Janet Smith
Janet in 'The Birthday Party' by Harold Pinter
Playwright and Author
Writing Murder Mysteries, Plays for Kids, Sketches, Comedies, Short Plays, One-act, Monologues and Drama
My scripts been performed in all kinds of venues, from windy, muddy tents at festivals, to churches, to village halls, to schools, to libraries – oh and theatres! They’re written to be staged as simply and inexpensively as possible. Some are also adapted for podcast and radio.
If a character needs a gender change to suit your casting requirements (I know that men are in short supply in amdram circles!), then do contact me, and I’ll happily take a look to see what I can do.
My radio play ‘The Man in the Moon’ on R4 was a Radio Times ‘Pick of the Week’, and short stories broadcast on radio. I’m a reviewer for ‘Sardines’ magazine.
After your production, do please send feedback, and photos, via Scripts for Stage. We’d love to see them!
Janet
Works by this Author
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Murder on the Catwalk
From £4.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageThere’s murder at a fashion show but can the audience work out whodunit? (4F, 4M, 1E)
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Mummers Play – Robin Hood
From £1.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageA traditional folk play featuring Robin Hood and some odd characters! (6E)
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George the Good
From £4.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageGeorge Good comes from a bad family, but was he switched at birth? (8F, 8M & 4E)
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The Queen’s Head 👂
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageWhat would you do if Queen Elizabeth I wanted your teeth? (1E) 👂
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The Smugglers Rest 👂
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageWith the Revenue Men around, how will the smugglers unload their contraband? (1E or 8E) 👂
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Stories from the Snug 👂
From £1.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageFour short Monologues with mystery, intrigue, deception and magic! (1E) 👂
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The Thief of Time
From £3.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageSuspicion and fear arise when 11 days are lost overnight in this play for all the family. (2M, 1F, 7E)
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Captain and the Jolly Sailors 👂
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageA dog discovers a WWII German Spy! (1E or 3E) 👂
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The Fastening Penny 👂
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageTwo agricultural workers have too much of a good time at the hiring fair. (1E or 5E, 1M & 1F) 👂
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Further Stories from the Snug 👂
From £1.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageFive short Monologues with mystery, intrigue, smugglers and a helpful dog! (1E or 1F, 1M and 5E) 👂
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The Great Bin Robbery
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageWill Inspector Nutter find out who has been stealing the bins? (10E)
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Father Christmas and the Reindeer Wars
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageWill the bickering reindeer make up in time for Christmas Eve? (12E or more)
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Aladdin and His Magic Lamp (A Murder Mystery)
From £3.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageObtaining the magic lamp for his wicked uncle, leads Aladdin on a journey of adventure, love and murder! (2F, 3M & 7E)
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Three Short Christmas Plays
From £1.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageThree short Father Christmas themed plays for children. (12E)
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The Old Ship 👂
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageA new man in the village revisits his past. (1E or 3E, 1M & 1F) 👂
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The Angler’s Catch 👂
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageMelanie catches an enchanted fish who grants her a wish, but does she ask for too much? (1E) 👂
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The Bell Inn 👂
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageThere’s something odd about the Inn in the mist; could it really be frozen in time? (1E) 👂
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Park Bench Stories
From £1.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageThree short plays set on a park bench (7 characters, 3 actors with doubling)
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The Travellers Rest 👂
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageA search for a missing ruby-eyed eagle yields surprising truths for Brother Dominic (1E) 👂
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Mummers Play – The Turkish Knight
From £1.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageA traditional Christmas folk play featuring St. George and a troublesome Knight! (7E)
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Paws for Thought
From £1.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageThree short sketches with an animal theme (1F, 1M & 1E)
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The Yellow Hollyhock
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageA man meets a woman on a park bench, but only through a wild mis-interpretation of why she’s there. (1F & 1M)
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The Antiquities Roadshow
From £1.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageSome unusual items are brought to be valued by the Antiquities Roadshow (6F, 2M)
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Smee
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageA House party on Christmas Eve in the 40s has a ghostly visitor? (6F, 5M)
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Happily Never After
From £3.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageAt the ‘Oh yes it is’ retreat for Pantomime Characters, there is murder most foul. Can the audience work out whodunnit? (4M, 1F & 5E)
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The Lady in Grey 👂
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageA new employee at a supposedly haunted pub sees something in the cellar! (1E) 👂
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The Monkey Paw
From £3.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageAn enchanted Monkey Paw causes tragedy with a twist in this one act play. (2M, 1F, 2E) 👂
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Robin Hoodie and his Merry People
From £3.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageMayhem and Murder for Robin Hoodie in this panto-themed murder mystery! (1M, 3F & 6E)
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Elf and Safety
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageWill Santa end up on his own Naughty list or will he tell the truth about getting stuck up the chimney? (7E or more)
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Murder at Cliff House
From £4.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageThere’s murder at a gathering of writers in a sinister location – can the audience work out whodunit? (5F, 1M, 1E)
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The Man in the Moon
From £2.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageA radio ham accidentally contacts a stranded cosmonaut and makes plans to get him back to earth. (3F, 6M)
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If you go down to the woods
From £4.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageLove, murder, suicide and bird watching combine in this darkly funny 2-act comedy. (5F, 6M, 2E) 👂
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Sleeping Gorgeous-Beauty
From £3.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageTwo conmen get more than they bargained for in this panto-themed murder mystery! (3M, 4F & 5E)
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Murder Anybody?
