Page 39 - K12 Catalog 2020-2021

More One Acts 37

Whodunit?

Comedy | Cast: 8m., 5w., extras. | One int. set. | Run time: 30 min. | Code: W25000
The detectives may not know who the killer is but the audience knows. An announcer
gives them the real facts. Following that, there’s the fun of watching the experts—and the
amateur—as they struggle to solve the dire murder. Is it the butler? Is it Grandma? It just
couldn’t be sweet Alice! The wind howls, lights flicker and bloodcurdling screams are heard
… some shore done it! It’s an amazingly easy production for a large group when fun’s the
object. By Anne Coulter Martens.

Why Do We Laugh?

Comedy/Drama | Cast: 4m., 4w. | Bare stage | Run time: 30 min. | Code: W58000
At age 6, Meredith Wilfred loves to tell people that she hates her neighbor, Andrew Powers.
At age 16, she tells Andrew the same thing but goes to the dance with him anyway. At 45,
Meredith and Andy have a great deal to tell each other: most married couples do. And, even
at 66, Meredith is still learning about, and from, Andrew. This is a fine contest play because
it is both easy to stage and a challenge. All eight characters—two people at four different
times in their lives—are onstage at the same time. The result is a play about love (and hate)
and the way people change each other. By Stephen Gregg.

Why We Like Love Stories

Comedy/Drama | Cast: 2m., 2w., or 4 either gender. | Area staging | Run time: 25 min. |
Code: WJ6000
In the hills above Pin Cushion, California, students go to talk of the world, flirt and yearn.
It’s a place where heartbreak awaits. Chloe breaks up with Crooper. Months later, Crooper
ineptly attempts to use a mathematical equation to break up with Jessica. Months later,
Jessica rebuffs Bark, who pines for her. But then things come full circle. Bark and Chloe—
outsiders both—take an awkward, fumbling-for-words walk in the hills and discover a
surprising connection that, for the moment at least, promises a future. By Stephen Gregg.

Wiley and the Hairy Man
Drama | Cast: 2m., 1w., 3 either gender. | Area staging | Run time: 35 min. | Code: W66000
Like Aesop’s fables, Wiley and the Hairy Man is drawn from native folk wisdom. “Outwit the
Hairy Man three times, and he won’t scare you ever again,” says Mammy. Trembling, Wiley
sets out for the woods, prepared to confront the Hairy Man; he looks fear in the face and
outwits it. The adventures are presented in lyric poetry and mime. The actors become the
woods, the cabin, and all the props, making this show imaginative and easy to mount. By
Jack Stokes.

The Women of Troy
Tragedy | Cast: 4m., 12w. | Bare stage | Run time: 30 min. | Code: W50000
The powerless but still defiant women of the defeated city of Troy—now the spoils of war—
wait for the Greeks to decide their fate. Originally written by Euripides as a blazing protest
against the way Athens treated the rights of women in such circumstances, this play, despite
its ancient origins, concerns human dignity. The play, completely in prose, is poetic but the
language is direct and simple. From the classic by Euripides. Adapted by David Grote.