TEEN PLAYS
By Tara Meddaugh
THE PRETTIEST DUCKLING
A dark comedy
"In The Prettiest Duckling, Tara Meddaugh channels Hans Christian Andersen via Mean Girls to give us a hilarious twist on a classic fairy tale. The characters are so riotously funny that it's easy to forget that they're up to no good. Even then it's almost impossible not to laugh out loud at their witty repartee, clever zingers, and Machiavellian scheming."
- Kevin Christopher Snipes, creator of The Two Princes for Gimlet Media and author of Milo and Marcos at the End of the World
“Gorgeous and Cutesy weren't born yesterday. In fact, it's been minutes since they hatched, but they're already facing big bird problems: One of their fellow ducklings is "ugly." Yes, that one. Gorgeous would never dream of harming the strange sibling they love "so so much," but Gorgeous doesn’t want to end up exiled to the sewage swamp like the goose family with the red-eyed gosling. On the other hand, if they got Cutesy to do something about the problem, that wouldn't be so bad, right? Cutesy's a certified good egg, but can the youngest duckling stand up for their cross-species sibling, or will Gorgeous get the ugly outcome Gorgeous wants?” YouthPLAYS
DETAILS
Cast: 2 any gender
Age: Tween-young adult
Genre: Dark comedy, heightened, allegory, mean-girl, fairy-tale, high school, middle school, college
Setting: By a pond
Length: 20-25 minutes
Click here for a free excerpt or click below for the complete play, THE PRETTIEST DUCKLING.
JACK AND DEAR RAVEN
a fairy tale comedy/drama
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.
DETAILS
Cast: 2 male, or 1 m/1 f
Genre: Comedy/Drama/fantastical/fairy tale
Set: On a tall beanstalk, up near the clouds
Length: 10-15 minutes
*Earlier draft entitled, The Beanstalk.
Click here to read a free excerpt of Jack and Dear Raven.
CLICK below for a complete digital copy of Jack and Dear Raven (once purchased, you will be given a link to download the script):
DETAILS:
Genre: Comedy/Christmas/children/teen/theater for a young audience
Running time: 30-40 minutes
Cast size: 16+
Age: any age - child through adult
Setting: Classroom at the North Pole
Click here to read a free excerpt of the one-act play, GRINCHING 101.
Click below for the complete play, GRINCHING 101.
A LIFE SPURRED INTO MEANINGFUL ADVENTURE
a 10-minute comedy/drama/fairy-tale tangential play
After a terrible run-in with the bear-parents, best friends, Goldilocks and Little Bear, run off into the woods to start an adventure together, without the constraints society has placed on a bear/human friendship. However, as night time draws near, they are not quite sure they are prepared for this new future.
DETAILS
Cast: 1 f/1 m, or 2 females
Set: A forest, minimal
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Children/Teen/fairy tale tangential
CLICK for an excerpt of A Life Spurred into Meaningful Adventure.
CLICK below for a complete digital copy of A Life Spurred into Meaningful Adventure (once purchased, you will be given a link to download the script):
RUBY AND MILLIE & THE DYING CUCUMBERS
a comedy/drama
While her father is in a POW Camp during WWII, the young Ruby has been charged with leading her apartment building’s rooftop victory garden back in White Plains, NY. Her older sister, Millie, carrying weighty responsibilities of her own, has been searching for Ruby tonight and finally finds her on the rooftop. While Millie tries to convince Ruby to come inside to bed, Ruby discovers some of her vegetables are dying, and fears this is a harbinger of bad news for her father and the war.
DETAILS:
Genre: Comedy, drama, Period piece 1940s
Cast: 2 female (1 female around 7-12 years old, 1 female around 15-20 years old)
Setting: Rooftop Garden of an apartment building, 1943
Running time: Around 10 minutes
Tags: 2 person play, all female cast, play for youth, young person play, child actor, teen actor, tween actor, great for competitions, duo interpt, period drama, period comedy, sister relationship, realistic, sisterly love, strong female roles, passes Bechdel Test
*This play is a stand-alone 10-minute play or is also found in the collection of short plays called The Victory Garden Plays.
Click here to read an excerpt of the 10-minute play, Ruby and Millie and The Dying Cucumbers.
Click below for the complete digital copy (immediate download) of Ruby and Millie and The Dying Cucumbers.
This ten-minute play is part of a selection of short plays which comprises The Victory Garden Plays. It may be performed within the Victory Garden Plays production, or it may stand alone, as a 10-minute play, as featured here. CLICK below for a complete digital copy of the production, The Victory Garden Plays (which includes this 10-minute play, as well as 4 other 10-minute plays, and 2 monologue plays)
While soldiers fight abroad in WW2, those remaining in Westchester County strive to make a difference on the Homefront by creating Victory Gardens, supplementing limited food supply. But the pressures on the homefront extend much further than simply growing produce. A child worries her failing rooftop garden is an omen of misfortune for her father’s return from a POW camp. An infertile woman throws her purpose into feeding neighborhood families. A wealthy man whose chemical plant is commissioned by the government for war purposes struggles with how to leave a meaningful legacy not tainted with warfare. These stories, and more, are given light in The Victory Garden Plays, a series of vignettes chronicling people’s journeys with their new realities of love, growth, life and death.
