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The House - Competition Length Version by Lindsay Price play script cover

The House - Competition Length Version

by Lindsay Price Canadian Author

Do ghosts make a house haunted, or are houses evil to begin with? This question and others are answered in The House.

Join the Grey One as they share the stories of houses that hold lost children, jealousy gone wrong, and things beyond explaining.

Do you believe in haunted houses? Did that door just creak open on its own? Who’s walking upstairs? Only the house knows…

This version of The House is cut to a competition one act length.

Drama Classical Adaptation

Also available in a one-act version here.

Recommended for High Schools and Middle Schools

At a Glance

Running Time
About 35 minutes
Approximate; excludes intermissions and scene changes
Cast
25 Characters
25 Any Gender, 19 with doubling
Set
Unit set
Length
32 pages
Free Excerpt
Classroom Study Guide
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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.

25 Characters

25 Any Gender, 19 with doubling

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.

Liath [A] 57 lines
The Grey One. Our story guide and narrator for all the stories. Unknown age. Unknown origin. Pronounced LEE-EH.
STORY ONE (1M/2F/9AG)
Lost [F] 16 lines
The Lost Child.
Joey/Finley [A] 4/5 lines
They briefly experience the Lost Child first hand.
Caroline [F] 15 lines
The Mother. Cruel and unmotherly.
John [M] 10 lines
The Father. Blind to his wife’s true nature. Not a good head for business.
Maid [A] 4 lines
Unable to work for Caroline.
Agency Manager [A] 2 lines
Owns the Agency that supplies Caroline with Maids. Loves children.
Nosy One/Nosy Two [A] 15/13 lines
Nosy Neighbours with good hearts.
STORY TWO (5M/1F/1AG+Liath)
Don Juan Manuel [M] 49 lines
A man of great power and great jealousy.
Elena [F] 7 lines
Don Juan’s wife.
Nephew [M] 2 lines
Don Juan’s unfortunate nephew.
The Grey One-Liath [A]
Liath enters the story.
Police [A] 3 lines
A member of the police force.
Man x3 [M] 5 lines
Three unfortunate men who meet Don Juan.
STORY THREE (2M/2F/4AG)
Roderick [M] 65 lines
A sickly young man.
Nish [A] 110 lines
A friend.
Madeline [F]
Roderick’s sister. A sickly young woman. No lines.
Mom/Dad [F/M] 11/13 lines
Nish’s parents.
Cabbie [A] 12 lines
Does not want to get too close to the Usher house.
Ash [A] 13 lines
Roderick’s valet. Mostly humourless.
Doctor [A] 7 lines
Madeline’s doctor.

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