One of the most-loved and most-produced playwrights for younger audiences, Ian McWethy’s plays are a joy to perform for school theatre groups. Meeting students where they are but never talking down to them, McWethy’s work is decorated with farcical narratives, memorable characters and breakneck pacing that allows for a large number of actors to get their moment in the spotlight. For older ages, he also penned numerous plays that touch on weightier topics and treat them with the same emotional honesty, charm and craftsmanship.
From 13 Ways to Screw Up Your College Interview to 21 Guaranteed Ways to Get Detention, McWethy has created countless opportunities for anyone to create laugh-out-loud moments in their productions. Here’s an overview of McWethy’s work through a sampling of five celebrated plays, along with thoughts from the author himself.
12 Incompetent Jurors (US/UK)
When a man is accused of abducting half a dozen cats, it’s a simple open-and-shut case, even for a jury that’s filled with oddballs like a dim-witted PR guy, a bickering couple and a man obsessed with french fries. After all, every scrap of evidence indicts the accused. (I mean so clearly. The man is very, very guilty of stealing cats. Case closed.) And yet, Juror #8, a wannabe lawyer, believes that the “Cat Burglar” is innocent. Will he be able to sway the other jury members? Or will they side with Juror #3, the only sane person in the room in this hilarious parody of 12 Angry Men. Filled page-to-page with jokes, 12 Incompetent Jurors reminds us that you have no idea who the 12 people called up to preside over a case might be. Originally produced at the New York Fringe Festival, this work plays fast and loose with an American classic to great effect.
Ian McWethy (IM): This is one of my favorite plays partly because I produced it myself and saw how well it worked with a full audience. It’s been produced over 200 times since, all over the world. A parody of the classic, using the same structure to create something new and hilarious. An inverse, bizzaro version of the original [drama] that [shows it] works just as well as a comedy.
An Absolutely True Story (As Told By A Bunch Of Lying Liars) (US)
Someone is in enormous trouble for breaking the priceless heirloom vase in the Peterson living room. But who? Someone is lying. Well, probably everyone is pretty much lying. Each suspect’s account is more outlandish than the last, from warring siblings Fred and Kelly, to their deeply weird friends Barney and Ava, to the family dog (according to the dog whisperer). But the truth? The truth is more slippery… and it may involve more Nutella than you could possibly imagine. Taking the tropes of a detective story and pumping them full of left turns, shock twists and multiple possible endings, this is a work in McWethy’s collection that speaks to the question on everyone’s minds when watching a mystery: Shouldn’t this have more Nutella Men?
IM: This is a weird one, but I love its shaggy weirdness and that it’s been embraced by schools and theatres. At one point, there’s a love triangle between a high school student, that student’s crush, a movie star, and a dog that transforms into a person. And everyone is okay with it.
The Incomplete Life & Random Death of Molly Denholtz (US)
A more solemn entry in McWethy’s catalog, this play deals with the ripple effects that grief can have in the lives of everyone impacted by someone’s untimely passing. Despite the more serious subject matter, the play is still filled with the characteristic McWethy hallmarks of warm humor and emotional honesty as we see a wide range of characters struggle through their feelings. Connected by Molly Denholtz, a now-distant elementary school friend struggles to write a meaningful eulogy; two exes tentatively share memories at an unexpected meeting; an acquaintance searches for the way to process some more complicated memories; and a girl who just lost her best friend is badgered by a barista on the wrong day.
IM: A bit of a departure for me, but one I’m immensely proud of. A series of 10-minute, interconnecting plays that explore the complicated feelings of sudden grief from a variety of perspectives that manages to be both funny and heartbreaking in equal measures. It was first developed and performed by my high school alma mater, the Yorktown Theater Department, and directed by my high school teachers.
Bad Auditions by Bad Actors (US/UK)
A casting director has one day to find the leads for a community theatre production of Romeo and Juliet. But what seems like a simple task proves impossible when the pool of actors includes extreme method actors, performers who just don’t know what to do with their hands, and one particular woman who may or may not think she’s a cat. This hilarious comedy will bring you to the last place you’d ever want to be: behind the doors of a casting session. Flexible for both cast gender and cast size, Bad Auditions by Bad Actors proves that comedy is just tragedy plus trying out for said tragedy.
IM: A silly, easy-to-produce piece that is to this day my most popular play in the Concord catalog. I still get a kick out of one actor walking on stage as a cat and leaving. Fun Fact: All the characters are named after my high school friends or my wife’s high school friends.
The Great American College Tour (US)
A whirlwind tour of the wild world of higher education, The Great American College Tour provides readers with a wide selection of alma maters better left unattended. When Calvin and Olive’s parents insist they tour as many colleges as possible before deciding what they’re going to do after graduation, they’re stuck visiting the quirkiest, most extreme examples of American higher education, including a sports-obsessed Big Ten school (Go Trucks!), a wilderness university with a carnivorous bear problem and an institution of higher learning that is definitely not a cult.
IM: My latest play is co-written with my much funnier/more talented wife Carrie McCrossen. I think it is both surprising and more consistently funny than a lot of plays I’ve written. We had a ball writing it and think it has both clever commentary on different colleges and also some very stupid/silly scenes you aren’t expecting.
For more great plays by Ian McWethy, browse the Ian McWethy Collection in the US or UK, which features all of his hilarious, high-energy work.
The Devil’s in the Details: Sharp Satire, Native Gardens and an Interview with Karen Zacarías
Native Gardens is a play about all the tensions and petty injustices that lie behind a veneer of neighborliness. In this interview, Karen talks about how she created this sharp, satirical looks at the changing face of the suburbs.
Newly Available for Licensing – January 2026 (UK)
Say cheers to a new year by licensing a new show! Check out these titles, newly available as of January from Concord Theatricals in the UK.
Newly Available for Licensing – January 2026 (US)
New year, new shows! Check out these titles, newly available in January in the US from Concord Theatricals.