n/a

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

Youth Audience

8

7

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: Sindbad is off again ... yet another voyage. As his mother helps him pack, a slave girl escaping from the Sultans harem takes refuge in Sindbads house - throwing herself on his mercy. The intervention of the magician, Imkah causes Sindbad, and the girl, and his servant to reduce in size ... and ultimately disappear below the floor. The voyage is now one of their being pursued in this new world by the Sultans guards (also reduced in size). Their discovery of the Sultans valuable ring (assumed stolen by the fleeing slave girl) ... and their return to normal size brings about a happy ending. A colourful and clever plot with plenty of scope for effects and even a spot of belly-dancing.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

in Triad 53, New Playwrights' Network

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

-

One Act

-

8

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: Based on unsolved mystery. Picnic outing in 1900 for Australian girl's college results in disappereance of three grls and a forth having hysterics and amnesia.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

Youth Audience

6

6

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: A clever adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Mr. Dodgson (Lewis Carroll himself) is attempting to take a photograph of the Liddell family. Alice becomes bored and wanders off and thats when the White Rabbit shows up. All members of the Liddell family appear as characters from the story, which is kept as in the book. Finally we return to the photograph situation and the picture is taken. Plenty of opportunities for an inventive director and an enthusiastic cast.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

Youth Audience

One Act

-

-

large cast

Notes: -

Synopsis: A group of young 'freedom fighters' take refuge in a stately home. They have been ambushed on their way to attack some kind of military outpost. They are wounded and scared. Who tipped off the authorities - is it one of their own number? And where are the owners of the house, why is there no indication of the house on their maps, who is the mysterious 'servant', why are they not being pursued? Are they alive or dead?

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

Youth Audience

One Act

-

-

large cast

Notes: -

Synopsis: A documentary play based on the life and achievements of Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo to Australia and a pioneer in early aviation generally. The play includes the memorable flight itself! Songs included.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

Youth Audience

One Act

-

-

large cast

Notes: -

Synopsis: A schools Second Netball team (the B team) meet up, having been left school some time, to discuss their success in adult life. No-one has really made it ... they still are very much second-raters. So together they look to new careers - as thieves, and carry out a raid on a betting-shop. Despite being more than somewhat incompetent they do ultimately make good.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

Youth Audience

One Act

-

-

large cast

Notes: -

Synopsis: A comedy using many of the cartoon characters from 'The Beano' and 'The Dandy'. 'Biffo the Bear has ultimately to face Dennis the Menace' in the fight of the century.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

Youth Audience

5

5

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: Set in a Victorian/Edwardian Music Hall at which the Maynard Dodgson Theatre Company is to present The Murders in the Rue Morgue. Unfortunately their star performer The Beast of the Rue Morgue escapes and the patron of the Company, Alderman Armitage, insists a show goes on - whatever. His daughter want to see Beauty and the Beast . . . the Company must do as she bids! Confusion and comedy ... and songs. A lively festive pre-Christmas Show.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

Youth Audience

One Act

-

-

large cast

Notes: -

Synopsis: A team of cheerleaders was desperate for more members to complete their team and enable them to enter a prestigious competition. Two boys who are witnesses to a hold-up are on the run from the gang who did the job, and take sanctuary in the cheerleaders' headquarters. What better disguise than to become part of the team (including wigs and tights!). Will the team win with their new members?

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

Samuel French, London

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

-

One Act

3

2

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: The action of the play takes place in the apartment of Monsieur and Madame Signac in Paris, circa 1895. Not-too-early morning. Marcel Morisot arrives at the Signac home hoping for a glimpse of his beloved Marie-Celeste, a dancer. Honorine, the maid, confuses Marcel with the chimney-sweep and then confuses Claude, a marauding vagrant, with Marcel. Yvette, the lady of the house, becomes convinced Marcel is a down-and-out in need of shelter... The scene is set for a raucous, swifly-moving comedy of mistaken identities, shotguns, confusion with an unexpectedly happy ending for all concerned.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

