The Fourth Orange

Looking for a large cast comedy play script with plenty of female roles for your next festival or drama competition? The Fourth Orange is a zany fairy tale mash-up with a modern citrus twist!
There were only supposed to be three oranges. All Franceschina had to do was deliver one measly basket of sausages to the witch and go on her way. But, no, she had to play the hero and ended up cursed and forgotten, caught in the crossfire of someone else’s fairy tale. Well, from now on, she’s minding her own business and leaving the action to the real heroes. But when a dragon is destroying the kingdom and nobody will do anything about it, it’ll be up to Franceschina to decide what part she really wants to play.
A mash-up of the Italian fairy tale, The Merchant, from Giambattista Basile’s The Tale of Tales (Il Pentamerone, Lo cunto de li cunti) with characters from Carlo Gozzi’s The Love of Three Oranges, The Fourth Orange is a wacky commedia-style fairy tale adaptation for all ages.

Comedy / Fantasy
One Act Stage Play
20–30 minutes
4 m, 6 f, 5 any (7–20+ actors possible)

Features

Flexible staging.
Suitable for all ages.
Large cast with majority female roles.
Ensemble with plenty to do that can expand based on your casting needs.
Opportunities for physical comedy, masked commedia dell’arte, improvisation and puppets.
Great length for drama competitions and classroom study.
Both prequel and sequel to Hillary DePiano’s adaptations of Carlo Gozzi’s The Love of Three Oranges and The Green Bird. Perform all three one-acts back to back for an evening’s entertainment!

Fairly Obscure Fairy Tale Plays

Looking for some crowd-pleasing, funny fairy tale plays that aren’t the same old standards? Playwright Hillary DePiano presents the weirdest and wackiest lesser-known folk and fairy tales as family friendly stage adaptations perfect for schools and community theatre. From large cast, one-act comedies to commedia dell’arte scripts with a modern twist for classroom use, there are plenty of options to help your group live happily ever after!

Want to combine any of the plays together to make an evening’s entertainment? Interstitials and connecting scenes are available upon request.