Kristen Doherty
Playwright. Screenwriter. Director. Educator.
Kristen Doherty is a nine-times published and internationally produced playwright, who has been a writer, director, theatre maker and drama teacher for more than twenty years. Over the past three years, there have been more than four hundred productions of her plays in schools and theatre companies all over the world, as well as every state of Australia.
On this site you will find monologues, one act, full length and short; large cast, flexible, female heavy/gender neutral plays for primary, middle and high schools, universities and theatre companies The plays span multiple genres and styles including, Shakespearean, Epic Theatre, Magical Realism, Adaptation, Naturalistic, Comedy, Parody, Melodramatic and Educational Theatre (with a good amount of angst that teenagers love so much ;)
Brand New Play
THE PLAYHOUSE
A time travelling romp around Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
One Act, 40 minutes. Girl heavy but very flexible. 21 ++ (10 with doubling/tripling)
Synopsis: On a school excursion to the Globe Theatre, five wayward students slip away from their teacher and find themselves backstage. Unable to resist the lure of the costume rack, they try some on, but are spotted and chased into the tiring house, where a portrait of Shakespeare proudly dominates the space. The Globe’s motto emblazoned on the frame - Totus Mundus Agit Histrionem - The Whole World is a Playhouse.
The teens recite the iconic words and are suddenly thrust back-in-time to Shakespeare’s original Globe Theatre in 1599, where they are mistaken for actors, costume mistresses, nobility and groundlings (stinkards) The befuddled students are engulfed in the very first production of ‘As You Like It’ and thrust out on the street of Ye Ole London Town. The group need to find their way back to each other and Shakespeare’s portrait if they are ever to return to their own time.
The casting for this play is very flexible. The lead roles are written for 4 girls and 1 boy, but I have given them mostly gender neutral names so cast according to your cohort.
There are 21 speaking roles. 16 who are ensemble, (some quite large roles) but I have designed so you are able to double up down to 9 or 10. (running!) Alternately there is a huge ensemble potential with the crowd scenes in the theatre, and streets of Ye Olde London Town.
The script is rich in Shakespearean factual information, text excerpts, and historical context, play references and actual historical theatre identities of the time. (Hopefully all cleverly hidden away so students won't even know they're learning. )
every site.
ONE ACT PLAYS
40 minutes, or less, competition length
QUEENS (One Act Version)
40 minutes, 9-30+ roles. Girl Heavy, Gender flexible.
THE REAL STORY OF ALICE IN WONDERLAND
40-50 minutes. 13-30+ (unlimited) roles.
King Henry VIII is trapped in purgatory and bound to his throne by a sinister Fool, and the ghostly Women in White. Here in his gilded cage, he is forced to relive the sins he committed against his Queens, mistresses and people, over and over again for an eternity.
The staging of Queens incorporates physical theatre, specifically Frantic Assembly techniques. The script integrates a multitude of original source documents; letters, eye-witness accounts, 16th century children’s rhymes and song lyrics.
We all think we know the Real Story of Alice in Wonderland, but was Alice really the sweet little girl the story books make her out to be? Or, was she actually a nasty piece of work?
Two narrators battle it out, as they show the audience contrasting versions of Lewis Carroll's beloved classic.
BOTTOM'S DREAM
35-40 Minutes, 8-14++ actors
A group of wayward teenagers venture into a forest to rehearse A Midsummer Night's Dream, in an authentic setting. Little do they know that the forest is enchanted and they are about to be caught up in the magic of the Dream.
A comedic, magical-realism retelling, integrating contemporary characters inspired by the originals, spliced with Shakespearean characters and dialogue.
Bottom's Dream is a one-act cut of my full-length play, The Dream. I have extracted the lovers and re-focussed on the Mechanicals and Fairies storyline.
THE CURSE OF MACBETH
40 minutes, 19 roles, gender flexible.
When the Drama Club discover that their teacher is away for the rest of the term, they are dismayed to be stuck with her replacement, ‘the Beck’; the impudent and cynical PE teacher, overdue for long service leave, with a great dislike for Drama kids. The Beck soon leaves them to their own devices, with one rule, it has to be Shakespeare. Despite fearing the legendary curse the students decide on ‘Scenes from Macbeth’. Unconcerned that his heart belongs to another, mean girl, Monique, is crushing on Declan. Determined to make him fall in love with her, she resorts to invoking the curse of Macbeth to cast a love spell.
Meanwhile the rehearsal for the most epic Ten-Minute Macbeth rages on.
Do Shakespeare’s words really make people fall in love or is it just a bored PE teacher, messing with the theatre’s technical equipment?
