C.J. Ehrlich
playwright - screenwriter
Short Plays: 10 min, 15-30 min, and short-shorts
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to request any full script and royalty information, contact CJ
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you may search for play by cast size, two-handers, plays suitable for high school and/or college actors, plays with all-women casts, plays for actors over 50 (50+)
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most plays can be cast with actors of any ethnicities/BIPOC, flexible ages
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to search for one-act plays by running time, use (#m) format
Ten-minute plays (synopses below)
• 2 + 1 = MURDER Cast: 4 (2F/2M or 1F/3M), noir comedy
• ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND SCIENCE Cast: 2M, comedy
• ANDY CARTER BECOMES A MAN Cast: 3 (1F, 1M, 1 teen), comedy
• THE BEES ARE WATCHING Cast: 2 (1F, 1M), dramedy
• THE BLACK BOX Cast: 3 (flexible), comedy
• BLACK HOLE ENTERPRISES Cast: 2 (1F, 1M), comedy
• BUT I'M THE WEATHER GIRL! Cast: 3 (1F, 1M, 1M/F), adult comedy
• CO-WORKERS Cast: 2 (1F, 1M, 1M/F), comedy
• DARK FRIDAY MARKDOWNS Cast: 2 (gender neutral), comedy
• THE ENTIRE PUNCH BOWL Cast: 4 (2F, 1M, 1 flex), comedy
• FLASH DATE Cast: 5 (includes Crew), comedy
• HOME SWEET HOMELAND SECURITY Cast: 4 (2F, 2M), 8m comedy
• INTERVENTION Cast: 5 (2F, 3M, flexible), comedy
• IT SKIPS A GENERATION Cast: 2 (1F, teens, 1M, 70s / 50+), dramedy
• THE LILAC TICKET Cast: 2 (1F, 1M, both 50+), dramedy
• THE NINTH CIRCUS OF HELL Cast: 2 (1F, 1M), comedy
• NOIR IN SECOND CLASS Cast: 2 (1F, 1M), noir comedy
• NON-FLUORIDATED WATER Cast: 2 (1F, 1M), comedy
• NON-REFUNDABLE Cast: 3 (3F), comedy
• PACKAGE DEAL Cast: 3 (2F, 1M), comedy
• PICNIC ON THE LAKE Cast: 2 (1F, 1M), horror
• SECONDHAND GIFTS Cast: 2F, dramedy
• SNOW DOWN AT THE NORTH POLE Cast: 5 (2F, 2M, 1 flex), holiday comedy
• SPARE SOME CHANGE Cast: 2 (1F, 1M), dramedy
• STANDING ROOM ONLY Cast: 3 (1F, 1M, 1M/F), dramedy
• TAKE A LEFT AT THE WAR ZONE Cast: 3 (1F, 2M), comedy
• THREE'S A CLOUD Cast: 3 (2F, 1M), adult comedy
• WAITING FOR HUGOT Cast: 2 (1F, 1M), comedy
2 + 1 = MURDER
(noir comedy, 1F, 2M, 1F/M - 10 min)
Private eye Blaze Pascal will solve this case by the numbers. Film noir, meet Math 101.
--“A delight!” - Noah Fredericks, Spokane Radio Theatre
● * Published- The Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2015, Smith & Kraus
★Script Sample upon request - 2+1= Murder
ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND SCIENCE
(comedy, 2M - 10 min)
Two dads compete in a high stakes game: the elementary school science fair.
★Script Sample upon request- All’s Fair in Love & Science
ANDY CARTER BECOMES A MAN
(comedy, 1F, 1M, 1 male teen - 10 min)
You’re a youth vampire! You want me to do the ceremony so you can suck the experience out of me!
On the eve of his coming-of-age ceremony, Andy refuses. A story about the meaning of
family traditions.
● Piper Theatre Productions, VIDEO.
{or} ANNIE CARTER BECOMES A WOMAN
(comedy, 1F, 1M, 1 female teen - 10 min)
On the eve of the coming-of-age ceremony, Annie says no. A story about family traditions.
★ Script Sample upon request- Andy Carter
THE BEES ARE WATCHING
(dramedy, 1F, 1M - 10 min)
An EPA official, "just following orders" to destroy the environment, is attacked by nature itself.
★ Script Sample upon request - The Bees Are Watching
THE BLACK BOX
(comedy, 1F, 2M, gender flexible - 10 min)
Two strange salesmen try to sell Zelda a black box. What worlds does it contain?
What wonders?
★ Script Sample upon request- The Black Box
BLACK HOLE ENTERPRISES
(comedy, 1F, 1M - 10 min) *
Can a person be happy, when her job is to make people miserable on social media?
