A Time for Dolls

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$999.99

A Time for Dolls (Demo Script)

$9.99

This demo script is exclusively for personal and academic reading, review, and literary purposes. By purchasing this script, users agree not to perform, reproduce, resell, publish, translate, edit, modify, cut, add, adapt, reinterpret, livestream, or record readings of this play. Script transfers are not permitted, except for academic use in classroom settings where students receive credits, grades, recognition, and/or certification for reading, review, and/or literary evaluation. No commercial use of this script is permitted. Access to this material does not grant production, staging, or licensing rights. All rights remain reserved by the author (“playwright” and “copyright holder”).

A Time for Dolls (Small Performance License)

$99.99

The Small Performance License grants users non-exclusive rights to perform this script for audiences of no more than 100 attendees per performance. By purchasing this script, users agree not to reproduce, resell, publish, translate, livestream, or record for commercial distribution without prior written permission from the author (“playwright” and “copyright holder”). Users agree not to transfer the script. Any script changes, edits, modifications, cuts, additions, adaptions, or reinterpretations require written approval from the author and/or their agent representation. By purchasing this script, users agree to use the author’s name and likeness on all promotional and programmatic materials and press releases. This license only provides limited performance rights, and does not transfer ownership, publication, or full exclusive production rights to users. All rights remain reserved by the author.

A Time for Dolls (Large Performance License)

$199.99

The Large Performance License grants users non-exclusive rights to perform this script for audiences exceeding 100 attendees per performance. By purchasing this script, users agree not to reproduce, resell, publish, translate, livestream, or record for commercial distribution without prior written permission from the author (“playwright” and “copyright holder”). Users agree not to transfer the script. Any script changes, edits, modifications, cuts, additions, adaptions, or reinterpretations require written approval from the author and/or their agent representation. By purchasing this script, users agree to use the author’s name and likeness on all promotional and programmatic materials and press releases. This license only provides limited performance rights, and does not transfer ownership, publication, or full exclusive production rights to users. All rights remain reserved by the author.

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A Time for Dolls: A One-Act Play by Shantell Powell

A Time for Dolls is a powerful, darkly comic one-act play rooted in Inuit storytelling, myth, and coming-of-age ritual. Set within the traditional home of an Inuit family, the play unfolds as a mother tells her teenage daughter a series of ancestral stories—stories of survival, hunger, sexuality, transformation, and resilience—on the eve of the girl’s transition from childhood to womanhood.

Blending folklore, ritual performance, and stark honesty, A Time for Dolls explores what it means to grow up in a world where survival is never guaranteed and knowledge is passed through story rather than instruction. Dolls become symbols of care, preparation, and endurance, marking the moment when imagination must give way to responsibility.

The play features a small ensemble cast and fluid staging, with mythic figures—including the Sun Woman, Moon Man, giants, shamans, and ancestral elders—emerging alongside realistic domestic scenes. Humor and brutality coexist, reflecting the complexity of oral traditions that teach through both laughter and discomfort.

Written with cultural specificity and theatrical boldness, A Time for Dolls is particularly well suited for classroom performance, theatre studies, Indigenous literature courses, gender studies, and ensemble-based training. Its one-act structure and episodic storytelling make it accessible for student actors while offering rich material for discussion around mythology, survival ethics, bodily autonomy, and rites of passage.