PHIL LEWIS PUBLICATIONS

SHORT PLAYS

Suitable for Drama Festivals

For monologues/Duologues (Talking Heads) click HERE

Suitable for Drama Festivals, these new and original Plays on this page are all written by Phil Lewis
(with the exception of Confined Space, which was co-written with Gerry Sudbury,
Nurse, the screens and Wanted on Voyage, co-written by Mandy Witt)

Each character is awarded a colour, so an actor when reading the script
can locate the next line quickly and easily.

All Entrances and Exits are underlined to aid the actors and director with stage directions.

Samples are available in PDF format for download .

For performance rights and permission please contact me: publications@phil-lewis.net

For other formats available, please contact me: publications@phil-lewis.net

Payment will be by PayPal or cheque.

SYNOPSIS OF SHORT PLAYS

LIST BY DURATION AND CHARACTERS - Click HERE

MANO ET MANO - A story of betrayal and trust  Approx: 6 minutes

    Cast
    HUSBAND        40+
    LOVER             Any age

    Place - A Bar. Present day.

    Staging - Can be set as chairs and an empty stage. Talking Heads.

    Story - Mano et Mano is the story of a jilted husband and his wife’s lover.
                Can the lover convince the husband that his wife leaving him is for everyone’s good?

Download sample

 TO BE, OR NOT TO BE - A story of despair and regret.  Approx: 9 minutes

    Cast
    SARA                Any age

    Place - Present day.

    Staging - Can be set as a chair and an empty stage. Talking Heads.

    Story - To be, or not to be is the story of a women contemplating suicide.
                 Her justification for doing so and her final decision not to.

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ONE DAY - A story of artistic frustration.  Approx: 6 minutes

    Cast
    JO                       Any age, any sex

    Place - Present day.

    Staging - Can be set as a chair and an empty stage. Talking Heads.

    Story - One Day is the story of Jo, a frustrated playwright who cannot get people to understand his genius.

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STILL LIFE, STILL LIVES, STILL BORN & STILL LIVING - A series of stories of a photographic/artistic model in the various phases of her professional and private life. Approx: 7 minutes each.

    Cast
    TINA                  40+

    Place - Present day.

    Staging - Can be set as a chair and an empty stage. Talking Heads.
                     Can be seated on lying on a sheet.
                     Multiple lighting effects help enhance the various poses.

    Story - Still Life is the story of a photographic model who accepts she is no longer as desirable.
                Reminiscing her life in a whimsical way as she poses for a group of artists.
                Seen through her pregnancy and ultimate loss of child.
                Her last thoughts as she continues with modelling, older and wiser.

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 APOLOGY - A story of an alien visit. Approx: 7 minutes

    Cast
    ZARG                 Any age, any sex
    ZOG                   Any age, any sex

    Place - Present day.

    Staging - Can be set as two chairs and an empty stage. Talking Heads.

    Story - A light, humorous and slightly irreverent, look at modern life.
                Apology is the humours story of two aliens how have come to apologise for all they mistakes
                they have made with our planet Earth.

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 YESTERDAY, I DIED - A story of two people’s experience after death.  Approx: 9 minutes

    Cast
    GEORGINA:           Any age over 50 – preferably elderly
    DAN THE MAN       20+

    Place - Present day.

    Staging - Can be set as two chairs and an empty stage. Talking Heads.

    Story - Yesterday, I died is the twin stories of an elderly woman and a young man and their
                 experiences after death.
                 While they await their fate in God’s waiting room, the relive the reasons they are there
                 and their reflections on their lives.

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 REMINISCING AND REALITY - A duologue of past life and modern life.  Approx: 8 minutes

    Cast
    ACTOR 1       Any age over 50 – preferably elderly
    ACTOR 2       20+

    Place - Present day.

    Staging - Can be set as two chairs and an empty stage. Talking Heads.

    Story - Reminiscing and Reality is about why Health and Safety and the Nanny State have
                brought us to the state we are in now. Some amusing and thought provoking facts of life.