★ Script Sample upon request -BHE
BUT I'M THE WEATHER GIRL!
(adult comedy, 1F, 1M, 1f/m - 8 min)
A diva, a stressed-out producer with a $40,000 camera, and a Yeti come to you live, from the blizzard atop Mt. Everest.
★ Script Sample upon request- But I'm the Weather Girl!
CO-WORKERS
(comedy, 1F, 2M - 10+ min) *
Batgirl's job interview is tanking. Is it the ticking time bomb? The vat of molten steel below?
Or just, her?
● * Published - The Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2018, Smith & Kraus
★ Script Sample upon request- Co-Workers
DARK FRIDAY MARKDOWNS
(comedy, 2 gender neutral - 8 min) *
Two Radio Shack employees from far, far away ponder how Thursday can be Friday, on the feast day of the turkeys.
★ Script Sample upon request -Dark Friday Markdowns
THE ENTIRE PUNCH BOWL
(comedy, 2F, 1M, 1f/m - 10 min)
Three alumni are terrified to walk down the red carpet to the reunion. But hey, who
remembers the random tortures of high school? Uh... everyone. Shania to the rescue!
★ Script Sample upon request- The Entire Punch Bowl
FLASH DATE
(comedy, 1F, 2M, 1F/M, stagehands - 10m)
Why stick around ‘til a relationship gets messy? Get in, get out, get Mr. Right.
Staged in the audience, on the stage and outside the theatre
★ Script Sample upon request- Flash Date
HOME SWEET HOMELAND SECURITY
(comedy, 2F, 2M - 10 min) *
Two couples get to know each other over drinks of 4 oz. or less
● * Published - G-Men in G-Strings: The J Edgar Hoover Follies, Heuer Publishing
★ Script Sample upon request -Home Sweet Homeland Security
INTERVENTION
(comedy, 2F, 4M -10 min) *
A group of his friends gather to confront Leon, but nobody agrees on what his problem is.
● * Published - The Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2014, Smith & Kraus
★ Script Sample upon request - Intervention
IT SKIPS A GENERATION
(comic drama, 1F-teen, 1M-mature - 12 min)
In 1980s Brooklyn, an ultra-Orthodox teenager and her estranged grandfather bond over an album of yellowed newspaper clippings.
★ Script Sample upon request- It Skips a Generation
(comedy/romance, two mature actors, 1F, 1M - 10 min)
Sam and Barb confront two crises that threaten to tear their 50-year marriage apart: one happening now, in the doctor’s office, and the other, a long-buried secret.
“I was spellbound.” - David Suissa, LA Jewish Journal
“Absolutely beautiful play” - Jim Finch, Artistic Director, Boquete Players
“Great laughs” - Patrick Gabridge, The Writing Life x3
“Eat my pickles. Wear clean underwear. Marry a doctor.” - Bubbies of Los Angeles
● * Published - The Best American Short Minute Plays of 2014-15, Applause/Hal Leonard
● 2011 Heideman Award Finalist
★ Script Sample upon request- The Lilac Ticket
THE NINTH CIRCUS OF HELL
(dark comedy, 1F, 1M - 10 min) *
Love, lust, popcorn and one sexy moose.
Andrew pines for Maya like Dante for Beatrice, and oh, what agonies he’ll suffer for her!
Hell is for wimps. Today there will be clowns.
● * Published - The Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2013, Smith & Kraus
★Script sample upon request- The Ninth Circus of Hell
NOIR IN SECOND CLASS
(comedy, 1F, 1M, 1 voice or walk-on - 10 min) *
Sometimes this couple live in two difference movies.
● * Published - The Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2011, Smith & Kraus
★ Script Sample upon request - Noir in Second Class
NON-FLUORIDATED WATER
(dark comedy, 1F, 1M -10 min)
While Sondra tries to organize a dinner party with nothing but a lemon, her dentist boyfriend (and cavity warrior) plans a chocolate factory's just desserts
★ Script Sample upon request -Non-Fluoridated Water
NON-REFUNDABLE
(LGBT comedy, 1F, 1M, 1F/M - 10 min) *
Two lesbian teachers from Bible Belt Kentucky, tired of pretending to be “just friends who work together,"run off on a romantic hide-away in the former Soviet Block. But when the army invades their hotel room they learn a lesson about hiding.
● * Published - The Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2017, Smith & Kraus
★ Script Sample upon request-Non-Refundable
A PACKAGE DEAL
(comedy, 1F, 1M, 1F/M - 10 min)
On a bargain tour of Eastern Europe, a couple struggle to preserve their clandestine relationship, and stay to out of prison.
”Enjoyable comedic piece... modulating between heartfelt emotions and...surrealism.”
-- Express Milwaukee.
