Lepanto’s Library of Plays
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FAIRY TALES RETOLD
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 32 Total — 9 Males, 23 Females
Why do the King’s daughters wake up every morning with their shoes worn out? The King challenges any prince in the neighboring kingdoms to solve this mystery and thereby win the hand of one of the princesses. But if the prince fails, he must give up his life instead.
Rumpelstiltskin
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 35 Total — 12 Males, 13 Females, 10 Either
The Miller’s Daughter, thanks to her father’s careless boasting, finds herself in a horrible predicament. But she makes a deal with a strange little man, a deal she very much regrets.
Robin Hood
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 37 Total — 18 Males, 19 Females
Bad Prince John keeps taxing the peasants. Robin Hood, Little John, and the Merry Men keep stealing the taxes and giving the money back to the peasants. Maid Marian and her friends take a liking to the Merry Men. But there’s a trap! It looks like Prince John is going to win!
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 39 Total — 22 males, 17 Females
Technically not a fairy tale, but a legend with fairy tale elements. The story takes us from the sword in the stone, the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, to the final battle against evil Morgana and her forces. Forget about Sir Lancelot.
Sleeping Beauty
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 39 Total — 9 Males, 19 Females, 11 Either
Hecka the witch makes trouble when the princess is born. Her seven sisters, the fairies, try to clean up the mess, with mixed results. We’ve got ourselves a beautiful sleeping princess that nobody can wake up.
The Princess and the Pea
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 39 Total — 15 Males, 20 Females, 4 Either
Princess Lianna runs away because she does not want to get married. She encounters gypsies and pirates, and finally arrives all bedraggled at a castle in another kingdom, where she has a hard time sleeping.
Cinderella
By Dale Ahlquist and Laura Ahlquist
Cast: 41 Total — 11 Males, 22 Females, 8 Either
The familiar story of Cinderella and her ugly sisters meeting the prince is enhanced with side tales of the prince’s sisters meeting a stuffy nobleman and a stable boy. And we also meet the fairy godmother’s assistants!
1001 Arabian Nights
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 46 Total — 21 males, 22 Females, 3 Either
Scheherazade keeps telling the Sultan stories to keep herself alive, so we hear about Ali Baba, Aladdin, Sinbad, thieves, sorceresses, magic carpets, and even a story that sounds just like Scheherazade’s own predicament. And there is a Genie who keeps popping up.
The Little Mermaid
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 50 Total — 26 males, 20 Females, 4 Either
A completely non-Disney retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of a mermaid falling in love with a prince and making a deal with a sea witch to become human. Along the waves are kings and queens, pirates and sailors, and town gossips.
The Emperor’s New Clothes
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 51 Total — 13 males, 30 Females, 8 Either
The Emperor is visiting the eastern edge of his empire, perhaps too close to the Sultan’s empire. We certainly hope his daughters don’t wander across the border and need to be rescued. And what is with his obsession for a new outfit?
MYSTERY COMEDIES
Game Called Because of Murder
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 15 Total — 10 Males, 4 Females, 1 Either
A locker room mystery. There is a rain delay for the Shell City Seagulls. The minor league baseball team is waiting it out in the club locker room. While they are visited by a TV news reporter, a beer vendor, the team owner, and her daughter, who should turn up dead? The star player. There are nine good suspects and a few bad ones.
Bad Manners at the Manor
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 16 Total — 4 Males, 10 Females, 2 Either
Lord Henning makes everyone at Cedar Manor Estate hate him, and guess what: he’s dead at the end of the first act. Everybody’s a suspect. Officer Walsh, a traffic cop, tries to sort it out.
More Bodies Please
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 19 Total — 8 Males, 10 Females, 1 Either
The curtain rises with a corpse lying in the middle of the stage, and things get worse from there. Mr. Fenwick, the manager at Cedar Manor Resort, is having a hard time keeping all his strange guests happy…and alive!
