One-Act Plays

ONE ACT PLAYS - Category 1A and 1B

The following one-act plays (1A) have all been produced and most have won prizes for acting or script at Festivals. All plays conform to Festival guidelines.

A DIFFERENT VIEW
Sophisticated comedy - 5 (2m, 3f)
2m (over40), 2f(30-40), 1f (any)
A successful novelist issues a rare invitation to his wife to spend a weekend away with him at a country resort, the scene of his first novel written 25 years before.
His reverie is jolted by the appearance of his inspiration for his first novel who has also decided to re-visit. (1A)

ALMOST THERE
Comedy - 4 (1m, 3f)
Ages to suit
Remember The Secret Life of Walter Mitty? Well Biff is a bit like Walter, spends his time daydreaming to escape his wife's nagging. In fact he's on holidays from the bank and can't wait to get back to work. Then there's the hen party and he has to serve them. Is it any wonder that he kills Edna - taking aim with a deadly banana. (1B)

ALTERED EGOS
Comedy - 4 (2m, 2f)
1m, 1f (over 60), 1m, 1f (younger)
Winner Best Script and Best Actress '99 STAR Awards, placegetter '99 Sunshine Coast Dramafest, winner Best Script Townsville Festival
Part 5 of The Village People
A wonderful 4 hand comedy for more mature actors. Set in a modern retirement village, this is the story of Dillman, a widower for many years who's ready (or is he?) to pop the question to Harriette, a widow of some years.
The big night has arrived but Dillman goes chicken and the alter ego gets called into service. The same goes for Harriette. The end is a touch sad but the lead-up is packed with wallops. (1A)

A NATURAL WAY TO DIE
Black comedy - 5 (2m, 3f)
1f (over 60), 1m (30-50), 1f (30-40), 1f (over 50), 1m (30-60)
Part 4 of The Village People
When Celia and her husband Crawford decide that Celia's mother Maria should leave her retirement unit and go into hostel care, a demon is let loose. Maria seeks revenge on every member of the village who endorses the plan. (has been produced) (1B)

BARNEY
Comedy - 5 (1m, 3f, 1m or f)
3f (over 50), 1m (over 30), 1m or f (over 25)
2nd place and winner Audience Choice Award '94 National One-Act Playwriting Competition
Part 2 of The Village People
Jesse and Elvira live in a retirement village and, against the rules, both keep pets. Suddenly the secret's out and the fight to keep Barney the cat results in an evening of confrontation with the Body Corporate.
Timely, witty and warm, this play has never been to a Festival and not won at least one prize - usually many. (1A)

BE OF GOOD HOPE
Comedy - 4 (2m, 2f or 1m, 3f)
1m, 1f (over 50), 1m, 1f (or 2f)(any age)
Part 3 of The Village People
Set in a retirement village, Daniel and Miriam Hope are confined to their unit due to ill health. Their doctor suggests a hobby which they take up with zest - much to the alarm of other residents of the village.
Also written for 2 females (over 50, 1m, 1f (or 2f)(any age) (1A)

BREAKING UP IS GREASY
Comedy - 2 (1m, 1f)
1m (20s), 1f (much older)
Best new script King Street Festival 2003
About 40 minutes of good solid laughs as the mature-age heroine arrives home to pack her bags and finally say goodbye to her younger lover. He's sponged on her for years, played up behind her back and now he's faced with perhaps having to stand on his own two feet. He argues his case but loses every step of the way - whe leaves but there is, after all, a surprise ending.
An exceptional two-hander. (1A)

THE CLIENT
Comedy - 5 (1m, 2f adult, 2children)
1m (over 25), 2f (to suit), 1f (as young as possible) 1m or f (11)
Winner Best Actress in a Lead Role (under 14) for 6 year old Georgia Lee Leslie at the 2005 Sunshine Coast Theatre Festival - A really cute play and terrific showcase for a talented littlie.
It’s a very bad move to have your just ex-girlfriend remain as your secretary when your new girlfriend (and about to be fiancée) is going to come to the office.
But what could Mark Bibbilow do?
After all he couldn’t fire Rhonda because she’d bank-rolled him into his office and she fed him. Being the con that he was he might have been able to navigate these waters but then he wasn’t counting on the sudden appearance of The Client.
It would be unwise to tell you further because we don’t want to spoil it for you.