★ Script Sample upon request- Package Deal
PICNIC ON THE LAKE
(gothic horror, 1F, 1M - 10 min)
A romantic picnic by an alpine lake escalates into an obscene feast, flavored with revenge.
“These eighteen 10-Minute Plays have been selected from more than 500 nationwide submissions. Together, they serve as a sampler of some of the sharpest, wittiest, most incisive, and thought-provoking writing going on in America today.” - Source DC Festival.
★ Script Sample upon request- Picnic on the Lake
SECONDHAND GIFTS
(dramedy 2F - 10 min)
Over coffee and hand-me-downs, two sisters argue about childrearing, commiserate over the past, and discover that the best gift of all is family.
● 2010 Heideman Award Finalist, Actors Theatre of Louisville
★ Script Sample upon request- Secondhand Gifts
SNOW DOWN AT THE NORTH POLE
(holiday comedy, 6 char, 10 min)
It’s crunch time in Santa’s Call Center. There’s a blizzard outside and an efficiency expert getting in everybody’s way. Can the Elves push back technology and keep their jobs? Caroling optional.
★ Script Sample upon request- Snow Down at the North Pole
SPARE SOME CHANGE
(comedy, 1F, 2M - 10 min)
An entrepreneurial homeless man tries to get a businesswoman to invest in his lunch.
★ Script Sample upon request- Spare Some Change
STANDING ROOM ONLY
(romantic comedy, 1F, 2M - 10+ min)
He wants -- a seat; he gets -- an earful. A play about second chances.
*Great showcase for an actor skilled with dialects.
★ Script Sample upon request- Standing Room Only
TAKE A LEFT AT THE WAR ZONE
(comedy, 2F, 1M -10 min)
Return to the thrilling Reagan era, where a war could start on a beach and
end with a margarita.
★ Script Sample upon request- Take A Left at the War Zone
THREE'S A CLOUD
(LGBT screwball comedy, 2F, 1M - 10 m)
When her ex storms the honeymoon suite, Margot realizes today’s raincloud could be tomorrow’s tornado. Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy honeymoon!
★ Script Sample upon request -Three’s a Cloud
WAITING FOR HUGOT
(comedy, 1F, 1M - 10 min)
A frustrated screenwriter ineptly stalks a minor celebrity, hoping to get his ticket out of nowhere. But fate, and his wife, have other travel plans.
★ Script Sample upon request- Waiting for Hugot
15 to 20+ min shorts (synopses below)
HOMESPUN WEBS LAB RATS
2F (both 50+ if desired, magical realism/comedy 3F, 15 min, surreal comedy
LIKE MANNA IN THE DESERT STANDING ROOM ONLY
Cast: 4 (2F, 2M, 1 flex) 50+ or younger, 20m comedy Cast: 3 (1F, 2M, one or two 50+), 15m dramedy
LONG TRAIN RUNNING THREE’S A CLOUD
2M, 15m Cast: 3 (2F, 1M) 15m bedroom farce
PICNIC ON THE LAKE TUESDAYS IN THE PARK WITH
Cast: 2 (1F, 1M), 15m horror-drama RIVER APPLE 5F (inc 50+ if desired), 15m comedy
THE RED & GREEN ROOM WHOM DEATH DOTH S/EEEk
Cast: 4 (1F, 2M, 1 flex), 20m comedy Cast: 4 (2F, 2M), 15m adult comedy
ROOM CIRCUS ZANE TO GATE 69
Cast: 3 (2F, 1M), 30m LGBT bedroom farce Cast: 3 (2F, 2M, 50+ possible) 35m (+) time travel comedy
SHREW MAN vs. SHREWMAN
Cast: 4 (1F, 2M, 1 flex; one 50+ M; 2 50+ actors if desired), 20m comedy
HOMESPUN WEBS: Imagining Louise Bourgeois
(comedy/magical realism, 2F - 15 min)
Drunk and alone, Madeline’s giving up on life after divorce, when she’s interrupted by the spectral presence of renowned "spider artist" Louise Bourgeois, come to talk about new webs.
★Script Sample upon request- Homespun Webs
LAB RATS
(surreal comedy, 3F - 15 min)
Two stressed scientists know they're creating the ultimate junk food, but can't remember
why they're trapped in their lab.
★ Script Sample upon request- Lab Rats
LIKE MANNA IN THE DESERT
(comedy, 2F, 2M - 12 min)
With Moses up talking to the Big Guy, down in the desert Maya and Yosi ask,
“Are we there yet?” Then meet into old friends with a surprising secret.
”Very clever, good-natured satire with lots of laughs.”
★ Script Sample upon request- Like Manna in the Desert
LONG TRAIN RUNNING
(2M - 15 min)
A musician loses everything in a cross-country poker game, including his partner's guitar.