MARSOPA’S TALE
A fantastical drama
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.
DETAILS
Genre: drama (comedy), fantastical
Cast: 1 female, teen to young adults
Setting: A rock, a sea. May be impressionistic.
Running time: Approximately 10 minutes
Great for: Theater performances, competitions, thespian festivals, drama festivals, one-act play festivals, ten-minute play festivals, solo performances.
Click here for a free excerpt to Marsopa’s Tale.
Click below for a complete digital copy of Marsopa’s Tale (once purchased, you will be given a link to download the script).
HOLDING GINGER
A drama/comedy for teens
When Jenna breaks a special gift a boy gave her older sister, they are not only faced with broken glass to clean up, but they are also faced with the changing dynamics of their family.
DETAILS
Cast: 2 female (1 teen & 1 child, or 1 young adult & 1 teen)
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Teen
Set: Minimal, a house
Length: 10-minute play
CLICK for a free EXCERPT OF TEN MINUTE PLAY, HOLDING GINGER.
CLICK below for a complete digital copy of Holding Ginger (once purchased, you will be given a link to download the script):)
Dana and Cody are on a blind date. On Zoom. During a pandemic. Despite the awkwardness, they strive to find a connection during a very isolating time. And...well, someone has to clean up cat pee...
This 10-minute rom-com play is written especially for video chatting, so no production questions like "should we read that stage direction?" or "how do we act out that fall?" Your audience can step into Cody's and Dana's private world for a moment--backgrounds, chats, cats on laps and all.
DETAILS
Genre: Comedy, romantic comedy, rom-com,
Cast: 1 male, 1 female, 20s
Set: 2 zoom screens/kitchen/apartment
Running time: 10 minutes
Great for: Zoom readings, zoom performances, actor rehearsal, streaming, light comedies, finding connections, slice of life, “kitchen zoom realism”,” sweet, poignant, real life commentary on 2020 pandemic,
CLICK for a free excerpt to the 10-minute zoom play, A Human Body to Hug
CLICK below for the complete digital copy of A Human Body to Hug
GREENHOUSE LIVING
An absurdist dark comedy
When a new tulip arrives in the greenhouse, the long-time residents (a hyacinth, a fern, a poinsettia) make him pay for the fresh air and space he takes up.
DETAILS
Cast: 5 actors (any role may be male or female)
Genre: Absurd, comedy, drama
Set: A greenhouse
Length: 10-minute play
Click for a free excerpt to the 10-minute play, Greenhouse Living Excerpt
Click below for the complete digital copy of Greenhouse Living (once purchased, you will be given a link to download the script):
SHARING SOIL
A comedy/drama for teens/children
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.
DETAILS
Cast: 2 females (or 2 males, or 1 female/1 male). Casting is gender flexible.
Age range: Characters are children, so they may be played by child actors, teens or adults
Genre: Comedy/Drama 10-minute play, teen play, children's play
Set: A garden
Running time: 10-minute play
*Sharing Soil was originally written and performed as part of the full-length play, Movements of the Wind. Movements of the Wind is a 5-piece collection of short intertwined plays journeying the challenges of garden inhabitants as they confront the volatile effects of Mother Nature through their lives.
Click for an excerpt to the ten-minute play, Sharing Soil.
CLICK below for a complete digital copy of Sharing Soil (once purchased, you will be given a link to download the script):
CLICK below for the entire full-length play, Movements of the Wind, from which Sharing Soil was originally presented.
JUMPING THE WIND
A dark comedy/absurdist
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.
DETAILS
Cast: 1 male, 1 female (2 females, OR 2 males)
Genre: Absurd, Dark comedy, Comedy
Set: A dying flower
Length: Ten-minute play
*Jumping the Wind was originally written and performed as part of the full-length play, Movements of the Wind. Movements of the Wind is a 5-piece collection of short intertwined plays journeying the challenges of garden inhabitants as they confront the volatile effects of Mother Nature through their lives.
CLICK for a free EXCERPT OF TEN MINUTE PLAY, JUMPING THE WIND.
Click below to purchase the entire 10-minute play, Jumping the Wind (once purchased, you will be given a link to download the script):
CLICK below for the entire full-length play, Movements of the Wind, from which Jumping the Wind was originally presented.
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.”
DETAILS
Cast: 1 male, 1 female
Genre: dark comedy/drama
Set: minimal, an open space
Running time: Approximately 25 minutes
Click for an excerpt of the one-act play, Seventeen Stitches.
Click below for the entire one-act play, Seventeen Stitches.
When Grace, a beautiful and mysterious woman, walks into a local gift shop on a small island, the sales clerk is instantly smitten with her. Under Grace’s “guidance,” Clark goes to extreme lengths to make sure she is satisfied with her purchase. Yet as her demands increase, Clark is torn between his duty to the shop and his growing lust of this stranger.
DETAILS
Cast: 1 male, 1 female
Genre: dark comedy
Set: a gift shop
Running time: 20-30 minutes
CLICK to read a free excerpt of Poorly Wrapped.