BUDS AND BLOOMS
Drama - 6 (3m, 3f) (all over 40)
Being on a small town annual flower show committee should be a nice, quiet way to spend time ... but not in Lowdonvale. The annual Buds and Blooms Show is being used as a springboard into local government and that as a springboard into state politics. Along the way some committee folk have been hopping into more than flower beds which all surfaces at the AGM. (has not been produced) (1B)

THE BUS JUMPER
Drama - 3 (2m, 1f)
1m (50s), 1f (40s), 1m (teens/early 20s)
Strong dramatic play about the last hour in the life of a daredevil stunt man about to attempt a new World record. The conflict between the manipulative father and the malleable son and the escape of the dowtrodden mother makes this a tense portrait of a deeply divided family. (1B)

DADDY PLEASE DADDY
Drama - 2 (1m, 1f)
1m (40-50), 1f (late teens/early 20s)
A taut, dramatic play, this is a game of cat and mouse that will have the audience on the edges of the seats. An isolated service station with two bodies in the back room poses the question, is it a murder-suicide or two murders? And if it's murder, who dunnit? It's a mind-game play and you won't know the answer till the last line. (1A)

DEAD FUNNY
Comedy - 6 (5f, 1m)
Dead Funny is the third act of The Great Divide (see 2A). It won Best Overall play at the Sunshine Coast TheatreFest 2001, also garnering Best New Australian Play, Best Director, Best Actress in a Supporting Role and an Adjudicator's Award. In the 2001 STAR Awards it won Best One-Act Play, Best New Script, Best Comedy, Best Actor Female and Best Director. (1A)


DECEIT
Drama - 3 (1f, 2m)
(ages to balance - the ambit is probably 25-45)
Winner Best Script and Best Actor '98 Sunshine Coast DramaFest. Best Actress, Best Actor Sandgate. Best Script, Best One-Act Play 2000 STAR Awards.
Psychological drama set in the 1800s in a city hotel. A husband appears to desert his wife, taking all their money, after running up an extensive bill. The woman is befriended by a room porter who, realising they're not married, offers to help her evade th hotel bill by going to his home. She agrees and leaves. Moments later the "husband"arrives surprising the porter with the woman's case. There are more chilling twists before the tale ends. (1A)

DOUBLE TAKE - The Ajax Miracle
Comedy - 4 (1m, 3f)
1m (over 50), 1f (over 50), 1f (over 40), 1f (any)
A grand old actor is about to release a book dedicated to the theatre which gave him his start - The Ajax.
Interviewed in the theatre by a magazine reporter, he puts his sie of the story, only to be argued against strongly by his subconscious taking on the forms of two female actors who were part of his life. It turns out all was not as pure as the book would have us believe. Does it all come out in the end? Well, er ... (has been produced) (1B)

THE EARNESTNESS OF BEING IMPORTANT (updated 2000)
Comedy - 6 (4m, 2f)
1m (over 50), 2f (over 40)
'93 runner-up National Playwriting Competition
Summary of judges' comments - "A cleverly written play which keeps the farcical elements flowing smoothly and rapidly without overstressing the points. Clever repartee which the audience will love and what great fun for those acting in it too. Beneath all the elements of farce there are so many truths which make this an excellent play". (1A)

HOLIDAY HADES
Comedy - 6 (3m, 3f)
Relative ages - father, mother, 1 married daughter, 1 single daughter (younger), 1 husband, 1 boyfriend of married daughter.
Christmas eve and the family is gathering at the parental home for a joyous Yule until Monica phones to say she's got a new boyfriend and she's bringing him. What Monica doesn't know is that her estranged husband is also coming and so begins a riotous holiday tale that's right for any time of the year. (1B)

