One Act Plays  
Home / Plays / One Act
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
  • A Little Box Of Oblivion (1f, 4m/f)
  •  
    Finalist - 34th British All Winners Festival (NDFA) 2007 (Rushen Players)
    Winner - Warwickshire Play Festival, 2007, (Abbey Players)
    Winner - BEST COMEDY : Sunshine Coast Theatre Festival 2006, Queensland, Australia (Jally Productions)
    Winner - BEST ORIGINAL PLAY : All England Theatre Festival (North East Heats) 2005
      A woman puts a box down next to a stranger in a park, giving strict instructions before she rushes off, not to move, knock, tilt or open it. Passers-by offer suggestions as to what's inside, and what should be done with it - is it a bomb, a packet of deadly anthrax or perhaps a severed head? At last, exasperated by these highly opinionated people, the stranger shakes and rattles the box, only to be berated by the returning woman, who reveals all, much to their embarrassment.
  • Loving Chopin (2m, 1f), 55min
  •   A struggle for intellectual (and occasionally physical) supremacy between a bigoted old judge, his long-suffering and manipulative wife, and their smooth, but somewhat subversive, butler.
  • mediocrity (4m, 1f, 1m/f), 35min
  •  
    Winner - BEST COMEDY : Sunshine Coast Theatre Festival 2007, Australia (Jally Productions)
    Finalist - British All Winners NDFA, Woking, 2006 (Phoenix Theatre Company)
    Finalist - British One Act Drama Festival, Perth, 2006 (Phoenix Theatre Company)
    Winner
    - Welsh National Drama Festival, 2006 (Phoenix Theatre Company)
    Winner - AMFEST Festival: Wits Theatre, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2002
      Kenaf has just learnt that he's about to die and his life changes dramatically as he finally stands up to his domineering wife, the bullying brute and the condescending Doctor.
  • Dancing With Auntie (3m, 4f), 70 mins
  •   When teenager Barry invites his new girlfriend to the family Christmas party, she has a catalytic effect on the rest of the household, bringing to the fore a secret that has been hidden for many years. Barry's father has some explaining to do to his niece and his son in an attempt to atone for his actions. A beatifully crafted, wickedly humorous play.
  • A Woman Of Uncertain Age (1f), 35 mins
  •   Winner: Best New Writing, Buxton Festival Fringe 2003
      Ruth is in her forties. She travels with baby Eve, a slowly dwindling mountain of baggage and a distinct lack of self-esteem on a somewhat fraught train journey to see her grown-up son. We hear the story of Eve through Ruth’s inner thoughts and outer utterances in this bitter-sweet comedy of lost love and lost luggage.
  • A Bit Of A Do (1f), 35 mins
  •  

    Maggie is happily settled into her life. Settled with husband, Harry; settled into their comfortable house in a small cul-de-sac; settled with her circle of friends and settled with her high standards of behaviour. When something unsettling though happens to one of her friends, the effect of it builds up a tidal wave around her which smashes through her comfy existence, destroying it forever.

  • Bye-bye, Mr Heim! (4m, 7f, 1m/f), 45 mins
  •   Walter Heim is a bigamist and a money launderer who has been embezzling from his criminal friends to support his extravagant lifestyle. Lying in a hospital bed, he is visited by his two wives, who walk out on him, and a messenger from the Mob who reveals that the 'accident' won't be botched next time - he's living on borrowed time. Who can Walter turn to for help? His Doctor and Nurse agree to secretly get him out of hospital and hide him in exchange for a large sum of money. Why does the Nurse though, get the cheque made out in her name only? Does Walter survive?
  • Digs (4m, 4f), 45 mins
  •   Sara catches Ben with her drunk sister wrapped round him and throws him out. Forced to take lodgings, Ben arrives at the house of Mrs Schiller. With spartan accomodation and an ageing Austrian landlady, Ben is plunged into a bizarre series of conversations and flashbacks. His wild imagination portrays her as a Teutonic prison warder after she takes away all his clothes, and his inability to leave the room until she returns them lets him take stock of his married life.
  • Ladies On The Costa (1f), 20 mins each
  •   A compelling series of 12 monologues telling the amusing, acerbic and utterly absorbing stories of the lives of twelve female ex-pats living in Spain, each with a diffferent reason for emigrating there.
  • Two Sisters (2f), 60mins
  •   Nominated - Manchester Evening News Award (Best Play) : 24/7 New Writing Festival 2006
      Dark secrets hidden in the grey mists of time are reluctantly revealed in this excellent black comedy. Set in a small village in 1880's Russia, Anya and Sonia are goaded into recollecting some things they'd rather forget from their earlier years, upon the bizarre discovery of an empty coffin in Anya's lodgings.
  • Butter Side Up (2m, 3f), 55 mins
  •   Breakfast is served at Chuckfarthing House. Which is tough when you have hangover and you’re the one who has to serve it. Will the organic grapefruit be worth the wait? Will the newly-weds ever make it down to breakfast? Will the past always come back to haunt you? Find out in this poignant comedy.
  • Exit Right, Running (4m,3f), 45 mins
  •  
    Runner Up - BEST OVERALL PLAY : Drama Association of Wales Annual Competition 2000
      England in 1642 sees two actors fleeing from persecution as Royalists by Cromwell's men. As they try to meet their friend who will help them escape, they run into two 'ladies of the night' who recognise them as actors. Will they hold their tongues? Can they be bought? What revelation is one of the actors forced to make to the other?
  • Flumes And Fumes (5m, 6f), 60 mins (Strong language & content)
  •  

