Alex Broun

  • Trending 10-Minute Plays for Small Theatre Productions

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    Small theatre thrives on short plays. They are cheap to stage, easy to rehearse, and audiences genuinely love them. A tight 10-minute script puts enormous pressure on every line, and when it works, it really works.

    Whether you are a director building an evening of short plays, a teacher looking for a class exercise, or a group planning a festival, this list gives you genuine options. These are plays that have actually been performed, not just written. They have survived real rehearsals, real casts, and real audiences.

    Here are ten plays worth your time.

    10 Trending 10-Minute Plays for Small Productions

    1. 10,000 Cigarettes by Alex Broun

    This is one of the most performed short plays in the world. It has had well over 300 productions across more than 30 countries. That is not a marketing claim. That is real production history.

    Four female characters take the audience through a dreamy, stylized world built around cigarettes and desire. The writing is theatrical, inventive, and specific. It works for student performers and professional companies alike.

    Preview and download the script

    2. The Kill by Alex Broun

    Two characters. Minimal staging. A dark twist you do not see coming.

    The Kill follows two people watching sport together, and it builds with the kind of quiet menace that holds a room without shouting. It works for a cast of two male actors or one male and one female. The compressed format makes every exchange matter.

    Grab it from the ten minute plays collection.

    3. Rupert and the Seven Russian Email Brides by Alex Broun

    This one is exactly what it sounds like, and it earns every laugh.

    A cast of one male and up to eight female actors explore fantasy, loneliness, and online delusion through a play that is both funny and surprisingly honest. It has been performed across the Short+Sweet festival circuit globally and holds up well on a bare stage with minimal props.

    Find the script at alexbroun.online.

    4. The First Fireworks by Alex Broun

    This two-hander for female actors is one of the quieter plays on this list. Quieter, but not soft.

    A mother and daughter watch New Year’s Eve fireworks together, and everything between them sits just under the surface of that ordinary moment. It is emotionally precise and leaves an audience genuinely moved. Great for student performances and festivals that want something with real dramatic weight.

    Preview The First Fireworks

    5. Tape by José Rivera

    This play gets taught, performed, and discussed in theatre programs constantly. A person is led into a dark room and made to sit and listen to every lie they told during their lifetime. All of it, recorded on tape.

    Two actors. One table. No easy exits. Rivera strips the staging down to almost nothing and lets the concept do the work. It is compact, haunting, and effective across a wide range of production styles. The script is published by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.

    6. Trying to Find Chinatown by David Henry Hwang

    A Caucasian man raised by Chinese-American parents stops a street musician in New York to ask for directions to Chinatown. The musician is Asian, identifies as American, and takes immediate offense.

    What follows is a sharp, fast conversation about identity, heritage, and who gets to claim what. It is a two-actor play that runs the full range of tension within a single scene. Hwang is a Tony Award-winning playwright, and this short play demonstrates exactly why. The script is available through Dramatists Play Service.

    7. Sure Thing by David Ives

    This one appears on more short play festival programs than almost any other. An interrupted first conversation between two strangers at a café resets every time either person says the wrong thing. A bell rings. They try again.

    It sounds like a gimmick. In practice, it is brilliantly structured and gives actors real craft to work with. Directors trust it because audiences respond to it every single time. The script is published through Dramatists Play Service.

    8. Naomi in the Living Room by Christopher Durang

    Durang writes absurdist comedy that cuts. This one places a highly disturbed mother, Naomi, in a living room with her son and daughter-in-law, and lets the chaos escalate beyond all reasonable limits.

    It reads as satire. On stage, it hits hard and fast. Three characters, one location, and a playwright who knows exactly when to push. Durang received the 2012 Tony Award for Best Play for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and his shorter work holds the same sharp edge. Published through Dramatists Play Service.

    9. Words, Words, Words by David Ives

    Three monkeys named Milton, Swift, and Kafka are locked in a room with typewriters. The experiment is whether they will eventually produce Hamlet by chance.

