Popular One-Act Plays for Schools
Below you will find some of the most popular one-act plays for schools. From hit comedies, to riveting dramas, and adaptations of classics that are perfect for competition. Click the images to read the plays for FREE!
One-Act Comedies
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30 - 35 Minutes
10 - 50 Actors
On a sunny day in the town of Bloomington, a devastating occurrence happens - the internet has gone down! And it will continue to be down! For a week! Pandemonium! In a world that is so dependent on the internet, how will society function? Not well as it turns out. A hilarious and timely comedy. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
25 - 30 Minutes
10 - 30 Actors
A simple one-act production of The Wizard of Oz gets derailed by missed cues, forgotten lines, and a renegade sound board op who refuses to play anything but dinosaur noises. A comedy that proves, when it comes to live theatre, everything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and it will be hilarious. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
30 - 45 Minutes
12 - 50 Actors
Finally your timeless questions about teachers will be answered through a series of hilarious revelations -- from a gameshow revealing your teacher's teenage years to a battle of core subject teachers vs. electives... By the end you'll know why teachers drink so much coffee. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
25 - 30 Minutes
12 - 14 Actors
The one that debates Peter Pan's alleged murder of an innocent pirate named Captain Hook. A jury of twelve of the most famous villains will decide Pan's fate, if only they could stop arguing long enough to take a vote. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
30 - 45 Minutes
4 - 23 Actors
When you deliver packages, anyone might be behind your next door. Jaded veteran Logan thinks she's seen it all, while newbie Sam is convinced attitude is everything. The only sure thing in this job? They're both going to be surprised. Knock Knock is a rapid-fire comedy that delivers. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
30 - 35 Minutes
10 - 30 Actors
This is a show for any student who has ever been cast or miscast in a school play or any teacher who has ever attempted to post a list without serious backlash. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
30 - 35 Minutes
10 - 50 Actors
Let TED talk hosts Megan and Able be your guides to surviving every possible apocalypse. From blatant robot take-overs to dysfunctional zombie survivalist groups. Okay, so the post-apocalypse world will be a little confusing. If we make it. Which we probably won't. But this play will help! We promise. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
25 - 35 Minutes
5 - 17 Actors
A catastrophic street sign switcheroo has two rookie detectives grilling a motley crew of suspects and witnesses. Everyone from the high school mascot to a guy who may be Super Mario is pumped for information. With the clock ticking and their jobs on the line, can this good cop and bad cop collar a suspect before it's too late? (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
Over 300+ productions!
35 - 50 Minutes
5 - 45 Actors
In today's chaotic, challenging world, we often don't know where to turn for help. Little did we know that life's most valuable lessons lie within the undead. Finally, zombies engage us with musings on life, death, and everything in between. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
Over 300+ productions!
30 - 40 Minutes
10 - 30 Actors
Sherwood Forest is in danger of being destroyed and it's up to Robin and his band of dimwitted Merry Men to save the day. When the Sheriff challenges them to a contest to determine the forest's rightful owner, their skills are put to the test. Unfortunately, archery is only the first round. Robin and his men will also have to win a talent show and a beauty pageant. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!
Over 200+ productions!
30 - 35 Minutes
8 - 25 Actors
The one where two over-achieving, but selfish Seniors must put aside their own ambitions and help their fellow students in order to graduate. The problem? Graduation is in two days. Hashtag uh oh? (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!
30 - 35 Minutes
8 - 25 Actors
Neverland is turned on its head in this clever blend of It's a Wonderful Life and J.M. Barrie's classic tale. When the Lost Boys go missing, Peter Pan wishes he never came to Neverland. Unfortunately, his wish is granted by Tinkerbell's unkempt fairy cousin, Stinkerbell, and Peter is given a glimpse of what the world would be like without him. READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!
Over 100 productions!
30 - 35 Minutes
10 - 50 Actors
You'll feel all the feelings, but most especially, you'll feel hilariously moved in this dram-com that's bound to break your heart. 101 times. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!
30 - 35 Minutes
10 - 30 Actors
The one where an actress stumbles into the role of a lifetime...if only she can figure out what play she's doing. Meta-theatricality knows no bounds in this wacky comedy. (If you like The Actor's Nightmare by Christopher Durang, consider Places in Five.) (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!
25 - 30 Minutes
14 - 40 Actors
To win his freedom from school bully Bugs, Tommy offers to help Bugs get a date to the prom with popular actress Stephanie Mezaluna. But the only way to get her attention is to convince her that Bugs is a famous actor in hiding. A wild high school hallway farce all the way to fifth period. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!
30 - 35 Minutes
6 - 35 Actors
What happens when you blow the entire town budget on a Cheese Festival? You have to close the public school system and rely on a motley crew of parents to homeschool all the children. But do a clown, a drill sergeant and other assorted parents have what it takes to teach children? No. No, they do not. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!
