Best friends or worst enemies? Jennifer asks Sandra for help choosing the perfect outfit for a date...unfortunately, Jennifer doesn’t know it’s with the guy Sandra has a huge crush on! As the outfits gets stranger and stranger, their friendship gets more and more strained. Will they make up in time, or will Jennifer turn up for her date wearing a pope’s hat and fishing waders? 8-10 minutes. 2 females. Ideal for high schools, youth theatres, universities, and community theatres. Published and performances licensed by YouthPLAYS (www.youthplays.com), publisher of plays for young actors and audiences.

What the Well Dressed Girl is Wearing

Literature & Fiction

Jolly, Arthur M.

Dramas & Plays

YouthPLAYS

Let YouthPLAYS lead you on a quest for comedy with fifteen short plays all in one comic collection, ideal for short play festivals, classroom scene study and competition. From dirty toilet seat-induced “pregnancies” to the agonizing search for just the right outfit to turning nuclear weapons into dating accessories, teen performers will find a wide variety of comic subjects and styles to stretch their acting chops and tickle their funny bones. Anthology of 15 short plays running 5-15 minutes each. 2-21 males, 2-30 females (4-41 performers possible). Ideal for high schools, community theatres, colleges and advanced middle school performers. Plays include Wherefore Art Thou...Todd? by Steven Stack; Time Warp by Karin Diann Williams; After The Hill by Meron Langsner; G.B.F. Forever by Asher Wyndham; Wrong End of the Stick by Trevor Suthers; Vital Organs by Jonathan Dorf; Kadija &amp; Swann by Ed Shockley; Do These Jeans Make My Butt Look Massive? by Donna Latham; Poster Children by Nathan Selinger; The Ants and the Grasshopper by Trevor Suthers; What the Well Dressed Girl is Wearing by Arthur M. Jolly; DragonSlay by Robin Pond; Orni-what? by Nancy Brewka-Clark; How to Get Famous in Theatre by Karin Diann Williams and A-Bomb Wedding by Jonathan Dorf. Published and performances licensed by YouthPLAYS (www.youthplays.com), publisher of plays for young actors and audiences.

Follow That Funny: Fifteen Short Comedies for Teen Actors

Brewka-Clark, Nancy

Dorf, Jonathan

Shockley, Ed

Langsner, Meron

Pond, Robin

Selinger, Nathan

Stack, Steven

Suthers, Trevor

Williams, Karin Diann

The classic adventure story of buried treasure—and the original one-legged pirate with a parrot—gets a timely makeover, combining offbeat farce, sight gags and horrendous puns with a dramatic core that explores discrimination, privilege and greed. Unlike in Robert Louis Stevenson's book, where only one unnamed character is female, women are front and center as Long Joan Silver's young Jim Hawkins comes of age during the fateful voyage of the Hispaniola and the clash between an all-female pirate crew and Squire Trelawney, Doctor Livesey and the domineering Captain Smollett. 90-100 minutes. 6-15 males, 8-20 females (14-30 performers possible, plus non-speaking extras). Ideal for high schools, youth theatres, universities and community theatres. Published and performances licensed by YouthPLAYS (www.youthplays.com), publisher of plays for young actors and audiences.

Long Joan Silver

When Carly and Georgia team up to get the best revenge in the history of ever against the school bully who steals their lunch, they’re not prepared for what happens—to them, to the bully, or to the dangerous snake they have hidden in a lunchbox. 10 minutes. 2 females, 1 either. Ideal for middle schools, high schools, youth theatres, universities, and community theatres. Published and performances licensed by YouthPLAYS (www.youthplays.com), publisher of plays for young actors and audiences.

Snakes in a Lunchbox

Middle school is a time of change, filled with new people, new places and new experiences. The characters of Middle Schoolin’ It navigate friendships, battle bullies, search for that first kiss, brave braces, figure out how to survive ten minutes in a closet and much more, mixing comedy with more than their share of drama. Students and teachers alike will delight in this challenging and entertaining collection of plays, ideal for class, competition and short play festivals. Anthology of 15 short plays. 8-20 minutes each. Casts range from 1-6 performers, with roles for up to 19 males and 23 females (41 performers possible, with some gender flexibility). Plays include Snakes in a Lunchbox by Arthur M. Jolly; Piglet by Brian Armstrong; My Big Adele Moment and Hi, We Thought You Were Dead by Kenyon Brown; My Little Brother by Dan Berkowitz; Three First Kisses by Tim Bohn; Erasing the Brain by Nina Mansfield; Le Goalie by Nelson Yu; Math-o-Freak by Nancy Brewka-Clark; Brace Yourself by Keegon Schuett; Ranger by Nina Ki; Confessions of a Peanut Butter Addict by Allan Bates; The UnderGroundHog Railroad by Jeri Weiss; Family Meeting by Don Zolidis, and Closeted by Jonathan Dorf Published and performances licensed by YouthPLAYS (www.youthplays.com), publisher of plays for young actors and audiences.

