The Tallest Tale Competition

by Craig Kosnik

It is 1922, and four storytellers have come from across the country to tell new tales about popular American Tall Tale characters to compete for a cash prize. The stories revolve around the famous locomotive engineer Casey Jones; the giant lumberjack Paul Bunyan and his sidekick Babe the Blue Ox; and strongwoman Bess Call. Each tale has two endings and the audience votes on which ending they'll see. Additionally, at the very end of the play, the audience gets to vote on which storyteller will win the cash prize!

$12.00

Quick Details

  • Type: Play
  • Length: 65 minutes | Can be cut for competition
  • Availability: Available for productions worldwide
  • Cast Size: 27 roles | Can be doubled for a cast of 6-12

Full Details

Roles:

  • Fancy Freddy (or Freda) Flanders
  • Grumpy Gunther (or Gertie) Gawkins
  • Tillie Tansey
  • Tammi Tansey
  • Editor Tuck
  • Assistant Editor Reynolds
  • Bess Call
  • Joe Call
  • Newsboy
  • Mr. Biggns
  • Buford Bumblebee
  • Ox
  • Harold
  • Snidely Snitcherson
  • Paul Bunyan
  • Babe the Blue Ox
  • Johnny Inkslinger
  • Pinecone Evergreenia
  • Laurent Lacroix
  • Sluefoot Sue Junior
  • Sparkles
  • Mom
  • Dad
  • Casey Jones
  • Miss Butterworth
  • Cow
  • Sim

Ensemble includes crowd, puppeteers, and objects of the world

The following resources are included in each performance license:
  • Permission to photocopy the PDF script for your production so there is no additional cost for these assets.

The following resources may be added to you license for an additional fee:
  • Logo/Media package

Craig Kosnik

Dr. Craig Kosnik is a Theatre Instructor and Director at Arizona School for the Arts in Phoenix, Arizona. He graduated with his PhD in Theatre For Youth from Arizona State University in 2014 after successfully defending his dissertation: “The Adolescent’s Voice: How Theatre Participation Impacts High Schoolers and College Students.”  Before this, Craig earned a BA in Theatre from Gannon University in 2002 and an MA in Theatre Education from Emerson College in 2005.  Craig has experience in almost all fields of the theatre, but primarily considers himself a teacher, director, and playwright.  He has had five full-length plays produced: The Grimm Truth (Erie Playhouse, 2004), The FP: A Modernization of The Frog Prince (Erie Playhouse, 2009), Q3 (Erie Playhouse, 2009), The Tallest Tale Competition (Paradise Valley Community College, 2017); Oz: The Land That Time Forgot (Paradise Valley Community College, 2019); one ten minute play virtually produced: Straight Up Superhero (SUNY Potsdam, 2020); and one monologue virtually produced: M Date (Virtual Theatre of Arizona, 2020).  In his free time, Craig enjoys playing competitive tennis, reading, and collecting comic books.   


Originally produced at Paradise Valley Community College in 2017