Are you a director, actor, theatre group or student, looking for FREE quality short plays?
Here are nine COMPLETELY FREE short plays for you to perform.
They include one-minute, 10-minute, 15-minute and 20-minute plays on a wide range of topical issues, suitable for community theatre groups, schools or individual actors and directors wishing to produce a show or to workshop with students.
I am the author of all the plays and retrain the copyright. The only condition for workshopping or performing the plays is that none of the text is altered, and that you notify me about when and how you are using them – and send photos, please.
All except the one-minute plays have been performed previously, in Australia and Singapore (where I lived for six years), so they’ve been “on their feet”, as we say in the theatre industry, and tested before an audience.
Oliver with a Twist, a comment on our modern food culture, was performed at the Singapore Arts House, directed by Susie Penrice Tyrie in 2014, and in 2019 at the Goodman Arts Centre in Singapore, also directed by Susie Penrice Tyrie, as part of Timeless Tales Family Theatre Fest.
Greater Expectations was also performed at Timeless Tales and Hard Times with the Semi-Naked Chef was performed in Sydney at Script-in-Hand in 2014, directed by Kaye Lopez.
Errata was performed in 2013, directed by Chantelle Ashby, by Gemco Players, in Gembrook, Victoria, for its Little Gems 10-minute play festival, and in 2019 by Hobo Players in Castlemaine, directed by Jeffrey Bryant Jones.
She Drinks, a monologue in rhyme about family violence, was performed as part of Rhymes with Silence, a series of short plays about family violence produced by Joy Roberts in Sydney in 2015.
Change Shift, a tribute to Singapore taxi drivers, was performed in Tamil for the Pathey Nimidam 10-minute play festival at the Aliwal Arts Centre in Singapore in 2016, directed by Susan Penrice Tyrie and starring Drake Lim and Varshini Victoria.
In 2020, it was turned into a short film starring Hasisha Nazir as Sonja and Drake Lim as Mr Goh.
For more information about the other plays on offer here, go to my SHORT PLAYS section or follow the links below.
Why am I providing my work for free?
Because 10 years ago, I received my start in theatre through the generosity of actors and community theatre groups who took my fledgling plays seriously, so I want to pay it forward.
Because the theatre industry took a huge blow during the pandemic, and this is my way of helping.
And because I’d rather see my work performed than sitting on a shelf or behind a paywall.
I have four published works for which I receive royalties when they are performed: e-baby, d-baby, Supersnout and Uked! – The first play-along ukulele musical, so I do get paid for some of my work.
The joys of short plays
Short plays are a good introduction to theatre for students, who are still learning how to memorise lines and get into character. They are less of a commitment for schools and theatre companies who don’t have the time or resources for a full-length production, and they are good for modern audiences, who are time poor, or who prefer something snappy and fast-paced.
If you read them all, you’ll see some are social comment, while others are just a bit of fun.
Please tell me what you think, what you liked or didn’t like, and where and how you rehearsed and/or performed them.
Nine FREE plays for directors, actors and students
The first three plays may be performed individually or as a trio:
Oliver with a Twist – A Dickens-inspired short play about modern food culture
Greater Expectations – A Dickens-inspired play questioning assumptions about sexual orientation
Hard Times with the Semi-Naked Chef Oliver Jamie – A Dickens-inspired cooking-show spoof
Errata – the true history of Christianity
Members Only – How technology affects us in life – and death.
She Drinks – a monologue in rhyme about family violence
Change Shift – a tribute to Singapore taxi drivers
Quickies: one minute plays for the time-poor
Just a minute – punctuality is key
Altar-ed State – a life-changing walk down the aisle
Commission me to write for you. Want me to write a 10-minute play on a theme of your choice for your theatre group?
Write to me here: jane.cafarella@gmail.com