Slam Dunks for the Stage: Shows About Sports

Ready to move from the field to the footlights? Whether you’re a sports fanatic or content to stick to the stage, these shows will leave you wanting to join the team. Faithful to the sports they represent, these fierce plays and musicals dynamically examine identity, community and loyalty.

“If you go to see a play about sport, it is not going to be about sport – it will be about the human condition.” – Richard Bean

So get limber, get hyped, and dive in to this selection of home-run, slam-dunk hits!

BALL SPORTS

American Football

Bleachers by Noah Haidle (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 2m + ensemble)
It’s high school football season in America! While the team plays under the bright lights, four tuba players stuck in the back row wrestle with everything that doesn’t fit into a halftime show: ambition, grief, friendship, faith, love and the strange cruelty of small-town “normal.” Equal parts marching band comedy and raw confession, this funny, ferocious and flexible play is built for schools and young actors to adapt, using your own school’s name, mascot, fight song and rivals.

Colossal by Andrew Hinderaker (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 15m)
A star football player – a pro prospect, one of the most graceful runners in the world, and a man in love with a teammate – struggles to move forward in the wake of a catastrophic spinal cord injury. With full-contact choreography, this play about love, ability and extraordinary feats of strength tackles definitions of masculinity and the male body as vehicles for language, violence and silent expression through dance, football and disability.

Friday Night Sprites by Don Zolidis (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 2w, 5m, 14 any gender youth)
It’s tough when you’re the football coach in Texas. You don’t have any money for helmets and you can never get enough boys to try out. When the star quarterback leaves the team to take a role as Peaseblossom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, what’s a coach to do except try to find a cursed Monkey’s Paw to make a wish and change the world? A short comedy for schools about football and comedic happenings.

Good News! (1993) by Laurence Schwab, B. G. De Sylva, Frank Mandel, Lew Brown, Ray Henderson, Mark Madama and Wayne Bryan (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 4w, 5m)
The Roaring Twenties come to life in this rousing musical comedy set at fictional Tate College. Football star Tom Marlowe falls for studious tutor Connie Lane, vivacious flapper Babe O’Day pursues third-string player Bobby Randall and Professor Charlotte Kenyon rekindles an old flame with Coach Bill Johnson.

Lions by Vince Melocchi (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 9m)
It’s the 2007 NFL season and the Detroit Lions are on a winning streak; unfortunately, out of work steelworker John Waite is not. With humor and humanity, playwright Vince Melocchi offers a glimpse into The Tenth Ward Club, where the patrons place their hopes on their team, and attempt to escape the creeping demise of their city and of their way of life.

Moreno by Pravin Wilkins (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4m)
August, 2016. The NFL is being shaken by Colin Kaepernick’s monumental decision. While other players join him in taking a knee, star running back Luis Moreno is all about his game – and his paycheck. When a destructive new reality hits close to home, Luis is forced to ask whether politics have a place on the field, and if he is willing to risk his career to take a stand for his own community.

Romeo and Juliet at Verona High by James Venhaus (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 3w, 7m, 6 any gender youth)
Romeo and Juliet at Verona High updates Shakespeare’s tragedy to a modern-day high school. Romeo is the captain of the football team and Juliet is the president of the Chess Club. Can the rival teams resolve their brutal differences? Who will triumph at the grudge chess match? Find out in this fun, modern take on the canon.

Tight End by Rachel Bykowski (US)
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 2m)
Ash (believe me, you do not want to call her “Ashley”) Miller’s dream is to catch the winning touchdown pass for the Westmont High Titans’ Homecoming game. Football is in her blood. In order to make the team, Ash will have to prove she is one of the guys, even if that means sacrificing her body for the love of the game.

Yellow by Del Shores (US)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 3m, 1 girls, 2 boys)
A departure from the comedy of earlier works, Del Shores’ Yellow is the award-winning playwright’s most dramatic play to date and chronicles a year in the life of the perfect family in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Bobby Westmoreland, a high school football coach, and his wife Kate, a respected therapist, have two ambitious children in high school. Everything falls apart when an unexpected tragedy rocks the Westmoreland family to the breaking point. Yellow explores the themes of cowardice, intolerance and the damage caused to families by secrets, rejection and the difficulty of forgiveness.

