Your quest for the perfect one-act is over. Since 2017, Playscripts has been home to the most produced one-act plays in the country. Choose from hundreds of comedies, dramas, mysteries, adaptations, and more below. Begin searching for your perfect one-act play with our powerful FIND-A-PLAY search, or browse the selection below of some of our most beloved titles. And remember, Playscripts offers free samples with up to 90% of each script, absolutely free to read. Just click on the 'READ FOR FREE' button for any title. Enjoy!
10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse
Don Zolidis
It's the end of the world and hordes of rampaging zombies are about to kill you. What do you do?
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Comedy
30 - 35 minutes
5 W, 3 M, 2 Any (8-24 actors possible: 5-13 W, 3-11 M)
30 - 35 minutes
5 W, 3 M, 2 Any (8-24 actors possible: 5-13 W, 3-11 M)
Declaration
Jonathan Dorf
In a series of connected scenes and monologues that occur before, during, and after a mass shooting, young people of all stripes piece together what is happening and why.
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Drama
35 - 50 minutes
6 W, 6 M, 10 Any (10-55 actors possible: 5-53 W, 2-50 M)
35 - 50 minutes
6 W, 6 M, 10 Any (10-55 actors possible: 5-53 W, 2-50 M)
The Internet is Distract--OH LOOK A KITTEN!
Ian McWethy
Micah only has twenty minutes to finish her paper on The Great Gatsby. She just needs to check a few facts on the internet first...
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Comedy
30 - 35 minutes
5 W, 3 M, 12 Any (5-18 actors possible: 5-17 W, 3-15 M)
30 - 35 minutes
5 W, 3 M, 12 Any (5-18 actors possible: 5-17 W, 3-15 M)
Lafayette No. 1
Mandy Conner
As the yellow fever epidemic ravages the streets of 1816 New Orleans, no one thinks of the orphans known as the Forgotten--except for Lizzie Landry.
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Drama
35 - 45 minutes
8 W, 7 M, (15-25 actors possible: 8-13 W, 7-12 M)
35 - 45 minutes
8 W, 7 M, (15-25 actors possible: 8-13 W, 7-12 M)
Dark Road
Laura Lundgren Smith
When Greta, a young girl living in Nazi Germany, reads that the nearby women's concentration camp is hiring guards, she sees it as a chance to find her place in the world and provide for her sister Lise. But soon she learns the reality of her duties...
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Drama
40 - 45 minutes
8 W, 3 M, 1 Any (9-26 actors possible: 9-20 W, 0-6 M)
40 - 45 minutes
8 W, 3 M, 1 Any (9-26 actors possible: 9-20 W, 0-6 M)
The Wild Bunch Women: A Memory Play
Nelly E. Cuellar-Garcia
The Wild Bunch Women were known throughout the Old West as cattle rustlers, stagecoach bandits, and bank robbers... but to Pearl Hart, they were family.
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Drama
25 - 35 minutes
15 W, 2 M, (13-25 actors possible: 11-15 W, 2-10 M)
25 - 35 minutes
15 W, 2 M, (13-25 actors possible: 11-15 W, 2-10 M)
4 A.M.
Jonathan Dorf
What's it like to be awake when the rest of your world is asleep? Meet an early-morning jogger, a radio DJ whose show may have an audience of none, a modern Romeo and Juliet, the author of a most unusual letter, and many other teen characters as they search for connection in the magic hour..
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Dramedy
30 - 35 minutes
3 W, 3 M, 6 Any (6-40 actors possible: 3-20 W, 3-20 M)
30 - 35 minutes
3 W, 3 M, 6 Any (6-40 actors possible: 3-20 W, 3-20 M)
Brief Interviews with Internet Cats
Patrick Greene
Interviewer Ian McWorthy has a dream line-up for tonight's episode of the World Wide Window: a litterful of felines whose internet antics have catapulted them to fame...
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Comedy
25 - 45 minutes
9 W, 7 M, 6 Any (8-30 actors possible: 1-30 W, 1-30 M)
25 - 45 minutes
9 W, 7 M, 6 Any (8-30 actors possible: 1-30 W, 1-30 M)
Booby Trap
Ed Monk
In the near future, an American soldier sits in a combat zone, trapped by a land mine. As he waits to see what will happen to him, scenes from his past, present, and future unfold around him...
