Over 15 Great Plays for Outdoor Theater

Outdoor theater has always evoked a unique energy to its cast and audience, and throughout the covid-19 pandemic, more people have been taking advantage of staging and enjoying theater outside. The abundance of fresh air and space coupled with the natural environment can be appealing and invigorating. So if you’re looking to stage theater outside, consider these 10-minute and one-act comedies, dramas, and dark comedies for adults, teens and children. From a garden to a campfire, a beanstalk to a forest, a zoo to a parking lot, all of these plays are naturally set outdoors. You don’t need to force a kitchen sink into your local park. The world of these play is already outside. Enjoy!

Over 15 Great Plays for Outdoor Theater

THE MOON RIVER RAFT
A dark comedy/drama
10-15 minutes, 2 actors
Setting: A forest
Cast: 2 female, or 2 any gender
Two rabbits flee for their lives, holding onto hope that a mysterious secret Moon River Raft will carry all Woundeds to a perfect land. But things are never what they seem in the middle of the night…at a creepy river bank…in a forest…under the moon… Are they?
Click here for an excerpt and the complete play, The Moon River Raft.

THERE ONCE WERE TWO CLOUDS IN THE SKY
A quirky comedy/drama
10-15 minutes, 2 actors
Setting: In the sky
Cast: 2 any gender
Two clouds try to find meaning (or not) with their very limited time on this earth…before their dissipate and disappear forever.
*Winner of the 2023 Bradford Gromelski Jury Award at Fusion Theatre.
Click here for an excerpt and the complete play, There Once Were Two Clouds in the Sky.

PITFALLS AND TREASURES
A dark comedy/drama/comedy
10-minute play, 2 actors
Setting: Parking lot
Cast: 1 Male/1 Female/flexible
Mary and Andrew are lonely and troubled seagulls, each ostracized by their former flocks. When Mary embarks on the desperate challenge of removing twine wrapped around Andrew’s leg, they both must decide how much to trust each other in the hope of finding a better life.
Click for an excerpt and the complete play, Pitfalls and Treasures.

INTO THE VIOLET
A dark comedy
15-20 minutes, 2 actors
Setting: A glass jar behind a waterfall in a forest
Cast: 2 females (could be any gender)
Lola and Nadine had lived a blessed and carefree fairy life, until a child trapped them in a glass jar in the woods and never returned. While Lola gives in to this life of despondency, Nadine tries to give her hope that they might, someday, fly outside their glass prison once again. But as the gravity of their situation becomes unbearable, and the line between reality and fantasy becomes malleable, they must find some way to create the escape they desperately need.
Click here for an excerpt and the complete play, Into the Violet.

20 MAGICAL MINUTES OF DARKNESS & SILENCE & PEACE:
A dark comedy/drama
10-minute play, 2 actors
Setting: Parking lot
Cast: 1 Male/1 Female/flexible
Grace, a raccoon, is begrudgingly charged to find, and bring back, her fellow raccoon who has gone missing after a shocking personal tragedy. When she finally finds the depressed Joffrey in a train station parking lot, he refuses to come back with her—yet. Because he has something important he has to do first. In this parking lot. And he needs her help.
Click for an excerpt and the complete play, 20 Magical Minutes of Darkness & Silence & Peace.

WHEN MARSHMALLOWS BURN
A dark comedy/absurdist thriller
10-minute play, 2 actors
Setting: Backyard campfire
Cast: 1 male/1 female/flexible
Sammy and his mom are enjoying roasting marshmallows by the fire, under the full moon, when something very strange starts to happen. Sammy’s arms look a little furry. His teeth look a lot like fangs. And he has a sudden urge to kill squirrels—and eat them raw. What (or who) else will he have an urge to kill? Is there anything his mother can do to stop him, or can she ultimately accept and love him? This is a dark comedy about a boy becoming a werewolf, but it’s also a story about needing acceptance and love, in the face of evolving identity.
Click for an excerpt and the complete play, When Marshmallows Burn.

ALFRED AND LILY AND THEIR MARVELOUS TANK IN THE FOREST
An absurdist, dark comedy
10-minute play, 2 actors
Setting: A forest
Cast: 1 male/1 female
When Alfred and Lily are transplanted to a mysterious tank in the forest, they must decide if they will trust their new benefactors or find a way to escape.
Click for an excerpt and the complete play, Alfred and Lily and Their Marvelous Tank in the Forest

THE BRONZE LINING
A drama/comedy/dramedy
10-minute play, 2 actors
Cast: 2 female
When two estranged sisters attempt to bond during a hike after their mother’s death, they confront whether there may be too much damage between them to repair.
Click for an excerpt and the complete play, The Bronze Lining.

A LIFE SPURRED INTO MEANINGFUL ADVENTURE
A drama/comedy fairy-tale play
10-minute play, 2 actors
Setting: A forest
When Goldilocks and Little Bear find themselves alone in the forest, they must decide if they will embark on a new future together.
Click for an excerpt and the complete play, A Life Spurred into Meaningful Adventure

JACK AND DEAR RAVEN
A fairy tale comedy/drama
10-minute play, 2 actors
Setting: A beanstalk in the clouds
Jack didn’t give it much thought when he climbed up the 15,000 foot beanstalk. But now that he has reached the clouds, he is starting to miss his mother, his turkey, and even his fence post. Unfortunately, he appears to be stuck and unable to climb back down the slippery stalk which was so easy to climb up. When a roving black bird passes by, Jack solicits his company and aid in figuring out how on earth he should now get down the beanstalk he has carelessly climbed up. Unless, of course, he is not meant to climb down.
Click for an excerpt and the complete play, Jack and Dear Raven.

