Short One-Act Dramas of the 21st Century is where you will find contemporary plays for actors and drama teachers.

Each one of the published plays shared here comes with a character monologue.  You may use our scripts for both scene study and monologue practice in the classroom.

Short One-Act Dramas of the 21st Century

All of the plays listed here are modern plays.  Each play has a running time minimum of ten minutes.

WHAT NEVER WAS
Serena is in the middle of recording her debut album, when she discovers that her band is falling apart.

PAPER INK, FLESH BONE
Richard has created a plan to marry off his daughter in order to salvage his name and finances.

FOR ALL WE’VE GOT
Luna has major doubts over whether or not she will ever climb out of the neighbor she comes from.

THAT’S WHY I’M HERE, MISS TYLER
Milo finds out that his only true friend has died of a heart-attack, leaving him stunned.

CLEO
Cleo believes her associates are out to murder her.  She confides in her most trusted cousin to protect her from their wrath.

BENNY’S GOT A GUN
Jerome had a tough upbringing, which has lose faith in the possibility of real love.

FIVE MONTHS LATER
Months prior, Bree disappeared on her boyfriend without word, only to return to him a half year later.

AIN’T THAT LIVIN’
Nancy and her husband run an illegal moonshine business.  Nancy wishes to open up a legitimate company instead.

SALT AND STONE
Jena is in love with a guy who her family believes to be a very bad influence.

DAY IN, DAY OUT
Scarlet feels as though she can never say a word about anything for fear of her mother blowing up at her.

A LEAVE OF ABSENCE
Mr. Putnam and Leslie like one another, but each have their own eccentricities that seem to prevent them from acknowledging their feelings.

I’M SORRY YOU’RE SO BEAUTIFUL
Amanda and Jake are starring on Broadway and having an affair behind the scenes that has gone out of control.

DANCING WITH ELEPHANTS
Doug’s friend who is in publishing cannot be relied on due to his alcohol and drug addictions.

HALF OF NOTHING
Willard has lost his job and is getting evicted and turns to a friend who owes him money.

THE NOTES
Lucas has been a dedicated worker, but when he gets informed of having to go back and fix something he did, he begs to differ.

STEADY STEEL BLUES
Herschel tries to justify why he had no choice but to kill a man in cold blood.

THE VISITANT
After spending a week looking outside his window at a blind man standing on the corner of his property, Rick decides to take initiative and find out why.

CARTWHEEL LIFE
Riza’s boyfriend’s tattoo has more meaning for her than it does for him when it shows her how to argue less with her mother.

IN RED WINTER
Todd returns a meeting place to give instructions to his brother on how they will go about taking revenge on those that wish to do them harm.

CHARADE
Two men are out for dinner and neither one wishes to pay the check left on the table.

HAZE OF DREAMS
Two business men play mental chess, each seeking to outshine the other with their business sense.

FALL NO FURTHER
Mel gets the feeling that she’s going to lose her husband if he takes out the garbage.

UP THE LINE
Paulie has an opportunity to get married, but deep down believes that he is not good enough to be a husband.