A Planning Guide for University Theatre – 2024/5 Season

From classic showstoppers to innovative and experimental contemporary works, these plays and musicals are ideal for your upcoming productions or showcases at university or drama school. With cast sizes ranging from 2 to ‘expandable’, these titles offer your students the perfect opportunity to collaborate on a rewarding theatrical experience.

PLAYS

2022 Shakespeare’s Globe production of I, Joan (Tristram Kenton)

Contemporary Plays

365 Days/365 Plays by Suzan-Lori Parks (US/UK)
(Collection, Comedy and Drama / Flexible Cast Size)
In 2002, the incomparable Suzan-Lori Parks wrote a play every day for a year. Theatre makers may present an assortment of selected plays from the collection.

Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties by Jen Silverman (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 5w)
Jen Silverman’s hilarious play explores anger, sex, love and the “thea-tah” through the experiences of five women named Betty.

Constellations by Nick Payne (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 1m)
A play about free will and friendship; it’s about quantum multiverse theory, love and honey. One relationship. Infinite possibilities.

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand and Martin Crimp (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 10m)
Cyrano, in this free adaptation by Martin Crimp, seduces in raps and rhymes, using his linguistic brilliance to help another man win the heart of his one true love.

Dance Nation by Clare Barron (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 9w, 2m)
Somewhere in America, an army of pre-teen competitive dancers plots to take over the world. A play about ambition, growing up and how to find our souls in the heat of it all.

Enron by Lucy Prebble (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Satire/Political Satire / 5w, 11m)
Mixing classical tragedy with savage comedy, the play follows a group of flawed men and women in a narrative of greed and loss which reviews the tumultuous 1990s and casts new light on the financial turmoil in which the world currently finds itself.

Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 5m)
Ruhl reimagines the classic myth of Orpheus through the eyes of its heroine. With contemporary characters and ingenious plot twists, the play is a fresh look at a timeless love story.

First Touch by Nathaniel Price (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 5m)
Inspired by the recent football abuse scandals, First Touch is a gripping and heartfelt drama about what it takes to fulfil your dreams.

Hangmen by Martin McDonagh (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 2w, 12m, 2 any gender adult)
What’s the second-best hangman in England to do on the day they’ve abolished hanging? Amongst the cub reporters and sycophantic pub regulars dying to hear Harry’s reaction to the news, a peculiar stranger lurks, with a very different motive for his visit.

Home, I’m Darling by Laura Wade (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 4w, 2m)
A dark comedy about sex, cake and the quest to be the perfect 1950s housewife.

House of Ife by Beru Tessema (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 2m)
A tense, funny and explosive drama exploring what it means to belong, and what happens when a family’s secrets shake its foundations.

I, Joan by Charlie Josephine (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 6m, 1 any gender adult)
A powerful and joyous new play, this retelling of Joan of Arc’s story is alive and queer and full of hope.

Kodachrome by Adam Szymkowicz (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 2m)
Suzanne, a photographer in  the small town of Colchester, offers us glimpses of romance in all its stages. A play about love, nostalgia, the seasons and how we learn to say goodbye.

Lights Over Tesco Car Park by Jack Bradfield and Poltergeist Theatre (UK)
(Short Play / 4 any gender adult)
Robert reported lights over the Tesco car park. Then he told us an alien was coming to stay in his spare room. With the help of some historical abduction stories, a latex alien mask, and a bucket of flying saucers, we’re working out whether to believe him.

Love and Information by Caryl Churchill (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / Flexible Cast Size)
In this fast moving kaleidoscope, more than a hundred characters try to make sense of what they know.

Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn and Michael Friedman (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play with Music, Dark Comedy / 5w, 3m)
With The Simpsons as its inspiration, this imaginative dark comedy is an animated exploration of how the pop culture of one era might evolve into the mythology of another.

