be cut to exclude some of the periphery characters, focusing on the main ones, doubled with the modern teenagers. Linked together with the silk-workers’ chants, it could still be an effective piece. The appalling facts about the young women who worked in the French silk manufacturing businesses in the 18th century. ISBN: 978-1-911313-33-5 | £25 |
| THE TURN OF THE SCREW by Michael and Patricia Theodorou. Possible for 2F, 1M; 2F, 2M, 3F,3M. From the ghost story by Henry James. Can be done with a cast of about 15/16, in a show lasting approx 80 minutes, but also offers versatile casting and is easily reduce-able. ISBN: 978-1-911313-36-6 | £25 |
| WAITING by Nikki Atkin-Reeves. mixed cast, min. 18, of which at least 6M. The play is about one hour fifteen minutes long. This play was written as a commissioned piece of theatre. Teen and life issues in a physical theatre format – waiting for life, death, good or bad news, or just queuing! ISBN: 978-1-911313-25-0 | £25 |
| WOMAN IN THE MOON by Jeni Whittaker. 8F. The play lasts roughly one to one hour fifteen minutes [dependent on the length of the physical theatre section]. It is easy to pick and choose scenes and characters to reduce the length. The female role and differing views of marriage. Involves music and dance opportunities. Doubling possible. ISBN: 978-1-911313-07-6 | £20 |
| WORKING FOR THE COMPANY by Andrew Shakeshaft. 4F. The play as it stands lasts about an hour. It is easy to pick and choose scenes to reduce the length. Andrew Shakeshaft is an award-winning playwright and many of his plays have been professionally performed. Futuristic idea – what if the cultivation of drugs was government funded and big business? Serious piece. ISBN: 978-1-911313-05-2 | £20 |
Scripts for Students of 11 to 13
Short Plays: Hand an Hour to 55 Minutes
| Play | Price |
|---|---|
| INSIDE SAM’S HEAD by Marsali Taylor. 14F chars. approx 25 mins. about the experience of being deaf and other peoples’ perceptions of it within a school environment. Suitable for doubling roles. ISBN: 978-1-911313-46-5 | £20 |
| IT’S MY PARTY AND I’LL CRY IF I WANT TO by Jo Hardy. 5F. approx 30 mins. snappy role-swapping, physical piece about the dark and light sides of being a teenager. Challenging but fun. ISBN: 978-1-911313-47-2 | £20 |
| PINOCCHIO by Jeni Whittaker. mixed cast, or single sex. 14 – any number. Between half an hour and one hour or more. physical theatre re-interpretation of trad. story, including whole cast all the time. Though commissioned and written initially for youngsters, this play has been performed professionally by a T.I.E. group as a Community Theatre project, with adults playing the parts. It was divided up [which isn’t hard] between 5 people [in that instance] but is adaptable to any number you wish. ISBN: 978-1-911313-35-9 | £20 |
| SHEHEREZADE by Jeni Whittaker. 41 mixed cast speaking cast, much doubling possible. approx 1hr. how our heroine tricks her husband to save her life through telling stories [Arabian Nights]. approx. one hour fifteen minutes. There are many opportunities for cutting this play to make it focus more on the messages about feminism and the role of the artist/writer in society. It is very physical theatre, with often slapstick humour. It has been performed, in abbreviated form, by a much smaller professional cast, focusing on the sisters and the Caliph, with the few additional characters who occur in these scenes doubled. This play was especially commissioned for professional performance. ISBN: 978-1-911313-23-6 | £30 |
| SUSPICION by Marsali Taylor. 13F chars. Doubling possible. approx 30 mins. Years 7-10 [ages 11-15] theme of gossip and the damage it can do in a school environment. ISBN: 978-1-911313-54-0 | £20 |