CLICK BELOW for a complete digital copy of Poorly Wrapped (once purchased, you will be given a link to download the script)
STARING AT THE SLOTH
a 5-minute children’s play
For Young Audiences or Actors
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!
DETAILS
Genre: comedic, children, young audience, drama
Cast: 2 characters, flexible/inclusive casting
Set: Minimal, outside at a zoo
Running time: around 5 minutes
Great food: reader’s theater, accepting oneself, flexible casting for any gender, animals, classroom theater, outdoor theater, 2-hander, play for 2 actors, discussion about bullying, kindness, friendship
CLICK for a free excerpt of Staring at the Sloth by Tara Meddaugh.
CLICK below for a complete digital copy of Staring at The Sloth by Tara Meddaugh
MOVEMENTS OF THE WIND
A one-act dark comedy/drama/absurdist play
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.
DETAILS
Cast: 5 - 12+
-3 female, 2 male but flexible casting; does not need to be gender specific.
-Doubling written in, but can be a larger cast with no doubling, as many as 12 characters/roles.
Genre: dark comedy/drama/family
Set: minimalist, impressions of a garden, flower and greenhouse
Running time: Approximately 60 minutes
For an excerpt click EXCERPT OF MOVEMENTS OF THE WIND.
Click below for the entire play:
CHRISTMAS SUPERPOWERS AND BELIEVING IN BLITZEN
A one-act comedy/drama
To four children, Christmas is no simple sleigh ride. Annie’s new best friend is a talking reindeer, and she’s not sure if that’s really okay. Sam is experiencing the pressure of being the Lead Shepherd in the church pageant. Dylan has a very secretive wish he hopes Santa can deliver. And Lauren needs to make sure someone is giving her little brother a very special Christmas. Experience the joys and challenges of Christmas through the eyes of these children in this monologue-driven one-act comedy.
DETAILS
Cast: 3 male, 2 female (male and female parts can be interchangeable, if needed) * Most characters are children, but may be played by teens.
Genre: Comedy/Children's/Teen/Monologue play
Set: minimal
Running time: Approximately 30 minutes
Click for excerpt of Christmas Superpowers and Believing in Blitzen.
Click below for the digital copy of Christmas Superpowers and Believing in Blitzen.
Intertwined scenes of a family are juxtaposed between the 1800s of Jane Austen’'s day, and the late 1900s in Queens, NY. The 1800s Mary must decide if she will wed on oaf she despises to make her neighbors jealous, as the 1900s Mary considers allowing back her missing husband who claims to have been sleeping for the years he was away. While the scenes span generations, the women encounter the same issues of marriage, money, and pride.
DETAILS
Cast: 4 female, 1 male
Genre: 1800s/1900s comedy
Adaptation of Jane Austen’'s epistolary short story, The Three Sisters
Set: a living room
Running time: Approximately 40 minutes
Click below for a complete digital copy of The Other Three Sisters (once purchased, you will be given a link to download the script)
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE MUD PUDDLE
A one-act comedy
Taylor and Chloe have been best friends for years. At least, they had been, until Taylor suddenly and mysteriously throws an over-the-top yacht party the same day as Chloe’s birthday party. Despite Taylor’s reputation as the meanest girl in school, her party fills up, as no one wants to turn down the chance to sample an extravagant candy station, dance to the live music of the hottest new band, or receive a $50 gift card swag bag. But before the boat even leaves the dock, Taylor begins to turn on her guests, moving in on Jasmine’s crush, telling Ronni to “walk the plank!” and humiliating the new girl, Amanda. Will the lure of the luxurious yacht, complete with its very own ferris wheel, and live entertainment, be enough to keep the guests from walking? Or will they abandon ship for nicer ground at Chloe’s backyard ice cream party? Loyalties and friendships are tested in this ensemble cast play, and of course, someone gets pushed into a mud puddle.
DETAILS
Cast: 8 female, 4 male
Genre: Comedy/teen, monologue play
Set: Minimal, a yacht party, a backyard
Running time: Approximately 25-35 minutes
CLICK FOR AN EXCERPT FROM THE ONE-ACT PLAY, WHAT HAPPENED AT THE MUD PUDDLE.
CLICK below to purchase the entire digital or hard copy one-act play, What Happened At The Mud Puddle.
Grinch professors, Sourpuss Fuddy Duddy and Killjoy Cactus Snarl, are pleased to find their Grinching 101 classroom filled with eager elf-students desiring to learn the art of becoming a grinch. However, the class of bright-eyed cheerful students are blatantly failing. Every. Single. Lesson. Can these grinching professors get the class of chipper elves to learn anything about becoming a good grinch? And perhaps along the way, can the grinching professors can learn something from the elves?
DETAILS:
Genre: Comedy/Christmas/children/teen/theater for a young audience
Running time: 30-40 minutes
Cast size: 16+
Age: any age - child through adult
Setting: Classroom at the North Pole
Click here to read a free excerpt of the one-act play, GRINCHING 101.
Click below for the complete play, GRINCHING 101.
Check out Tara Meddaugh’s children’s plays here. While appropriate for younger children to perform in, teens also enjoy embodying these roles!