SHAKESPEARE BACHELOR
12 actors, girl heavy.
William Shakespeare has entered TV’s Bachelor Mansion in the search for his one true love, the greatest character he’s ever written.
Guided by loveable host, Osher, the ten Shakespearean Bachelorettes; Lady Macbeth, Ophelia, Titania, Juliet, Cordelia, Beatrice, Viola, Katherine, Tamora and Cleopatra fight for the glory of Will’s Final rose and will stop at nothing to win his heart.
SHAKESPEARE SHORTS
TWENTY MINUTE ROMEO AND JULIET
8-25+ roles.
Twenty Minute Romeo and Juliet is fast, silly and funny, but also integrates all of the major characters, plot points, key lines and themes. The use of narrators who comment on the action, make it a really comprehensive retelling of Shakespeare’s original.
FULL LENGTH PLAYS
QUEENS
90 minutes, 10-30+ roles. Girl Heavy, Gender flexible.
King Henry VIII is trapped in purgatory and bound to his throne by a sinister Fool, and the ghostly Women in White. Here in his gilded cage, he is forced to relive the sins he committed against his Queens, mistresses and people, over and over again for an eternity.
The staging of Queens incorporates physical theatre, specifically Frantic Assembly techniques. The script integrates a multitude of original source documents; letters, eye-witness accounts, 16th century children’s rhymes and song lyrics.
THE DREAM
70 minutes, 8 to 20+ roles. Gender flexible.
A teenage rom-com, Shakespeare style.
On a hot Saturday morning on the grounds of St Athenian’s High School, rehearsals are underway for a Shakespearean Gala – ‘Scenes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.
The boundaries between fantasy and reality blur when the actors' lives start to parallel those of their namesake characters as they are swept up in a tale that is more than 400 years old - How can Helena rewrite her story?
THE MARVELLOUS MELLOW MELODRAMA OF THE MARRIAGE OF THE MISLAID MINOR
60 minutes, 10-19 actors.
A One Act comedy in the style of a traditional British Melodrama.
Penelope Kerslake has returned home from boarding school to tell her beloved father, The Major, of her impending marriage to Gilroy Gladheart, unfortunately he has already promised her hand to another, the villainous Dirk Dastardly. Can Penelope escape this fate worse than death, be reunited with her one true love, foil the villain and save the day?
Featuring all of the traditional stock characters, the moustache twirling villain and his idiotic sidekicks, the bumbling police department, the stupid handsome hero and his long suffering manservant and the Damsels in distress, who end up kicking butt.
BULLY!
60 minutes (flexible) 24 scenes and over 70 characters
Bully! is an Epic Theatre genre play which consists of vignettes of short scenes, monologues and duologues which revolve around the issue of bullying; themes include school yard bullying, cyber bullying, racism, exclusion, peer group pressure, frenemies, bystanders.
Bully! Is the companion piece to Teen. Both plays are designed for large casts with each actor playing multiple roles with the option of scenes being omitted and students also writing their own to integrate into the text and create their own unique production. The inclusion of musical numbers, physical theatre and dance pieces is also encouraged.
Every scene is based on real life accounts and events; some funny, some challenging, some heartbreaking, but all real.
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TEEN
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
60 minutes (flexible) 22 scenes and over 60 characters.
Teen is the companion piece to Bully! It consists of monologues, duologues and vignettes of small group scenes and examines social and emotional issues faced by contemporary teenagers. Teen is written within the genre of Epic Theatre so issues such as bullying, body image, peer group pressure, jealousy, unrequited love, anxiety, friendship struggles, sexuality, relationships with parents are explored.
Teen has 32 scenes and over 60 characters so it lends itself to large casts playing multiple roles, with the option of scenes being omitted and students also writing their own to integrate into the text and create their own unique production.
70 minutes, 10-60 roles, girl heavy, gender flexible.
Ebenezer Scrooge, is a wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, old miser. Until one Christmas Eve when he is visited by the ghost of his old business partner Jacob Marley, who tells him that he will be visited that very night by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future. The spectres take an unwilling Scrooge on a journey through time where he is forced to see the error of his ways, and comes to appreciate his fellow man and revel in the joy of Christmas.
A full-length, non musical adaptation of Charles Dickens beloved classic masterpiece which uses Narrators to weave Dickens' beautiful narrative into the dialogue.
As a Drama teacher of 23 years, I understand the difficulty and complexities in finding engaging, smart, challenging and fun plays that also suit our diverse classes, so I am really happy to help and be flexible with script edits. Email me with and questions or to be sent perusals (or links to) of any of my scripts and keep an eye on my website for future updates and more information.
