Plays for Teens – One-Act Plays

While there are numerous plays on my Play Catalogue page that have been performed by teen actors at high schools, middle schools and youth theatres, the plays on this page were, by and large, written with them in mind. In fact, many were specifically written for teen performers. Why not consider them for possible production at your school, theatre, camp or other program?
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A world full of teen characters, ranging from a lonely short-wave radio DJ to a modern Romeo and Juliet to the writer of a most unusual letter, try to balance their fears and dreams as the rest of the world sleeps.
When a man and woman in suits take Emmett away in the middle of math class, why is it that no one noticed him until he was gone?
What do you do when you’re addicted to beef and there’s only one cow left on earth?
Through scenes and monologues, a group of teen characters search for their “Chuck” that elusive moment of knowing who you are.
Through a connected series of scenes and monologues, Declaration explores the befores, durings and afters of a group of students whose school is yet another ground zero for a mass shooting.
When Romeo reveals that he plans to revenge himself upon Shakespeare by killing him in a duel, it’s up to three characters from the comedies to make sure that all’s well that ends well and save the Bard.
Everyone’s favorite vampires, wizards and werewolves battle lots and lots of evil in this crazed mash-up parody of the two biggest megahits of recent years, Harry Potter and Twilight.
When a desperate high school drama troupe gambles that adding a zombie or two to the cast will bring them enough audience to save their program, their hungry new actors threaten to change forever the meaning of “live theatre.”
Through a series of scenes and monologues—everything from an accidental first date to a most unusual art project to creating that last, best selfie—we meet a group of teens who are struggling to find the balance between documenting their lives and living them.
A play about what happens when young people slip through the cracks, and what drives them to violence.
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A door-to-door gun salesman comes home from work to learn from his young son that “something happened today.”
A band of teenagers struggles for survival and to find the little moments of joy in the wake of a global warming disaster.
When Tiny Tim throws away his crutches and declares his intention to run the marathon, he could inspire millions—but with big business behind Oliver Twist as their inspirational figure of choice, Tiny Tim may never make it to the starting line…
When a convention center collapses and all of the world’s supermodels are trapped in their dressing rooms beneath the rubble, will the “regular folks” ride to their rescue? No supermodels required to cast this play.
As two bullied students try to survive their daily lives, they wrestle with a terrible question: is the only way out to become the people they hate?
Alisa arrives at a new high school in the middle of the year to find her locker next to a shrine for a popular lacrosse player who’s died in an auto accident, but as she digs deeper, she discovers another loss that no one talks about, even as it’s left many of the school’s students trying to pick up their own pieces.
A world full of teen characters, ranging from a lonely internet radio DJ to a modern Romeo and Juliet to a serial letter writer who’s never sent a single letter, navigate that magical hour between night and morning as they wrestle with the changes in their lives.
With so much of our lives spent in bathrooms (more than a year!), whether it’s private time with a favorite floating bath toy to discovering “ancient” graffiti to the invention of a new dance craze, the teens of this vignette-style, flexible-cast comedy are growing up…in the throne room.
When he discovers a used bookstore is removing the pages from classic books and replacing them with blank ones, a customer fights back.
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The gun is missing from the pot on the right rear burner at the Doe house, replaced by an egg.
A madcap parody of the Dickens Christmas classic.
Sweeney Todd meets high school in this dark comedy with scheming cheerleaders, mysterious loners and a couple of teens just trying to survive their daily lives with their dignity—and their vital organs—intact.