Baseball

2022 Second Stage Theater Production of Take Me Out (Joan Marcus)

August Wilson’s Fences (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 5m)
This sensational drama tells the story of Troy Maxson, a former star of the Negro baseball leagues who now works as a garbage man in 1957 Pittsburgh. During his prime, Troy was excluded from the major leagues, and now his bitterness takes its toll on his relationships with his wife and his son, the latter of whom wants his own chance to play ball.

Back Back Back by Itamar Moses (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3m)
Before headlines blazed, before the Mitchell Report and ESPN lit up millions of television screens with the scandals, before congressional jaws dropped, comes the story of three guys making their way in the world of professional baseball – a world too competitive to rely solely on raw talent. This play looks behind the headlines as these teammates face each other and do battle – for their careers, their legacies, and the future of America’s favorite pastime.

Diamonds by Various Artists (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 3w, 7m)
An all-star team takes to the field in a delightful presentation of 35 segments about baseball. Featuring songs and scenes by an impressive assortment of theatre luminaries, Diamonds is a spirited musical revue celebrating America’s national pastime!

Dugout Daisies by Julissa Mishay Norment (US/UK)
(10 Minute Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w)
During the longest inning of their lives, two bench warmers kill time by chatting about the things that matter most to them: why they are on the sidelines. A short play about identity and baseball.

Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting by Ed Schmidt (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 6m)
Joe Louis, Paul Robeson, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Jackie Robinson and Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey meet in 1947 to discuss a strategy for dropping a baseball bombshell: promoting a Black player to the major leagues. If you want freedom of opportunity, do you play by white men’s rules or do you demand that they play by yours?

Play to Win by Carles Cleveland, James de Jongh and Jimi Foster (US)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 4m)
A bright, snappy one-hour musical about the man who broke the color barrier in professional baseball. All ages will enjoy this portrayal of Jackie Robinson’s determination to be the best, despite seemingly insurmountable racism. Characters include Rachel, the girl Jackie met in college and later married; Branch Rickey, the owner of the Dodgers who dared to sign Robinson; and Satchel Paige, the great Black pitcher who acts as narrator and plays various other roles throughout the play.

Take Me Out by Richard Greenberg (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 11m)
As of 2026, no professional baseball player has ever publicly come out as gay. Richard Greenberg’s touching and surprisingly funny play poses the question: what if one did? Rich, talented, famous, handsome: New York Empires center fielder Darren Lemming has it all. So much so that he assumes that his coming-out will be casually accepted his teammates and fans. However, the truth is far more complex than that.

Toni Stone by Lydia R. Diamond (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 8m)
Toni Stone is an encyclopedia of baseball stats. She’s got a great arm. And she doesn’t understand why she can’t play with the boys. About the first woman to go pro in the Negro League and featuring a bullpen of players crossing age, race and gender, Toni Stone is a vibrant new play about staying in the game, playing hard, playing smart and playing your own way.

Basketball

Charles Ives Take Me Home by Jessica Dickey (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 2m)
Basketball and music collide in this smart, endearing story about a daughter yearning to connect with a distant father. Laura visits her divorced dad John on weekends, desperately trying to breach the gap between their passions. Only long-dead modernist composer Charles Ives can convince John to see the connections between violin and basketball and help this family reunite.

Flex by Candice Jones (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 6w)
The pressure is on for the 1998 Lady Train High School basketball team – not only to bring home the championship trophy but also to survive college scouting season. Infighting breaks out, and the once-tight players begin to focus on their individual futures as Black women in the South.

King James by Rajiv Joseph (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2m)
LeBron James’ years playing in Cleveland bring promise, prosperity and renewal to the city; his tenure also unites Shawn and Matt in an unlikely friendship. In a twelve year span from LeBron’s rookie season to the Cavs’ momentous NBA Championship, these men navigate their turbulent bond through a shared love of basketball in this touching two-actor drama.

King Liz by Fernanda Coppel (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 3m)
Sports agent Liz Rico has money and an elite client roster but a woman in a man’s industry has to fight to stay on top. Enter Freddie Luna, a high school basketball superstar with a troubled past. If Liz can keep this talented yet volatile young star in line, she just might end up making not only his career, but her own as well. But at what price?

Squad Goals by Don Zolidis (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 15 any gender youth)
The crackpot coaches of a ragtag basketball team are looking for one more player, but if inspirational sports movies have taught us anything, it’s that winners don’t need to have superior talent – just the most heart. So these tryouts will test the hopefuls on the really important things: playing through an injury, giving a thrilling halftime speech and moving exceptionally well in slow-motion to dramatic music, in another fantastic choice for young performers by Don Zolidis.

