Plays
Plays for People with and without Disabilities
The following plays were written for Pegasus, Phoenix, Icarus, and Gryphon, performing companies at the Bethesda Academy of Performing Arts, and for the Barrier-Free Theatre Company in Manhattan, KS, all of which incorporate actors with and without disabilities. The parts are geared to the strengths and abilities of the company members. In some cases, that means there may be a character who has no lines because the actor for whom it was written was non-verbal, but able to pantomime. There are some characters who ask a lot of questions and guide other characters through the play because they were written for actors who were able to memorize lines and blocking and could, therefore, help other actors who had memory problems perform their parts via scripted prompts.
In all the plays, you will find a lot of humor and good will. This reflects the spirits of the actors for whom the plays were written! Many of the most clever ideas and lines came directly from their input!
Royalties for these plays are $30.00 per performance.
You can receive a perusal copy of the play (so you can decide if you’d like to produce it) by agreeing to follow the performance/royalty agreement should you actually produce the play.
| CSI: Crime Scene Imagination (2005) One act play for family audiences, 30 actors. Humpty Dumpty falls off the wall in the Queen of Heart’s garden and the royal CSI Team is called in to solve the crime. Suspects include Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, and The Beast. |
Bushwacked! (2004) One act play for family audiences, 28 actors. The Dancers from the Saloon in Dry Gulch, tired of waiting for the local cowboys to pop the question, rustle the Cowboys’ cattle and go into the ranching business on their own. |
A Year and Four Knights (2002) One act play for family audiences, 28 actors. Four knights and three squires go on a quest with courage and love to rescue the Princess Juliet who has been kidnapped by the evil Wizard of the Dark Swamp. |
| Blast-Off To The Past (2000) One act play for family audiences, 17 actors. Four scientists travel back in time to the 1950's to find a scientist who had invented synthetic fuel. |
Adventure on the High Sea (1999) One act play for family audiences, 14 actors. The crew and passengers of The Aloha, all desperately in need of money, go in search of an underwater treasure. |
Independent Living (1997) Screenplay, 9 men/4 women. Young man with developmental disabilities decides to move into a group home and begins his adjustment to living on his own. |
| All My Problems (1996) One act comedy/soap opera/farce, 4 men/11 women/1 musician. A girl who is home sick from school starts watching “All My Problems,” a TV soap opera where the characters have such outrageous problems that she decides to climb into the TV to help them sort their lives out. |
Crime Journal: My Brother’s Keeper (1995) One act comedy, 4 men/5 women. Undercover Police Agent Frank Bullethole infiltrates the 7th Street Gang and runs smack into the tentacles of The Squid, a mysterious gang lord. |
Heartbeat (1994) One act comedy, 3 men/14 women. A hospital comedy that keeps the audience in stitches! |
| As The Heart Burns (1994) One act comedy/soap opera, 14 actors. Extortion, arson, amnesia, romance, affairs, teenage rebellion, a biker dude, and a mailwoman who reads everyone’s letters are just a few of the ingredients of this soap opera. |
Making Connections (1993) One act comedy, 7 men/8 women. Four couples meet through a video dating service and learn the do’s and don’t’s of relationships. Parents of two of the young women must learn how to allow their daughters to grow up and leave the nest. |
Once Upon Today (1993) One act comedy for teens, 12-18 actors. A group of teens hiking in the woods stop to rest and decide to tell each other their modernized, slightly fractured versions of “The Frog Prince,” “Cinderella,” and “Alice In Wonderland.” |
| A Little Knight Magic (1992) One act comedy/adventure for family audiences, 14 actors. Maggie goes on an adventure back in time to King Arthur’s court with the help of her “Magic Markers” and discovers the power of art and her imagination. |
Death By Grammar (1992) One act comedy/murder mystery for family audiences, 12 actors. Professor Phil A. Buster, grammar scholar extraordinaire, has one mission in life – to save the world from sloppy grammar. However, his impatient, undiplomatic manner creates enemies of everyone he meets. When the Professor’s dead body is found in the lobby of the Backwater Beach Hotel, everyone is under suspicion for his murder. |
Some Enchanted Evening (1991) One act musical comedy, 8 actors. A young girl fantasizes about meeting “The Perfect Someone,” but when he appears, she discovers that he is human just like everyone else. |
| Double Crossed Bones (1991) One act comedy, 17 actors. Two crews of bloodthirsty pirates in a race to find a treasure discover how to work together in order to succeed. |
Guns Ablazing: A Tale of the Old West (1990) One act western melodrama, 14 actors. The Wild Rascals rob the First National Bank of Tumbleweed, Montana and kidnap Mellie, the Saloon Singer. In true Western melodrama tradition, they are hunted down by the Sheriff, her Deputies, and Saloon Owner Molly Malone. |
Just In Time (1989) One act play, 9-22 actors. Two teenagers and Wushin the Time Travel Robot take a trip in a time machine back to meet their favorite historical characters. They visit the Age of the Dinosaurs, Camelot, King Solomon’s Court, and help Columbus convince Queen Isabella to give him money for his trip to the New World. |
Plays for Family Audiences
The following plays were commissioned specifically to be taken on tour to schools. Because of the touring needs, the cast and technical requirements were kept small.