    That premise alone makes directors want to produce it. Two or three actors in a contained space, strong comic dialogue, and a premise that gives an audience something to think about after the curtain. It works reliably at festivals and in student contexts. Also published through Dramatists Play Service.

    10. Talking With by Jane Martin

    Technically a collection of monologues, Talking With is frequently staged as a short play evening. Each monologue runs around 10 minutes and features a woman in an unexpected or extreme circumstance.

    The writing is Southern Gothic in character, specific in voice, and difficult to shake. It has been performed across the United States since its premiere at the Actors Theatre of Louisville in 1982 and remains a consistent choice for drama programs and festivals.

    What Makes These Plays Work on a Small Stage

    The plays on this list share a few things. Small casts. Clear dramatic stakes. Minimal staging requirements. These are not accidents.

    A 10-minute play that demands a complex set or a large ensemble puts enormous pressure on a small theatre budget and a short rehearsal window. The scripts above work because they trust the writing and the actors over the production design.

    A few things that hold across the list:

    • Every play establishes conflict within the first minute.
    • Every character wants something specific and is blocked from getting it.
    • Staging stays simple so performance does not depend on production resources.
    • The ending lands because the play earns it, not because it surprises for its own sake.

    If you want more guidance on why structure matters so much in the short form, this breakdown of how to structure a 10-minute play covers the set-up, escalation, and payoff framework in useful detail.

    Where to Find Scripts for Small Theatre Productions

    For Alex Broun’s plays, the full collection is available at alexbroun.online. Scripts are downloadable in PDF format for a one-off fee, with no royalties and worldwide performance rights included for 12 months. You can read a preview before you buy, which matters when you are selecting material for a festival or class.

    For other plays on this list, check Dramatists Play Service and Concord Theatricals, which handle licensing for a large portion of the American short play catalogue.

    The Dramatists Guild of America also maintains resources for directors and teachers working with licensed scripts, including guidance on performance rights. Browse Alex Broun’s 10-Minute Plays for Small Theatre Productions

  • Best Short Plays for Theatre Festivals in 2026

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    Choosing the right short play for a theatre festival is not as easy as it sounds. You need a script that grabs an audience fast, holds them tight, and lands with a clear payoff. All within minutes. That is a very specific kind of challenge.

    Short play festivals are growing. The Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville helped put the ten-minute play on the map back in 1977. Since then, festivals across the US, Australia, and the UK have made short-form theatre one of the most exciting spaces in live performance. In 2026, the format is bigger than ever.

    This list covers the best short plays available right now. Some are classic scripts that have been staged hundreds of times. Others are contemporary works with strong festival track records. All of them are worth your attention.

    What Makes a Short Play Work at a Theatre Festival

    Before we get into the list, it helps to understand what festival programmers and audiences actually respond to. A good short play does not just fill time. It earns its place on the program.

    The best short plays do a few things consistently well:

    • They establish conflict in the first 60 to 90 seconds. There is no time to warm up.
    • They work with small casts, usually two to four actors, and minimal staging.
    • They have a clear dramatic arc: a setup, something that changes or escalates, and a payoff.
    • They give performers something real and specific to play. Not just a concept. A human situation with stakes.

    Scripts that rely on elaborate sets, large casts, or technical effects tend to struggle in festival formats. The plays that win audiences and awards are almost always character-driven, dialogue-led, and structurally tight.

    If you want to read more about what goes into a great ten-minute play, Alex Broun’s top 12 tips for writing a great ten-minute play breaks it down clearly from a playwright who has had over 2,000 productions worldwide.

    The Best Short Plays for Theatre Festivals in 2026

    These plays are listed together as a single collection of recommendations. They come from different playwrights and different traditions. What they share is a proven ability to work in front of a live audience.

    1. Saturday Night Newtown Sunday Morning Enmore by Alex Broun

    This is one of Alex Broun’s most acclaimed ten-minute plays and one that he himself points to as having exactly the kind of strong, escalating middle section that separates a good short play from a great one. The play follows one male and one female actor through the uncomfortable aftermath of a one-night stand, told from two very different points of view.

