John Owen Smith – Playwright

Historical and Hysterical Plays

John Owen Smith
To order scripts, click on the buttons of script(s) of your choice below, enter your name & address (at the bottom of the lists), then click "Submit"

You may order pantomime scripts in electronic format – this allows you to make local amendments to scripts before printing your own copies. Tick box at bottom of form if interested, and we will reply with details.

See below for details of Royalties to be paid per performance.

Pantomimes:— click on title to see cast list & a sample scene – perfomances

Aladdin – The pantomime with the flying palace!
Ali Baba – Scheherazade introduces her very last Arabian Nights tale
Cinderella – Baron Hardup's household as tradition tells it – with immortal lines
Dick Whittington – and his cat – the tale as recorded by Fred Chaucer
Humpty Dumpty – the Muffet Mob's on the loose – can old egghead save the day?
Jack and the Beanstalk – Witch Whey's wicked wheeze won't work – will it?
Nutcracker – the script Tchaikovsky might have set to music, if only he'd known
Puss in Boots – that talking cat gets everywhere – and gets his just desserts!
Red Riding Hood – there can be a fete worse than death – ask the Wolf!
Robin Hood – a cricket match in Sherwood Forest? There's Nun Better to play
Sleeping Beauty – the show with an interval of a hundred years
Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs – the mirror's off the wall in more ways than one!

Perhaps I should describe here what British pantomime is! I've had one or two requests for scripts from places outside the UK, and in most cases they have been surprised to find that it's not what they think it is.
It is nothing like the Greek meaning of Pantomime – ours is far from silent, despite the etymology of the word.
I quote from Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: – In Britain, what we now call pantomime has come from "an adaptation of the old Commedia dell'Arte that lasted down to the 19th century. The principal characters were Harlequin and Columbine, who never spoke, and Clown and Pantaloon, who keep up a constant fire of joke and repartee. The old Christmas pantomime or Harlequinade as an essentially British entertainment was first introduced by John Weaver (1673-1760), a dancing-master of Shrewsbury, in 1702. It is now usually based on a nursery tale such as Cinderella, Mother Goose, Jack and the Beanstalk, Puss in Boots, etc., enlivened by catchy songs, pretty chorus girls and considerable buffoonery."
You have been warned!!

Other Stage Plays:—

RIOT! or This Bloody Crew – the Selborne & Headley workhouse riots of 1830
A Balance of Trust – the 'big names' move into sleepy Surrey (1855-1905)
Flora's Heatherley – the 'sinister street' years of Flora Thompson in Grayshott
Flora's Peverel – when Flora Thompson 'won the fight to write' in Liphook
The Hindsight Saga – a pageant of a play – six scenes from six historical periods
The Broomsquire – a dramatisation of Sabine Baring-Gould's classic novel
MacHamlet – the 'Scottish Play' vies with the Danish Tragedy – in a game of football!
Bard Again! – MacHamlet takes to foreign parts, and finds it soggy going
MacHamlet goes West – 1056 and All That – on an Atlantic cruise
 Bah Humbug! – a seasonal entertainment based on Charles Dickens' book "A Christmas Carol"

The following are short plays (15-20 mins) in a light-hearted vein (lower royalty rates apply) :—
Twelve Minute Night – what Stoppard did to 'Hamlet,' we've done for 'Twelfth Night'
Cinderelder – in verse – What has happened to Cinderella, 20 years after the wedding?
Bleeding Moody – in verse – Can you imagine Sleeping Beauty as a teenager of today?
Job Done – a murder mystery play performed as part of a 3-course meal – based on Jobsworth characters
Murder à la Carte – a murder mystery play performed as part of a 3-course meal
It's Murder! – a murder mystery play performed as part of a 3-course meal
Local Vengeance – a murder mystery play performed as part of a 3-course meal
And a 30 minute one-act historical play:—
Not Fit to Live in England – the Selborne & Headley workhouse riots of 1830

Radio Plays:—

Jobsworth – a comedy series of 20-minute sketches revolving around the trials and tribulations of a village caretaker – these have been performed successfully on the stage as part of a one-act evening

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Electronic version: Tick here if you would be interested in an electronic version of the script(s) – and be sure to add your correct e-mail address in the box below. See below for further details.

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Royalties for Performance

Full length plays and pantomimes — £40 per performance for halls up to 250 seats, thereafter add £1 per 10 seats — to be paid one month before production.

Lower rate for short sketches — £20 per performance for halls up to 250 seats, thereafter add £0.50 per 10 seats — to be paid one month before production.

Electronic versions of Playscripts

I now sell the majority of my scripts as electronic documents in Microsoft Word format. This offers users a number of advantages:—

From my point of view, it saves me having to stock paper copies and send them through the post.

If you would like to take advantage of this offer, check the box at the bottom of the order form.

Performances

These scripts have been (or are due to be) performed by the following organisations:—