Unconventional
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 20 Total — 9 Males, 11 Females
Have you ever attended a Brass Bell Convention? No? This play takes you right inside one. And don’t be surprised if what should be totally boring is instead totally hilarious, especially when several attendees realize they are at the wrong event, including the masked gunmen who suddenly show up.
Mind Over Murder
By Adrian Ahlquist
Cast: 20 Total — 11 Males, 9 Females
Dr. Flatly is the worst psychiatrist in the world. His patients, ranging from a kleptomaniac, a phobiac, a schizophrenic, to a delusional actress, a rock star, a sad clown, and some guy in a straight jacket, all tend to suffer under his care. They all have a good reason to shoot him, and sure enough, someone does. Turns out they all have the means to shoot him, too. Lots of laughs and lots of guns.
Don’t Bank On It
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 22 Total — 9 Males, 13 Females
Is it a good idea to have a Mardi Gras party in a bank? Is it a good idea for everyone to wear masks? Is it a good idea to have the staff be a bunch of ex-cons? Is it a good idea to invite the Chief of Police and his drunk wife? Don’t bank on it.
The Future Is Coming
By Adrian Ahlquist
Cast: 23 Total — 8 Males, 13 Females, 2 Either
An arrogant college professor and his teaching assistants accidentally invent a virtual assistant that can exactly predict the future. Once they establish that it works, the first thing the machine predicts is the professor’s murder! Now they have to try to solve a murder before it happens.
Backstage
By Adrian Ahlquist
Cast: 27 Total — 12 Males, 15 Females
All the things that can possibly go wrong behind the scenes at a play…including the murder of the leading man!
SHAKESPEARE
Much Ado About Nothing
Written by William Shakespeare, Adapted by Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 18 Total — 10 Males, 6 Females, 2 Either
Beatrice and Benedick, formers lovers and now self-proclaimed lifelong bachelors, watch their friends, Hero and Claudio fall in love. But the bastard Don John decides to entertain himself by framing Hero and tricking Claudio into thinking that she has been unfaithful to him. At the wedding ceremony, Claudio shouts wicked accusations at Hero and leaves her at the altar. Meanwhile, Beatrice and Benedick are tricked into thinking that they are falling in love with each other.
Twelfth Night
Written by William Shakespeare, Adapted by Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 18 Total — 11 Males, 5 Females, 2 Either
Viola and Sebastian are twins. After being separated in a shipwreck, Viola looks for work by dressing as a man and visiting Duke Orsino. She falls in love with Orsino, but he has her deliver love letters to Olivia, who then falls in love with Viola, believing her to be a man. There is also a side plot with some pranksters who write a fake letter to Malvolio, one of Olivia’s suitors, informing him of Olivia’s tastes in ridiculous fashion.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Written by William Shakespeare, Adapted by Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 19 Total — 7 Males, 8 Females, 4 Either
Helena loves Demetrius, but Demetrius loves Hermia; Hermia loves Lysander, but they cannot marry because of Hermia’s father, so these two starcrossed lovers flee deep into the forest, pursued by Demetrius and Helena. But this is no normal forest. It has fairies, love potions, and a very amateur theater troupe.
Romeo and Juliet
Written by William Shakespeare, Adapted by Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 20 Total — 10 Males, 7 Females, 3 Either
The Monatague and the Capulet families do not get along. When Romeo and Juliet fall in love against her father’s wishes, Juliet’s nurse arranges for Romeo and Juliet to marry in secret. But Romeo gets delayed by a street fight and ends up killing Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, and then getting banished. Juliet is advised to fake her own death to avoid marrying Paris. It doesn’t end well.
The Taming of the Shrew
Written by William Shakespeare, Adapted by Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 21 Total — 13 Males, 4 Females, 4 Either
Is it possible to tame a shrew? Is it possible to tame a woman? Petruchio thinks so. While Katherine’s sweet sister Bianca has many suitors pursuing her, every man flees from Katherine the shrew, except one man who is fully confident that he knows exactly how to tame this disagreeable woman.
