(For free downloadable scripts for 2-3 children, please go to PLAYS and fill out the form on the left)
Children's Plays for Children to Perform
Some of these scripts are on Smashwords and Amazon, to purchase as a digital reading copy. Smashwords has multiple formats to download and Amazon has the Kindle format. To perform one of these plays requires written permission and a performance fee, even if you aren't charging the audience. Please contact me in advance of the performance.
- THE ADVENTURES OF PECOS BILL: (based on the American Tall Tale)
Pecos Bill, once he discovers he’s not a coyote, tames wild Texas, first by taking on the Lawless Canyon Gang, next by training them to be cowboys (and girls). While Pecos Bill’s new crew practices cowboying skills, the Longhorns are having their own party...until they’re rounded up. The Bad Canyon Gang and the tornado are no match for Pecos Bill and his friend Slue–Foot Sue. Original songs: Lawless Canyon Gang; We’re the Texas Longhorns; Pecos Bill Says.
RUNNING TIME: 30 minutes
CAST: 10 m. 5 f. 11 Either (many roles can be changed to either)
FLEXIBLE CAST: 18-26+ (doubling possible) - THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE GENII IN REGARDS TO THE PECULIAR WORLD OF HUMANS: (based on four stories from the Arabian Nights)
The genii get together each year to discuss and laugh about the behavior of humans. Ali Baba and Sinbad come up in conversation as well as Baba Abdalla and the Fisherman. The genii become characters and animals in the stories they tell.
RUNNING TIME: 35 minutes
CAST: 3 m. 1 f. 25 Either
FLEXIBLE CAST: 16-29+ - AT THE ZOO: The knowledgeable and sophisticated characters in “At the Zoo” are the animals who watch the human comedy unfold before them. The Zookeepers try to keep the zoo orderly and safe from rowdy guests while trying to catch an escaped Penguin (cheered on by the other animals). Other guests include a grandma trying to avoid her grandchildren, a photographer and assistant forever trying to get the perfect picture and two children who run everywhere and rarely see anything.
RUNNING TIME: 45 minutes
FLEXIBLE CAST: 11-23+ - BOXES: The parents are at it again and they've kicked their kids out of the house to go play. Several groups of children are trying to think of something to do when they come across some boxes on the ground. For each group, the boxes become something different--canoes, race cars, rockets, etc. Ali sees it all and knows it's imagination at its best! Original songs include Think of Something and Imagination. Props for this play are incredibly simple: around 10 boxes and 4 balls.
RUNNING TIME: 30 minutes
FLEXIBLE CAST: 21-36+ - CHRISTMAS MAGIC: AMONG THE ELVES, AMONG THE CHILDREN: Two Christmas Eve stories with one theme. The Elves are putting the finishing touches on toys, games, and books but Miss Elf wants things done faster with more concentration and less fun. The other Elves must decide what to do with her. A group of cousins are all at Grandma and Grandpa’s house for a Christmas Family Reunion. Like most cousins, they don’t always get along especially when one person’s actions get the rest in trouble.
Both groups need a little Christmas Magic.
RUNNING TIME: 50 minutes (time can be shortened by doing one of the stories)
CAST: 1f. 15 either.
FLEXIBLE CAST: 13 or more - THE DROPPED NOTE, A PICK-A-PLOT MYSTERY: Daisy and Doodle Duncan are junior detectives and love observing, note taking, and all other aspects of solving mysteries. In “The Dropped Note”, the young detectives find a mystery right in front of their house on their birthday. What a treat! They spend the rest of the afternoon finding clues, questioning their friends and making brilliant deductions. With the help of the Host, the audience participates by deciding what courses of action Daisy and Doodle will follow.
RUNNING TIME: 40 minutes
CAST: 2m. 3f. 4 either
FLEXIBLE CAST: 9+ - THE ENCOUNTERS OF PAUL BUNYAN: (based on the American Tall Tale)
Paul Bunyan hires a crew and they head into the forest to chop down trees and plant more. Unfortunately, Troubles follow them everywhere they go. But it's all part of being Paul Bunyan's crew. Includes original songs: Paul Bunyan’s Crew; The Troubles Song; Chopping Down Trees (chant); Molassas (chant); Being on Paul Bunyan’s Crew.
RUNNING TIME: 30 minutes
CAST: 13 m. 11 either. (many roles can be changed to be either)
FLEXIBLE CAST: 24+ - EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT: Princess Ada realizes that everyone knows things that she just doesn't know. So she strikes out to learn for herself. When she comes upon Alexandria Dragon playing in mud puddles, Ada starts to realize that perhaps the people don't know what they think they know. It's up to Ada and Alexandria to stop a conflict from brewing. Original songs: Everybody Knows That; Let's Make a Plan; Everybody Knows That (finale).
RUNNING TIME: 30 minutes
CAST: 3m. 6f. 9 either
FLEXIBLE CAST: 18+ - FABLES: Three fables from around the world are retold in this play-Aesop's Grasshopper and the Ants; Armadillos in the Road, an original Texas fable; and The Foolish Lion and the Clever Rabbit (from India). In the Grasshopper and the Ants, the grasshopper only wants to play all summer long but the busy ants know they have to gather food for their colony. While the grasshopper tries to disrupt their work, the ants stay focused and the grasshopper, when winter comes, learns a lesson about work. The teacher armadillo and her young students are on a field trip, moseying along. No one's in a hurry as they explore their surroundings but when the teacher shows them the road, she turns downright mean. The young armadillos learn why (no armadillos are hurt in the making of this play). In the final tale, a lion is terrorizing everyone. He's killing the animals for fun now and not just food. The clever rabbit thinks up a plan which will save the rest of the wildlife.