IN PLACE OF JUDY DENCH
Drama - 3 (1m, 2f)
1m (over 60), 1f (over 60), 1f (any)
A retired actress is called at short notice for an interview show when the overseas star suddenly can't appear. But she's to share the limelight with an old vaudeville performer - a ventriloquist act. When it's announced the time is running short and only one of them can appear, they are left together in the green room and tension mounts over who it will be. The end result is macabre. (has not been produced) (1B)

I'VE GOT A VISITOR
Light comedy - 6 (3m, 3f)
Relative ages - mother, daughter, 1f (any, 3m (over 25)
A woman moves to a new house in a small village to be close to her daughter. She is thrown into a wild chain of circumstances when she discovers a man in her spare bedroom. (has been produced many times - a good "starter" play for new groups) (1B)

LENNY AND LEE
Drama - 2m (both over 30)
Very good actors needed.
Winner Best Script, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director '97 Dramafests, Ipswich, King Street and Sunshine Coast Festivals.
The power-charged 30 minute meeting between Australia's PT Barnum, Lee Gordon and brilliant American stand-up comic, Lenny Bruce. (1A)

LET THEM EAT CAKE
Comedy - slice of life - 4 (3f, 1m)
2f (over 60), 1f (over 30), 1m (over 30)
Part 1 of The Village People
Young marrieds, Kate and Ben, have invited their respective mothers to relocate from interstate to a nearby retirement village. The arrival and settling in period for the mothers provides a constant flow of gentle humour. (1B)

McGARRITY MORGAN
Comedy - 4 (2m, 2f)
1m (40-50), ex-wife (to suit), 1m (any, McGarrity (young and pretty)
Best Actress, Best Production (Victorian Festival)
A professor who wins a revered book award is visited by his ex-wife who scents a share of fortune and fame. But the book isn't the dry tome that the professor entered, it's a raunchy tale of a professor and a housekeeper, secretly written by his housekeeper, McGarrity Morgan. Add to this a lecherous book publisher and you have 35 minutes of twists and laughs. (1A)

MAIL v FEMALE
Comedy - 5 (2m, 1f, sm or f)
2m (over 25), 1f (over 60), 1m or f (30-40), 1m or f (any age)
Runner-up '92 National Playwriting Competition
When Australia Post decides to close down a string of post offices, its first target is a one-woman postal agency servicing a rural community. Plenty of laughs are woven into the bureaucratic boll-dozing of the local populace and the postmistress' stand is a modern "David and Goliath" story. Who wins? The answer is not a foregone conclusion. (1A)

MOURNING TEA
Black comedy - 3 (2m, 1f)
2m (over 50), 1f (over 35)
A widowed man daily decorates a memorial to his late wife. His very private tribute becomes very public when his backyard is suddenly opened to public gaze. He becomes a bizarre centre of attention and is destined to become even more of an unwilling celebrity when his wife suddenly comes to life. But this is only a momentary thing. (1A)

THE NOBODY
Black comedy - 5 (2m, 3f)
2f (30s), 1f (over 50), 2m (over 40)
Runner-up National Playwriting Competition
The subject matter is controversial, corruption in local government. The story revolves around incidents set a decade ago forced into the open by a self-appointed enquiry. There are plenty of laughs and a surprise ending. (1A)

OUR AMERICAN COUSINS
Drama - 8 (5m, 3f)
2m (25-35), 1m (over 60), 2f (20-35), 1f (teens), 2m (over 30)
Set at Christmas 1940 in a seedy city hotel room. The Yanks are in town and it's time to party. Dad invites some servicemen and their girlfriends to have drinks at his place - it's the last invitation that Dad will ever issue. Two bored Australian policemen with a resentment for American servicemen decide to tie the rope around the neck of the nearest likely lad after they discover the old man's body. (1B)

OUT ON A LIMB
Drama - 5 (3m, 2f)
1m (20-30), 1m (50s), 1m, 1f (any age), 1f (to 25)
Winner '95 National Playwriting Competition
As our freedom of speech becomes more constrained and the laws against giving offence become more constraining, we are teetering on the threshold of banning things that aren't offensive at all. This play takes a look at what could happen if we let political correctness get out of hand (and many say it already is). There are plenty of laughs and much food for thought. (1A)