Posh by Laura Wade (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 11m)
Welcome to the Riot Club, where members of an elite student dining society, the boys are bunkering down for a wild night of debauchery, decadence and bloody good wine.

Shakespeare in Love by Tom Stoppard and Lee Hall (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 6w, 18m)
Based on the Academy Award-winning movie, this enchanting, hilarious, romantic stage play reimagines William Shakespeare’s creative process – and explores his inspiration – as he writes Romeo and Juliet.

Shebeen by Mufaro Makubika (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 5m)
As tensions mount on a night filled with rum, calypso and dancing, and with the shebeen under threat from the police, everyone is forced to confront the uncomfortable truths their relationships are built upon.

SHEWOLVES by Sarah Middleton (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2w)
An uplifting, funny and empowering play about forging friendships when you’re a bit weird, the power of hope and the underestimated smartness of teens.

She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 6w, 3m)
This high-octane dramatic comedy – laden with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres and 90s pop culture – is a heart-pounding homage to the geek and warrior within us all.

Shopping and Fucking by Mark Ravenhill (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 4m)
A witty and shocking look at a world saturated with consumerism through the lives of disconnected youth.

Sleepova by Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w)
A frank, funny and moving coming-of-age story, Sleepova is an ode to black women, their boundless spirits and wild dreams.

Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea by Julia Izumi (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 2m, 2 any gender)
This playful, quirky, loose adaptation of The Little Mermaid, about a Little Rain Cloud who falls in love with a human, unpacks some personal history about Hans Christian Andersen.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, Simon Stephens (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 5w, 5m)
A stage adaptation of Mark Haddon’s bestselling, award-winning novel that offers a richly theatrical exploration of this touching and bleakly humorous tale.

The Flick by Annie Baker (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 3m)
In a run-down cinema in Massachusetts, three underpaid employees mop the floors and attend to one of the last 35mm film projectors in the state. A hilarious and heart-rending cry for authenticity in a fast-changing world.

The Girl on the Train by Rachel Wagstaff, Paula Hawkins and Duncan Abel (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 4m)
Rachel Watson learns that the woman she’s been secretly watching on the train window has suddenly disappeared, she finds herself as a witness and even a suspect in a thrilling mystery in which she will face bigger revelations than she could ever have anticipated.

The Lovely Bones by Bryony Lavery and Alice Sebold (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 6w, 4m)
A stage adaptation of Alice Sebold’s unique coming-of-age tale novel The Lovely Bones.

The Pitchfork Disney by Philip Ridley (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 3m)
This unsettling, dreamlike piece has surreal undertones and thematically explores fear, dreams and story-telling set in East End of London.

The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 10w)
Nine American girls on a local soccer team navigate big questions and wage tiny battles with all the vim and vigor of a pack of adolescent warriors.

This Restless House by Zinnie Harris
Part One: Agamemnon’s Return (UK); Part Two: The Bough Breaks (UK); Part Three: Electra and Her Shadow (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 8w, 8m)
Based on Aeschylus’ Oresteia. Zinnie Harris reimagines this ancient drama, using a contemporary sensibility to rework the stories, placing the women in the centre.

Vardy V Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial by Liv Hennessy (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 3m)
Edited from seven sensational days of High Court transcripts, witness the case of Rebekah Vardy v Coleen Rooney unfold in their own words.

2010 Broadway production of August Wilson’s Fences (Joan Marcus)

Classic Plays

Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 3m)
Meet three couples in their three kitchens on the Christmas Eves of three successive years. A story of the advance of one of the couples to material prosperity and independence and the decline of the others.

Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 7w, 9m)
A unique take on the classic murder mystery, this chilling play explores the realms of the sadistic mind and the devastating effects of long-term psychological abuse.

August Wilson’s Fences by August Wilson (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 5m)
In 1957 Pittsburgh, Troy Maxson, an embittered former star of the Negro baseball leagues, takes out his frustration on his wife and son, who now wants his own chance to play ball.

Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 5w, 2m)
This smash comedy hit offers wit, conflict and big laughs as a fussy, cantankerous novelist finds himself haunted by the ghost of his late first wife.

Copenhagen by Michael Frayn (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 2m)
In 1941, German physicist Werner Heisenberg arrives in Copenhagen to see his Danish counterpart, Niels Bohr. Though they revolutionised atomic science in the 1920s, they now find themselves on opposite sides of a world war.

Moby Dick – Rehearsed by Orson Welles and Herman Melville (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 12m)
In this thrilling stage play from Oscar winner Orson Welles, a Shakespearean theatre company presents Melville’s tale about Captain Ahab’s obsessive pursuit of the White Whale.

Our Town by Thornton Wilder (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 7w, 17m)
Described by Edward Albee as “the greatest American play ever written,” Our Town depicts the simple daily lives of two families as their children fall in love, marry and eventually die.

Persuasion by Jane Austen and Jeff James (UK)
(Full-Length Play / 5w, 4m, 1boy)
When Captain Wentworth proposed to Anne eight years ago, he had only love and ambition to offer. Talked out of accepting his proposal by her family, Anne’s never quite got over her first love.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2w, 14m)
A fabulously inventive tale of Hamlet as told from the worm’s-eye view of the bewildered Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters in Shakespeare’s play.

The 39 Steps by Patrick Barlow and John Buchan (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 1w, 1m, 2 any gender)
Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python, and you have The 39 Steps, a fast-paced whodunit for anyone who loves the magic of theatre.

The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht and Alistair Beaton (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 11w, 13m)
A cruel town governor is murdered. His wife escapes but abandons her baby, who is harboured by a kitchen-maid, Grusha. Later the governor’s widow returns and a trial is ordered with the test: which woman can drag the child out of a chalk circle?

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 2m)
A poetic portrayal of a family on the brink of change. This intimate and intense memory play explores the complex web of love and loyalty that binds families together.

The Hothouse by Harold Pinter (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 6m)
It is Christmas Day and a mysterious death and an unexpected birth are troubling Roote, the director of a Government ‘rest home’.

Three Sisters by Sarah Ruhl, Anton Chekhov,  Elise Thoron, Natasha Paramonova and Kristin Johnsen-Neshati (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 5w, 9m)
The humour and heartbreak of one of the world’s greatest plays is revealed through the lyricism of a leading voice in contemporary theatre: two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl.

Time and the Conways by J.B. Priestley (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 6w, 4m)
The Conways are having a party to celebrate Kay’s twenty-first birthday. At the party, Kay, with frightening clarity, sees her family 20 years in the future.

Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 6m)
Childress’s 1955 play – which premiered on Broadway in 2021 – is a funny, moving and heartbreaking look at racism, identity and ego in the high-stakes world of New York theatre.

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4m, 1boy)
Two wandering tramps, Vladimir and Estragon, wait by a lonely tree, to meet up with Mr. Godot, an enigmatic figure in a world where time, place and memory are blurred and meaning is where you find it.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 2m)
Over a long night of malicious games, insults, humiliations, betrayals, painful confrontations and savage witticisms, the secrets of two couples are laid bare, and illusions are viciously exposed.

2015 Broadway production of An American in Paris (Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade)

MUSICALS

[title of show] by Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 2w, 2m, 1 any gender)
This innovative musical-about-a-musical celebrates the meaning of art, the challenges of being an artist and the strength of friendship. Also available in a clean version (US/UK). 

A Chorus Line by Michael Bennett, James Kirkwood, Nicholas Dante, Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 9w, 10m)
The groundbreaking, Pulitzer Prize-winning classic explores the inner lives and bittersweet ambitions of professional musical performers at a high-stakes Broadway audition.

An American in Paris by George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin and Craig Lucas (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 5m)
The romantic story of a young American soldier, a beautiful French girl, and an indomitable European city… all set to the immortal score from George and Ira Gershwin.