35 - 40 Minutes
10 - 30+ Actors
A series of comedic and dramatic vignettes exploring who we are and who we want to be. With endless choices and expectations, do our actions define us or do our intentions? What about the way we dress, the friends we keep, or how we act online? In such a complex, face-paced world, it's vital to slow-down, reflect...and laugh. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!
25 - 35 Minutes
10 - 30 Actors
Something unprecedented is happening in Fairytale Land -- all the nursery rhyme characters are revolting against their own stories. Humpty Dumpty refuses to fall off the wall, Little Miss Muffet strikes back at the spider, and Peter Piper finally loses his peppers. A rollicking romp that is fun for all ages! (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!
40 - 45 Minutes
12 - 22 Actors
In an ambitious plan to bring peace to Ancient Greece, Dialysis and Peon create Betterland, a city where once-doomed tragic characters can start a better life. But this new society of refugees must face enemies and Gods who don't tolerate free will or utopian ideals. Weaving together the stories of Ancient Greek characters, this hilarious reinvention of the classics asks the question, "Is it possible to escape your own fate?" (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
25 - 35 Minutes
6 - 18 Actors
Shakespearean worlds collide as the Bard's most famous characters go out on blind dates with each other. Can Romeo woo Lady Macbeth before she goes mad? Will Juliet marry King Lear or will her Nurse stand in the way? How will Joan of Arc inspire Hamlet to finally take action? Hosted by waiter Puck, To Date or Not to Date is a wild ride of unlikely matchups and unexpected romances. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
30 - 35 Minutes
10 - 30 Actors
What do you get when you combine an after school special, a penguin heist, accent-challenged knights, puppet-show Shakespeare, and a vampire murder mystery? One playwright thinks these could be the ingredients for his magnum opus, but it could be the recipe for the worst play ever written in the history of the world...and possibly the universe. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
ONE-ACT DRAMAS
40 - 45 Minutes
9 - 20 Actors
Everybody's whispering: Something's wrong with Cassie. She walked out on her squad mid-routine; won't help her mom put up Christmas decorations; suddenly wants to back out of prom plans. Well, Cassie hears taunts about how fate is inescapable in every cheer, her mom doesn't seem to notice it's February, and she's haunted by premonitions of something terrible that will happen if prom night continues as planned. So, SORRY if she is being a little WEIRD, people. But does seeing her fate mean that she can change it? (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
30 - 35 Minutes
10 - 20 Actors
Inspired by true events, a group of theater students have just finished performing a play when the unthinkable happens - the school goes under lockdown. Caught in various rooms throughout the school, the students have to figure out what to do, who to trust, and if they're ever going to feel safe again. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
35 - 40 Minutes
10 - 12 Actors
Far in the future, humanity has found peace but has been divided between Earth, the colonies on the Moon, and the Mars Federation. Person to person contact between the worlds is a thing of the distant past, with life existing in islands of division and distrust. But all of that changes when a mysterious girl arrives on Mars with a message of hope and a stark warning. Can humanity come together to save itself before it is too late? (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
ONE-ACT ADAPTATIONS
30 - 40 Minutes
11 - 38 Actors
After Alice tumbles down a mysterious rabbit hole, she finds herself in a strange land where everyone is raving mad. With the help of a Cheshire Cat, an astute Caterpillar, and a righteous Humpty Dumpty, Alice must find her way home and discover who she really is. A darker, more faithful version of Lewis Carroll's classic tale that reimagines the experience of Wonderland, and ends with an unexpected new twist. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
Over 500+ productions
35 - 45 Minutes
10 - 20 Actors
Thomas lives in both the world of his mind and the reality of his troubled family’s home in postwar Amsterdam. Whether imagined angels support him or his father beats him, he records it all in his Book of Everything. But when Thomas begins to form surprising connections with the people around him, suddenly it seems that maybe the two worlds don’t have to be so far apart. Maybe things can change. Witty, wise, and bursting with magical realism, this stage adaptation brings the acclaimed book to life with an ensemble cast.
(A full-length version of this play is also available.) (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
30 - 40 Minutes
7 Actors
A fresh adaptation of Oscar Wilde's beloved romantic comedy where the stakes are even higher and the deadlines even tighter for poor Jack Worthing, whose alter ego "Ernest" comes back to haunt him in the form of his rakish friend Algernon Montcrieff, who adopts the false identity to woo Jack's ward Cecily. All the wit of Wilde in less than half the time. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
35 - 45 Minutes
8 - 26 Actors
Former citizens of a mythical Midwestern town speak from the grave of the day-to-day hopes and dreams of their lives. Touching, anguished, and contemptuous, their voices and stories weave together in this fresh new take on a modern American classic. You won't forget what you've heard from these distinctively small-town folk as they evoke universal themes of hope, despair, and love. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)