    It is sharp, fast-moving, and funny in all the right uncomfortable ways. The dialogue crackles. The two-actor format makes it extremely practical for festival staging. This is a play that gets better every time you watch it.

    Available to download royalty-free from Alex Broun’s collection for $2.99, with worldwide performance rights for 12 months included.

    2. Afterwards by Alex Broun

    Few short plays handle heavy material with this level of craft. Afterwards deals with the experiences of women rebuilding their lives after sexual abuse. Broun draws on real accounts, and the result is a play that feels both urgent and deeply human.

    Written for a cast of four to five female actors, it works well as a festival piece because it gives an ensemble real dramatic material to work with. It is not easy viewing. But it stays with an audience. That is exactly what the best festival plays do.

    Read the preview and download afterwards.

    3. Sure Thing by David Ives

    This is one of the most performed short plays in American theatre history. First staged at Manhattan Punch Line’s Festival of One-Act Comedies in 1988, it became part of Ives’ collection All in the Timing, which ran for over 600 performances off-Broadway and won the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award for Playwriting.

    Two characters. A coffee shop. A bell that resets the conversation every time someone says the wrong thing. The concept is ingenious. The execution is even better. This play works in almost any festival context, for almost any audience. It requires two strong comedic performers and nothing else.

    4. The Kill by Alex Broun

    The Kill is a tight, gripping two-hander built around two friends watching sport together. What starts as an ordinary scene builds into something much darker. Broun uses the language of sport to explore themes of loyalty, competition, and the lengths people go to when the stakes feel personal.

    The dark twist at the heart of this play makes it genuinely memorable in a festival lineup. It sits comfortably alongside edgier programming without relying on shock value. The writing does the work. This play suits a cast of two male or female actors.

    Download The Kill with royalty-free performance rights for $2.99.

    5. 50 Guns by Alex Broun

    A solo performance piece for one female actor, 50 Guns explores grief and gun violence through a series of devastating memories. Each gun in the title represents a life. The play does not preach. It simply puts a human being in front of an audience and lets the truth do its work.

    Monologue-based plays have to earn every second of silence, and this one does. It is an exceptionally strong choice for festivals seeking work with social resonance. A skilled solo performer can make this one of the most powerful pieces on any program.

    Preview and download 50 Guns

    6. Naomi in the Living Room by Christopher Durang

    Christopher Durang’s short comedy is one of the most produced short plays in US theatre. It features a deeply dysfunctional family dynamic played entirely for absurdist comic effect. Three actors, one increasingly chaotic living room, and a playwright who knows exactly how to escalate a scene to breaking point.

    This play is a fantastic choice when a festival program needs sharp comedy alongside more serious work. It is available through Dramatists Play Service and has a long history in short play and one-act festival programming across the US.

    7. Grace by Alex Broun

    Grace is a three-female cast drama that explores themes of longing, hidden connections, and the gap between the lives people have and the lives they dream of. It has a quiet, emotional punch that builds slowly and lands hard.

    This is a play that rewards a patient audience and a nuanced cast. In a festival program, it works beautifully as a contrast to faster or funnier pieces. The play has been produced internationally and gives three female performers equal dramatic weight.

    Read the preview and download Grace. Worldwide performance rights included in the download fee.

    8. Twenty Dollars by Alex Broun

    Five female actors. A missing twenty-dollar note. A group of friends under pressure. Twenty Dollars is a tightly constructed drama about trust, betrayal, and what happens to a friendship when someone decides to point a finger.

    It works in festivals because it builds steadily and involves the whole cast in the conflict throughout. There is no passenger in this play. Every character has a perspective and a stake. For directors with a strong ensemble of female actors, this is a standout choice.

    Download Twenty Dollars with royalty-free rights for $2.99.

    9. Cate Blanchett Wants to Be My Friend on Facebook by Alex Broun

    One of Broun’s most popular comedy scripts, and easy to see why. The title alone gets attention. But the play delivers on its promise with a smart, funny look at social media, celebrity culture, and the very ordinary lives that rub up against both.

    The cast of two female and two male actors gives this good flexibility. It plays well in mixed festival programs because it brings energy and genuine laughs without sacrificing character. It has been produced at festivals internationally, including the Short+Sweet festival circuit.

