Lose Not Thy Head
by Gary Rodgers
Joan has been sentenced to lose her head for impersonating her famous brother William Shakespeare.
About 35 minutes
Times given are approximate and do not include intermissions/scene changes/breaks
13
1 M | 3 W | 9 Any Gender
Simple set
34 pages
In addition to traditional live stage performance rights, Lose Not Thy Head can also be performed under the following scenarios.
Virtual Performance
A Virtual Performance is a performance on an online web conferencing platform such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype, or Google Meets where performers are geographically isolated from one another and not together on a stage.
No audience is physically present with the performers. The audience is logged in to the same web conferencing platform as the performers.
Each time the play is performed for a virtual audience of any size (whether or not admission is charged) constitutes one performance.
Livestream Performance
Productions of Lose Not Thy Head may be Livestreamed.
All Livestream Performances must be conducted through our Authorized Streaming Partner, BookTix. Please contact BookTix at info@booktix.com for more information about Livestreaming.
A Livestream Performance is a traditional performance that is livestreamed to the Internet as the actors are performing. Instead of watching the show live in the theatre, the audience watches virtually from their home or other location.
All Livestream Performances must be conducted through our Authorized Streaming Partner, BookTix. Please contact BookTix at info@booktix.com for more information about Livestreaming.
A Livestream Performance may be pre-recorded. Recordings for pre-recorded Livestreams may be made if the recording is destroyed at the conclusion of the production. Should the producing organization want to retain the recording for archival purposes, they must purchase a separate Videorecording License from Theatrefolk.
Theatrefolk charges no additional fees for permission to Livestream. However, BookTix will charge nominal fees to the producing organization. Theatrefolk does not have any financial interest in BookTix and does not receive any commission or fees from BookTix.
Theatrefolk cannot be held responsible for any issues, technical, financial, legal, or otherwise, arising from the producing organization’s relationship with BookTix.
Each time the show is Livestreamed (whether performed live or pre-recorded) constitutes one performance.
One license, three ways to use it
Each royalty you purchase can be used as a Traditional Live Stage Performance, Virtual Performance, or Livestream Performance. How you choose to use your performance license is up to you! Performances need not all be of the same type so long as the total number of performances given does not exceed the total number of performances ordered.
How to Order
Click on the red "Add to Cart" button, then select "A Production"
“No! But my lord, you love beheading. You were born to do this, and if it wasn’t for your fine work, who would chop the heads off people? Hmmm? Who?”
The Viscountess is in a funk. She’s lost her passion for her job as lead executioner. This may or may not help the next victim.
Joan has been sentenced to lose her head for impersonating her famous brother William Shakespeare. He’s disappeared with all his earnings and Joan has been trying to finish his latest play about Henry VIII. Joan pleads for her life, Death waits for Joan to die, a severed Head says beheading isn’t so bad, a Sigmund Freud-type doctor tries to convince everyone that you can’t sew a head back on a body, and then things get weird.
If you like Shakespeare, Monty Python, a little love, a little death, a lot of laughs and lunch at the pub, you must read Lose Not Thy Head!
Characters
13
1 Man, 3 Women, 9 Any Gender
-
VISCOUNTESS
[A]
87 lines
- Commanding executioner, armed with a dagger, suffering a bout of melancholy. If played by a male the title is Viscount. One Monologue.
-
WOLSEY
[A]
47 lines
- An executioner by day and a drunkard by night.
-
CROMWELL
[A]
30 lines
- An executioner who takes great pride in her work.
-
FRIAR
[A]
30 lines
- A holy person, offers prayers for the condemned and advice to the Viscountess. One Monologue.
-
DEATH
[A]
23 lines
- An apparition, unseen by the others at first, until he chooses to reveal himself.
-
LOVELL
[A]
24 lines
- A guard, rough and tumble.
-
GUILFORD
[A]
20 lines
- A guard, new to the job.
-
JOAN
[W]
92 lines
- William Shakespeare’s sister, dressed as Shakespeare typically did for she is impersonating her famous brother.
-
MARY
[W]
28 lines
- Joan’s mother, has a tendency to faint. One Monologue.
-
KING
[M]
55 lines
- King Henry VIII, ruler of all and husband to Katherine of Aragon. One Monologue.
-
ANNE
[W]
45 lines
- Mistress to King Henry VIII. One Monologue.
-
HEAD
[A]
17 lines
- Recently severed from body and okay with that.
-
DOCTOR
[A]
52 lines
- An authority on the analysis of dreams. Rather Freudian, speaks with a quasi-Austrian accent. One Monologue.
- Subgenres
- Farce Fairy tales
- Settings
- 16th Century / Elizabethan
- Dress
- Fantasy costumes Period costumes
- Audience
- All audiences Pre-teen Teen
- Features
- Physical comedy Variable gender breakdown
- Set
- Simple set Interior set
- Cautions
- Adult themes Onstage murder
- Themes
- Death Illness/Health Morality Self-image Theatre
- Cross-Curricular Uses
- Shakespeare
- Other uses
- Competition Monologues Audition material Class work
Prop List
bucket, register, dagger, guillotine, bloodied mop, headless body, another bucket, pocket watch on a chain
Production Photos
Multimedia
Related Titles
Purchase Orders accepted from US and Canadian Schools.
Info for your purchasing department.
All others must pay at the time of ordering.
Not sure what you need to order? Check out our pricing and ordering guide.
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.
{{ product.name }}
About 35 minutes
Times given are approximate and do not include intermissions/scene changes/breaks
13
1 M | 3 W | 9 Any Gender
Simple set
34 pages