| THE DEVIL IN THE SHADOWS by Andrew Shakeshaft. all M cast. min 15 M + extras. approx 1hr. Years 7/8/9 [ages 11-14]. different ‘take’ on the Grendel/Beowulf story. mix of drama, physical theatre poss. and humour. ISBN: 978-1-911313-52-6 | £25 |
Junior Plays for Years 7 to 10
See Also Under Christmas Plays
| Play | Price |
|---|---|
| GHOSTHUNTERS by Jeni Whittaker. – 55 speaking parts, mixed or single sex [orig. for M], doubling poss. approx 1hr. Years 5/6/7 [ages 8-11]. 5 plays within play. spoofs Harry Potter, James Bond etc. ISBN: 978-1-911313-61-8 | £30 |
| PINOCCHIO by Jeni Whittaker. mixed cast, or single sex. 14 – any number. Between half an hour and one hour or more. physical theatre re-interpretation of trad. story, including whole cast all the time. Though commissioned and written initially for youngsters, this play has been performed professionally by a T.I.E. group as a Community Theatre project, with adults playing the parts. It was divided up [which isn’t hard] between 5 people [in that instance] but is adaptable to any number you wish. ISBN: 978-1-911313-35-9 | £20 |
| THE CUCKOO CLOCK by Michael Theodorou. mixed cast 30 plus. adapted from Victorian children’s book. Years 5/6/7 [ages 8-11]. Could involve even younger children. Full – length. Lonely orphan Griselda is shown a magical world by the cuckoo clock. ISBN: 978-1-911313-60-1 | £30 |
| THE DEVIL IN THE SHADOWS by Andrew Shakeshaft. all M cast. min 15 M + extras. approx 1hr. Years 7/8/9 [ages 11-14]. different ‘take’ on the Grendel/Beowulf story. mix of drama, physical theatre poss. and humour. ISBN: 978-1-911313-52-6 | £25 |
Christmas Plays and End of Termers
| Play | Price |
|---|---|
| SINDRELLA, QUEEN OF THE NIGHT by Chris Walker. mixed cast of between 37-50! can be just 3M, the rest F. very good fun Vampire version of Cinderella story with a difference – a spoof. Suitable for all Secondary School ages 11 – 18. ISBN: 978-1-911313-58-8 | £30 |
| THE REVENGERS by William Meadows. Full-length play. 21 fairly evenly mixed cast. Excellent fun based on the best-known of Shakespeare’s characters and scenes. Ideal school play. Suitable for all Secondary School ages 11 – 18. ISBN: 978-1-911313-59-5 | £25 |
| THE CHANGELING PRINCESS by Marsali Taylor. 38 or more mixed cast, can double. full length. Suitable for ages 9-13. humorous fun panto-style play without lovey-dovey bits. ISBN: 978-1-911313-62-5 | £25 |
| YEAR OF THE STRANGERS by Marsali Taylor. 8F, 6M suitable for upper primary or middle schools. approx 50 mins. Suitable for ages 9-13. Follows the assimilation of a Polish family into a British school. ISBN: 978-1-911313-63-2 | £25 |
| THE SNOW QUEEN by Jo Hardy. Large mixed cast, or can be doubled down to 15-20. Suitable for ages 9-13. A fun modern retelling of the traditional Hans Andersen story. approx 1 hr 15mins. ISBN: 978-1-911313-64-9 | £25 |
| A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Michael Theodorou. 9F + 24M or up to 22F + 11M. approx 45 mins. Secondary ages [11 upwards]. a charming new rendering of the well-known story. ideal for Xmas end of term. ISBN: 978-1-911313-65-6 | £20 |
| GOD REST YE MERRY BUSINESSMEN by Jo Hardy. 10-15 chars, mixed cast mainly F. Could be all F. Very good modern take on Christmas Carol story. Years 10 upwards [ages 15+]. approx 45mins. ISBN: 978-1-911313-66-3 | £20 |
Will Exam Boards accept these plays as texts in a scripted performance examination?
At the moment, OCR, EdExcel and Aqa boards do not accept these for exam purposes, though for many years they have. I don’t know the situation with the Welsh and Scottish boards or with the IB and would value feedback about these.