One Sweet Kiss by Emma Northcott
The Queen Mother Theatre Play Writing Competition Winner 2017
Style A one-act thriller with a single (living room) setting.
Synopsis Tony has a history of mental illness and has become very volatile and domineering. Frustrated, his partner Sophie attempts to get him back to work, through inviting her friend Sarah, the head of personnel, along with her husband Ross, over for dinner. Sarah has discovered a chilling secret from Tony's past and, as the evening wears on, her tongue loosens and accusations are made with devastating consequences.
The People's Act of Literature by Rupert Haigh
Style Short one-act play - a comedy drama. Single simple cafe location. Contains swearing (and acting).
Synopsis Two friends get into a discussion about theatre after one of the men starts learning to write from a local author. Set in a diner, they attempt some improvisation and, after getting some help from the waitress, life begins to imitate art and vice versa.
Red Nose, Floppy Shoes by James Brosnahan
2019 Monkey Bread Tree Script Competition - Winner, Best Character Arc. "It's a bit of a ridiculous event, and the whole thing would be mighty entertaining on screen, especially with these personas."
Roles Minimum Male roles = 1. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 4. Minimum total without doubling = 5. No chorus. One of the five listed characters is a voice-over.
Style One-act satirical comedy. Single (domestic kitchen) set.
Synopsis Michael's DNA test confirms his self-diagnosed Coulrophobia (fear of clowns). When Dr Keegle informs him he actually has the dreaded Clown Syndrome and only a week to live, his wife must keep him away from any form of comedy. Michael agrees to attend a support group. Tragically, the DNA test was mixed up, and rather than Courophobia, Michael has actually got the Clown Gene - he's a clown, and cannot help himself delivering an improvised stand up routine to the members of the Clown Syndrome support group. Exposed to comedy, they die in droves and Michael is carted off to prison, charged with murder. At the last moment his sentence is commuted to Community Service and his family must adjust to the new Michael, from his red nose to his floppy shoes.
Remember Scarborough by James Baynes
Roles Minimum Male roles = 2. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 4. Minimum total without doubling = 4. No chorus. One M and one F are non-speaking. Second F is small speaking role.
Music One piece of music is suggested, integral to the play. Lazy Bee Scripts does not supply any sheet music with this script.
Style An affecting one act play, largely spoken by a sole actor, with three cameo roles.
Synopsis In a one-sided conversation with his long dead friend, an old man recalls the war years - the excitement, adventure and loss of being an RAF bombardier. The other parts included - two dancers appear briefly, and at the end, the old man's daughter joins him.
Revelations by Bob Tucker
Style A one-act play that offers a simple set and complex characters, emotional involvement and a satisfactory resolution - plus a few laughs along the way.
Synopsis A couple brought in to see a specialist about their son's unusual medical condition come to realise that they have more to contend with and less in common than they thought.
Scene Six by Andrew McGuirk
Roles Minimum Male roles = 2. Minimum Female roles = 1. Minimum total with doubling = 3. Minimum total without doubling = 4. No chorus. The 'director' is an offstage voice and could be doubled by 'David'. The characters appear in a flashback as their childhood selves.
Style Character drama with plenty of acting challenges. Structured in two acts, but, at around 55 minutes, of one-act length. (Includes some swearing.)
Synopsis Two old friends and a new acquaintance decide to put on a play, but the assigned parts, emotional attachments, and the ruthlessness of the director cause rifts between the three.
Second Thoughts by Colin Calvert
Roles Minimum Male roles = 1. Minimum Female roles = 1. Minimum total with doubling = 2. Minimum total without doubling = 6. No chorus. (The max. and min. numbers depend on whether the production follows the author's intention and uses a quartet of four female singers to punctuate the action. There are also a few lines addressed to passers-by who might or might not appear on stage.)
Style One-act play, single minimalist set - a bus stop. Few props. A study of an attempted mid-life affair.
Synopsis Harold is waiting at the appointed spot, a bus shelter, for a meeting with his old school friend Patti, and wondering if he's up to having an affair, if that's even what's on offer.
The Secret Testament of John Shakespeare by Martin Lytton
Style Historical drama (on the boundary between a one-act and a full-length play). Single set. Lots of historical detail amidst a passionate story.
Synopsis William Shakespeare's wife drops in on her in-laws to mind her Father-in-Law while his wife visits a friend. The Informer James Langrake, who was responsible for the fall in Shakespeare senior's fortunes, calls in unannounced and nearly finds evidence to bring death to the household.
Seven Ages of Love by Robert Burns
Style One act play with an interesting structure. (As our reviewer remarked, 'It's what you'd get if MC Escher was a playwright'.) Several locations, but can be done with indicative sets. Contains a mild swearword.
Synopsis Mike's written a play about his failed love, telling the story in reverse for the benefit of his friend Phil. If you run a sad love story backwards, you end up with a happy ending, don't you?
Socks by Rosemary Frisino Toohey
Roles Minimum Male roles = 2. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 4. Minimum total without doubling = 5. No chorus. Four principal characters plus an off-stage female voice (which could be pre-recorded).
Style Short, one-act comedy play. Single set - the inside of a clothes dryer at a laundromat! ( A delightful contribution to an under-used sub-genre of costume drama!)
Synopsis A group of single socks discuss their plight. Should they attempt escape? Why have they been abandoned? Don't humans know that socks are the cornerstone of civilization?
A tale of abandonment, rejection and hope in the confines of a clothes dryer.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of clean laundry must be in want of the correct number of socks.