Looking for recs for a short fiction or play...

[usernamenumber]

I have a project idea I've been toying with that requires a piece of fiction that meets the following criteria:

• Script or dialogue-heavy story (could be an excerpt from a longer work)
  
• Short, like no longer than 15 minutes if it were read out loud.
  
• Multiple characters. The more outlandish and varied they are the better. Non-humans, cartoonish characters, that sort of thing.
  
• Pref either licensed to allow non-commercial derivatives or with a contactable author
  
• Pref downloadable or purchasable cheaply online

Any suggestions?

Edit: I probably should have been less cagey about the purpose of this project. As a voice acting and production exercise, I'm looking for things I could maybe try adapting to a short audio theater piece wherein I play all the voices. This adds some extra constraints to the above (doesn't have to be all male characters, but obviously my range and believability for female characters is going to be a lot less).

Comments

[hazliya.livejournal.com]

Are you familiar with WPI's New Voices short play festival? Both elenuial and I have had plays in it, and some of them have been... pretty outlandish. xD

[usernamenumber.livejournal.com]

Are scripts available online?

[hazliya.livejournal.com]

I can get them to you! Ones you might be interested in:

Union Station - Misogynist wakes up chained to a train station pole. Has to find a willing bride before he'll be released. Hilarity ensues.

Walt and Wilde - Oscar Wilde rolls into Whitman's town, infuriates him. They fight, then... overcome their differences. Both in spectacular ways.

How to Meet Girls, For Voice Actors - three in-studio voice actors do a variety of (acted out by three additional actors) dubs, from video games to disney. Some of the lessons bleed into real life.

Men are from Oz - woman wakes up in Wizard of Oz world after a concussion and proceeds on a personal journey of sorts before she understands how she came to be there.

Screw this Noise - Man who is going deaf employs a personal assistant to help him hear a variety of sounds before he loses his hearing entirely. So she proceeds to cause chaos on an airplane for the sake of her professional pride.

[hazliya.livejournal.com]

Oh, and:

Princess and the Body Snatchers - It's just like every other fairy tale: a princess locked in a tall tower, surrounded by a castle, and guarded by a dragon. Except that the poor would-be princes have a nasty (but comical!) shock waiting for them when they get up there.

[usernamenumber.livejournal.com]

I just added an edit to the post. Take a look and see if that affects whether any of these scripts could work (short ver: I'm looking for things I could try adapting to an audio theater piece wherein I do all of the voices-- just an experiment, mind, no guarantee of quality).

[hazliya.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I don't know... a lot of these rely on visual gags. =/

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

I could license you a bit of "The Atlantis Affair"...

[usernamenumber.livejournal.com]

I just added an edit to the post. Take a look and see if that affects whether your story could work (short ver: I'm looking for things I could try adapting to an audio theater piece wherein I do all of the voices-- just an experiment, mind, no guarantee of quality).

If you still think it could work, where might I get a copy to look it over?

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

That might work, depending on the scene. There are times when the female characters are far away.

I'll send you a link. (handle @ gmail is what I have?).

[usernamenumber.livejournal.com]

Yup!

[bleemoo.livejournal.com]

If this is an exercise and not for eventual commercial use, a bunch of different Neil Gaiman short fiction pieces could work; he's generally happy for people to do whatever he wants with his work as long as they're not trying to make money. If you're interested, I can loan you his short fiction books.

[breakinglight11.livejournal.com]

Would Rikki Tikki Tavi by Rudyard Kling be too long? that might afford lots of good opportunities for voices, and has mostly male characters.