RUNNING TIME: 30 min.
CAST: 4 m. 4 f. 9 either
FLEXIBLE CAST: 17+ - FAIRY TALES, TAIRY FALES: FOLKLORE GONE AWRY: A group of fairy tales that seem almost like the real ones but, boy, are there some changes. Prince Charming is out looking for a princess to sweep off her feet but every girl he meets is not what he expected. Little Red Riding Hood isn’t a girl at all; it’s Little Red Baseball Cap! The Storyteller keeps getting all the words mixed up in Back and Jeanstalk. Thank goodness that there’s nothing different about the Three Little Pigs (except that the audience has to participate). Several songs are put to the tunes of well-known songs.
RUNNING TIME: 35 minutes
CAST: 6m. 7f. 11 either
FLEXIBLE CAST: 4-24 - FOUR FABLES OF AESOP: THE NORTH WIND AND THE SUN, THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE, BELLING THE CAT, THE ANTS AND THE GRASSHOPPER: Anthula, a young Greek girl, has just returned from the marketplace and listened to a man named Aesop tell some interesting stories, mainly about animals. She’s not sure she understands the morals, so she tells the stories to the audience who sees them unfold in front of them. Characters are clothed in ancient Greek costume but have modern attitudes.
RUNNING TIME: 45 minutes (time can be shortened by doing fewer stories)
FLEXIBLE CAST: 7-25
An e-book reading copy is available at Smashwords and Amazon. - IT COULD'A BEEN: AMERICAN TALL TALES: A children’s show with music highlighting three tall tales: Johnny Appleseed, Sal Fink and Febold Feboldson. Johnny has a wolf for a friend, takes on some rough and tumble woodsmen and woman, but loves more than anything to give away apples and apple seedlings to passing pioneers. Sal Fink is the daughter of keelboatmen Mike Fink and just as tough and extremely big-hearted. She saves a family from a bear and saves herself from some river pirates. Febold Feboldson is by himself on the great plains of Nebraska and will go to the trouble of changing weather just to get a few neighbors. Several songs to familiar tunes are part of the show.
RUNNING TIME: 45 minutes
CAST: 10 m. 9 f. 29 Either
FLEXIBLE CAST: 17-48 - JUST SO, IT HAPPENED: Based on Rudyard Kipling's “How the Elephant Got His Trunk” and “How the Camel Got His Hump”, this play has a delightful cast of animals. The curious young elephants are disturbing everyone in the forest with their non-stop questions. But when they ask a crocodile a question, changes happen. The camel is being lazy and all the other animals must work harder because of it. Can the Djinn affect a change? Three original songs: Just So, It Happened; What Does the Crocodile Have for Dinner; That Camel
RUNNING TIME: 35 minutes
CAST: 2 m. 2 f. 29 Either
FLEXIBLE CAST: 14-33+ - THE LEGEND OF ANNIE CHRISTMAS: (based on a New Orleans American Tall Tale)
Annie Christmas is a tall, tough keelboat woman who takes care of New Orleans. She adds a pearl to her necklace for every bully she beats. When Annie takes a long-deserved vacation aboard a steamship, she ends up saving all the passengers when a storm hits. Three original songs: Strolling ’Long; Home Free; Annie Christmas Is Our Queen.
RUNNING TIME: 30 minutes
CAST: 14 m. 13 f. (many roles can be changed to be either)
FLEXIBLE CAST: 20-27+ (doubling possible) - RUBY LOU AND THE WHITE GOLD SALOON: Ruby Lou and the rest of the town only drink White Gold; it’s the best thing West (and East, some say) of the Mississippi. A stranger comes to town with Purple Nugget for everyone to try and he won’t take “no” for an answer, even if it means forcing the town to change. But he didn’t know he was up against Ruby Lou.
RUNNING TIME: 45 minutes
CAST: 5m. 7f. Extras
FLEXIBLE CAST: 18-27+ - THREE–3–III: In these tales of three, the three pigs must outsmart three wolves; the three billy goats Gruff have three trolls to deal with (and one of the goats is female so she’s Betty Goat Gruff); and the three bears face Goldilocks and her sisters Curlilocks and Purplelocks. Luckily, the news team—Bronkite, Crinkley, and Lather—keep us informed of the happenings in the wild. And the sign carriers are in their own little world. Original songs include: Three is a Magical Number; Haggle, Haggle, Bargain; New Story, New Story!
RUNNING TIME: 40 minutes
CAST: 3 m. 5 f. 22 Either
FLEXIBLE CAST: 15-30 - THE TREMENDOUS TRAVELING MELODRAMA AND VAUDEVILLE SHOW:
A traveling performing troupe has come to town. The owners get everyone organized; the actors make some changes; the stagehands go spread the word through town; and the townspeople arrive. What a show as the villains take on the heroes and the vaudevillians perform in between acts. The audience joins the townspeople in cheering, sighing and booing for the hero, villains, and heroine. Original songs: We’re Traveling Performers; Don’t Give Me a Home; Again a Successful Show.
RUNNING TIME: 30 minutes
CAST: 9 m. 10 f. 6 Either (many roles can be changed to be either)
FLEXIBLE CAST: 19-25+
An e-book reading copy is available at Smashwords and Amazon. - THIEF! (Published: Mar 2002 issue of PLAYS magazine):This “mini-mystery” is a simple and brief plot of a Thief at a park who is chased by a Police dog who is followed by the Policeperson followed by the Newspaper person followed by the Lady. In this farce, each character (including the Police dog) speaks only a one-word line at a time. And, of course, all’s well that ends well. You must contact Plays Magazine for this script.
RUNNING TIME: 8 minutes
CAST: 1f. 4 either.
