Hit Plays for High Schools
Below you will find some of the most popular one-act and full-length plays for high schools. From hilarious comedies, to riveting dramas, adaptations, and more . Click the images to read the plays for FREE!
One-Act Comedies
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!)
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!)
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!)
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!)
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!)
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!)
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!)
FULL-LENGTH COMEDIES
100 - 120 Minutes
8 - 25 Actors
It's opening night of a brand-new mystery play, but just as the killer is about to be revealed, the body of the play's director falls onstage instead. In that moment, the theater becomes an active crime scene, and everyone from cast to crew to even the audience becomes a suspect. But how is the intrepid detective supposed to find the killer when everyone and their mother (literally) has a motive to want the demanding director gone? This Murder Was Staged is a fast-paced, backstabbing, backstage comedy. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
Over 150 productions!
75 - 85 Minutes
10 - 50 Actors
On a sunny day in the town of Bloomington, a devastating occurrence happens. No, it’s not famine, or floods, or loss of your basic rights. The internet has gone down! And it will continue to be down! For a whole week! Pandemonium! In a world that is so dependent on the internet for everything, how will society function? Not well as it turns out. The Day the Internet Died hilariously explores how inept we are at dating, research, and basic human interactions when we don’t have a screen to look at. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
Over 300 productions!
75 - 90 Minutes
10 - 50 Actors
Travel around the world and explore forgotten myths and unusual legends in eight fast-paced and hilarious tales! Guided by a band of players, the audience is transported from the ancient Far East, where a hero must kill a giant centipede to save a dragon king, to the Russian countryside, where a poor orphan must defeat three witches who stole his grandfather's eyes. Always quirky, and sometimes bizarre, these eight tales are filled with magic, mystery, and morals. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
Over 200 productions!
FULL-LENGTH ADAPTATIONS
85 - 95 Minutes
8 - 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. Witty, wise, and bursting with magical realism, this stage adaptation brings the acclaimed book to life with an ensemble cast. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
75 - 85 Minutes
10 - 50 Actors
Alice falls down the rabbit hole. Mad tea parties, sarcastic caterpillars, depressed turtles, and one, very, very irrational Queen. Will Alice ever escape this dream-like landscape? Or was she never meant to at all? A stunning and theatrical adaptation that has been produced around the world. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
60 - 70 Minutes
5 - 20 Actors
A tap at a chamber door, and the beat of a hideous heart evoke the very best and creepiest of Edgar Allan Poe. So when Poe sets out to keep his stories alive from beyond the grave, an otherworldly radio studio proves just the thing. Wandering spirits gather to play the roles in Poe's most classic works. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
65 - 75 Minutes
10 - 50 Actors
The Austin family has a cherished tradition of doing something special every day counting down to Christmas. This year is a stressful one for Vicky Austin as she's cast as the youngest angel in the Christmas Pageant. Plus the family is preparing for the birth of a new brother or sister. Will the baby wait until January? Will Vicky mess up her big role? Will Christmas be ruined? At-warming tale for the holiday adapted from the Madeleine L'Engle's classic story. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
75 - 90 Minutes
8 - 50 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!)
FULL-LENGTH DRAMAS
80 - 90 Minutes
5 - 17 Actors
The residents of the small town of Bethel are facing a crisis: Their beloved park has been sold out from under them and it's sending their lives into a tailspin. In nine interconnected vignettes, sixteen locals grapple with the loss of jobs, homes, and spouses, but find love, courage, and forgiveness as the park magically transforms through four seasons of the year in a single day. From a tired security guard trying get home to her kids, to a young mayor in over his head, to a nostalgic fisherman who can't seem to catch anything, everyone takes a fall... and picks themselves up again. Bethel Park Falls draws a group of complex, fascinating, funny people together into one poignant story about the spaces where communities connect. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)
100 - 120 Minutes
5 - 41 Actors
A birthday for a man who doesn't know his age. A song that taunts a desperate prisoner. A storm bearing down on an unusal roadside motel. A couple finds them all in a mysterious book, said to be cursed, called... The Continuum Tales. In the spirit of The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror, this genre-bending collection of seven short plays explores weird, futuristic, and haunting worlds eerily similar to our own. Filled with strange and humorous tales of technology gone wrong, nightmares of the mind, and what happens when we let our fears get the best of us, this modern sci-fi collection is sure to entertain. (READ THE PLAY FOR FREE HERE!)