Facebook Pixel Skip to main content
Inanimate by Christian Kiley play script cover

Inanimate

by Christian Kiley

Life is a little different for Ani. She talks to her coffee pot and alarm clock. She even talks to her toaster. Is she living in a happy, carefree kids’ show or is it something more serious?

What if you talk to inanimate objects and they talk back? What if they write hate texts to your friends? Try to control you? Make you stay inside with the blinds drawn and the lights turned down low?

What if Ani’s life is not happy at all?

Average Producer Rating: 5.0 out of 5

Recommended for High Schools

At a Glance

Running Time
About 25 minutes
Approximate; excludes intermissions and scene changes
Cast
18 Characters
2 F16 Any Gender
Set
Simple set
Length
18 pages
Free Excerpt

What to order?

Not sure what you need to order? Check out our pricing and ordering guide.

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.

18 Characters

2 F, 16 Any Gender

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.

Ani [F] 61 lines
A happy girl, surrounded by friends who want to help her.
Washer [A] 7 lines
Alarm [A] 11 lines
Cell Phone [A] 14 lines
Coffee [A] 19 lines
Wall [A] 7 lines
Toaster [A] 8 lines
Door [A] 13 lines
Refrigerator [A] 6 lines
Mongol #1/Dinosaur #1 [A] 30 lines
Laptop [A] 9 lines
Mongol #2/Dinosaur #2 [A] 31 lines
Inspirational Poster [A] 9 lines
Window [A] 7 lines
Closet [A] 9 lines
Fake Rock [A] 6 lines
Dryer [A] 7 lines
Sarah [F] 12 lines
Ani’s friend. Worried about her.

Praise for Inanimate

5 out of 5 stars
Jo Matheson
Newlands College
The students really enjoyed performing this piece. They won best ensemble award for their performance!

More Plays Like Inanimate

Smarty Pants

by Bradley Hayward Canadian Author

Dallas is a real smarty pants and can't wait to show off. But he's in for a shock. His new class is very different. A fantastic competition piece.

The Bright Blue Mailbox Suicide Note

by Lindsay Price Canadian Author

Jake finds a suicide note in his mailbox. Is it real? Is it a joke? Jake is determined to find out but instead learns a secret he didn't want to know.

Wellness Check

by Christian Kiley

Three characters struggle with wellness in uncertain times.

Body Body: Competition Length Version

by Lindsay Price Canadian Author

Madeline has body issues. So much so that different body parts are coming to life and talking back. A shorter version of this body image play.

Floating on a Don't Care Cloud

by Lindsay Price Canadian Author

An emotional tug of war between a sister and brother and what really happens in the world of teenage marijuana use. A vivid personification of drugs.

The Happiness Shop

by Lindsay Price Canadian Author

Why aren't middle school students full of smiles, hugs and hi-fives? They’re too young to have problems.

From the Drama Teacher Learning Centre

Selecting Scripts Flexible Cast / Gender-Neutral Casting

Theatrefolk’s Top 10: Gender-Flexible Plays

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays For….Gender Flexible Roles. Sometimes you have more girls than guys. Once in a while you have more guys than girls. And sometimes you have students who want to choose...
Selecting Scripts Featured Plays

Theatrefolk Featured Play: Inanimate by Christian Kiley

Welcome to our Featured Play Spotlight. We’re excited to feature Inanimate by Christian Kiley – a high school drama you won’t want to miss. Life is a little different for Ani. She talks to her...
Podcast

Theatrefolk Podcast: Dealing with Student Strife

Episode 109: Dealing with Student StrifeThe drama class is one of the only places where students truly examine themselves and their world through reflection and contemplation. Because of that,...
Selecting Scripts Themed Play Lists

Social Issue Plays for High Schools / Middle Schools

Our website lists all of our plays with social issue themes but it struck me that they’re only lumped as “issue plays” without a good guide to sorting out which title addresses which issue. So I’ve...
We accept
Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Google Pay, and Apple Pay
We accept school purchase orders too. Info for your purchasing department