Newly Available for Licensing – August 2026 (US)

Sitting on the border between summer and fall, August is often considered the “Sunday” of summer. On the brink of a new season, check out these titles, newly available as of August from Concord Theatricals in the US.

Dorothy’s Dictionary by E.M. Lewis
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 1m)
In this touching and inspirational two-hander, sparks fly when Zan, an angry high school student, works off his community service assignment by helping Dorothy, an ailing librarian. Each of them might just have what the other needs… if they can only find the words. This wonderful character study reminds audiences in a time of technology overwhelm that human connection – and books! – still matter.

Ernxst, or The Importance of Being by Justin Elizabeth Sayre, Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 22 any gender)
This innovative, electro-pop musical romp through Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest maintains the original’s manners and misgivings in the search for love, but adds to Wilde’s vision by breaking down boundaries around gender and identity, reminding us all of the importance of being exactly who we are. With tracks and music available for various keys and all roles open to any actor, it embodies the true meaning of flexible, inclusive casting.

Furlough’s Paradise by a.k. payne
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w)
In this radiant, nuanced two-hander – a staggering plea for empathy and connection – previously inseparable cousins Sade and Mina struggle to reconnect after returning home for the funeral of Sade’s mother. While Sade is on a three-day furlough from prison and Mina experiences a brief reprieve from her career and life on the West Coast, the two try to make sense of grief, home, love and kinship. Poetic and theatrical, this “quiet triumph of intimacy, memory and liberation” (Indulge) explores restorative justice and the family dreams of a utopia yet to be realized.

Little Bear Ridge Road by Samuel D. Hunter
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 2m)
Nominee for the 2026 Tony Award for Best Play! In Samuel D. Hunter’s bitterly funny and incisively thoughtful Broadway drama, a reclusive aunt and her gay nephew reunite to sort the mess left after a troubled father’s passing in rural Idaho. They face an uncomfortable and universal question: How do we deal with other people? And is connection more trouble than it’s worth? As their relationship begins anew, the two reluctant Fernsbys – separated by age and experience – start to understand the joys and perils of letting someone else into your own story, even if only for a moment.

Love You More by Nikhil Mahapatra
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3 any gender)
Do you have siblings? Are you the favorite? No? Are you sure? A play about Shakespeare’s three sisters (but actually only two sisters) being sisterly – and figuring out what that means when you’re all that’s left. When Lear passes away, Goneril and Cordelia both do not know how to continue having a relationship with each other after the only thing connecting them is gone. So, they attempt to heal their fractured relationship – with mixed results.

Lunar Eclipse by Donald Margulies
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 1m)
George has been waiting for this night – the seven stages of a lunar eclipse are viewable from the farm that he shares with his wife Em. As the couple has been married for decades, they know how to take care of each other, needle one another and offer each other the companionship that has made their lives so full, even though the world has saddled them with great chasms of emptiness. In this tender, loving and hopeful drama with two substantial roles for senior actors, they look for answers in the stars to help find meaning on this earth.

Off Off Broadway Festival Plays, 50th Series by Various Authors
(Collection of 10-Minute Plays / 2w, 2m, 2gnc)
As the nation’s leading short play festival, the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival fosters the work of emerging writers, giving them the exposure of publication and representation. The plays in this collection represent the winners of the 50th iteration of the OOB Festival in 2025, which can be performed all together in one evening of theatre or licensed individually.

The collection includes, in this order:

A Middle Passage by Yide Cai (蔡逸得)
(10 Minute Play, Drama / 2w, 1m, 1 girl)
In an isolated drive-thru suspended from the outside world, three generations of an immigrant family work tirelessly to fulfill orders no one sees. As Grandma recounts memories from a lost homeland, language and time begin to blur, unsettling the rhythm of their lives. When strange frozen items appear and the temperature plummets, they must huddle together to survive. This surreal and haunting exploration of cultural memory, familial love and survival captures the quiet ache of being in-between.