Amélie by Craig Lucas, Daniel Messé, Nathan Tysen and Daniel Messé (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy  /  5w, 7m, 1 girl plus ensemble)
This quirky, charming West End and Broadway musical tells the story of Amélie, an extraordinary young woman who lives quietly in the world but loudly in her mind.

American Psycho by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Duncan Sheik and Bret Easton Ellis (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dark Comedy / 8w, 8m)
This ruthless and daring musical, based on the electrifying novel, tells the story of Patrick Bateman, a young Wall Street banker with impeccable taste and unquenchable desires.

Anything Goes by Cole Porter, P.G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton, Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse, Timothy Crouse and John Weidman (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 3w, 4m plus ensemble)
A hilarious shipboard romp wrapped in one of Cole Porter’s most magical scores. It’s delightful, delicious and de-lovely!

Be More Chill by Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 4w, 6m plus ensemble)
The fan-favourite musical Be More Chill is a rocking new sci-fi musical about growing up, high school, and what we’re willing do to get what we want.

Carrie: The Musical by Michael Gore, Dean Pitchford, Lawrence D. Cohen and Stephen King (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 5w, 2m plus ensemble)
In this chilling and thought-provoking musical, misfit Carrie White is bullied at school and abused at home. But she has a special power, and if pushed too far, she’s not afraid to use it.

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie by Tom MacRae, Dan Gillespie Sells and Jonathan Butterell (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 8w, 10m)
Jamie New doesn’t quite fit in, and terrified about the future. Supported by his brilliant, loving mum and surrounded by his friends, Jamie overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies, and steps out of the darkness into the spotlight.

First Date by Austin Winsberg, Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 4w, 3m)
When blind date newbie Aaron is set up with serial-dater Casey, a casual drink at a busy NYC restaurant turns into a hilarious high-stakes dinner. Also available in a 5-actor version (US/UK).

Footloose by Dean Pitchford, Walter Bobbie and Tom Snow (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 7w, 8m plus ensemble)
The stage adaptation of Footloose celebrates the exhilaration of youth, the wisdom of listening to one another, and the power of forgiveness.

Fun Home by Jeanine Tesori, Lisa Kron and Alison Bechdel (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 4w, 2m, 1 girl, 2 boys)
When her father dies unexpectedly, graphic novelist Alison dives deep into her past to explore her relationship with the volatile, brilliant man whose secrets defined her family.

HAIR by Gerome Ragni, James Rado  and Galt MacDermot (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 5m plus ensemble)
The Grammy and Tony Award-winning hit musical remains relevant as ever as it celebrates community, identity, politics, peace, and what it means to be a young person in a changing world.

Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn by Irving Berlin, Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 3w, 3m, 1 boy plus ensemble)
The beloved film classic comes to the stage in a charming crowd-pleaser featuring one glorious Irving Berlin number after another, each celebrating a different festivity.

Jasper in Deadland by Hunter Foster and Ryan Scott Oliver (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dark Comedy / 4w, 5m)
This fresh, compelling pop-rock musical, inspired by the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, follows 16-year-old Jasper Jarvis as he travels through the afterlife on a mission to save his best friend, Agnes.

Lysistrata Jones by Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 6w, 6m)
Adapted from Lysistrata, Aristophanes’ classic Greek comedy, Lysistrata Jones takes student activism to a whole new level and celebrates the journey of discovering and embracing who you truly are.

Ordinary Days by Adam Gwon (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 2m)
Four young New Yorkers intersect as they each search for fulfilment, happiness, love and cabs.

Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show by Richard O’Brien (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dark Comedy / 3w, 6m)
The original kitschy rock ‘n’ roll sci-fi gothic musical is more fun than ever!