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Drama
30 - 35 minutes
6 W, 5 M, 6 Any (11-17 actors possible: 5-12 W, 5-12 M)
30 - 35 minutes
6 W, 5 M, 6 Any (11-17 actors possible: 5-12 W, 5-12 M)
The Wizard of Oz
Erin Detrick
Full of ensemble possibilities, this imaginative adaptation captures the heart of L. Frank Baum's classic tale...
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Comedy/Drama
45 - 60 minutes
11 W, 5 M, 5 Any (12-44 actors possible: 4-40 W, 4-40 M)
45 - 60 minutes
11 W, 5 M, 5 Any (12-44 actors possible: 4-40 W, 4-40 M)
The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon (one-act)
Don Zolidis
Two narrators attempt to recreate all 209 of the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm in a wild, fast-paced extravaganza...
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Comedy
35 - 50 minutes
1 W, 1 M, 3 Any (5-20 actors possible: 1-19 W, 1-19 M)
35 - 50 minutes
1 W, 1 M, 3 Any (5-20 actors possible: 1-19 W, 1-19 M)
The Shape of the Grave
Laura Lundgren Smith
The Troubles raging through Northern Ireland cost sixteen-year-old Colleen half her family, and she sees only one way to give her loss meaning: join the bloody fight for Irish independence from Britain. It seems so simple, but the IRA's reception isn't what Colleen expects...
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Drama
35 - 40 minutes
4 W, 3 M, 8 Any (9-30 actors possible: 4-15 W, 2-15 M)
35 - 40 minutes
4 W, 3 M, 8 Any (9-30 actors possible: 4-15 W, 2-15 M)
Appropriate Audience Behavior
Ian McWethy
Carol and Ashley are expecting a tale of woe as they take their seats to watch Hamlet, but the real tragedy is that they're sitting next to the world's noisiest weirdos.
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Comedy
25 - 35 minutes
9 W, 8 M, 3 Any (5-20 actors possible: 0-20 W, 0-20 M)
25 - 35 minutes
9 W, 8 M, 3 Any (5-20 actors possible: 0-20 W, 0-20 M)
The Hallmarks of Horror
Peter Bloedel
Scary movies are full of different ways to give you nightmares--but once you figure out the formula, the frightful looks pretty funny.
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Comedy
25 - 35 minutes
6 W, 6 M, 6 Any (8-40 actors possible: 5-37 W, 3-35 M)
25 - 35 minutes
6 W, 6 M, 6 Any (8-40 actors possible: 5-37 W, 3-35 M)
I Don't Want to Talk About It
Bradley Hayward
Being a teenager is hard, and nobody wants to talk about it. Confronting the daily challenges of growing up, this series of monologues and scenes offers a look at a multitude of issues...
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Dramedy
30 - 45 minutes
5 Any (5-32 actors possible: 0-32 W, 0-32 M)
30 - 45 minutes
5 Any (5-32 actors possible: 0-32 W, 0-32 M)
Advance Pack - Clue: On Stage
Someone is in enormous trouble for breaking the priceless heirloom vase in the Peterson living room. But who? Someone is lying. Well, probably everyone is pretty much lying.
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0 minutes
Various
Power Line
Don Zolidis
Nothing could compete with the ultimate gig for high school kids that they had in 1989, as a Game Counselor answering calls on the Power Line.
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Romantic comedy
45 - 55 minutes
4 W, 4 M, 4 Any (6-20 actors possible: 0-20 W, 0-20 M)
45 - 55 minutes
4 W, 4 M, 4 Any (6-20 actors possible: 0-20 W, 0-20 M)
Antigone Now
Melissa Cooper
In the midst of a bombed-out city still feeling the aftershocks of war, the rebellious and intense Antigone defies her uncle to bury her disgraced brother. This contemporary response to the myth of Antigone brings powerful, modern prose to an ancient and universal story...
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Drama
50 - 60 minutes
3 W, 1 M, (4-11 actors possible: 2-10 W, 1-9 M)
50 - 60 minutes
3 W, 1 M, (4-11 actors possible: 2-10 W, 1-9 M)
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