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Epic Adventures in a Rinky-Dink Art Museum by Ken Preuss play script cover

Epic Adventures in a Rinky-Dink Art Museum

by Ken Preuss

Who says art is boring, especially when there’s romance and mystery in the air? A group of high school students reluctantly visit a small town art museum to complete a creative writing project.

But there’s more to the eye than a couple of paintings. There’s the legend of Vanishing Valerie, the obsession of love-struck Kaitlin, the mystery of why Duncan would try to eat a clay apple, and who is that woman wearing the not-so-great disguise? “Though the art saw it all, it remains on the wall, silently hiding the truth...”

A wonderful character-driven comedy.

Comedy

Average Producer Rating: 5.0 out of 5

Recommended for High Schools and Middle Schools

At a Glance

Running Time
About 35 minutes
Approximate; excludes intermissions and scene changes
Cast
12 Characters
5 M 7 F
Set
Simple Set
Length
40 pages
Production Tips
Read production tips for this play
Free Excerpt

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Performance Royalty Fees

Royalty fees apply to all performances whether or not admission is charged. Any performance in front of an audience (e.g. an invited dress rehearsal) is considered a performance for royalty purposes.

Exemption details for scenes and monologues for competition.

12 Characters

  • 5 Males
  • 7 Females

Characters in this play are currently identified as male or female. Directors are welcome to assign any gender (binary or non-binary) to any character and modify pronouns accordingly.

  • ABBY Female 92 lines
    An energetic and creative student with a fervent desire to solve a legendary mystery.
  • KAITLIN Female 85 lines
    A lover of literature with a hopeless crush on a silent and brooding classmate.
  • CALEB Male 19 lines
    A silent and brooding classmate.
  • MONIQUE Female 49 lines
    Free spirited and artistic and the only student truly embracing the trip.
  • IRENE Female 42 lines
    The class comedian whose jokes, while certainly sarcastic, are never mean spirited.
  • JENNA Female 42 lines
    A bored Queen Bee focused almost exclusively on her cell phone.
  • SETH Male 50 lines
    A regular Joe with a good sense of humor and unexpected charm.
  • DUNCAN Male 49 lines
    A slacker whose lack of ambition is exceeded only by his lack of brainpower.
  • MS. BELL Female 37 lines
    50-60 years old; A creative writing teacher with a sly sense of humor and a love for her students.
  • MR. BRIGGS Male 26 lines
    50-60 years old; The owner of the Museum. A well-bred man of wealth and wisdom.
  • HIGGINS Male 22 lines
    30-40 years old; A loyal yet grumpy museum security guard with slightly peculiar behavior.
  • LADY Female 14 lines
    30-40 years old; A mysterious patron of questionable sanity, wandering the rooms of the museum.

Praise for Epic Adventures in a Rinky-Dink Art Museum

5 out of 5 stars
Blake Downs
Clovis High School Freshman Academy
We enjoyed putting on this play! We enjoyed the simplicity of the sets and costumes and the realistic dialogue. We also coordinated with our art department to commission students to develop the three main paintings that are the focal points of the play and displayed them in the foyer of our venue. That allowed the audience to have something to return to and ponder after the performance.
5 out of 5 stars
Cooper Gorelick
Cherry Hill High School West
The play ended up having one of the tightest ensembles of the evening (part of our One Act Play Festival), and that was treat for me to see.
4 out of 5 stars
Marisa Alfano
Nathan Hale-Ray Middle School
My students really enjoyed the play- they ranged from 5th grade through 8th grade. I loved the simple sets (we painted our own) and costumes. A good experience for the actors and myself (a director for 20+ years.)

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