PLAYTHING
Comedy - 5 (2m, 3f)
(ages any but to suit each other)
An amateur actor is invited by an admiring fan to have dinner with her sister and brother-in-law. Pre-dinner they are visited by the new next-door neighbour, a glamorous events organiser. What follows is bad news for the accident-prone actor who suddenly seems caught up in a breach of promise suit. Nothing is how it appears however. 30 minutes of laughs and a sting in the tail. (1A)

PLOT FLAW
Drama - 5 (2m, 3f)
Ages to suit
A plot flaw! Every writer's nightmare becomes a tug of war between characters and author in this "off the wall" one-acter. Who is in the script and who is writing it keeps the attention riveted on this fast-moving play. You won't guess the ending of Plot Flaw and you probably will look very suspiciously at your word processor for a long time to come. (1B)

POTTER IS MINE
Comedy - 2 (am, 1f)
Both mature
A wonderfully funny piece with some darker moments and a great vehicle for two actors. Mercedes Cambridge decides to take in a lodger, a thorough gentleman named George Potter.
George, for all his gentlemanly airs, is a go-getter of the first order but Mercedes had an agenda too. Mercedes recounts the story of his arrival and subsequent happenings but even she doesn't see the rebound finish. (1A)

PRE-STUFF
Comedy - 6 (1m, 5f)
Ages to suit
Penny Swift, a serial hobbyist residing with her mother Dora, wreaks havoc in the neighbourhood as she tries out dentistry, sculpting and hormone facials all from the comfort of her own home. As storm clouds gather she neatly ducks from under only to resurface to a barrage of lawsuits. Two major roles and four cameos. (1B)

SARINA
Comedy - 2 (1m, 1f)
1m (mature), 1f (15-17)
A stage-struck teenager arrives in the big smoke to seek the father she's never met. He's been a successful playwright but not anymore. In the process of reaching for the stars Sarina nearly wrecks a virtual reality TV show. A delightful, gentle comedy. (1A)

SECOND CHOICE
(see Dead Funny - 2A)

SECOND DATE
Comedy - 4 (2m, 2f)
It's that all important second date and Boyd's imaginary background is about to be blown sky-high when his ex-wife Jane bursts in on his second date with the slightly tipsy Tilda. After the ladies leave (together) the man calls on Boyd and wishes that he hadn't. (1B)

SINGLE MINDED
Comedy - 5 (3f, 2m)
A wedding reception centre is feeling the pinch, people just aren't getting hitched. A brilliant idea occurs - by night turn it into a singles bar and pick up business for the reception centre from any romances that blossom. But the proprietress loses her young toy-boy in the process and finds a past romance of her own. (has not been produced) (1B)

STUFF
Comedy - 4 (1m, 3f)
Penny Swift is at it again, this time practicing home taxidermy, firstly on a koala, then on the family dog (who was only asleep) and finally on Grandpa. When the hard of seeing Cousin Pearl arrives to take Grandpa for an outing things go frighteningly out of whack. (1B)

TENTH ANNIVERSARY
Comedy - 6 (3m, 3f)
2 couples (30-50), 1f (30-50 with style), 1m (20-30), a hunk)
Winner Best Comedy Script and Best Comedy, Best Director '99 DramaFest
Two couples, both with shaky marriages have arranged, one year before, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the couple who has now decided to divorce. The others can't be contacted so the party takes place anyway and the truth doesn't come out at first. Add a saucy female neighbour and a male stripper acting as a waiter and you have mayhem and lots of fun. (1A)

TURN OF THE TOAD
Comedy - 4 (3m, 1f)
all parts over 40
When Clark Struthers is trapped into marriage and overnight goes from being his bride's "fuzzy bear" to being her "little toad", something's gotta give. On his honeymoon Clark, the little toad, meets up with old uni friend, newly married, Bab "Ratty" Williams and unmarried George Mole. How the three "hopeless with women" psychiatrists scheme to escape from two wives' clutches makes for a fast-moving comedy with a delightful sting in the tail. To stage Turn of the Toad you need a minimal set and props and some well-rehearsed timing. (1B)

YOU MUST MEET THE FOLKS
(see Dead Funny - 2A)