Samuel French, London

1990

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Childrens

Youth Audience

8

8

flexible

Notes: -

Synopsis: The characters in this play are all playing cards but they are presented as though they might be a team of football players. The storyline follows the attempts by the wicked Queen of Spades (Q) to pursue a dastardly plan to steal the trophies at the forthcoming big match, aided by the Knave of Diamonds (Jack Flash). The story of the Queen of Hearts and her cookery competition for the best plate of tarts is interwoven, and the plan ultimately founders thanks to the effort of the 6 of Diamonds and the humble 2.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

Samuel French, London

1993

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy

One Act

2

3

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: The action of the play takes place in a room or hall-way in a Paris apartment some time in the 1890s. Returning home unexpectedly early from a rendezvous with her lover, Sophie Fontaineau finds that her husband Etienne is absent and immediately suspects him of philandering. She accidentally spills brandy on her porter's trousers; the poor man soon finds himself trouserless behind a screen, desperately worried by the return of Etienne, who is disguised as The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Further complications ensue when Etienne's lover, "Esmeralda", appears and recognises the porter - now disguised as Sophie's aged aunt - as her husband. All is finally resolved ... or is it? Clothilde, the long-suffering maid, provides the final twist to this delightful comedy.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

Youth Audience

One Act

-

-

large cast

Notes: -

Synopsis: Based on the true story of Adelaide Bartlett who, allegedly, poisoned her husband with chloroform. All experts claimed it was impossible for anyone to drink chloroform, but somehow Adelaides powers of persuasion over her husband were outstanding. Quite amazingly, however, Adelaide was acquitted of the crime. The play explores the character of Adelaide Bartlett and the sequence of events that lead to her trial.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

Youth Audience

One Act

-

-

large cast

Notes: -

Synopsis: A documentary piece based on the story of the celebrated 19th century journalist, W.T. Steads involvement in the campaign to end child prostitution which prompted him to actually prove it was possible to buy a 13 year old girl. The events were chronicled in his own newspaper 'The Pall Mall Gazette', and brought about both his going to prison and the raising of the age of consent to 16.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

Samuel French, London

1980

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Childrens

Youth Audience

7

3

extras

Notes: -

Synopsis: The play tells the story of how the Crown Troupe - Thomas, Ben, Will and Sally - a strolling band of mediaeval entertainers, help the Princess Dulcinea find her father the King, who has been kidnapped by the wicked Baron Drax, and thus regain her long lost smile. The easily staged settings encourage plenty of audience participation.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

One Act

3

2

5g

Notes: -

Synopsis: Based on a factual story the play tells of the love that grows between two schoolgirls to the extent that in order to be continually linked they are prepared to commit murder.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

Youth Audience

One Act

-

-

large cast

Notes: -

Synopsis: Bradford 1858, and a maker of sweets inadvertently adds 'arsenic' to his peppermint mixture rather than 'daft' (a mixture of plaster and stone powder) which was usual. The resultant illnesses and deaths led to Government legislation on the adulteration of foodstuffs. A strong documentary piece.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

One Act

4

3

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: Adapted from a short story by H. E. Bates. Harry Barnfield is a middle-aged city businessman with a small country estate, a shrewish wife with a liking for gin, and a fondness of horse-riding even though he has little skill at it. A meeting with a young girl rider crossing his land leads to a relationship that opens new vistas for Harry ... the girl is the daughter of a former old flame of Harry which in turn leads to tragic consequences when the mother wants to rekindle their times together. This adaptation retains much of H.E. Bates fine descriptive writing and has been approved for performance by H.E. Bates Estate.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

Youth Audience

5

5

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: In a large old house, Miss Ellie is kept a virtual invalid by a domineering Governess, a sinister Doctor, and the Cook. Only the kitchen maid, Ada, seems to pity Ellies situation - until their world is invaded by a chimney-sweeps boy, Tom, escaping from Grimes, his master. In helping Tom to escape the clutches of Grimes, Ellie herself is encouraged to escape from her jailers, taking refuge up the chimneys. We learn that Miss Ellie is an heiress and is deliberately being made an invalid in order to prevent her receiving her inheritance, so instead of escaping the fugitives return to face their enemies. A final battle ensures in which the master of the house, an ex-Indian Army Colonel becomes involved thinking he is shooting pheasants. And who are the Dream Pirates? They live under the bed and are figments of Miss Ellies imagination - until they seemingly materialise!

