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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:

Recommended for High Schools and Middle Schools

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

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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 M, 7 F

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 [F] 92 lines

An energetic and creative student with a fervent desire to solve a legendary mystery.

KAITLIN [F] 85 lines

A lover of literature with a hopeless crush on a silent and brooding classmate.

CALEB [M] 19 lines

A silent and brooding classmate.

MONIQUE [F] 49 lines

Free spirited and artistic and the only student truly embracing the trip.

IRENE [F] 42 lines

The class comedian whose jokes, while certainly sarcastic, are never mean spirited.

JENNA [F] 42 lines

A bored Queen Bee focused almost exclusively on her cell phone.

SETH [M] 50 lines

A regular Joe with a good sense of humor and unexpected charm.

DUNCAN [M] 49 lines

A slacker whose lack of ambition is exceeded only by his lack of brainpower.

MS. BELL [F] 37 lines

50-60 years old; A creative writing teacher with a sly sense of humor and a love for her students.

MR. BRIGGS [M] 26 lines

50-60 years old; The owner of the Museum. A well-bred man of wealth and wisdom.

HIGGINS [M] 22 lines

30-40 years old; A loyal yet grumpy museum security guard with slightly peculiar behavior.

LADY [F] 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

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.)

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.

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.