Various One Acts

Actor’s Nightmare

2 Male
3 Female

Comedic One Act (30 min)

$50 Per Performance

Having casually wandered onstage, George is informed that one of the actors, Eddie,
has been in an auto accident and he must replace him immediately. Apparently no one
is sure of what play is being performed but George (costumed as Hamlet) seems to find
himself in the middle of a scene from​Private Lives​, surrounded by such luminaries as
Sarah Siddons, Dame Ellen Terry and Henry Irving. As he fumbles through one missed
cue after another the other actors shift to ​Hamlet​, then a play by Samuel Beckett, and
then a climactic scene from what might well be ​A Man for All Seasons​—by which time
the disconcerted George has lost all sense of contact with his fellow performers. Yet, in
the closing moments of the play, he rises to the occasion and finally says the right lines,
whereupon make-believe suddenly gives way to reality as the executioner's axe (meant
for Sir Thomas Moore) instead sends poor George to oblivion—denying him a
well-earned curtain call.

The Case of the Crushed Petunias

2 Male
2 Female

Mystery

$40 per performance

Miss Dorothy Simple, proprietor of the Simple Notions Shop in Primanproper, Mass.,
has barricaded her house and heart behind a double row of petunias. Today, however,
she has woken up to find every single petunia crushed by the footprints of a
size-eleven-D shoe. When the perpetrator, a Young Man, arrives to confess his crime,
he comes on a mission to alert Miss Dorothy to the "miraculous accident of being alive."
Armed with poetry, seeds for wild roses, and a business card from "LIFE,
INCORPORATED," the Young Man endeavors to convince Miss Dorothy of the
tremendous inspiration that lies beyond what one can buy or sell in a shop with four
walls.

The Visitor from Forest Hills ​From Plaza Suite

2 Male
2 Female

Comedy

$125 per performance

The third act, ​Visitor from ​Forest Hills​, revolves around married couple Roy and Norma Hubley
on their daughter Mimsey's wedding day. In a rush of nervousness, Mimsey has locked herself
in the suite's bathroom and refuses to leave. This is the most comic of the acts, filled with
increasingly outrageous ​slapstick​ moments depicting her parents' frantic attempts to cajole her
into attending her wedding while the gathered guests await the trio's arrival downstairs. The
scene ends and they finally get married.
Scenes from Larger Plays

The Dining Room

3 Male
3 Female

$100 per Performance

The play is set in the dining room of a typical well-to-do household, the place where the
family assembled daily for breakfast and dinner and for any and all special occasions.
The action is comprised of a mosaic of interrelated scenes—some funny, some
touching, some rueful—which, taken together, create an in-depth portrait of a vanishing
species: the upper-middle-class WASP. The actors change roles, personalities and
ages with virtuoso skill as they portray a wide variety of characters, from little boys to
stern grandfathers, and from giggling teenage girls to Irish housemaids. Each vignette
introduces a new set of people and events; a father lectures his son on grammar and
politics; a boy returns from boarding school to discover his mother's infidelity; a senile
grandmother doesn't recognize her own sons at Christmas dinner; a daughter, her
marriage a shambles, pleads futilely to return home, etc. Dovetailing swiftly and
smoothly, the varied scenes coalesce, ultimately, into a theatrical experience of
exceptional range, compassionate humor and abundant humanity.
Murder Mysteries

The Murder Mystery at the Murder Mystery

5M, 6F, PLUS 3 ROLES THAT CAN BE EITHER

75min

$50 for First perf $40 for each additional

Ready to tackle a murder mystery that really teases the brain? With a fun
play-within-a-play plot that challenges both the mind and the metaphysical, this comic
mystery is certain to have your audiences coming back for more. The players at The
Murder Mystery Playhouse are rehearsing a new show, ​Putting a Little English On It​.
It’s a not-so-good attempt at a British murder mystery, complete with cheesy dramatic
music and British accents. As expected at the final dress rehearsal, the lights go out
and a character dies onstage — only this murder wasn’t in the script! The authorities
are quickly called, and soon the company finds themselves replaying the death scene.
When yet another person dies at the end of the scene, the cast finds themselves
replaying the same scene over and over for other investigators, a theatre critic and even
the playwright himself! But every time they get to the end of the scene, someone else
ends up with a fire poker in the chest. The actors are left scratching their heads at the
strange circumstances and also worried that they could be next. It all culminates in a
wild surprise ending in which the actors must work together to defeat the murderer
before he murders them all.

Blazing Guns at Roaring Gulch

4 Male
5 Female

Comedy 60min

$50 Per Performance

Aspen Print (you could just call her A.P.) is a crusading young newspaper editor in the
town of Four Corners, Colorado. The office of the Colorado Clarion is situated where
four states meet: Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. An extremely versatile
play, ​Blazing Guns​ can be produced either as a melodrama or a straight western
comedy. The play takes place in the lobby of the Roaring Gulch Hotel where the hero,
Harry Heartstone, is found in hot pursuit of the villain, Snipe Vermin. Here the story
takes an unusual turn because the villain and hero are twin brothers (played by the
same actor.) It is inevitable that the two should meet in a face-to-face gunfight that
takes place in a most interesting manner in the closing minutes of the show. The play
offers many other attractive character roles including Willie Lovelace, the lady sheriff of
Roaring Gulch; the Widow Black, evil proprietress of the Roaring Gulch Hotel; Martha
Muldoon, a stranded actress; and Bill Filbert, the nutty sidekick of Snipe Vermin.

OPTION B

AUSTIN AND MIKE WRITE ONE!