Alifornia by Daniel Holzman
(10 Minute Play, Comedy / 3 any gender, expandable/flexible casting)
In this short play, Al drives the length of California to find the last pair of pants that fit. While the original production used three separate actors to embody the play’s sole character, the “Al”-location of lines is up to the director and can be expanded to more actors, as anyone can play an Al.

archy and mehitabel one last time by J.R. Stephens
(10 Minute Play, Drama / 1w, 1m)
In this short play, June and August are downsizing to a small apartment in assisted living. On their last night in the home they built together, June reflects on their shared history: the betrayals, the compromises and the different identities she has taken on over the years. Once a man of words, August now sits in silence as June sorts through their lives in this meditation on marriage, mortality and what remains as time moves on. A wonderful short selection for two senior actors.

Bump -> Set -> Spike -> Bruise by Diana Lobontiu
(10 Minute Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2gnc)
Mo (short for Maria, short for the *Virgin* Mary) likes to hit hard. Kat (short for Ekaterina Gordeeva – oh brother) likes to rhyme. They wind up as volleyball partners. At 10, 13, 16 and into infinity, they wind up as volleyball partners: growing their garden of queer charm, cultivating their bruised volleyball forearms and resisting their love for each other. Well, until…

Godbird by Nurit Chinn
(10 Minute Play, Dark Comedy / 1w, 2m)
Deb’s up early and can’t sleep. During off-leash hours in a neighborhood park, she meets Hugo and his pitbull… and a Birdman with a bird-like view of things, lurking in a shrub. A short play about being seen.

SEARCH ENGINE by Raffi Donatich
(10 Minute Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3 any gender)
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf summary. Play description. How do you write a play description. How do you write a play description while remaining elusive and sexy. Most famous log lines. How to make people like theatre. Am I gay? A short play structured around search engine searches and the loneliness of how an internet spiral feels.

[REDACTED] Jr. by Alyssa Haddad-Chin
(Short Play, Comedy / 3w, 3m, 4 any gender)
This world premiere one-act written specifically for today’s students explores authentic storytelling and theatre kid culture as a high school theatre program prepares their spring musical. From the on-stage talent to the behind-the-scenes directors and designers, each high schooler involved must work together to make the show the best it can be… with a little help from a magical friend and the magic of friendship, too. Published as part of The Keen Collection: Volume 12.

S Gunter Klaus & the Story Before by Jon Ferguson and John Heimbuch
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 11 any gender)
In a remote village at the edge of the world, a lonely coal vendor is engaged in an epic battle with the darkness of winter. This magical story combines ancient Scandinavian folklore with tales of adventure and discovery to unearth the true origins of Santa Claus. A seasonal story for all audiences to enjoy!

The Door by Amy E. Witting
(Short Play, Drama / 1w, 11 any gender)
This world premiere one-act written specifically for today’s students tells a story of hope under extraordinary circumstances. It’s an ordinary Thursday in a classroom in America – not FDR’s America, this America – and a classroom of eleven students named for colors of the rainbow must grapple with surviving the “new imaginable” in the aftermath of a school tragedy. While this play addresses sensitive topics, its roots lie in magic, hope and love. Published as part of The Keen Collection: Volume 12.

The Floydians by Kyle Bass
(Short Play, Drama / 1w, 5m, 4 any gender)
To mark the fifth anniversary of the police murder of George Floyd, a diverse group of teens creates a new religion around their martyr. As they try to come up with the last verse of the final chapter of their sacred text (Floydians 9:29), division, shifting alliances and the deeply personal threaten the group’s cohesion, testing their faith in the possibility of a just society and a hopeful future. This one-act play written for teenage performers is a meditation on martyrdom and the pursuit of justice.

The Gershwins®’ Porgy and Bess® (Two-Piano Edition) by George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, Dorothy Heyward, Diedre L. Murray and Suzan-Lori Parks
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 4w, 4m + ensemble)
Recognized worldwide as a masterpiece, George Gershwin’s final work for the musical stage, Porgy and Bess®, can now be performed with just two pianos! Based on DuBose and Dorothy Heyward’s play Porgy, this “American Folk Opera” combines elements of jazz, classical and American folk music to tell the story of a Black waterfront community in Charleston, South Carolina. The opera’s notable arias include “Summertime,” “A Woman Is a Sometime Thing,” “My Man’s Gone Now,” “I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’,” “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” “Bess, You Is My Woman Now” and “I’m On My Way.”

