Browse Catalog

A Christmas Carol

by: A.D. Hasselbring

Charles Dickens’
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Adapted by A.D. Hasselbring
4W / 9M / 4 Boys / 3 Girls
Other Characters to be Played by Ensemble or Additional Cast:
13W / 11M / 3 Boys / 2 Girls
Playing Time: Approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes

Hasselbring stays true to Dickens in his adaptation of the best known Christmas story of all time. Many adaptations simplify the story, but Hasselbring includes all the special moments and characters that truly reveal the struggles of 1880’s London from “Want” and “Ignorance” clinging to the Second Sprit to the chimney sweeps on the street and Old Joe in his den of thieves. Along with the hardships and dreariness come the brilliance and joys that “A Christmas Carol” brings to the holiday spirit when Mankind is everyone’s business and the singing of carols and sharing of food and spirit lift our souls with the hope that charity thrives throughout the year. As in all the best adaptations, your audiences will both loathe and love Ebenezer and delight in his reclamation. No matter how many times we share the moment when the Cratchits receive their Christmas turkey and Tim proclaims “God bless us, every one”, audiences will forever embrace and cherish this timeless tale of a heartless scrooge who is given a second chance to become the kind of human we all strive to be. $20 Single Use Copyright Fee plus $60 Royalty per Performance for Amateur Theatre. Professional Theatre Royalties Calculated on Application.

A Field of Daisies

by: Rebecca Ryland

A Full-length Drama in Two Acts

5M / 5W

Approximate Playing Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

An award winning and potent portrayal of a city man, Tom Benedict and his wife, Jennifer, in conflict between themselves and their attempt to build a new life in rural America.  Filled with symbolism and harsh reality, the audience has the opportunity to witness the final days of a deteriorating relationship and then sit in judgment as to the truth. Is he a narcissist who terrorized his wife or is Tom driven over the brink of insanity by the tribulations of their marriage and the pressures of life, maximized by a farm accident involving a young boy? No one leaves the theatre on this one without a passionate opinion as to the outcome of the trial in which Tom stands accused of murder.  A alternate ending is provided should you choose to let your audience determine the verdict.  Challenging, engaging, and downright riveting.  $20 Single-Use Copyright Fee plus $60 Royalty per Performance for Amateur Theatre.  Professional Theatre Royalties Calculated on Application.

A House Divided

by: Sean David Bennett

A Full-length Drama in Two Acts

2W / 5M

Approximate Playing time:  2 hours

Divisive inner and outer turmoil and scandals in the Catholic Church tear to the heart of the Shields family in this intensely driven drama by Sean David Bennett.  During what should have been a festive birthday celebration, the family fabric frays under the strain of mother Molly’s fear of breast cancer, daughter-in-law Sarah and Thomas Shields’ never-ending battle over what it means to be a true Irishman and eldest son, Bud’s struggle for recognition in a family bearing two priests.  But when Fr. Stephen is falsely accused of molesting a boy, the ultimate danger of collapse threatens to destroy the house and everyone in it and sets a course for vindication at the greatest price a man can pay for truth when lost in despair.  This is family drama at its best, examining commitment, love, faith, truth and honor amidst a highly controversial period in the Catholic Church. This is a play your audience will remember and men of the cloth must never forget.  $20 Single-Use Copyright Fee plus $60 Royalty per Performance for Amateur Theatre.  Professional Theatre Royalties Calculated on Application.

A Human Shield

by: Robert L. Kinast

A Full-length Socio/Political Family Drama
4W / 1M
Approximate Playing Time: 1 Hour, 45 Minutes

Politics plays a key role in the dynamics of the Grant household. Twin sisters Alberta and Roberta are as close as twins can be except when it comes to their convictions. Their father, retired General Stan Grant, is unmistakably proud of Alberta, who serves in the U.S. Army. His outspoken opposition to Roberta, a political liberal and social activist, worsens after he is approached to run for public office as a conservative. As the play progresses, the mother, Priscilla, who has suppressed many of her own feelings over the years as a military wife, challenges her husband’s strict code of conduct and shows sympathy towards Roberta’s ideals. The tension comes to a head when Alberta announces her orders to enter a potential war zone— the same place that Roberta has volunteered to go as part of a Human Shield. The family conflict over beliefs and politics is a microcosm of American society in general. “A Human Shield” brings that conflict home with tragic outcomes in this personal soul-searching drama. $20 Single Use Copyright Fee plus $60 Royalty per Performance for Amateur Theatre. Professional Theatre Royalties Calculated on Application.

A Man Without Means

by: Rebecca Ryland

A Full-Length Comedy in One Act Set in London

3W / 4M

Approximate Playing Time: 75 minutes

First performed at Ensemble Studio Theatre’s theatre lab in New York, this slapstick comedy of errors has all the makings of a great farce. Set in a dilapidated hostel on the outskirts of SoHo in London, two Americans find themselves stuck without means in a guest room used for storage. Throw in an uncontrollable nose bleed, two workmen and their ladder, cheating spouses, a lunatic Canadian and the equally nutty hostel manager and your audience will find itself rolling in the aisles. Is this a hotel or an insane asylum? It’s fast, it’s funny and it’s frightfully entertaining, right down to the circular saw massacre in the end. $20 Single-Use Copyright Fee plus $50 Royalty per Performance for Amateur Theatre.  Professional Theatre Royalties Calculated on Application.