    Preview and download this script

    10. Words, Words, Words by David Ives

    Also from Ives’ All in the Timing collection, this short play reimagines the infinite monkey theorem. Three chimpanzees locked in a room with typewriters and the collective ambition to write Hamlet. The comedy is intellectual, absurdist, and brilliantly paced.

    This play suits a festival that wants something unusual and clever. The premise invites physical comedy, but the writing is the real engine. Three strong performers who understand comedy timing will make this one of the highlights of any program. Available through Dramatists Play Service.

    How to Build a Theatre Festival Program Around Short Plays

    A strong festival program is not just a collection of good plays. It is a sequence. The order matters. The variety matters. An evening that starts with comedy, moves into drama, and ends with something emotionally resonant keeps the audience engaged from start to finish.

    Think about tone, cast size, and pacing when building your program. A run of three intense dramas in a row will exhaust an audience. Alternating between lighter and heavier material lets the evening breathe.

    Also think practically. Festival staging usually means a shared set and quick turnovers between pieces. Scripts that rely on minimal staging and clear dramatic action are far easier to manage logistically. Every play on this list fits those requirements.

    If you are looking for more guidance on what separates a good script from a great one, the Alex Broun blog has useful, practical articles on structure, dialogue, and character written from real production experience.

    Where to Find Royalty-Free Short Play Scripts for Theatre Festivals

    Licensing is one of the most overlooked parts of festival planning. A great script means nothing if the rights situation is unclear or expensive. For short festival plays, royalty-free scripts are by far the most practical option.

    Alex Broun’s entire collection is available royalty-free for a one-off download fee of $2.99 per script. That single payment covers worldwide performance rights for 12 months, with no per-show fees, no reporting, and no further costs. For a festival director running multiple nights, that removes a significant administrative burden.

    Every script in the collection includes a preview so you can read before you buy. The catalogue covers comedy, drama, dark or edgy writing, romance, and work suited to school and college performers. You can browse the full ten-minute play catalogue and filter by genre, cast size, and theme.

    Browse the full collection.

  • HOW TO STRUCTURE A 10-MINUTE PLAY: SET-UP, ESCALATIONS AND THE PAY-OFF.

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    It’s important to check and refine your play’s structure. Although there are of course exceptions to the rule most ten-minute plays fall within the framework of a traditional “three act” structure often known as Beginning, Middle and End, which I like to call Set-Up, Escalation and Pay-Off.

    WHAT IS THE SET-UP ?

    The beginning of your play, when the lights come up – there may have been incidents before the lights come up but the Set-Up is where the audience joins the story. A play may begin with any number of events, incidents, entrances or exits.

    Possible Set-Ups:

    • A character enters
    • A stranger arrives
    • Two strangers meet
    • A character reveals something about themselves (i.e: “Dad, I’m gay !”)
    • A character wakes up – literally or metaphysically
    • A bus crashes
    • A character finds something
    • The lights come up

    WHAT IS AN ESCALATION?

    A twist, turn or progression that propels your story in another direction, to another level, raises stakes or intensity as you build towards the climax/end. A play may have any number of escalations or one main escalation around the middle of the play.

    Possible escalations:

    • A character makes a decision on a course of action
    • Another character enters
    • A character reveals a secret
    • The bus the characters are on crashes
    • A character makes a discovery about themselves, their situation or another character
    • A character reveals what they really want (i.e. I want you to marry me !)

    WHAT IS THE PAY-OFF ?

    The end of your play, which satisfactorily resolves the situation you are exploring or ends the story you began telling at the beginning. It may be open ended, neatly tied up, sudden, gentle, dramatic, subtle. A good Pay-Off often leaves the audience wanting more.

    Possible Pay-Offs:

    • A character exits
    • A decision is made
    • A character accedes to another character’s desires (e.g: Yes, I’ll marry you !)
    • The bus arrives at its destination
    • The lights go down
    • A character dies
    • A character accepts a decision or an event

    I hope you find this helpful and happy writing. Why not take a look how I use this structure in some of my 10-minute plays, downloadable on this website!

  • GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CHARACTERS

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    Here’s some questions you might like to ask about them…?

    What is your characters first name/last name ? Do they have a middle name ?

    How old are they ?

    Where were they born ?

    What were their father and mother’s names ?

    Were there parents married when they were born ?

    How was their childhood – calm, disrupted, traumatic ?

    Where did they grow up ? Where did they go to school ?

    Who was there best friend at school ? Were they bullied ? Did they get good marks ?

    With whom did they have their first kiss ?

    Are they gay/straight ?

    Are they married/single/divorced ?

    If they are married or in a relationship what is their partner’s name/age/background ?

    Do they have children ? What are there names/ages ?

    Are they in love/lust ?

    Where do they live now ?

    Do they live in a house/apartment/share house ? Do they rent or own ?

    How big is their mortgage ?

    What is their occupation ?

    How do they feel about their work – happy, sad, dis-satisfied, angry ? Why ?

    How much money do they have in the bank ? Are they in debt ?

    Do they worry about money/have financial pressure ?

    What is their main motivation for getting up in the morning ?

    What do they think about when they go to sleep at night ?

    How do they feel about their life in general – happy, sad, dis-satisfied, angry ? Why ?

    Do they dream/have nightmares – what are they about ?

    What are the good points about your character ? What are their bad points ?

    Have they travelled, if so to which country ?

    Who do they admire/respect ? Who do they hate ? Who disgusts them ?

    What do they want out of life ? What do they want most in the whole world ?

    What do they feel passionate about ?

    What are their secret dreams/fantasies ? What are they terrified of ?

    What makes them happy/sad/angry ?

    Do they believe in God ? What religion are they ? Do they believe in the afterlife ?

    Do they go to Church/ play sport ? What are their hobbies/past times ?

    Are they a member of any social or community groups or organizations ?

    What do they think about politics ? Who do they vote for ?

    Remember – character is the link to dialogue. If you know your characters you’ll know what they are going to say. Who your characters are will affect every word they speak.

    You are looking for what your character’s feel intensely about because in that intensity is the seed of your drama.

  • WHAT MAKES GOOD DIALOGUE?

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    Alex Broun, one of the world’s leading experts in 10-minute plays, gives his top 8 tips on how to write great dialogue. You can read Alex’s plays at his new website – alexbroun.online.

    1. TRUTH: Does your dialogue have that “air of authenticity”? Will the audience believe that your character really would speak like that or would say what they do in that situation? Does your character’s dialogue have the “ring of truth”?
    1. BOUNCEABILITY: Words that “bounce off the back” wall – remember you are writing words to be spoken by actors on stage, you are not writing words to be read. Words, phrases or sentences that look good on paper may not sound as good when spoken out loud.
    1. SPEAKABILITY: Is your dialogue easy for actors to speak? It is okay if it is not easy to speak (e.g Stoppard) but you need to be aware of that and realise that you are writing vocally tricky dialogue. There needs to be a reason and purpose for that – not just using big words for the sake of it.
    1. BREVITY: In theatre every word is absolutely crucial – if there are words which are superfluous and unnecessary they slow down the action of the scripty and they detract from the audience’s involvement. Sometimes the difference between a good and bad scene can be 30 unnecessary words.
    1. UN-SPOKEN WORDS: What characters think and what they say are often two extremely different things? Dialogue is not just thoughts put on paper. When you are writing a scene think about the difference between what your character says and what they’d like to say but for various reasons can’t. Often what your character chooses not to say or does not say can gives them the greatest “ring of truth.” Give the audience some credit – they know how your character feels and what they want to say but don’t. That puts them inside the skin of your character and makes them care for them even more.
    1. VOCABULARY: The way character’s live their lives (work, relationships, childhood) effect the way they speak. Does your characters vocabulary match their upbringing, occupation, lifestyle? If they don’t your “ring of truth” may be greatly affected.”
    1. RHYTHM: Does one line flow to the next? Are their repetitions of words or phrases? If there are be aware of them and why they are helpful to your dialogue/character/scene? Again repetition is fine but you need to be aware of why you are doing it? Does your dialogue overlap? Or is every speech separate? Is it fast or slow? REMEMBER – value every word, think about every word.
    1. PUNCTUATION: Sometimes the way people talk is all about punctuation. Does a sentence or phrase end with a full stop, a dash (interrupted), a dot dot dot (speaker doesn’t finish sentence). Is there a beat, pause, long pause, silence between dialogue or in the middle of speeches. Again the pauses can be more important than the spoken word. Look at how other writers use punctuation – consider why they use what they do and when.

