Have you heard about these exciting titles? These full length and one-act comedies and dramas are plays and musicals that you will love and will energize your stages for seasons to come. Check them out!
Plays
Fast Food by Tracy Wells
When you’re hungry for hilarity but short on time and tight on budget, where do you turn? Why, the one-act play Fast Food, of course! From crazy customers to screwy staff, this vignette-style collection of scenes will satisfy your craving for fast food fun while offering a simple set and an entirely flexible and expandable cast.
Late Bus by B.D. Samuels
At Saw Mill Public High School, the late bus picks students up at 6:30 p.m. It just never comes on time. Over the course of a school week, we meet Saw Mill High’s collection of mavericks and misfits with no other way to get home: the chaotic valedictorian, the big-brained transfer, the detention heads, the band geeks, the athlete, the anxious ones, and the one quietly observing it all. With some magical music, vicious rumors, breakups, and more than one breakdown, Late Bus is a close look at what it means to be in high school in our messy world. Together, this group of teens in a hurry to grow up might just learn a little bit more about what it means to be here, now.
The Identity Project by Brent Holland
Dr. Egan is using seven people as test subjects for his research on identity. Is our sense of self taught, or is it part of who we are? Are abilities tied to our sense of self? And how much of ourselves and our sense of shared humanity are we willing to give up in order to survive?
Cabin Chronicles by Justin Borak
Josh, OC, and Will are alone in an empty cabin. At night. In the woods. The perfect setting for a scary story competition! The three boys try to out-scare each other with tales of zombies, lab accidents, and teenage slashers to distract each other from the pain of high school. A horror comedy about the fear of standing out and the friends you make when you decide you don’t care about fitting in.
Rotten Apples by Tracy Wells
A group of villains, including the Evil Queen, Wicked Stepmother, and Big Bad Wolf, and some familiar faces with dubious morals, like Little Red Riding Hood and Pinocchio, are locked in a mansion on a dark and stormy night. Their only means of escape is helping Prince Charming figure out the name of a mischievous imp who has his eyes set on a gasp-inducing treasure. As they begin to unravel the mystery before the midnight deadline, the storm knocks out the power in the mansion, and in a twist, some of the guests get knocked out, too. Will anyone be left to crack the riddle of the imp’s name and escape? Or will a parade of surprise goodly guests only complicate their efforts as even more beloved characters become victims to the unknown assailant? With three endings to choose from, the mystery is yours to solve!
O. Henry’s Guide to the Present by Stephen Gregg
The romance, betrayal, longing, and joy of six of O. Henry’s best short stories intertwine at the Vallambrosa rooming house, where Della Leeson lands after she’s abandoned by her new husband. Della slowly builds a life for herself in New York City: finding a community, overcoming tragedy, and falling in love. O. Henry’s twists take Della in unexpected directions, pulling her into the lives of the Vallambrosa’s other quirky residents. Full of whimsy and eccentric characters, O. Henry’s Guide to the Present showcases the beloved writer’s work at its most human.
Accommodation by
The mother of freshman and rising athletic star Michael Newsome stops by his guidance counselor’s office for a meeting. While the administration is impressed with Michael’s record-breaking times in the pool, his mother is more concerned that he’s failing Mrs. Dawkins’ science class. She thinks his poor performance may be because there aren’t proper accommodations put into place to help with Michael’s learning disability. When Mrs. Dawkins joins the meeting, the ramifications of generational shifts in America’s expectations for education, parenting, and teaching rear their heads, to life-altering results.
Musicals
We Are the Tigers; Book, Lyrics and Music by Preston Max Allen
Photo by Mati Gelman, 2019 Off-Broadway production
The Tigers’ high school cheerleading squad is meeting for their annual sleepover at captain Riley’s house—and they’ve brought plenty of their teenage troubles with them. Love triangles, a lustful boyfriend, and hurt feelings over a now-viral cheer stunt gone wrong complicate their team-bonding activities. But so does the untimely death of one of their own in the front yard. Will that be the only murder? And who did it? With a pop-driven, belty score and a seriously silly book, We Are the Tigers will have audiences cheering for the Tigers as the Tigers learn to cheer for themselves.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid; Book by Kevin Del Aguila, Music and Lyrics by Michael Mahler and Alan Schmuckler
The Children’s Theatre production of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Saturday, April 23, 2022, Minneapolis, Minn.
Photographed by Glen Stubbe Photography for Children’s Theatre Company
There is a shorter, 60-Minute Edition also available for licensing.
Middle school, ugh. It’s the worst. But Greg is determined not to be at the bottom of the popularity chart. He’ll leave that to his weird neighbor, Fregley. Or maybe Greg’s best friend, Rowley Jefferson. But it’s not going to be Greg…no way.
Jeff Kinney’s popular character takes center stage as Greg’s cartoon diary becomes a hilarious and heartfelt musical. Will Greg’s plans to become popular lead him to sacrifice his one true friend? Can anyone avoid the dreaded Cheese Touch? Grab a hall pass and don’t be late for an adventure familiar to anyone who actually survived middle school.
String; Book by Sarah Hammond, Music and Lyrics by Adam Gwon
Winner of the 2015 Richard Rodgers Award
Photo by Mark Kitaoka, 2018 Village Theatre production
After angering Zeus, the Fates, the goddess sisters who spin, measure, and snip the strings of life for every human on Earth, find themselves banished to a modern office building in the mortal world, where they continue their work hidden among the mortals whose destinies they weave into one giant, glorious tapestry. When eldest sister Atropos accidentally loses her pair of scissors in the building, she meets Mickey, the building’s overnight security guard. Soon love gets the better of her, and she finds herself falling for him, stealing his string to keep him immortal and defying all of the rules she has to follow as a goddess. This exception to the rules begins to disrupt the natural order—can the tapestry of the Universe and her sisters stand this flaw? Fall for this original, uplifting, and belty musical about fate, love, and the imperfections that make us human.