From £4.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageAfter a fake death, someone does eventually meet a grisly end – can the audience work out whodunit? (4F, 2M, 1E)
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The World’s End 👂
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageA seed from the tropics causes concern at the World’s End. (1E) 👂
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The Interpreter
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageA Salesman can apparently translate what a potential customer’s cat is saying. (1E, 1M & 1F)
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Murder Anybody? (Audio Version) 👂
From £4.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageAfter a fake death, someone does eventually meet a grisly end – can the audience work out whodunit? (4F, 2M, 1E)👂
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The Potter Effect
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageA tired and overworked vet can’t see his next patient – because it’s an invisible rabbit who is a fan of a certain boy wizard. (3E)
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The Pardon 👂
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageSet in Victorian times, the Gallows Inn is the scene of an unexpected pardon. (1E) 👂
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Confusion at the Gentlemen’s Outfitters
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageA Gentleman’s outfitters try to provide the very best for Jack who, they later find out, is actually a dog. (1E, 1M & 1F)
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Heirs and DisGraces
From £4.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageMurder most foul at 1940s Withering Hall – can the audience work out whodunit? (5F, 3M, 1E) 👂
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Father Christmas and the Troublesome Socks
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageCan the audience and the elves help Santa find a matching pair of socks? (10E or more)
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Goldilocks and the Four Bears
From £4.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageGoldilocks tries to stop her wicked aunt taking over the throne in this full-length, large cast play for all the family (6F, 3M, 24E)
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Murder on the Catwalk (Audio Version) 👂
From £4.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageThere’s murder at a fashion show but can the audience work out whodunit? (5F, 4M, 1E) 👂
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More Stories from the Snug 👂
From £1.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageThree short Monologues with scruples, mistrust and ghosts! (1E) 👂
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The Great Bin Mix Up
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageThe bins have been left in a bit of a muddle but whose bin is whose? (7E)
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Treasure Island – The Murder Mystery Panto
From £3.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageThere’s trouble afoot on Treasure Island in this Panto-themed Murder Mystery to be solved by the audience. (10E)
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A Night Under the Stars
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageA man on a park bench encounters someone who may not be ‘of this world’ (2M, 1E)
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At the Tabard Inn
From £4.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageThe story of the 29 pilgrims who gather in Chaucer’s Tabard Inn. (58 roles – Doubling possible)
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Manifesto for Murder
From £4.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageThere’s murder before the upcoming election but can the audience work out whodunit? (4F, 1M, 1E) 👂
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The Fall
From £2.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageTelling the story of Adam & Eve’s dalliance with the Forbidden Fruit, The Fall is based on the epic poem Paradise Lost. (8E)
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An Apple in May
From £4.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageConcerning a 19th century pioneer of refrigeration, love, endeavour, industry, Queen Victoria – and an apple. (4F, 14M)
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The Body in the Snug 👂
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageAn insurance investigator can’t get a case out of her head (1E or 8E) 👂
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Moving On
From £0.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageTwo women from very different social circles meet on a park bench and find out they’re both potentially facing the same fate – that of being forced to move home. (2F)
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Murder at the Library
From £4.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageMurder most foul at the library – can the audience work out whodunit? (5F, 3M, 1E)
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One Little Snowflake
From £1.99 More Info This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageA play to be performed by children with a strong message about global warming (4F, 4M, 20E)