If you’re planning your next school production and want something that’s fun, flexible, and easy to stage, Ian McWethy’s plays are a perfect fit. His scripts are written with schools in mind—think minimal sets, flexible casting, and smart, laugh-out-loud dialogue that keeps both students and audiences engaged. Explore all of his shows below!
Bad Auditions by Bad Actors
Newbie director Carol has one day to find the leads for a community theater production of Romeo and Juliet. But what seems like a simple task proves impossible when the pool of auditioners includes extreme method actors, performers who just don’t know how to channel their rage, and one woman who may or may not think she’s a cat. This hilarious comedy will bring you to the last place you’d ever want to be…behind the doors of a casting session. (A one-act version of this play is also available.)
Talent Show Fail by Ian McWethy & Carrie McWethy (McCrossen)
The town of Holly Springs has terrible roads, and the citizens are counting on the money raised from this year’s talent show to fix them. Unfortunately, the one guy who has a talent wants to do taxes onstage this year. As the host, Tina is determined the show must go on, even as duets are being hastily converted to solos, angsty teens are reading upsetting poetry and everyone’s being hounded by a heckler. Will the town of Holly Springs get their act together or are they doomed to a future of potholes and unrehearsed roller-skating? Find out in this warm and winning community comedy!
So . . . What Are We Doing Tonight?
It’s Friday night. Kay wants to play putt-putt, while Lenny wants to go to the movies. A simple decision, right? But once more people get invited, plans always seem to get complicated somehow. You know how it goes: First, friends; then, friends-of-friends; then friends-of-friends’ parents, then Matthew McConaughey, then the Devil. A fast-paced comedy about the universal question: What are we going to do tonight?
The Customer Is Always Wrong
Ah, the working world is full of valuable lessons. Commitment! Responsibility! Total humiliation! When four teenagers start their very first jobs, it doesn’t seem like rocket science to babysit, wait tables, pass out flyers, or work at a movie theater, but it’s not long before they find out that in the minimum-wage world, the customer is king…a brutal, ruthless king. This funny, biting comedy is an ode to anyone who’s ever had to tell the worst customer in the world to “have a nice day.”
Most Likely To…
Everybody thinks superlatives are a pretty silly tradition — until they’re seniors and it’s voting time. When Yara and Zawn are tasked with editing the yearbook superlatives page, they find out just how far their classmates will go to get the titles they want, from hiring lobbyists to secure Most Likely to Be President to getting a tattoo of school mascot Flippy the Trout to win Most School Spirit. Yara and Zawn can’t understand why everyone is so convinced their superlatives will decide their fates. But they must come up with a plan fast, or the whole class just might be voted Most Likely to Lose Their Minds.
13 Ways to Screw Up Your College Interview
When two college recruiters at a prestigious university need to fill one last spot to keep their jobs, thirteen eccentric, dimwitted and slightly-insane high school seniors are eager to come in for an interview. What seems like a simple task turns into a nightmare when the applicants turn out to be a reality TV star, a practicing vampire, an amateur magician, and others that are much, much worse. Each applicant’s interview hilariously illustrates what NOT to do at a college interview. (This play has a sequel called 14 More Ways To Screw Up Your College Interview.)
SUPERHEROES
For superheroes, saving the world is tough, but the time spent away from work is tougher. The Hulk has to do taxes, a crime-fighting sidekick joins a support group, and Batman goes stir-crazy without enough criminals to take down. SUPERHEROES is a funny, fast-paced series of vignettes that explores how the caped crusaders deal with life in street clothes.
The 9 Worst Breakups of All Time
You think your breakup was bad? Eve Tonsil, an employee of the nonprofit company “Relationships for a Better Tomorrow” is here to take you on a tour of the nine worst breakups of all time, from the Cro-Magnon era to the Civil War, to a smattering of modern-day breakups. A comedy that proves that no matter how hard someone has stomped on your heart…it could always be worse.