Rock of Ages by Chris D’Arienzo and Ethan Popp (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 10w, 7m plus ensemble)
Rock of Ages takes you back to the time of big bands with big egos playing big guitar solos and sporting even bigger hair! Features hits including Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister and more.

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Broadway Version) by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II and Douglas Carter Beane (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 5w, 4m plus ensemble)
This contemporary take on the classic tale features Rodgers & Hammerstein’s beloved songs with an up-to-date, uproarious and romantic libretto by Douglas Carter Beane.

Ruthless! by Joel Paley and Marvin Laird (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 7w)
Eight-year-old Tina Denmark knows she was born to play Pippi Longstocking, and she will do anything to win the part in her school musical. “Anything” includes murdering the leading lady!

Sweet Charity by Neil Simon, Cy Coleman, Dorothy Fields, Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli and Ennio Flaiano (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 4w, 4m plus ensemble)
With a tuneful, groovy, mid-1960s score and a hilarious book, Sweet Charity captures all the humor and heartbreak of Life in the Big City for an unfortunate but irrepressible optimist.

The Grinning Man by Carl Grose, Tom Morris, Tim Phillips and Marc Teitler (UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dark Comedy / 5w, 7m)
A fairy-tale love story streaked with pitch-black humour, lashings of Gothic horror and swashbuckling adventure.

The Light in the Piazza by Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 4w, 4m)
In this lush, romantic musical set in 1958, a mother and daughter vacationing in Italy are forced to reconsider their future when the daughter falls in love with a local Florentine boy.

The Lightning Thief by Joe Tracz, Rob Rokicki and Rick Riordan (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 7 any gender plus ensemble)
When teenager Percy Jackson discovers he’s a demigod, he and his friends embark on an epic journey to find Zeus’ missing lightning bolt and prevent a war among the gods.

The Mad Ones by Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 1m)
Samantha Brown balances on the edge of her future, car keys in hand. This dynamic contemporary musical explores friendship, loss and redemption with passion and heart.

The Secret Garden by Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 10w, 12m, 1 girl, 1 boy plus ensemble)
The enchanting, Tony Award-winning musical based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 novel is a compelling tale of forgiveness and renewal.

The Spitfire Grill by James Valcq, Fred Alley and Lee David Zlotoff (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 4w, 3m)
Based on the hit 1996 film, this heartwarming and inspirational musical, set in a small Wisconsin town, is a tale of redemption, perseverance and family.

The View UpStairs by Max Vernon (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 2w, 8m)
A young fashion designer from 2017 is transported to the UpStairs Lounge, a vibrant 70s gay bar, sparking a journey of self-exploration spanning two generations of queer history.

The Wild Party by Michael John La Chiusa, George C. Wolfe and Joseph Moncure March (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 7w, 8m)
A jazz- and gin-soaked party in 1920s Manhattan is the setting for this musical fable about debauchery, decadence and sexual freedom.

Twelfth Night by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 4w, 7m plus ensemble)
A musical adaptation of William Shakespeare’s comedy, a classic story of love and mistaken identity with an original jazz-funk score.

Vanities: The Musical by Jack Heifner and David Kirshenbaum (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 3w)
This life-affirming musical captures a portrait of the lives, loves and dreams of three young women growing up during the turbulent 60s and 70s and reconnecting in the late 80s.

You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schulz, Clark Gesner, Michael Mayer and Andrew Lippa (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 2w, 4m plus ensemble)
Happiness is great musical theatre! With charm, wit and heart, this charming and unassuming show explores life through the eyes of Charlie Brown and his friends in the Peanuts gang.

Zombie Prom by John Dempsey, Dana P. Rowe, Mac Tumminelli and Hugh M. Murphy (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 5w, 5m plus ensemble)
This girl-loves-ghoul rock ’n’ roll Off Broadway musical is set in the atomic 1950s at Enrico Fermi High, where the law is laid down by a zany, tyrannical principal.

For more great plays and musicals, visit the UK website of Concord Theatricals.