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Looking for a scene for class?

A short play which you can put up with little technical work?

Below are plays that you will find useful for class work or production.

    In the search for scenes and plays for acting classes and showcases you can read many collections of short plays. Unfortunately, you'll found that many of these collections have only one or two plays fitting your needs.

The plays presented are:

Lynette at 3 AM by Jane Anderson
Call It Clover by Wil Calhoun
Tom and Jerry by Rick Cleveland
Tinkle Time by Dana Coen
The Other Five Percent by Bryan Goluboff
Dice and Cards by Sam henry Cass
The Dying Gaul by Craig Lucas
Waltzing DeNiro by Lynn Martin
Sticks and Stones by Drew McWeeny and Scott Swan
Jackie by James Ryan
Wish Fulfillment by David Sympatico
A Death in Bethany by Garry Williams

     For a two man play, do not skip over Sticks and Stones. They don't get more intense or allow you to show off your acting than this one. An incredibly powerful sixteen page scene between a Jewish lawyer, Alan Klein, and a racist Italian cop, Salvatore DiPalma, who Klein may have to defend for killing a black teenager. The entire action of this one scene play takes place in Klein's office. To quote the beginning stage directions:

Lights up. A lawyer's office, well-decorated, comfortable. There are framed headlines, signed photos on the wall. Alan Klein stands up from behind his desk, walks around to his office door just as it swings open. Salvatore DiPlama leans in, looks around. The men are obviously from different worlds. Klein is confident, dressed well, in his mid-thirties. DiPalma wears a rumpled, off-the-rack suit, fills it too full, looks frazzled, sweaty. He's in his mid-forties.

     McWeeny and Swan set up strong circumstances between Klein and DiPalma. Their writing is sharp and allows the two actors to show a range of behavior. The spine of each character is clear, and the audience will understand the message of the play without having it forced down their throats.

The plays presented are:

Telling Tales by Migdalia Cruz
The Actor's Nightmare by Christopher Durang
The Conduct of Life by Maria Irene Fornes
Statements after an Arrest under the Immorality Act by Athol Fugard
Vivien by Percy Granger
The Author's Voice by Richard Greenberg
Story in Harlem Slang by Zora Neale Hurston
The Sound of a Voice by David Henry Wang
Sure Thing by David Ives
Fun by Howard Corder
Dancing on Checker's Grave by Eric Lane
The Coal Diamond by Shirley Lauro
Americansaint by Adam LeFevre
Throwing Your Voice by Craig Lucas
Andre's Mother by Terrence McNally
I Can't Remember Anything by Arthur Miller
Flyer by Richard Nelson
Mountain Language by Harold Pinter
Throwing Smoke by Keith Reddin
Slaughter in the Lake by José Rivera
I'm Not Stupid by David E. Rodriguez
Vito on the Beach by Samuel Schwartz
The Red Coat by John Patrick Shanley
Finger Food by Nina Shengold
Women and Wallace by Jonathan Marc Sherman
Haiku by Katherine Snodgrass
Final Placement by Ara Watson
Feeding the Moonfish by Barbara Weichmann

     The one worth looking at here is Slaughter in the Lake. Bill Tyson and Steve Browning are two businessmen discussing their sons and reminiscing about their youth. Tyson tells Browning that his son is hooked on drugs and it's all because of Browning's son. What ensues is quite a heated discussion. Not nearly as intense as Sticks and Stones (above) but then not many things are.

The plays presented are:

It's an Undoing World or Why Should It Be Easy When It Can Be Hard? by Tony Kushner
Venus by Lori Parks
Amphibians by Jon Robin Baitz
Mrs. Chang by Han Ong
The Sandalwood Box by Mac Wellman
The Mineola Twins, A Comedy in Six Scenes, Three Dreams and Five Wigs by Paula Vogel
The Dalai Lama Goes Three for Four by Eric Overmyer
Antonia and Jane by Wendy Wasserman
Nina in the Morning by Christopher Durang
Kibbutz by Donald Margulies
Two Iphigenia Plays by Ellen McLaughlin
Etiquette & Vitriol by Nicky Silver
Evolution by Jonathan Marc Sherman
The Psychic Life of Savages by Amy Freed
Divine Comedy South by Romulus Linney
You Belong to Me by Keith Reddin
The Adoption by Joyce Carol Oates
Elegy for the House that Babe Ruth Built by Arthur Kopit
Quills, A Grand Guignol by Doug Wright
Insurrection: Holding History by Robert O'Hara
Every Man Jack of You by Erik Ehn
Moon Under Miami by John Guare
Wish Technology by Mark O'Donnell
Saved or Destroyed by Harry Kondoleon
Degas C'est Moi by David Ives

     The one worth taking a close look at here is Divine Comedy South. Horace, a farm insurance salesman and Muriel, a grade school teacher sit on a beach late at night sharing a bottle of Jack Daniels while they discuss their adulterous affair, their spouses and life.

1/2/3/4 For the Show - A Guide to Small-Cast One-Act Plays Lewis W. Heniford

24 Favorite One-Act Plays Van H. Cartmell (Editor)

Best American Short Plays (1995-1996) Howard Stein(Editor)

Eight One-Act Plays George Calderon

Fifteen American One-Act Plays Paul Kozelka (Editor)

One Act Eleven Short Plays of the Modern Theatre Samuel Moon

One Acts- A Collection of One Act Plays Richard LaMonte Pierce

Outrageous One Act Plays Miguel Pinero

Plays in One Act Daniel Halpern(Editor)

Selected One Act Plays of Horton Foote Gerald C. Wood (Editor)

10 One Act Plays Gerstenb

20/20: Twenty One-Act Plays from 20 Years of the Humana Festival Michele Volansky (Editor)

24 Favorite One-Act Plays Bennett Cerf, Van H. Cartmell (Editor)

Act One '95 - The Complete Plays Marisa Smith(Editor)

Est Marathon 1994 - One-Act Plays Marisa Smith(Editor)

Est Marathon '95 - The Complete One-Act Plays Marisa Smith (Editor)

Est Marathon '96 - The Complete One-Act Plays Marisa Smith(Editor)

Est Marathon '98 - The One-Act Plays Marisa Smith(Editor)

Cherry Soda Water- Three Related One-Act Plays Stephen Levi

Cross Country - Seven More One Act Plays Jason Milligan

Cues and Entrances 10 Contemporary One Act Canadian Plays A Beissel

Encounters - Six One-Act Plays Leonard Melfi

Ensemble Studio Theater Marathon '99 - The Complete One-Act Plays Curt Dempster (Editor)

Fifty Non Royalty One Act Plays William Kozlenko

Five Comic One-Act Plays Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

Five One Act Plays M. Schisgal

Five One Act Plays Alan Ball

Five One-Act Plays Murray Schisgal

Four One-Act Plays Robert Schenkkan

Girls We have Known and Other One-Act Plays Ralph Pape

Index to One Act Plays Hannah Logasa

New Beats - Seven One Act Hispanic American Daniel Zalacain

Three One Act Plays Jason Miller

Throwing Off the Covers - A Collection of Four One Act Plays Rodriguez

Tough Acts to Follow: One-Act Plays on the Gay and Lesbian Experience Noreen Barnes

Twenty-Five Ten Minute Plays from the Actors Theatre of Louisville forward by Jon Jory