Wicked Witch of Oz, The

Full-Lengths

By: Craig Sodaro
Cast: 4 M, 11 F, 1 flexible
Performance Time: Approximately 75-90 minutes, 70 pgs.

FARCE. When the real Wicked Witch of the West, Hecubah, suddenly finds herself on the set of a high school production of “The Wizard of Oz,” she and her flying monkey, Nikko, quickly realize they aren’t in Oz anymore. The cast thinks Hecubah is a new overzealous drama student and mistakes Nikko as a professional English actor. Desperate to return to Oz, Hecubah and Nikko try to convince the ultimate diva, Dorothy, to surrender her ruby slippers. But when the stubborn Dorothy refuses to part with her prized shoes, Hecubah wreaks havoc on set when she casts a spell causing Dorothy to lose her voice and her hair to turn bright blue and transforms some cast members into zombie-like minions focused on retrieving the ruby slippers. With opening night quickly approaching, the cast members find themselves in even more trouble when the Munchkins come down with chickenpox, their rental costumes are sent back, and there’s no one to play the role of Auntie Em. Then when Hecubah decides to play herself in the production and the actors are forced off book during the show, it definitely makes for an “interesting” retelling of “The Wizard of Oz”!

Freeviews: To read play excerpts click here.

Chicago-born playwright Craig Sodaro has published more than 100 plays, some of which have been performed internationally. Mr. Sodaro studied playwriting at Marquette University and worked as a teacher for 33 years. He now writes plays full-time and lives in the Colorado Rockies with his wife Sue.