    REMEMBER – DIALOGUE AND CHARACTER ARE ENTERTWINED. YOU CAN NOT HAVE ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER AND IN EXPLORING ONE YOU WILL DISCOVER THE OTHER

    (i.e. if you discover the way the character speaks you will discover more about who they are, if you know who a character is you will know how they speak.)

  • Top 12 Tips for writing a great 10-minute play

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    Alex Broun, one of the world’s leading experts in 10-minute plays, gives his top 12 tip s on what makes a great 10-minute play. You can read Alex’s plays at his new website – alexbroun.online.

    1. Dialogue and character are inextricably linked. If you know your characters you know how they speak. Good characters are the link to good dialogue, good dialogue is the link to good characters.
    2. There are no secrets – the secret to writing a good ten minute play is the same as writing a good play of any length. Strong characters, interesting story and good dialogue.
    3. You are writing for theatre, not film or TV – You need to ask yourself what makes your play theatrical. What makes it need to be performed on stage. Theatre is not just talking heads on stage. That is television. What makes the DOING interesting for the people WATCHING. Our whole challenge as a playwright is to make the DOING as interestring as possible for the people WATCHING.
    4. To write a good character you need two things – The character needs to WANT something AND the character needs to DO something to get what they want. Dramatic Tensionis caused by bringing characters into conflict. This happens when they both want opposing things.
    5. Why should I care ? – Ask yourself why the audience should CARE about your story, your characters and pay. What makes it special ? What makes it different ? What makes it stand out from the hundreds of plays, movies and TV shows the audience will see every year.
    6. Don’t submit your first draft – Like any good play, a ten minute play takes time to get right. Don’t think just cause it’s a ten minute play you can whip it up quickly and it will be perfect. Write a first draft – put it away for a week or two, get some feedback (from a number of sources), have a reading. Then write a second draft, then a third draft. Keep going until the play is as good as you can possibly make it – and every word is important – then you can submit it to Short+Sweet. Be flexible, listen to feedback. It might make your play better.
    7. Don’t give up – It’s very rare that you’ll write a play perfect the first time. An example of this is my play 10,000 cigarettes. Just because your first draft isn’t as good as you want it to be – the idea for the play may still be good. So keep working on the play. Don’t throw it away just because someone says – “I didn’t like it.” And remember – playwriting, like any skill, takes a while to develop – and the more you do it. The better you’ll get.
    8. You never know until you try – Many of us think of writing a play without ever picking up a pen to try. The first step to writing a good play is actually writing something.
    9. Remember : What is the story you are trying to tell – and just tell that story. It’s a ten-minute play. You don’t have time for anything that is unnecessary to the story you are telling.
    10. People like characters, story, dialogue – they are not interested in the message UNLESS you have all those three. If you want to write a thesis or dissertation then go and do that. Audiences don’t respond well to didactic theatre.
    11. Write what you want – don’t question yourself. If you have a play in your head just write it. If you love the story/situation – others might as well. Let your plays be your passion.
    12. The key to a really great ten minute play is a good middle – Once you have set up the situation and characters something needs to happen that does three things – takes the play in a different direction, raises the stakes and speeds up the tempo. It’s like the car has been crusing along a straight road at 60kmh then it suddenly speeds up to 100kmh and starts going around corners. Examples of this on alexbroun.online are Saturday Night Newtown Sunday Morning Enmore has a good middle, The First Fireworks doesn’t. Makes Saturday Night Newtown Sunday Morning Enmore a much better play.