MANOR OF DEATH Here's a terrific mystery for a mid-size cast with suspense and humor.  Newlyweds Rachel and Archie have finally opened their dream store--a mystery book store called Manor of Death.  But when Rachel finds a body lying behind the bookshelves, life begins to imitate art.  Two lady detectives, who have their own issues, zero in on Rachel as the killer and the only way out is for Rachel and Archie to find the real killer.   Easy set, enjoyable characters, a satisfying evening of theater!  7 Males, 8 Females.   Available from BROOKLYN PUBLISHERS.

MURDER AT THE ORIENT EXPRESS Ace private eye Dudley Sharpe is hired by gazillionaire Seymore Twitt to find out who's trying to kill him.  They meet in a Chinese fast food restaurant--the Orient Express--and a week later rendezvous again so Dudley can report back to his boss.   Oddly, the place is full that night and one of the patrons has murder on his mind.  Lots of fun characters!  5 male, 9 female.  Available from Pioneer Drama Service.

Where Were You When the Tardy Bell Rang? A series of vignettes looking at the funny and serious side of high school.   Use with a large cast or double and feature a small cast.   Available from Brooklyn Publishers.

For great short plays for your classroom or kids' group, subscribe to PLAYS MAGAZINE.  Visit the website at www.playsmag.com

TUT, TUT, TUTSY Two elderly sisters are accidentally hired by a business tycoon, Mortimer Tutley, to find out if King Tut is really sending him threatening letters from beyond the grave.  Several sinisterly suspicious characters greet the sisters at Tutley's mansion where murder is on the agenda.   This will wrap up your audience in laughs.  4 males, 8 females.   Available from Big Dog Plays.

CRAIG SODARO Author

More New Works Biography Links NEWS

From Big Dog Publishing-- SURELUCK HOLMES, PRIVATE EYE (5M, 8F), full-length mystery-comedy.  Detective Sureluck, an ancestor of the one and only Sherlock, has to solve a cold-case murder which quickly heats up when a couple of corpses pop up.  Lots of fun as the Nemesis Society--made up of the world's greatest detectives--faces annihilation if Sureluck and his ever-faithful secretary Joni Watson don't think fast! COOKIES AND CRIME (5 M, 13 F), full-length mystery comedy.  Raising funds to restore magician Houtini's fabled house by cookie sales is no easy task.  And when the curator turns up dead and a mysterious woman in black drifts through the corridors of the old mansion, the restoration committee has it's hands full with more than cookie dough!

Craig Sodaro Author

New for 2010

From Heuer Publishing-- DEATH BY CHOCOLATE (3 M, 7F) full length mystery-comedy. A film noir spoof which finds private eye Nick Noir--who takes the audience into his confidence--hired to find out what really happened to Vinnie the Leach who keeled over in the local coffee shop while sipping a "Death by Chocolate."

From PIONEER DRAMA SERVICE-- THE VILLAIN TOOK A CHIP SHOT or, THAR'S GOLD IN THEM THAR GREENS (4 M, 10 F), old-fashioned melodrama. When handsome, heroic banker Frank Lee Fairway shows up to serve foreclosure papers on Gloria Greenfee's lodge out in the middle of the desert, he instantly falls for Birdie, Gloria's niece.   No longer concerned with his financial duty, Frank decides to give saving Gloria's little plot of heaven a shot--but he must face the dastardly Nash T. Sandtrappe before he can score a hold-in-one!

From ELDRIDGE PUBLISHING COMPANY-- A WING AND A PRAYER (2 M, 6F), an audience participation mystery-comedy.  At a community church pot luck dinner that's opening a building campaign, the minister suddenly finds the job of raising money a whole lot easer when the richest woman in town donates her million dollar jewelry collection to the cause.   Unfortunately the jewelry disappears during the festivities and the audience gets to help solve the case.

From Sterling Partners, Inc., publishers-- THE VERY BEST CHRISTMAS PLAYS FOR KIDS, an anthology of 25 plays edited by Elizabeth Preston.  My adaptation of the Dickens story, "The Goblin and the Gravedigger" is one of the selections, all of which are sure to please.

EARNESTLY EARNESTINE When a tycoon launches a search for his long-long granddaughter Earnestine, he uncorks a comedy of errors as Earnestines suddenly come out of the woodwork!  Lots of laughs and romance in a full-length comedy for 3 men and 9 women from Eldridge Publishing, hitstage.com

PAR FOR THE CORPSE A mystery-comedy for 5 men, 8 women from Pioneer Drama Service.   When matchmaker Joy Draper sets up a golf weekend for clients looking for that perfect someone, the romance disappears quickly when a body, courtesy of a chip-shot to the temple, turns up in the pro shop.  Fortunately her assistant has taken a few courses in criminology and unmasks the killer like a pro!