JUMPING THE WIND
A dark comedy/absurdist/drama
10-minute play, 2 actors
Setting: A flower
The flower on which Pollen V-6 and Pollen K-10 have lived their entire lives has wilted and is dying. If they do not make a dangerous jump to a fresh flower, Cat will destroy the flower and any remaining pollen that night. All other pollen have already made the jump to presumed safety, but Pollen V-6 has been too frightened to leave. She doubts the legend that anything better lies beyond. The leader, Pollen K-10, has remained behind with her, and has to decide how long he will stay to rally her before his own safety is in jeopardy. Jumping the Wind is a story of leaving the familiar, taking risks for the promise of something better. It’s the story of facts versus hope. And a story of friendship and trust.
Click for an excerpt and the complete play, Jumping the Wind.

MARSOPA’S TALE
A fantastical drama
10-minute play, 1 actor
Setting: The Sea
Marsopa is the lone mermaid of her sea, but enjoys the company of her best friend and water-sister, a dolphin named Stone. But when Stone considers starting her own family, Marsopa faces the idea of being truly alone. That is - until she makes eyes with an intriguing fisherman... Now Marsopa must call into question the truth of mermaid and human legends, and decide what she is willing to risk for the possibility of creating her own fate.
Click for an excerpt and the complete play, Marsopa’s Tale.

THE TENTH OAK TREE
A comedy/drama
10-minute play, 2 actors
Carrot and Potato, lifelong friends despite the opposing nature of their heritage, try to get an important letter to Carrot's lost children.
Click for an excerpt and the complete play, The Tenth Oak Tree.

MOVEMENTS OF THE WIND
A comedy/drama
60-minute play, 5 actors (plus unlimited non-speaking roles)
Setting: Garden
As wind sweeps through a garden, its inhabitants must confront the volatile effects of Mother Nature, as well as their own changing nature. The story follows several short, intertwined pieces, as Carrot and Potato, taught to be enemies from birth, struggle to remain friends, Tulip wants more out of life than only her partner, and two pieces of pollen attempt to make a dangerous jump from a dying flower to a fresh one. Through sacrifice and friendship, they must not only survive their trials, but also come to populate another generation.
Click for an excerpt and the complete play, Movements of the Wind.

SHARING SOIL
A comedy/drama for teens/children
10-minute play, 2 actors
Setting: Vegetable garden
In soil cultures, prejudices run deep for carrots and potatoes.. But when bully vegetables draw Carrot and Potato together, they must decide if their new friendship is worth risking their safety and rejection from their own garden cultures.
Click for an excerpt and the complete play, Sharing Soil.

SEVENTEEN STITCHES
A dark comedy/absurdist/drama
One-act play, 2 actors
Setting: A vortex-like space
Two teenagers meet in a vortex-like space between opposing lines of people. While Rachel is simply passing the time before she returns to her place in line, Peter has stepped out of his line in protest. As the lines begin to close in on them, he must make a life-altering decision by choosing to continue forging his path in his father’s line, or join the haunting allure of Rachel’s line, the “line of diamonds.”
Click for an excerpt and the complete play, Seventeen Stitches.

STARING AT THE SLOTH
A comedy/drama children’s play for Young Audiences or Actors
5-10 minute play, 2 actors
Setting: A zoo
The sloth at the zoo keeps staring at Riley. Is it Riley’s spiky hair? Long nose? Or chocolate milk stain? Can Jaime convince Riley that the sloth is not making fun, but rather, maybe, just maybe, thinks Riley is cool? Staring at The Sloth is a funny, sweet play about friendship, self-acceptance, and of course…sloths!
Click for an excerpt and the complete play, Staring at the Sloth.

PEBBLES AND TAILS
A comedy/drama children’s play for Young Audiences or Actors
5-10 minute play, 3 actors
Setting: A pond
Scoot, Wiggles and Crunch have been friends since they hatched from eggs in the pond, hiding from predators together, protecting each other, and playing “Kick Pebble” together. But when Scoot realizes that Wiggles and Crunch have developed into froglets, while Scoot remains a tadpole, Scoot feels left behind. Is their friendship strong enough to endure these changing phases? Pebbles and Tails is a story about frogs growing up, but it’s also a story of bravery, kindness, loyalty and friendship.
Click for an excerpt and the complete play, Pebbles and Tails.

THE SHIPWRECK SOLUTION
A comedy/drama children’s play for Young Audiences or Actors
5-10 minute play, 4 actors
Setting: A shipwreck in the sea
What do a box jellyfish, a mako shark, an anglerfish and a tiger shark have in common? They all want to live in the same abandoned shipwreck on the ocean floor! No one wants to share, no one wants to live somewhere else and…uh oh…what if someone can’t help but want to eat someone else? Check out The Shipwreck Solution to discover if these four, very different creatures, can find a way to work it out!
Click for an excerpt and the complete play, The Shipwreck Solution.

MY BEST MYSELF
A comedy/drama children’s play for Young Actors
5- 10-minute play, 2 actors
Setting: Bus stop
While Megan and Kel are waiting for their school bus to arrive, Megan challenges Kel to prove how she received her latest Girl Scouts badge.
Click for an excerpt and the complete play, My Best Myself.