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

Youth Audience

7

6

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: Tom, Tink, Bell is the Town Crier - but not a very good one. Thanks to his mistake the proclamation about the forthcoming birthday of the Emperor announces that there will be a birthday celebration every week! The sheer cost of it all upsets the Lord Chamberlain and the Treasurer, Abacus. However, the thought delights Emperor Persimmon and his wife Petronella, and positively thrills Sly and Wily - two tricksters always on the look out to make fast money. In fact some of the money they literally did make is circulating - forged money! Tink and his daughter, Abigail, unwittingly possess some - and it leads to Abis imprisonment. Meantime Jack sells his cow for five magic beans and his mother is irate about it. Jacks adventures up the ensuing beanstalk become interwoven with the tricksters major scheme to sell the Emperor an invisible suit. Yes, it does sound complicated but the bits do fit together.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

Youth Audience

One Act

-

-

large cast

Notes: -

Synopsis: Two young people let their imagination run riot in a supermarket. What if ... you filled other peoples trolleys with items when they weren't looking, what if ... you ate items from the shelves as you walked round, what if ... the supermarket had a formation trolley-pushing team, what if ... there was an alien force at work. Are they all figments of their over-active imaginations? Or are there other reasons for the strange goings-on?

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

Youth Audience

One Act

-

-

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: The story of the development of aviation told in sketches and routines (some music involved) from stoneage times (the invention of the wheel) via Icarus and the early pioneers of man's attempts to fly. Fast, furious and played as a Circus performance throughout. Scope for an inventive director and an exuberant large cast. Note: Add Amy as a second play and there is a full evening's entertainment.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

One Act

-

-

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: A stage adaptation of the story by Dylan Thomas: this adaptation has the approval of the Dylan Thomas Estate. The seemingly harmless activity of following people home leads to unusual and startling revelations.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

Youth Audience

4

3

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: Jack-in-the-Box (climbing out of his box) bemoans their situation with the Rag Doll, `The General' (an old tin soldier) and Victoria (an ageing doll) - all of them are getting older and shabbier, and they foresee a time when they will be discarded to the dustbin. Their worst fears are encouraged by the superior attitude of `Action' and `Sam', two more recent doll additions to the playroom. All the toys have a common enemy in 'Mouse' and the way in which they all ultimately work together to thwart this enemy, and then to smarten up and repair their older comrades is the main story-line.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

in Sepia and Song, Nelson Thornes

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Youth Audience

One Act

-

5

16

Notes: -

Synopsis: A 'spoof' gangster story of the same era as "Bugsy Malone", in which the girls ultimately take control. With songs.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

Youth Audience

One Act

-

-

large cast

Notes: -

Synopsis: It is early in World War II and at the village school rehearsals are well advanced for the Nativity Play. Then the evacuees arrive - and they too were rehearsing a Nativity Play prior to their being moved away from London. How can the two plays be successfully combined without creating confrontations?

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

Youth Audience

5

3

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: Sam Woolley, the night watchman, of Harridges Store, is a cowboy fanatic and he tends to indulge his fantasies after the store closes each night. One night he encounters a group of children who have engineered their being locked in the Store so that they can play with the Christmas toys. Together they uncover a plot by the Department Manager and her deputy to abscond with the week's takings, aided and abetted by a criminal `Santa Claus' and two accomplices. In the style of a `Western', with some detours through a Monopoly Game, the 'goodies' outsmart the `baddies'.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

Youth Audience

4

7

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: Wilhelm and Jakob Grimm are working for Count Hegelstein undertaking a survey of his estates checking on witches, giants, ogres, etc., they are unaware of the presence of the witch Semolina Walpurgisnacht who has a liking for children (preferably cooked). The traditional story of Hansel & Gretel's involvement with the witch is retold with the added presence of the Grimm Brothers and some rather unpleasant Magpies (and other birds), the familiars of the Witch. As in the story the Witch ends up in the oven, but is ultimately taken out, done to a turn, and shared with the audience !

