Newly Available for Licensing (UK) – January 2025

Start the year with new shows! Read below to explore all of the titles newly available to license from Concord Theatricals in the UK.

Anastasia: The Musical by Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty & Lynn Ahrens – Full version now available for Schools, Universities, and Youth Groups in the UK to license.
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 5m, 1 girl +ensemble)
This dazzling show transports its audience from the twilight of the Russian Empire to the euphoria of Paris in the 1920s, as a brave young woman sets out to discover the mystery of her past. Pursued by a ruthless Soviet officer determined to silence her, Anya enlists the aid of a dashing con man and a lovable ex-aristocrat. Together, they embark on an epic adventure to help her find home, love and family.

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks and Rachel Wagstaff – New version now available to license!
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 9m)
This powerful and compelling story about courage, love, friendship and loss is brought to the stage for the first time. As a young man, Stephen Wraysford was caught up in an all-consuming love affair in Amiens, France. As the First World War unfolds, Stephen finds himself pulled closer and closer back to Amiens, back to the Valley of the Somme. This is a tale of one man’s quest to understand how far mankind can go and still call itself human.

Covenant by York Walker
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 1m)
Two years after his sudden disappearance, struggling guitarist Johnny “Honeycomb” James returns to his small town a blues star, sparking rumors that he made a deal with the devil. Inspired by the myth of Robert Johnson, this haunting Gothic play explores the power of belief and tests the thin veil between rumor and truth.

Early’s House by Nathan Alan Davis
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 1m)
Deep in the woods of southern Illinois, Early has survived a winter with her infant son. When Crazy Eddie arrives with a truck full of food, a solo survival mindset turns to one of thriving together as a family. This play is part three of The Refuge Plays, Nathan Alan Davis’ epic trilogy following one Black family over 70 years, which can be presented together or individually.

Ibsen’s Ghost by Charles Busch
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 4w, 3m)
A tall (and hilarious) tale of the toll a great man’s ghost takes on the women at the soul of his work. Shortly after the death of celebrated playwright Henrik Ibsen, his widow Suzannah receives word that her husband’s former protégée is in town, peddling a libelous diary exposing the playwright’s misdeeds. Enlisting help from her sharp-witted stepmother, Ibsen’s long-lost illegitimate son, a servant girl with a wayward pelvis, and an enigmatic rodent exterminator known as the Rat Wife, Suzannah sets out to preserve her husband’s legacy by any means necessary.

Kill Thy Neighbour by Lucie Lovatt
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 3m)
Welcome to the village with views to die for! Caryl and Meirion have lived in their postcard-perfect village for years – raising a family and repeatedly decorating, whilst watching their community slowly disappear. Now Caryl wants to escape, but Meirion defiantly wants to stay. Is it loyalty? Belonging? Or a dark secret that will keep them here forever? A dark comedy about love, marriage and feeling trapped in your own life.

Let ’Em Eat Cake by George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind
(Full-Length Musical, Satire/Political Satire / 3w, 7m +ensemble)
In this tuneful but edgy satire, President Wintergreen is defeated for reelection, and he and his former Vice President, Alexander Throttlebottom, form an incipient Fascist movement to take over the government. A biting sequel to the Pulitzer Prize-winning Of Thee I Sing, this musical is a darker, more complex look at politics and American culture in the early 1930s. Also available: Let ’Em Eat Cake, In Concert.

Manahatta by Mary Kathryn Nagle
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 4m)
A gripping journey from the fur trade of the 1600s to the stock trade of today, Manahatta tells the story of Jane Snake, a brilliant young Native American woman who reconnects with her ancestral homeland, known as Manahatta, when she moves from her home with the Delaware Nation in Anadarko, Oklahoma to New York for a job at a major investment bank in 2008. Jane’s struggle to reconcile her new life with the expectations and traditions of the family she left behind is powerfully interwoven with the heartbreaking history of how the Lenape were forced from their land.

Orlando by Sarah Ruhl and Virginia Woolf
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4 any gender +ensemble)
An adaptation of the “longest and most charming love letter in literature” written by Virginia Woolf for her lover, Vita Sackville-West, Orlando is a theatrical, wild, fantastical trip through space, time and gender (and three centuries). Here, Ruhl chronicles the boisterous adventures of a young nobleman in Queen Elizabeth’s court who awakens in the middle of his life to discover he is now a she – and immortal to boot. This fresh stage version uses narrative and a chorus to enact lyrical, instant and whimsical transformations to Woolf’s original story.

Protect the Beautiful Place by Nathan Alan Davis
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 2m)
Four generations of a family are living in a home nestled in the woods of southern Illinois. The matriarch stands firm, even as her family worries about her age and health. Her daughter-in-law fends off the ghost of her late husband. Her great-grandson has just brought home a new girlfriend, and everyone is very interested in making sure she can maintain the lineage of family living in their home. This play is part one of The Refuge Plays, Nathan Alan Davis’ epic trilogy following one Black family over 70 years, which can be presented together or individually.

Seared by Theresa Rebeck
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 3m)
This sizzling contemporary comedy, set in the kitchen of a boutique Brooklyn restaurant, wrestles hilariously with the conflict between art and commerce. Brilliant, hot-headed chef Harry scores a mention in a food magazine with his signature scallops, and his business partner Mike finally sees profits within reach. The only problem is Harry refuses to recreate his masterpiece for the masses. Mix in a shrewd restaurant consultant and a waiter with dreams of his own, and it all goes to hell in this hilarious and insightful new play that asks us to consider where art ends and commerce begins.

Strike Up the Band by George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, George S. Kaufman and Tommy Krasker
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 3w, 6m +ensemble)
In this zany satire, an American tariff against Swiss cheese elicits such an angry response from Switzerland that Horace J. Fletcher, owner of the American Cheese Co., pushes the U.S. to declare war. Despite the brewing political turmoil, several romances bloom at Fletcher’s company, including an innocent courtship, a passionate romance between a pacifist and Fletcher’s own daughter, and the aggressive pursuit of Fletcher himself by a strong-willed mother. A riotous blend of Marx Brothers-style madness with a good poke to the ribs of the American military-industrial complex and political institutions, Strike Up the Band features a glorious Gershwin score, including the beloved standard “The Man I Love.” Also available: Strike Up The Band, In Concert.

the bandaged place by Harrison David Rivers
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 3m, 1 girl)
Struggling to recover after an assault, Jonah realizes the only way to heal is by mending the relationships with his family. A brutal and lyrical portrait of the things we hang on to and the price of moving forward, the bandaged place tells of one man’s attempt to free himself from the abuses of his past.

The Weird Will of Willy Williams by David Tristram
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 3w, 2m)
When Tim and Jacky attend the reading of their late uncle’s will, they find themselves entangled in a twisting drama worthy of its own Netflix series. With feuding rivals and murderous games afoot, things were about to get very weird. Beware – when huge fortunes are at stake, it’s not always sensible to believe the evidence of your own eyes…

Walking Man by Nathan Alan Davis
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 4m)
A family home is being built in the woods of Southern Illinois, but Walking Man is already feeling like he’s outgrown his home. With the ability to walk long distances in no time at all, he wants to see what lies beyond the forest. Some of his family are eager to help, but his mother is cautious of the world outside. This play is part three of The Refuge Plays, Nathan Alan Davis’ epic trilogy following one Black family over 70 years, which can be presented together or individually.

For more new titles, visit Concord Theatricals in the UK.