R Eugene Jackson

R. Eugene Jackson is a professor, play director, and chairman of the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of South Alabama. He has been writing stories, skits and plays since he learned what crayons could do to walls. At college he was encouraged to continue playwriting and scripts made up most of his thesis at Kent State University and his dissertation at Southern Illinois University. He has won numerous playwriting competitions while having over fifty plays published. "I carry a notebook with me everywhere I go," Jackson says, "because my mind is always plotting new storieseven if the rest of me is doing something else. I feel like I can't get to the computer fast enough to get everything down. Sometimes I can't type fast enough to catch up." In his leisure time (other than writing, which is both leisure and therapy), Gene enjoys traveling, playing the violin and ballroom dancing.

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  Wild Pecos Bill

Classic by R Eugene Jackson

56 pages

5 to 18 flexible roles


It's the story of Pecos Bill in the rootin'-tootin', ropin' and shootin' wild, wild West! From an infant raised with coyotes to a grown man rescuing his "furever" sweetheart, Sweet Sue, Pecos Bill has one adventure after another. He rids the town of Pecos of all its outlaws, tames some purty wild desert creatures, and rescues his Sweet Sue from a couple of mean hombres called Buck and Chuck. Pecos even takes an hour or so to dig a ditch for Sue's catfish. Lasso in a little bit of Americana in this story-theatre style play. Scenes flow together seamlessly, and...

  How the Geek Saved the Empire State Building...

Comedy by R Eugene Jackson

88 pages

2 m, 2 w, 12 flexible; extras as desired; doubling possible


Lucille, a classic geek, and her grumpy friend Elly are visiting New York City with their college classmates. Through a series of Polaroid photos, Lucille deduces that the Empire State Building is slowly tilting over. The mysterious "Contact" kidnaps Elly when she mentions the presence of "foreign agents" in the city. In no time, Contact's accomplice Professor Hippersnipper demonstrates how he zapped the famous building and now the city's in a panic! Not only is the skyscraper bending into a "U," but Lucille's college classmates are dangling from the top! How...

  Oops-A-Daisy

Comedy by R Eugene Jackson

76 pages

6 m, 7 w, 5 flexible


Daisy, a somewhat clumsy college student, has been hired by Rose Thornbush to sweep and clean her flower shop, Rose’s Roses. Daisy, however, only took the menial job to get closer to her real goal of floral designer. It’s frustrating because the designs Mrs. Thornbush creates are terrible, as proven by the lack of business in the shop. Daisy, along with three young customers, can design much prettier arrangements. Mr. Hoodwink and Miss Deed appear and devise a competition between Rose’s Roses and the rival Monsieur Prince’s Shop of Floral Designs. The winner ...

  Till Beth Do Us Part

Comedy by R Eugene Jackson

65 pages

Approx. 5 m, 9 w, 6 flexible, extras, doubling possible.


Lulu's on a quest to marry Justin by Monday to outwit her former best friend Beth who plans to marry on Tuesday. Lulu hires a novice wedding consultant, whose office is a tiny converted bathroom, and in a frantic few days they deal with a florist who goes bankrupt, a jeweler who insists that she buy the world's ugliest wedding ring, and a wedding cake with "Happy Birthday, Vern" written on it. Even all the chapels are booked, so her ceremony will take place in a bingo hall presided over by the building's janitor. Lulu declares that her bridesmaids keep her ma...

  The Wizard of Clods

Farce by R Eugene Jackson

77 pages

Flexible cast, approx. 4 m,12 w, extras


When a cyclone hits Emerald City High School, things really get crazy! Dorothy, who refers to the other students as Munchkins, demands that a girl named Toto, whom she insists is her own dog, lead her to the Wizard of Oz who will help her return to Kansas. Following the yellow broken tile floor, Dorothy, Toto and other weird students experience several exciting adventures. But to resolve the drama, Toto provides Dorothy with a bus ticket home and helps solve the other school problems. These students not only read "The Wizard of Oz" for class, they lived it!

  Switcheroo

Farce by R Eugene Jackson

75 pages

5 m, 8 w, extras as desired


It is the most critical time in a teen's life when the prom is only a few hours away and nobody has a date for it! Oh, but wait! Chemistry student Beatrice has devised a concoction that will cast a spell over all the male students, causing them to appreciate the girls so much that they will undoubtedly invite the girls to the prom. Oh, but wait! Pokey adds some blue stuff to the mixture for "better color." The result is that a "switcheroo" takes place - the girls now think they are the boys, and the boys now think they are the girls. Oh, but wait! Beatrice re...

  Doofus and Goofus

Farce by R Eugene Jackson

74 pages

Flexible cast of 20


A kazillion dollars is a one followed by so many zeros they fall off the edge of the page. That's the ransom Lala Man and Lulu have demanded for the bratty child they have kidnapped and hidden in the grimy Pig Sty Family Restaurant. But they did not count on Doofus and Goofus, two determined but hysterically dense teenage girls who hope to raise a mere million dollars by 5 o'clock by working as waitresses. It's an explosive comedy of a million laughs and almost as many misadventures as the girls earn - and lose - a million dollars three different times!

  Hospital Hijinks

Comedy by R Eugene Jackson

68 pages

5 m, 11 w, extras as patients


If ever there was an emergency, it's the emergency room at Calamity University Hospital! The two on-duty doctors have been mysteriously shipped out of the country; essential medical supplies keep disappearing; and four student nurses, whose grades are so low they had to get down on their hands and knees to read them, have been assigned there. Add to the mix a nurse who gets hysterical over a split fingernail; a student who accidentally glues herself to her desk; and a professor who tries to freeze-dry himself for posterity. The student nurses may not know how...

  Dirty Rotten Tricks

Comedy by R Eugene Jackson

65 pages

6 m, 10 w, 6 flexible, extras


Trixie Mindstem is a bright and friendly, if not particularly attractive, senior at Noodlenick High School. Like many other girls, she has become a victim of the handsome and rich but deceitful Mark Toppledander. He steals her term papers and passes them off as his own; he invites her to his formal graduation bash but tells her to wear casual shorts and flip-flops; and he says behind her back, "Looks aren't everything, and in her case they're nothing." But he never should have crossed Trixie Mindstem because she has a few tricks of her own. While the space co...

  Devil, You Say!

Comedy by R Eugene Jackson

76 pages

16 characters (approx. 8 m, 8 w)


You should never make a pact with the, well, you know, because the consequences can be disastrous. Jimmy Faust, Jr., great-great (etc.) grandson of the legendary Faust, makes that mistake. In exchange for his soul he first demands to be made valedictorian of his class, even though Essie outscores him on every test. Big mistake. Then he tells the, you know, that he wants a date with Deshara, the sexiest girl on campus. Bigger mistake. Greedily, he further requests great wealth. Biggest mistake. His friends and Essie disown him, and he becomes an outcast. But e...

  H.M.S. Pinafore

Musical by R Eugene Jackson David Blackburn

41 pages

5 m, 3 w, choruses


This lighthearted comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan has enjoyed great audience appeal since it opened in 1878. This version, with its subtle cuts in the libretto and tasteful song selection, features more simplified harmony for the chorus and in some cases easier keys for teen singers. At a trim 90 minutes, it's a perfect length for today's audiences. The story is as familiar as ever: Old Admiral Sir Joseph Porter plans to marry the much younger Josephine with the consent of her father, Captain Corcoran. But Josephine is in love with Ralph, a common seaman,...