About the Book:

In Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2020, you will find thirty terrific new ten-minute plays chosen for you by Larry Silverberg and the team at True Acting Institute. The plays written in a variety of styles, some are realistic plays; some are not. Some are comic, some dramatic. The ten-minute play form has become a favourite of acting teachers. They are a useful source for script work that will lead to better listening habits. The plays are brief, focused, frequently start at a climatic moment in a story, and offer a variety of genre and styles for analysis. Your students won't get bogged down by excessive length, complex character analysis, and detail too hard to remember and keep track of.

There are plays for 2 actors:

Last Dance by David-Matthew Barnes. While attending their senior prom, Spencer and Camden seek a quiet moment together, away from the crowd and away from their dates. Sitting on a bench outside of the ballroom, the two young men reveal why the night has been such a miserable experience – because they really just want to dance with each other. (Cast: 2 male)

Something True by David Beardsley. Young lovers navigate the tricky waters of intimacy. (Cast: 1 female, 1 male)

A Dream of Two Moon by Dorothea Cahan. (Cast: 2 female)

Fixing Things by Emilio Iasiello. (Cast: 1 female, 1 male)

Valentine Shrugged by Wayne Paul Mattingly. Who gets married on Valentine's Day? Two lost and empty members of the wedding party toast the hollow sounds of ice clinking in their celebratory glasses. And so is music made? (Cast: 1 female, 1 male)

Blue Bench by Aleks Merilo. Hoping to meet women, a young man sneaks backstage at the worst circus in Paris. He instead finds himself confronted by a haunted figure who will change his life forever, and learns the secrets of the Blue Bench. (Cast: 2 male)

Of Vanities by Marc Palmieri. (Cast: 1 female, 1 male)

The Unforgivable Sin of Forgiveness by Rich Orloff. Who is the wronged party? That's the question that arises when a wife admits a shameful secret to her husband and gets a surprising response. (Cast: 1 female, 1 male)

Losing It by Judith Pratt. Dina saves everything she might turn into art. Her partner Kelly is a neat freak. Conflict ensues. Comedy also ensues, in the form of everything in the prop closet. (Cast: 1 female, 1 female or male)

Reading Device by Don Santiago. (Cast: 1 female, 1 male)

Fictionistas by Marc Saunders. (Cast: 1 female, 1 male)

No One Talks About It by Cassie M. Seinuk. Tabby has seen enough breastfeeding! And after this last nipple citing, Tabby can no longer contain her own feelings of regret, loss, disappointment, and resentment with her own breast feeding struggles, and is now a steaming engine of a mom-tornado, and it's just unfortunate that mom-to-be Deb has landed in her path! (Cast: 2 female)

Note to Self by Cate Wiley. Zoe wants to jump and Jerry wants to stop her. Why would a healthy-looking young woman want to do such a thing? This play is a suicide-prevention tool. (Cast: 1 female, 1 male)

Memory Sounds by J.J. Steinfeld. (Cast: 1 female, 1 male)

It's Just a Movie by F. Thomas Vincent. Mary and Lou are comfortable in their marriage, but a lack of romance causes Mary's mind to wander. (Cast: 1 female, 1 male)

A Mirabilis Day by Dwight E. Watson. (Cast: 1 female, 1 male)

A Dog Barks by Dwight E. Watson. A hilarious comedy about a zinger-trading couple, noise ordinances, and their 40-year anniversary. (Cast: 1 female, 1 male)

And there are plays for 3 or more actors:

Light by Barbara Blatner. During the darkest time of the year, a recently separated workaholic mother and her two adult children try to find the little light that is left in their relationships. (Cast: 1 female, 2 male)

Have Gun, Won't Travel by Bruce Bonafede. In this send-up of the classic TV Western, a young schoolteacher seeks help to save her town, and learns that sometimes we have to be our own heroes. (Cast: 1 female, 2 male)

On a Scale by Philip Dawkins. Premiered in 2019 at Chicago’s Gift Theatre. (Cast: 1 female, 2 male)

A Cheap Maid in Chasteside by Craig Gustafson. A 17th century British maiden is fed up with Living for Love. Show her the cash. A comedy for anyone who wondered if Blackadder could be played by a woman. (Cast: 3 female, 4 male)

Everybody into the Gene Pool by Stephen Mo Hanan. (Cast: 3 female, 1 male)

Beardy McBeardersen by Jeremy Kehoe. A rib-tickling, poke-in-the-eye comedy (based on a true story) about a self-proclaimed Instagram influencer searching to find her NextDoor blind date who, in his hipster rush to embrace non-conformity, has instead ended up looking like every other hipster around him. (Cast: 3 female, 1 male)

Jill Takes a Leap by Scott Mullen. Bride-to-be Jill climbs up onto a bungee platform, where she has second thoughts about jumping – and about her marriage. She is soon joined by a nervous employee, as well as a drunk couple who are scheduled to actually be married while bungee-jumping. Will Jill wind up taking the plunge? (Cast: 2 female, 2 male)

Coaster by Scott Mullen. A young couple go on a roller coaster, where she turns out to have an ulterior motive – and he finds himself with no choice but to answer her questions about the future of their relationship. (Cast: 1 female, 2 male)

Shadow of the Past by August Nigro. (Cast: 2 female, 2 male)

The Madonna of Inzing by August Nigro. (Cast: 2 female, 3 male)

Hair Today by Rich Rubin. A comedy. (Cast: 2 female, 2 male)

Modern Art by Straton Rushing. Three young artist have a debate about art in a gallery that not only mocks why we call art- but mocks the kinds of art we can't help but scratch our heads at. (Cast: 2 female, 1 male)

Dog Therapy by Marisa Smith. (Cast: 1 female, 2 male)

About the Author:

Larry Silverberg is a widely renowned authority on the Sanford Meisner technique of acting. He studied with master teacher Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School in New York City, and wrote the internationally-acclaimed, four-volume series the Sanford Meisner Approach, widely considered the primary source for training actors at studios worldwide. In addition to being one of the most published acting coaches in the world and an award-winning actor and director, he is also the Master Teacher of Acting and Full Professor at renowned Shenandoah University Conservatory of Theatre.