★ Script Sample upon request- Long Train Running
THE RED & GREEN ROOM
(comic drama, 1F, 2M, 1 either - 15 min)
Three actors drive each other mad in the Green Room while the star hogs all the stage time.
No Exit, meet the Mario Bros.
★ Script Sample upon request- The Red & Green Room
ROOM CIRCUS
(adult farce, 2F, 1M, 25 min)
Jake's about to ditch Margot in the bridal suite, when Margot's ex, Sienna, arrives with
a special order of room service. Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy honeymoon.
Partial nudity welcome.
★ Script Sample upon request- Room Circus
SHREW MAN vs. SHREWMAN
(comedy, 1F, 2M, 1F/M - 15-25 min)
The last, the rarest, the only banned Shrewman comic has finally resurfaced. Now everyone wants to get their claws on it.
“Borders on the insane” - Terry Shea, Motif Magazine, Providence RI
Samuel French OOB Festival, 2014, chosen from over 1400 submissions
★ Script Sample upon request- Shrew Man vs. Shrewman
TUESDAYS IN THE PARK WITH RIVER APPLE
(comedy, 5F - 20 min, adult language)
Abby’s new to the city and to full-time motherhood, and just wants to join a playgroup.
Play nice, ladies!
★ Script Sample upon request- Tuesdays in the Park with River Apple
WHOM DEATH DOTH S/EEEk
(adult comedy, 2F, 2M - 20 min)
Sexy model Yulia’s angling for a pair of pricey pumps, Stef’s daring her to charm the
sales clerk into a quickie discount, and a mysterious stranger knows way too much about Yulia’s shopping history. This dark, sexy comedy will have you quaking in your stilettos
and cleaning out your closets!
★ Script Sample upon request- Whom Death
ZANE TO GATE 69
(sci fi comedy, 2F, 2M - 35-40 min)
Kate Welles, a handler from a dystopian future, comes back to 1972 to brief a bumbling spy on what could be his -- and humanity's -- last mission. But will she be in time?
"Daffy fun"... "Delightfully ridiculous"... "Don't miss it!"
"This show is as entertaining as Zane is clueless." -- Deborah Martin, mysanantonio.com
"You don't see [this] on the circuit very often -- a well written sci fi piece." -- John Jennings, Pop Culture Theatre, Melbourne
★ Script Sample upon request- Zane to Gate 69
1 to 5 minute short-shorts
ASK ZSUZSANNA: SINGLE MOTHERHOOD AT 50
(1F - comic monologue, suitable for 50+ and younger)
Tips on how to have it all: love, divorce, a career, and playgroups, in the big city.
FOUR EPICS AND A CRITIC (in One Page)
(2F, 2M, 2 either, flexible ages, 50+ possible)
More stories than you can imagine burst out of this one-page comedy.
ONE SMART COOKIE
(2F, 1M - 3 min)
Sometimes the cookie just knows.
OOH BABY, LET'S GO FOR IT
(1F, 1M - 2 min)
“Well Daddy, since you’re holding a gun to my head...” A pro-choice rumination.
- “Striking. It resonates.” -- SLUT Fest
● Winner, GAN-e-meed Theatre Project, Not a Box New Play Fest, Boston MA, 2011
THE THINGS THEY DON'T TELL US
(1F, 1M - 1 min)
Two spies are dying to come in from the cold.
-“Super theatrical!” -- Mind the Gap, World Theatre Day audience
* Published- One Minute Plays: A Practical Guide to Tiny Theatre, Rutledge
WRYLY
(1F, 2M - 3 min)
A coed, a nerd and a jock sally shyly, loosely, drunkenly, and heroically through a frat party.
•Finding His Sea Legs (2M, 10m) - dark comedy
When the boss sails into international waters, how far would you go to keep your job?
● Black Ship Productions “Any Port in a Storm” (selection), Chicago, IL. 2011.
• Mafiance´ Wars (2F, 2M, 1F/M, 10m) - dark comedy
Games - they’re not just fun and marriage.
● Finalist: Stonington Players, Table and Chairs VI, Stonington, CT. 2012.
•No Vacancies (1F, 1M, 1F/M, 1 Elvis, 10m) - drama
In a future dystopia, a man and his pregnant wife try to get a room at the Las Vegas Hilton, but it's Solstice eve.
•Not Another Origin Story (2F, 1M, 10m) - rom com
Carlita has no patience for comics or cons, until she meets a decidedly unsuper hero.
•Passage to Delhi (4W, 1M, 45m) - dramedy
When a dutiful daughter moves in with her aging mother, Alzheimer's disease brings new wonders to both of them.
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