    Madcap mayhem, debauchery, lust and mistaken identity, all this and more! The play is set in 'Floaters Leisure Centre' just prior to an inspection by the local senior councillor, Mr Pantalone. Isabella, the Centre's Manageress, is in a flap; however her dysfunctional staff are not perturbed in the slightest, add a good measure of lunacy to this theatrical pot of nonsense and you have all the ingredients for a crazy rollercoaster ride that builds and builds into an insane, ludicrous, climax that would not be amiss within the walls of Bedlam!

  • Sharks In The Custard (3f, 4m/f) 45 mins
  •   Winner - Drama Association of Wales Annual Playwriting Competition 1997
     

    The cleaning ladies in the municipal art gallery enjoy their work, but rumours of government cut backs threaten to upset their cosy regime. In the face of adversity they come up with a solution that not only secures their futures and helps to save the gallery, but also ensures that their lives will never be quite the same again.

  • Slap And Tickle At The Pig And Whistle (5m, 3f), 60 mins (Strong language & content)
  •  

    A story concerning the misappropriation of private love letters belonging to Isabella and Lelio and the debauched selfish interest of Pulcinella, the publican of 'The Pig and Whistle'. The crazy antics of Arlecchino, Colombina's quick thinking paramour and the thwarted, elicit love affair between Isabella and Lelio, all add up to a rollicking, uproarious comedy that crashes like a comic avalanche to it's ultimate conclusion.

  • The Ladybirds (9f), 45 mins
  •   The village drama group has lost all their men. The future looks bleak until a bright, young director agrees to help them out. The suggested solution at first shocks the straitlaced villagers, but then becomes the vehicle which gets the cash flowing back into the groups desperate bank account.
  • The Village Hall (9m, 8f), four 30 min linked one-act plays (or play 2, 3 or 4 in combination)
  •   That hallowed institution - the Village Hall, scene of unparalleled local country dramas is the setting for these four comedy plays. Each play stands up in its own right, but the quartet could be played together in many combinations. Each play features one or two main characters and their particular use of the Hall, a Jumble Sale, the Amateur Dramatics group, the scout's Gang Show and the Wedding Reception..
  • Time For Ben (3m, 3f) 45 mins
  •   A highly unusual play in that the title role has no words to speak. Ben is a disabled teenager, severely handicapped and wheelchair-bound, having his eighteenth birthday complete with visiting relatives. Mark, Ben's father gets annoyed with Ben's uncle who doesn't appreciate both the sacrifices Mark has made, nor Ben's sense of humour which shines out like a beacon through the family quarrels.
  • Vanessa & The Vanguard (2m, 1f) 45 mins
  •  
    Nominated - AMFEST Festival : Wits Theatre, Johannesburg, South Africa 2000
      The action for this unlikely comedy occurs in the sultry, smoky setting of a private and intensely personal investigation into the wherabouts of a missing person. The client is a remarkably beautiful woman, however, instead of the suave, gravel-voiced detective we may have come to expect, we encounter Orton T. Norton - a frenetic, obsessive, and somewhat eccentric private eye.
  • Axis (4m plus 1m, 1f, 8m/f support), 45 mins
  •   The title of this play comes from George W. Bush’s declaration soon after the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, that there exists an “Axis of Evil”, a shadowy conspiracy which is, presumably, out to destroy the “Allies of Good”. The play explores the role the media play in terrorist activity, and is set around a rather absurd, but plausible, situation of terrorists setting up a talk show between a hostage and his kidnappers. With a topical and tense plot, 'Axis' is very much a story of our time.
  • For The Love Of Sara (3m, 1f plus 1m, 2f support), 45 mins
  •   Ben is a patient in a psychiatric ward. As he is being questioned by Carl, a psychiatrist, the landscape of Ben's family life emerges. The centre of his life is his love for his daughter, Sara, who was born brain damaged. There is a horror in Ben's life that he can't face up to, but ironically, it is this same horror that has the effect of dramatically changing Sara's life.
  • Honeymoon Suite 3x1 Act or 1x3 Act Plays (either 2m, 1f or 4m, 3f), 40 mins each
  •   Three plays that explore the reasons why three couples have booked into the honeymoon suite at a country hotel. Two of the three are just married - for one it's barely six weeks since they met, the other couple though have known each other for twenty years. Why so soon? Why so long? The third couple are not married, at least, not to each other. This and a secret discovered, casts a shadow over their weekend. Francis, the genial, Irish hotel porter links all three plays with his homespun philosophy and his 'see nothing', 'get you anything' attitiude to his valued guests.
  • Ladies On The Costa (1f), ~10 mins each
  •   A compelling series of twelve monologues telling the amusing, acerbic and utterly absorbing stories of the lives of twelve female ex-pats living in Spain, each with a diffferent reason for emigrating there.
  • Lucy In The Sky (4f), 45 mins
  •  
    Finalist - NDFA All Winners Drama Festival, Woking 2009 (Wilstead Players)
    Winner - BEST ONE ACT PLAY (Female Cast) : Drama Association of Wales Competition, 2002
      Three women seek shelter in an inner city hostel for the homeless. On this cold winter night, each has a different reason for being there. Two of them are having to come to terms with recent events which have shattered their lives. The other cannot forget her failing because once a year for fifty years she has been vividly reminded.
  • Movers (4m, 2f), 40mins
  •   Four removal men are clearing the large Cartwright house on the hill, a once powerful industrial dynasty, now reduced to bankruptcy. The play is a symbol of all our destinies - the great can crumble and the weak can survive, especially if they are sustained by a sense of humour. We all have our tragedies, we usually survive, and life moves on. If you have the ability to laugh at yourself, it helps.
  • Once An Actress (1f), 35 mins
  •   Bored with her factory job, Sara attends an audition and is amazed when she gets a part. Through this catalyst she attends drama school and afterwards lands an acting job touring Welsh schools, both of which provide her with valuable new life skills. Her bubble is burst though, when she gets no more acting jobs and has to retrun to the factory. A superb single-hander for a competent actress.
  • Remembrance Day (5f), 40mins
  •   Leanora - a 'difficult' patient, has been moved from one nursing home to another, and the new staff are not too happy with her. During a visit by her daughter and grand-daughter, some family skeletons are revealed. Forced into a corner by all around her, Leanora decides it is time to tell the 'truth' behind the rift.
  • Ship Of Fools (4m, 1f), 40mins
  •  