MURDER AT THE DUDE RANCH A western mystery-comedy for 7 men and  14 women finds a couple of sisters hankerin' to open a dude ranch but danged if their opening week almost goes up in smoke when one of the guests bites the dust.  A fast-paced comedy available from Contemporary Drama Service

CLOAK AND DAGGER A spoof of "Casablanca," this comedy finds Nick, a cynical cafe owner looking for enemy spies.  When he gets word that the spy is a woman wearing a cloak and carrying a dagger, he thinks he'll be able to unmask her with no trouble.  That is, until five women arrive at his cafe each wearing a cloak.  Which one has the dagger?  Lots of fun whether your audience is familiar with the movie or not.  5 male, 6 female.   Available from Big Dog Plays.

LUCKY HUDSON AND THE STAR OF DELHI Lucky Hudson is at it again!  This time his fertile imagination has this would-be teenage writer of crime thrillers hired to protect the largest diamond in the world--the Star of Delhi.  When the jewel is stolen right out from under his and everyone else's nose, Lucky has to think fast in order to outwit a very, very clever thief.  Loads of fun and especially easy to produce.  9 male, 13 female.  Available from Contemporary Drama Service.

NIGHT AT THE WAX MUSEUM When six students and their teacher take a field trip to a wax museum to help get ready for the grand opening, they run into some hysterical--and historical--personalities.  An inscription on an ancient bracelet brings to life the famous and infamous on display.  Henry VIII is suddenly smitten with Cleopatra, making Anne Boleyn lose her head.  Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid team up with Pancho Villa and Calamity Jane to look for a long-lost treasure supposedly buried in the museum.  And Blackbeard and his pirates are out to plunder everyone. To make matters worse, the greedy landlord and her kids just want to close the whole place down and sell the building for a fortune.  It's fast, it's furious, it's lots of fun!  Available as a musical with songs by Bill Francoeur.  11 Males, 18 Females, plus 2 either.  Available from PIONEER DRAMA SERVICE.

DRAMA QUEENS GONE WILD! Somebody at the Shakespeare Academy for the Arts High School is trying to sabotage the upcoming school play.  Everything is going wrong!  The director, whose eyes are only on Broadway, is about to lose his mind as cast members face one hysterical disaster after another.  Lots of funny characters for a large cast of performers who can take the comedy over the top! 9 Male, 14 Female, 1 Either.   Available from CONTEMPORARY DRAMA SERVICE.

WICKED WITCH OF OZ What could possibly go wrong with a high school production of "The Wizard of Oz"?  Everything is the real Wicked Witch of the West happens to drop by with one of her flying monkeys (who mysteriously can't fly anymore but speaks the Queen's English)!  And what does Witch Hecubah want?  Her ruby slippers, of course.  But Glinda, the high school diva who plays Dorothy, has no intention of giving her shoes to anybody.  This show is filled with wild and wacky characters, perfect for a school play.  One easy set with parts for 4 Males, 11 Females 1 Either.  Available from BIG DOG PLAYS

PETER PAN An easy to produce version of James Barrie's beloved tale of the boy who wouldn't grow up.  The illusion of flying is easily created, and the enchanting and exciting world of Neverland is suggested by simple, yet effective sets.  All the classic moments are here--Peter chasing his shadow, Wendy and her brothers finding the Lost Boys, Captain Hook fighting Peter to the death, even the Crocodile with his ominous tick-tock.  A sure audience grabber!  Large cast, available from CONTEMPORARY DRAMA SERVICE.

LAST GASP AT THE LAST GULP How about a wild west whodunit?  Doc Robbins is the only dentist for a couple hundred miles around the and he's living mighty high off the hog on only a few patients a year.  So it's no big shock when he turns up dead in the local saloon.  It seems like lots of folks have motives to do doc in. Maybe it's Bonnie Vivant, owner of the saloon.  What about Count Stroganoff, a mysterious visitor from Russia?  Could it be Minerva and Louella, a pair of reformers who want to shut the Last Gulp down?  What about the three prospectors who keep wetting their whistles?  Or maybe it's Sheriff Daisy and her Deputy Pablo.  Wild and crazy, with loads of laughs.  6 Males, 11 Females.  Available from ELDRIDGE PUBLISHING COMPANY.