Royalties for these plays are $30.00 per performance.
You can receive a perusal copy of the play (so you can decide if you’d like to produce it) by agreeing to follow the performance/royalty agreement should you actually produce the play.
| Beauty and the Beast (1996) One act play with music for family audiences, 4-6 actors. Dramatization of the French fairy tale with original music by Carol Gulley. |
The Frog Prince (1994) One act play with music for family audiences, 4 actors. Dramatization of the Grimm’s Fairy Tale with music by Carol Gulley. |
Anansi the Spider, Trickster of Africa (1995) One act play with traditional African folk music for family audiences, 4 actors. Anansi the Spider and his friends dramatize three stories: How Anansi Got Stories from the Sky God, Why Anansi Has A Narrow Waist, and Anansi and His Family. |
| Anansi Returns! (1997) One act play with traditional African folk music for family audiences, 4 actors. Anansi the Spider and his friends share three stories: The Lion and the Well, Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock, and Anansi and his Sons. |
Three African-American Folktales (1994) One act for play children, 12 actors. Dramatization of “Why Anansi Has A Narrow Waist,” “The Frog Who Wanted To Be A Singer,” and Brother Blue’s story “The Butterfly.” |
Plays for Deaf and Hearing Actors
The following plays were commissioned by the Deaf Access Company. They were written for a troupe of adolescent actors who were hearing, deaf, and hard of hearing to perform for family audiences who were hearing, deaf, and hard of hearing. Performances were done in sign language and voice. They could be performed by integrated troupes or by hearing only or deaf only companies. Please be aware, however, that many scripts have deaf awareness components which necessitate the use of sign language.
Royalties for these plays are $30.00 per performance.
You can receive a perusal copy of the play (so you can decide if you’d like to produce it) by agreeing to follow the performance/royalty agreement should you actually produce the play.
| The Magic Babushka and Other Russian Tales, Part I (2000) One act play with music for family audiences, 12-15 actors. A dramatization of three Russian children’s tales: “The Magic Babushka,” “Who Will Lock the Door?,” and “The Frog Princess.” |
Tales From Japan (1999) One act play with music for family audiences, 12-15 actors. A dramatization of three Japanese tales: “The Bee and the Dream,” “The Crane Maiden,” and “Why Sea Water is Salty.” |
Stone Soup and Other Stories (1996) One act with music for family audiences, 12-15 actors. Dramatization of three stories with stones: The Stone Cutter, The Stone in the Road, and Stone Soup, linked by song. |
| Mother Goose in Rhyme and Sign (1995) One act play with music for family audiences, 12-15 actors. A young girl learns how to use her imagination when Mother Goose and Gil, the Gander come to life from the pages of her Nursery Rhyme Book and show her how to go to Mother Goose Land. |
The Mother Goose Mystery (1997) One act play with music for family audiences, 12-15 actors. Mother Goose and Gil, the Gander have gone into business as detectives in order to solve all the mysteries in Mother Goose Land. |
Agreements
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