A.R@UNI.GOV

by: Dan Borengasser

A Full-length Comedy in Multiple Scenes

2M + A Flexible Cast of an Additional 1-7M & 1-7W (depending on doubling)

Approximate Playing Time:  90 minutes

What if Adolf Hitler had married Emily Post?  Find out in this playful comedy that gives your audience a bird’s eye view of the couples on file at the Bureau of Alternate Realities where relationships throughout the universe are the subject of interest and examination.  The Bureau Director leads us through a serious of vignettes with such well-known personalities as Adam and Eve, Barbie and Ken, and Romeo and Juliet, occasionally taking a poke at a member of the audience who he addresses as visitors to the Bureau.  But don’t expect the characters to act the way you think!  In the world of Alternate Realities even a match between Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller can get turned on its head.  And how can analytical Sigmund Freud ever expect to please the likes of romance novelist Barbara Cartland?  A fun way to kick-off your season or truly amuse your summer audiences, with enough great roles to showcase the talents of your entire theater company!  $20 Single-Use Copyright Fee plus $60 Royalty per Performance for Amateur Theatre.  Professional Theatre Royalties Calculated on Application. 

Allie in Wonderland

by: Everett Robert

ALLIE IN WONDERLAND
by Everett Robert
2F / 2M / 11 Either + Extras
Approximate Playing Time: 1 hour

What happens when Alice forgets how to dream? That’s what the characters in this refreshing adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s timeless tale want to know. For one thing, Wonderland isn’t quite as wonderful anymore; the sparkle fades and the characters lose their luster. But rumor has it that thoroughly modern Alice, who prefers the name, Allie, is coming back. There’s hope yet for Wonderland if only the Cat can convince her that the imagination is not only real but necessary. This is the opportunity for your actors and your audiences to see Alice in a new light and follow her through the rabbit hole where she rediscovers the magic of Wonderland along with all your favorite characters from the White Rabbit and the Caterpillar to Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, the Mad Hatter and the March Hair. And Wonderland wouldn’t be complete without the Queen of Hearts with her Flamingo croquet mallets who still threatens to “cut off her head!” But Allie has a weapon of her own; a Triple Chocolate Espresso Mocha Latté with whipped cream. $20 Single Use Copyright Fee plus $40 Royalty per Performance for Amateur Theatre. Professional Theatre Royalties Calculated on Application.

An American Wife

by: Karen Blomain & Michael Downend

A Full-length Drama in Two Acts

2M / 3W / 1F Child

Approximate Playing Time:  2 hours

When Frank Flynn returns home from fighting in the war to his little coal mining town in Pennsylvania, he doesn’t get the welcome he expected.  His mother, Nanna, doesn’t appreciate his bringing back a Polish war bride, especially with him engaged to her best friend’s daughter.  His new wife, Stella, finds trying to fit into the little house, already crowded with Nanna, Frank’s brother, Phil, his wife and their young daughter, Jody, is as difficult as fitting into a small, prejudiced, Irish Catholic community.  But Stella, who lost everything to World War II, has more will and courage than anyone could have imagined.  When the mines shut down from lack of work, Stella leads the way to women working in the mills, and with a baby on the way, must come to terms with her nearly unbearable losses and the revelation that she took someone else’s sweetheart.  Stella's haunted and painful past not only brings her new family together but also imbues those around her with her optimism and verve. The story is pre-feminist feminist, working class, blue collar, and small town– anytown USA. This amazingly heartfelt story of this strong-willed Irish Catholic family as they struggle to accept the challenges of their post war life is one every theater will cherish.  And with its ties to the holiday season, it will remind audiences everywhere that angels come in all shapes and sizes, at Christmas and throughout the year. $20 Single-Use Copyright Fee plus $60 Royalty per Performance for Amateur Theatre.  Professional Theatre Royalties Calculated on Application.

Beach Play

by: Robert Lehan

Two One-Act Dramas

2M / 2W (1M / 1W, each play)

Approximate Playing Time:  1 hour total

What we leave behind is often the last for others to give up.  Such is the dilemma for Tom in ASHES, the first play in this pairing of two one acts that pit the needs of one character against those of another.  In ASHES, the bereaved Tom has lost his beloved wife and all that remains are her ashes.  For him, those ashes belong in a family plot where he and those who loved her can gather to honor and remember her.  But his wife, Barbara, had other ideas and her ghost confronts Tom on an isolated beach where he struggles to follow her wishes to have her ashes scattered in the sea.   STONESKIPPERS is a quirky yet alarming story of a man longing to become the Stoneskipping Champion of the World and the anguish of a starving homeless woman living on the beach where he practices.  The conflict between real need and trivial pursuit reaches a climatic ending with only one getting his/her wish.  Robert R. Lehan, who brings a lifetime of experience in theatre to his work, notes that STONESKIPPERS is an anatomy of revolution fostered by the conflict between the “haves” and the “have-nots” and warns “there will be shots fired.”  Both plays are certain to trigger an emotional response from the audience.    $15 Single-Use Copyright Fee plus $30 Royalty per Performance for Amateur Theatre.  Professional Theatre Royalties Calculated on Application.

Bear With Me

by: Jill Elaine Hughes

An Evening of Short Plays about Life, Death, Love, and Estrogen
by Jill Elaine Hughes

15W / 2M
(5W /2M with doubling)
Approximate Playing Time: 65 minutes

Jill Elaine Hughes lands her comic flare full square on this collection of witty, humorous and satiric short plays poking fun at the female condition. In “The Perfect Relationship” two women address their weaknesses in choosing the right man with their new-age therapist only to discover that she is as big a sucker as they are. In “Circle Line” two couples push waiting for the subway train to the limit when one of the women lies down on the tracks in an attempt to goad her husband into saving her. God gains the upper hand in a game of poker with other female deities in “Does Anyone Know What’s Really Going On Upstairs?” while the Goddess of Lifetime TV uses her powers to restore a woman’s sexy dreams in “This is Your Lifetime” despite the relentless interruptions of feminine hygiene commercials. $20 Single Use Copyright Fee plus $50 Royalty per Performance for Amateur Theatre. Professional Theatre Royalties Calculated on Application.