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 IN DREAMS - A story of a women in a dream.  Approx: 12 minutes

    Cast
    HER                40+
    HIM                  50+

    Place - Present day.

    Staging - Can be set as two chairs and an empty stage. Talking Heads.

    Story - In Dreams is the story of a woman whose life has changed since an accident.
                She is puzzled why everything is so rosy. We discover the real truth at the end.

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 EXISTENCE - A science fiction love story.  Approx: 11 minutes.

    Cast
    ROMEO            Any age
    JULIET              Any age

    Place - Far into the future

    Staging - Can be set as two chairs and an empty stage. Talking Heads.
                     Some lighting and sound effects for the battle scenes.

    Story - Existence is the story of a space battleship designed to think and act with human emotions.
                He falls in love with a female ship and the story of Romeo and Juliet is told all over again.
                Sometime light and romantic, sometimes Shakespearean and moving.

A definite must to read.

Download sample

COVER UP - A Crime Story.  Approx: 15 minutes

    Cast
    MARTHA (aging widow)            60+
    RICHARD (Junior Reporter)     20+
    VOICE (Broadcast over the site’s loud speaker system)

    Place - USA. Present day.

    Staging - Can be set as two chairs and an empty stage. Talking Heads.
                     A non-practical large red button for final demolition.
                     Some sound effects required.

    Story - Cover-Up is based on a rumour which started the late 60's and was covered up
                 by the US government. DTD was seen as the solution to Malaria and solved
                 countless lives. But its toxic legacy caused its abolition in the sixties.
                 Martha Doonan recalls the effect it had on her husband, how he disappeared
                 and the final demolition of the building that caused all the problems.

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 WANTED ON VOYAGE - A Story of friendship.  Approx: 15 minutes

    Cast
    MURIEL - Elderly and frail.              70+
    EMMA - Young and energetic.         20+

    Place - A cruise ship. Present day.

    Staging - Can be set as an empty stage. Talking Heads.

    Story - Wanted on Voyage is the story of Muriel’s dream sea cruise.
                 With her young companion Emma, she has one last fling in life.

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 NURSE, THE SCREENS - A slightly humourous story of hospital ward life. Approx: 20 minutes

    Cast
    JO:                      Patient
    GRACE:              Patient
    HELENA:             Patient
    MANDY:               Patient
    GLADYS:             Patient (single line)
    LESLIE:               Nurse (can be male or female)
    JACKI:                 Nurse (can be male or female)
    SWIFT:                Doctor (non-speaking part)
    INSPECTION:     Up to six assistants to Swift ((non-speaking parts)

    Place - A hospital ward. Present day.

    Staging - Needs to have several hospital beds.

    Story - Nurse, the screens is the story of life in a hospital ward, mostly humours and bizarre,
                following the daily routine of the patients and staff.

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 CONFINED SPACE - A humorous story of attempted burglary that goes wrong.  Approx: 25 minutes

    Cast
    LANCE:                           young man of around 20
    BJ (FLETCHER):           middle-aged to elderly man
    FAY:                                woman around 40
    DOUGLAS:                     similar age to Fay
    MARCO:                         voice off

    Place - A spare room in a house, full of junk. Present day.

    Staging - Lots of boxes and life’s paraphernalia.
                A large practical safe.
                A practical sash window.

    Story - Confined Space is the story of two burglars.
                 An older, more experienced man and a youthful, bungling idiot.
                 When the mistress of the house disturbs them, they find themselves confined
                 because of the burglar alarm being set.
                 The twist comes when we find out who one of the burglars really is.

