ARCHIBALD THE MONSTER is available from YouthPLAYS publishers.


Archibald the Monster Cover Art

A short comedy for 9-16+ Middle School actors.

When a scary monster terrorizes fairy tale villagers to steal their food, only the poorest child has the cunning and bravery to stop the monster and earn the villagers’ respect - in a tale woven by two babysitting siblings trying to head off a tantrum from their own little “monster”.

Runtime: 15 minutes

Setting: A bedroom and a fairytale land

CAST: 9-16+, all roles are gender neutral
KACEY, the eldest of three siblings.
ELLIOTT, the middle child.
YOUNG ROBIN, the youngest.
ARCHIBALD, a very small monster.
DAIRY MAID, timorous.
HEGGLER, easily panicked.
BAKER, lacking courage.
KNIGHT, yellow-bellied.
WIZARD, faint-hearted.
ROBIN, brave and resourceful.
MOTHER (FATHER), ditzy but caring.
Additional roles:
THE VILLAGERS (can be doubled).

The play is available from
YouthPLAYS.


Archibald the Monster

Comedy, 15 min, 9-16+ actors
Suitable for Middle and Upper Elementary School performers, and audiences of all ages!

Archibald the Monster
A new publication from YouthPLAYS!

Why this play?

Many years ago, I was having dinner with a friend of mine - filmmaker Stephanie Riggs. She had an important phone call scheduled with a producer in Los Angeles, and she HAD to take that call… and right before the call, her son Charlie - who was then very, very young, had a complete meltdown about going to bed.
I was drafted into emergency duty to get an unhappy kid to sleep, and this was many years before I had a kid of my own, so I had no idea what I was doing. I started improvising a bedtime story for Charlie about Archibald the Monster - and, aside from a minor detail (It was a farmer with potatoes rather than a baker with donuts), the story that I spun that evening in a total panic didn’t really change - until the ending, many years later.
The second ending - what happened next - came from telling the story to my own kid, Robert (nicknamed “Robin” when they were tiny). Robert suggested that the Robin in the story should go up to the cave and make friends with Archibald the Monster... so in the play, that's what Robin does!




Upcoming production!

I am thrilled to announce that Archibald the Monster will be at the San Carlos Children's Theatre
in Belmont, CA 94002 in November, 2024.

San carlos Childrens Theatre



Sample Dialogue...


A selection of text from Archibald the Monster



Contact the playwright

Out now from YouthPLAYS, Inc.

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