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

in Sepia and Song, Nelson Thornes

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Youth Audience

One Act

-

-

36 Characters (doubling/trebling essential)

Notes: -

Synopsis: Main events in the Women's Suffrage Movement leading to their ultimate enfranchisement. With songs.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

Youth Audience

7/8

4/5

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: A latecomer to the play interrupts the announcements about the Audience with the Emperor of China, and in trying to sort out the seating problem both the Usher and the Latecomer become involved in the play itself. The young Emperor, dominated by his Nanny, Lady Tuk-Sum, has everything he wants - except a nightingale. So the Latecomer (Eh Too) and the Usher (Sit Soo) are sent with two others - How Hi (who is a Chinaman as we all know) and Ah Yes (his young assistant) to find, catch and return with a nightingale and its beautiful song. Straightforward eh? No way! Lady Tuk-Sum wants the throne, the nightingale could be her bargaining power - she sends the vicious Dragon Master to follow our heroes and obtain the nightingale ... by any means. Meantime the Mikado of Japan sends a gift of a golden nightingale. Which will prove to be the best? Add to this story, chases, disguises, spies, Chinese lion-dragons, smoke, U.V. lights and, believe it or not, ultimately Widow Twankey, and there is a feast of entertainment for family audiences.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

Youth Audience

6

2

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: A group of Victorian children sent to spend Christmas with their Uncle find his house ruled over by a tyrannical housekeeper and only one or two servants, with their uncle mysteriously 'not available'. Helped by the gardener, and hindered by the appearance of two suspicious chimney sweeps, Alf Jiggery and Joe Pokery, the children solve the mystery and discover the whereabouts of their uncle.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

Anchorage Press

1992

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Audience participation play

-

18

4

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: based on Russian folktale. Czar proclaims that whoever captures firebird will be his heir

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

Anchorage Press, New Orleans

1990

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

-

Youth Audience

18

7

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: A puppeteer and his assistant begin their performance of "Ivan and the Firebird" but switch to using the full stage when it becomes apparent that the puppets are too small for the audience to appreciate. Czar Vyslav, nagged incessantly by his wife over their country's short-comings, is overjoyed when his gardener, Simeon, produces an apple tree bearing golden fruit. Before he can use this `miracle' to his country's good the golden apples are stolen by the Firebird. Vyslav's three sons undertake to retrieve the apples, and the victor is promised that he will be heir to the throne. Their adventures are chronicled by the puppeteer, who controls the action of the play throughout, frequently `freezing' the performers to change the course of the storyline. An action-filled play with considerable opportunities for audience involvement and participation.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

New Playwright's Network

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Youth Audience

One Act

-

-

large cast

Notes: -

Synopsis: We never see 'Kenneth', but in a series of short and poignant scenes the character is created by what others relate. Kenneth is a pathetic and abused child who ultimately is 'forgotten' in tragic circumstances.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

Youth Audience

One Act

-

-

large cast

Notes: -

Synopsis: Children playing soldiers and the harsh reality of World War I - these two themes are brought together in a poignant and touching manner. Much of H.E. Bates descriptive passages is retained.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

Youth Audience

One Act

-

-

Big all-female cast.

Notes: -

Synopsis: An exclusive girls boarding school takes a 'scholarship girl into their midst. It soon becomes clear that 'Maisie' can perhaps teach the upper-class girls some useful 'life-skills'. A period piece in the 'Angela Brazil' style.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

in Sepia and Song, Nelson Thornes

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Youth Audience

One Act

-

2

12 m/f

Notes: -

Synopsis: The gruesome, true story of Lizzie Borden, accused of murdering both her parents, told by a group of schoolchildren, including Lizzie herself, through a series of "flashforwards" in time.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

Youth Audience

One Act

-

-

large cast

Notes: -

Synopsis: At the 'Monster Club' well-known film monsters bemoan being type-cast so often. They would really like the opportunity to try different roles - perhaps even starring in a Western. The resulting scenes exploit some lesser-known difficulties that beset the early days of film-making.

Dewsbury Arts Group

-

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

Play/Drama

1

-

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: based on the story of the Duke of Windsor as observed by his Bahamian valet, Sidney Johnson