    In the middle of the 19th century, a desperate group of starving villagers wreck a ship that holds no food or money, just society's unwanted - a ship full of fools. This sharply dramatic play tells their story. It was initially envisaged as an allegory of the arguments against Care in the Community (ie the abandonment of seriously ill patients and the lack of round the clock care) however the period setting allows for various other readings.

  • Something Beginning With C (3m, 3f), 40mins
  •  

    Mike is a 'Jack-the-lad', living his life in pubs, each night with a different girl. One day he is diagnosed with cancer. To start with he carries on as before, but the decision whether to change his lifestyle or carry on as before, weighs heavily on him.

  • The Brown Felt Hat (6f), 45mins
  •   Ann (and her daughter, Beth) arrive in 1942 from Wales, to escape the bombing and work in her sister Pat's hotel. The work is demanding, and Pat works them hard. Each of the women has a battle to fight and fears to conquer. The brown felt hat is a symbol of good times, of well-being, of self esteem and of magical escape. It is a prop which helps the wearer to escape the ugliness of war.
  • The Cafe Sirocco (3m, 2f, 1m/f) One Act
  •  

    Henry and Melissa, an unhappily married middle-aged couple, have each arranged a secret rendezvous with would-be lovers. Unfortunately, not only have they chosen the same restaurant, but their new lovers work together in the same office. Lying and deceit are used by the couple to bolster their hum-drum lives, tactics which soon unravel when the two couples inevitably encounter each other.

  • A Quiet Life (1m, 3f)
  •  
    Winner - BEST ORIGINAL PLAY : All England Theatre Festival (North East Heats) 2003
      Ten thousand pounds in grant money has been stolen from the Village Hall committee and although Fred Jackson is a retired policeman, his instincts are still razor-sharp. It's unlikely to be Allison, the recently arrived newcomer to the village, but has Joan, the treasurer, dipped her fingers in the till, or does Audrey, the 'local girl made good' and now Chair of the Committee know more than she's letting on?
  • Fate's Thread (1m, 4f)
  •  
    Winner - BEST ORIGINAL PLAY : All England Theatre Festival (North East Heats) 2004
     

    Susan suffers a fatal accident caused by her husband, Jack. She meets Alice and Harriet in the graveyard who, also being dead, have to persuade Susan to reconcile herself to the fact that she has been been murdered. Can they do this, or will Susan be forced to spend the rest of eternity in the Sea Of Lost Souls? Fates Thread is a ghost story. It's a murder mystery, and a light comedy. It's a race against time to save a soul.

     
    Home / Plays / One Act