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The Happiness Shop by Lindsay Price play script cover

The Happiness Shop

by Lindsay Price Canadian Author

Three middle school students find themselves in an odd curiosity shop. They don’t know what it is, where they are, or how they got there. But that’s no surprise. The Happiness Shop is not like any other. It is filled with Roppets.

A Roppet is not quite a robot and not quite a puppet. A Roppet is completely happy all the time. Full of smiles, hugs and hi-fives. Isn’t that all it takes for a middle school student to be happy? They’re too young to have problems.

Blake, Melanie and Wally know that’s not true. They all have pretty big problems. But in the shop they have one question to answer and one question only: What would you do to be completely happy?

With up to 28 speaking parts and easy staging The Happiness Shop is perfect for a class project.

Average Producer Rating: 4.0 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
28 Characters
6 M 9 F 13 Any Gender
Set
Simple Set
Length
43 pages
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.

28 Characters

  • 6 Males
  • 9 Females
  • 13 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.

GROUP ONE:

  • Dr. D (Dompster) Any gender 62 lines
    One of two deranged Doctors.
  • Dr. Dee (Dompster) Any gender 79 lines
    Dr. D’s partner in crime.
  • Blake Male 32 lines
    Desires to be happy. Can he get his wish?
  • Melanie Female 38 lines
    Bullied by girls who were once her friends.
  • Wally Any gender 43 lines
    Sees through the façade of the Roppets.

GROUP TWO:

  • Bezmo Any gender 54 lines
    Works in The Happiness Shop.
  • Besme Any gender 45 lines
    Works in The Happiness Shop.
  • Loopy Any gender 37 lines
    Works in The Happiness Shop.
  • Roppet One (Jordan) Female 2 lines
    A Roppet at the shop. The show model.

GROUP THREE (Blake's Story):

  • Roppets Rubrik (6) Any gender
    A team of Roppets that act out memories.
  • Blake 2 Male 16 lines
    A memory of Blake.
  • Mom Female 18 lines
    Blake’s mother
  • Dad Male 19 lines
    Blake’s father
  • Monsieur Grant Male 18 lines
    A teacher at Blake’s school
  • Ms. Peretti Female 19 lines
    Another teacher at Blake’s school
  • Depression Troll Any gender 31 lines
    That nagging voice in your head.

GROUP FOUR (Melanie's Story):

  • Roppets Rafter (6)
    A team of Roppets that act out memories.
  • Melanie 2 Female 17 lines
    A memory of Melanie.
  • Kellie Female 10 lines
    Ex-friend of Melanie.
  • Kensie Female 15 lines
    Another ex-friend of Melanie.
  • Kelsie Female 13 lines
    A third ex-friend of Melanie.
  • Phoenix Male 18 lines
    Backs Melanie up.
  • Depression Troll Any gender 31 lines
    That nagging voice in your head.

GROUP FIVE (Wally's Story):

  • Roppets Rookery (7)
    A team of Roppets that act out memories.
  • Wally 2 Any gender 34 lines
    A memory of Wally.
  • Demeter Female 14 lines
    Criticizes Wally.
  • Ajax Male 20 lines
    Criticizes Wally.
  • Coach Lynch Any gender 15 lines
    Wally’s coach. More understand than you might expect.
  • Depression Trolls x3 Any gender 12, 10, 9 lines
    Those nagging voices in your head.

Praise for The Happiness Shop

4 out of 5 stars
Joseph Murphy
Rogers Middle School
This play was a welcome challenge for our middle school actors. The characters are more complex than they first appear, giving every student something substantial to work with. It was a refreshing departure from the usual “bubble gum” scripts, tackling real issues middle schoolers experience while offering plenty of interesting character moments. Our students really appreciated seeing that part of their lives reflected on stage.

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