The High Ground by Nathan Alan Davis
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 1m)
More than a century after the Tulsa race massacre killed hundreds and destroyed the prosperous Greenwood District, a Black man in army garb still stands his ground on present-day Tulsa’s Standpipe Hill – but other forces, both friendly and hostile, conspire to remove him. Traversing space and time, this play in conversation with Tulsa, Oklahoma’s 1921 race massacre tells a lyrical story about mysteries of love and loss, reminding us of what it takes to re-emerge from the devastation of a century, long after the embers have turned to ash. A complex portrait of what it means to root, to resist and to proceed from devastation.

The Reservoir by Jake Brasch
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 4m)
Josh is on medical leave from NYU. He’s come home to Denver to get his life together but can’t manage to stay sober. Struggling with fogginess, memory loss, shame and regret, he finds unlikely allies in his four zany grandparents and resolves to bring them along on the road to recovery. When he can no longer help his grandparents, they begin to help him. This heartbreaking and hilarious play explores dementia and alcoholism with aching tenderness and lots of humor.

The Time Machine by Amiel Gladstone
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 9 any gender + ensemble)
Based on H.G. Wells’ classic novel, this theatrical adaptation follows The Traveler in their quest in creating a virtual reality so lifelike that it shows what the future holds. When a demonstration for a group of different members of society sends them too far into the future, they discover Eloi, a community of young people content and almost in a daze, and Morlocks, older beings hidden from the light and fearful of change. Will they make it back safely, and will anyone believe it’s even real? A fresh take on the original novel and a modern look at technology’s effect on society.

The Ugly Xmas Sweater Musical by Dan Knechtges and Megan Larche Dominick
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 3w, 2m)
It’s Christmas, and Cheryl, the overworked HR Director, has one last desperate plan to save Regalia Uniforms from corporate extinction: rally the employees (a.k.a. your audience) to design an ugly sweater so outrageous it charms even a German CEO with a resting Grinch face. The result? A laugh-out-loud, interactive holiday tradition where everyone gets to join the fun. Sing along, dance along and compete in over-the-top sweater shenanigans at the office holiday party you ACTUALLY want to attend. This festive show celebrates creativity and the magic of working together when the stakes are high. Prepare to laugh, sing and wear your finest ugly sweaters… because saving Christmas never looked so tacky – or like so much fun!

To be, or not to bother? by David Tristram
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 2m)
In the eighth theatrical installment of the hugely popular Little Grimley series, which follows the antics of a hapless Amateur Dramatic Society desperate for audiences, the troupe decides to tackle Shakespeare. The world’s greatest playwright paired with the world’s worst amateur dramatic society. What could possibly go wrong? Memorable results ensue in this highly theatrical comedy.

Totally Murder! by Tracy Wells
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 5w, 2m, 16 any gender)
It’s the 1980s, and the food court at the Valley View Mall is bustling with all the usual suspects. And of course, there’s the people stuck wearing silly unforms as they dish out ice cream, hot dogs and all manner of greasy foods. But when the automatic doors to the food court stop working and the owner of the new pizza restaurant, Sarrano’s, falls down dead, things get totally heinous! It’s up to an enthusiastic mall security guard to figure out who’s guilty before the killer wigs out and claims another victim! A large-cast, totally ’80s whodunit with plenty of roles for teens.

You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! by Keiko Green
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 2m, 1gnc)
M has always had a complicated relationship with their parents. When Greg gets a terminal diagnosis, their small family feels the pressure of time running out. Greg wants to expand his world and commits the rest of his life to fighting climate change, while his wife Viv wants nothing more than to savor every last minute together. Meanwhile M, our emcee, searches desperately to find meaning in the chaos of their final year with their dad. In this theatrical spectacle, M serves as a metatheatrical narrator, using the joy of dance and theatre to explore themes of grief, dying and our connection to the Earth. After all, the world’s too big not to be kind of magical in this celebration-of-life play.

For more new titles, read more in our Newly Available for Licensing series on Breaking Character or visit Concord Theatricals in the US.