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SUPPLY & DEMAND - Set in the future, a story of a family living under a frugal regime. Approx: 25 minutes

    Cast
    PAUL:                          Teenager                                            15+
    DANA:                         Teenager                                             8+
    RENE:                         The Mother                                          40+
    RAY:                            The Father                                          40-50
    MOTHER:                   Voice only                                            60+
    GRANDMOTHER       (RECORDED Voice only)                   80+
    BOX:                           (RECORDED VOICE ONLY)              Any

    Place - A small, sparse kitchen of the future

    Staging - The furniture comprises a sofa, a few chairs, a dining table.
                     Dominating the room is the control box on one wall. This is metal and functional.
                     There is a large red button, a small numeric key pad and a domed red light on top.
                     A speaker can be seen.

    Story - Supply and Demand is the story of a family inculcated to requesting everything via the BOX.
                The children begin to question the antiquity of this regime and rebel against.
                Finally they persuade the parents to abandon the time old habit.

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 THE INTERVIEWS - A detective story of a crime in the planning.  Approx: 40 minutes

    Cast
    NEEDHAM:             30+ (any age)
    IRVING:            40+ (any age)
    LLOYD:           20+ (any age)
    FLEET:            40+
    SCOTT:          50+ Female
    WITNESS:      Any age Female

    Place - Somewhere in London. Present day.

    Staging - Can be set as an empty stage with areas designated for the various scenes.

    Story - The Interviews is the story of a series of interviews revealing the story of a man planning a murder.
                 When the police investigate he has a good reason for his actions and no criminal charges can
                 be enforced. The determined detective has other ideas.

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 MARRY ME MEL - A story of passionate romance.  Approx: 35 minutes

    Cast
    MEL:                             20+
    BRYAN:                        25-30
    DAWN:                         20+
    DON:                            25-30
    D.J.:                              voice only
    MRS. MEL:                   50+ (iF required)
    MRS BRYAN:               50+ (iF required)

    Place - Somewhere in London. Present day.

    Staging - Can be set as an empty stage with areas designated for the various scenes.

    Story - Marry Me Mel is a romantic story of a determined lover, who will stop at nothing to
                win the heart and marry his love. When he takes things to extreme, trouble follows.

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 ABANDONED - A Science Fiction story.  Approx: 40 minutes.

    Cast
    NARRATOR                Any sex, any age
    VANYA                         20+
    DAVID                          40+
    THE REVEREND        50+
    OLD MAN                    70+
    TEACHER                   30+ Female

    Place - Speaking to camera from a space ship adrift.

    Staging - Can be set as a row of chairs and an empty stage. Talking Heads.

     Story - Abandoned is the story of a space craft adrift in space.
                 The occupants, long dead, reveal the terrible story behind their fate.

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 STAYING IN LANES - A story of a traffic jam on the M25.  Approx: 45 minutes.

    Cast
    DJ                    20+(voice on radio)
    CAL                 30+
    DONNA           20+
    REBECCA         30+
    TAYLOR              30+
    RICHARD           30+

    Place - Somewhere on the M25. Present day.

    Staging - Three cars are needed to be represented. Chairs can be used and the actors mime
                     leaning on bonnet, or though the windows. White lines on stage to represent road markings.

     Story - Staying in Lanes is the story of three sets of people trapped overnight on the M25.
                  How they react with one another, how they help and hinder.
                  By the time they drive off, several lives have changed.

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SHARON - A story of a downtrodden secretary.  Approx: 55 minutes.

    Cast
    SHARON                    20+
    ROSEMARY               20+
    DUVALL                      30+
    NICKI                          18+
    JOHN                          30+

    Place - Somewhere in London. Present day.

    Staging - A small office with two desks. Computers, filing and phones, etc.
                     An Essex accent required. 

    Story - Sharon is the story of super-efficient Essex girl, Sharon.
                Not only does she protect her boss, she does most of his work for him.
                After a series of instances, she finds herself in a position of absolute power of him.
                Time for some revenge.

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LIST BY DURATION AND CHARACTERS

Click on title to download a SAMPLE

 LENGTH OF PLAYS

5-10 minutes

 10-15 minutes

20 minutes

25 minutes

 35 - 40 minutes

45 - 55 minutes

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