The Merchant of Venice
Written by William Shakespeare, Adapted by Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 21 Total — 13 Males, 5 Females, 3 Either
Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, lends some money to Antonio who lends it to his friend, Bassanio, who needs it to travel to and court his love, Portia. But Shylock doesn’t like Antonio, who berated him for practicing usury, so Shylock proposes this deal: if Antonio is not able to pay back the loan, the merchant must give Shylock a pound of his own flesh.
As You Like It
Written by William Shakespeare, Adapted by Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 22 Total — 11 Males, 7 Females, 4 Either
Orlando de Boys, the youngest son of the late Sir Rowland de Boys, has been kept in poverty by his brother Oliver since his father’s death. Orlando decides to wrestle for his fortune at Frederick’s court, where he sees Rosalind and they fall in love.
Macbeth
Written by William Shakespeare, Adapted by Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 29 Total — 19 Males, 6 Females, 4 Either
Macbeth meets three witches who show him a prophecy: he is to become king. But is this his fate or he is in control of his own future? After Lady Macbeth convinces her troubled husband to pursue this prophecy, Macbeth ends up killing any man, woman and child who poses as a potential threat to his promised crown.
SPIRITUAL DRAMAS
Nuns and Aliens
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 17 Total — 5 Males, 12 Female
There is a monastery of Poor Clare nuns in Roswell, New Mexico. However, Roswell is not famous for nuns. It is famous for aliens. Many people are absolutely convinced that extra-terrestrial beings have landed near Roswell, but that the U.S. Government has conspired to keep this a secret. Probably none of these people know that there are nuns in Roswell. That secret has apparently been better kept. While these two secrets meet up in this play with certain amusing results, it is a serious play involving a crisis of faith.
Canticle of the Sun
By Jonah Niemann and Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 20 Total — 7 Males, 12 Females, 1 Either
A parallel telling of the lives of St. Francis and St. Clare, showing the transition of the worldly young troubadour to the mystical friar begging for stones, and the young noblewoman who watches it happen and becomes his follower.
Come Rack! Come Rope!
By Dale Ahlquist and Adrian Ahlquist
Cast: 25 Total — 15 Males, 10 Females
A beautiful, emotional tale of two lovers who decide to part so he can become a priest and she can take care of her estate during the persecution of Catholics under Queen Elizabeth I and her henchman, Topcliffe. St. Edmund Campion makes an appearance. So does Mary Queen of Scots. And yes, there is a torture scene on a rack.
The Lily of Palestine
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 27 Total — 10 Males, 16 Females, 1 Child (Male)
She was born in 19th century Galilee, raised in Egypt, attacked by a Moslem and left for dead, miraculously healed by “a woman in blue.” She had an encounter with an angel in Jerusalem, she joined a convent in France, experienced the Stigmata, numerous ecstasies which included levitation, started a monastery in India, and another in Bethlehem, where she died at the age of 33. Ever heard of her?
The Maid of Orleans
By Jonah Niemann and Adrian Ahlquist
Cast: 29 Total — 21 Males, 8 Females
The story of St. Joan of Arc. This play has excerpts from her condemnation and nullification trials in between scenes of her life, her battles, and finally, her death.
Africanus
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 31 Total — 14 Males, 17 Females
The story of Blessed Mary Theresa Ledochowska, born to a noble family that lost its fortune, made to serve as a lady-in-waiting, started a campaign to end the slave trade in Africa, and eventually founded the order of The Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver.
The Fiery Love of God
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 32 Total — 12 Males, 12 Females, 7 Either, 1 Child (Female)
The powerful and little-known story of St. Catherine of Genoa, who lived in the same city at the same time as Christopher Columbus. Born a noblewoman, forced into an unwanted marriage, and abandoned by her husband, she then had a vision of Christ and went on to run a hospital caring for the plague victims. Most remarkable of all was her vision of Purgatory.
The Trial of John Vianney
By Dale Ahlquist
Cast: 50 Total — 11 Males, 14 Females, 25 Either
The Vicar General arrives in the town of Ars to conduct an inquiry into complaints regarding the popular but controversial Curé. We see the remarkable events surrounding him, including his reading of souls and his encounter with the devil.