Middle Schoolin' It: Short Plays for Middle School Actors

Brown, Kenyon

Armstrong, Brian

Schuett, Keegon

Berkowitz, Dan

Bohn, Tim

Mansfield, Nina

Yu, Nelson

A rubber duck, a toy submarine, a washcloth and a sponge face an existential crisis in the aftermath of a traumatic bath encounter with a little boy—so traumatic, in fact, that they’ve become afraid of the water. But why did Rubber Duckie float while the other three sank into the depths…? As dissension grows and accusations fly, will the group tear itself apart? And is Rubber Duckie happily floating above them all, or is he concealing a dark secret of his own? 10 minutes. 4 either. Ideal for elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, youth theatres, universities, and community theatres. Published and performances licensed by YouthPLAYS (www.youthplays.com), publisher of plays for young actors and audiences.

Bath Time is Fun Time

YouthPLAYS enlisted fourteen playwrights ranging from established names to exciting newcomers to offer their theatrical insights on this serious problem facing today’s teens. The result is Bullying, Ink., a flexible collection of ten-minute plays that may be produced in any order (and with any plays left out). We’ll navigate the dangerous waters of social media (Log Off), take a darkly comic look inside the heads of a trio of bullies (Bully Issues), and meet students who have always been the “other” (There Is No Down). We’ll bear witness to the daily cycle of literal and figurative violence (A Loser Like You), one that can push young people to the ultimate breaking point (Cracked Sky). But we’ll also see the power of hope (Pick Nick) and of people to come together (Her Reign). Join us for these and many more stories, as we laugh a little, perhaps cry a little, and hopefully think a little. Ideal for advanced middle schools, high schools, youth theatres, universities and community theatres. Published and performances licensed by YouthPLAYS (www.youthplays.com), publishers of plays for young actors and audiences.

Bullying, Ink.: Short Plays About Bullying

Goode, Jeff

Burbano, Diana

DePiano, Hillary

Edwards, Julia

Gossett, Neeley

Hayward, Bradley

Lawson-Smith, Hayley

King,Laura

Rising

They may have appeared on your high school reading list, or maybe only in your nightmares, but now twelve YouthPLAYS authors are striking a match and burning down the classics...with their pens and computer keyboards. Whether it's the complete works of Jane Austen gone full-on Hollywood, Count Dracula as a cafeteria cook, or Huck Finn running away from his story only to have it catch up with him again--to name just a few--get ready to light up the literary canon with this scorchingly funny new collection. 120-140 minutes (flexible). 6+ females, 4+ males (11-100+ performers possible--8 or fewer if not all 12 plays are produced). Ideal for high schools, universities, youth theatres, and community theatres. Published and performances licensed by YouthPLAYS (https://www.youthplays.com), publisher of plays for young actors and audiences.

Lit on Fire: Twelve Short Parodies of Reading List Classics

Zolidis, Don

Lewis-Barr, Laura

McGregor, Rex

Weiss, Jeri

Taylor-Sansom, Abigail

Twelve short plays offer a varied and flexible collection of performance opportunities for upper elementary students. With fast-paced, large-cast comedies that range from clever to downright wacky, meaty dramatic challenges for more advanced actors or something in between, the plays of It’s Elementary!—which can be performed in any order and with any titles left out—are there to entertain while exploring age-appropriate concerns. Whether it’s navigating an unfamiliar environment, coping with learning differences at school or taking on new responsibilities, this collection has something to offer every young actor Performable Collection of 12 plays. 7-15 minutes each. Casts range from 2-30+ performers with over 100 roles in all. Ideal for elementary schools and youth theatres. Published and performances licensed by YouthPLAYS (https://www.youthplays.com), publisher of plays for young actors and audiences.

It's Elementary!

Levy, Meredith Dayna

Buchanan, Matt

Haas, Claudia

Adkins, Nicole B.

Blasberg, Robin

Bublitz, Rachel

Castellani, Catherine

Elliott, Annie Harrison

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