That Championship Season by Jason Miller (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 5m)
Following their annual custom, five men – a retired high-school basketball coach and four members of the team that he guided to the state championship twenty years earlier – meet for a reunion. The occasion begins in a lighthearted mood but gradually, as the pathos and desperation of their present lives are exposed and illuminated, the story takes on a rich emotional power in this Tony and Pulitzer-winning play.

The Great Leap by Lauren Yee (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 3m)
When an American college basketball team travels to Beijing for a “friendship” game in the post-Cultural Revolution 1980s, both countries try to tease out the politics behind this newly popular sport. Cultures clash as the Chinese coach tries to pick up moves from the Americans and Chinese-American player Manford spies on his opponents. Inspired by events in her own father’s life, Yee “applies a devilishly keen satiric eye to… her generation (and its parents).”

The Tall Girls by Meg Miroshnik (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 5w, 1m)
Inspired by the flourishing and the decline of high school girls’ basketball teams in the 1930s rural Midwest, The Tall Girls asks: who can afford the luxury of play? And what is the cost of childhood? Featuring a strong ensemble of female characters, The Tall Girls examines issues of class and gender against the backdrop of the historic 1930s Dust Bowl.

Football/Soccer

The Beautiful Game by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Ben Elton (US)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 5w, 12m)
Under the watchful eye of team coach Father O’Donnell, John and Del both show enough promise to pursue careers as professional footballers. They’re just two regular teenagers who dream of nothing more than girls and football. When they find love with their girlfriends Mary and Christine, they become swept up in the events that engulf their community and, as time passes, each must decide whether or not to follow his heart.

The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 10w)
Left quad. Right quad. Lunge. A girls indoor soccer team warms up. From the safety of their suburban stretch circle, the team navigates big questions and wages tiny battles with all the vim and vigor of a pack of adolescent warriors. A portrait of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for nine American girls who just want to score some goals.

United We Stand by Ken Bolam, Roy Oakes and Les Scott (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 8w, 10m, 24 any gender)
Merton United FC is a mediocre Second Division club, until the team reaches the FA Cup Semi-Final! Then, football becomes the total obsession to the increasing fury of the Merton women, who find themselves ignored and taken for granted. When a TV crew arrive in town, the girlfriends and wives decide it’s time to make their presence felt by going on strike. Chaos rapidly ensues as the men are left to do the household chores and cooking all in the face of the Cup. This third musical from the same team is rich in humour – both visual and verbal – and with its appealing score of rousing, tuneful songs makes it an exuberant must for all schools and youth groups.

Golf

Golf: The Musical by Eric Krebs and Michael Roberts (US)
(Musical Revue / Cabaret, Comedy / 1w, 3m)
The fun, frustrations and humor of the grand old game are celebrated in this fast-paced, tune-filled off-Broadway hit. Hilarious skits, witty songs and even a putting competition make Golf an uproarious hit with players and non-players alike.

Ken Ludwig’s A Fox on the Fairway by Ken Ludwig (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 3w, 3m)
A tribute from Ken Ludwig to the great English farces of the 1930s and 1940s, A Fox On the Fairway takes audiences on a hilarious romp pulling the rug out from underneath the stuffy denizens of a private country club. Filled with mistaken identities, slamming doors and over-the-top romantic shenanigans, it’s a furiously paced comedy that recalls the Marx Brothers’ classics. A charmingly madcap adventure about love, life and man’s eternal love affair with… golf.

Play It As It Lies by Granville Wyche Burgess (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 5m)
For Cecil Burton and his father, golf isn’t just a sport – it’s a way of life, a code of honor, even a religion. Along his path to becoming a professional golfer, we see Cecil’s turbulent life unfold: his coming of age in a time of segregation and discrimination, his generational struggles with a demanding father, his first love and eventual divorce, all leading up to what may be his final round.

Miscellaneous Ball Sports

Alien Monster Bowling League by Matthew López (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 1w, 2m)
After decades of dominating the Milwaukee Bowling League, monsters may have finally met their match in some recent interplanetary visitors. It’s up to monster Hubbard Grabowski to defend his title against the slimy alien Nelson. Can he do it? Or has he lost his monster nerve? A silly, short play around bowling.

Alone It Stands by John Breen (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 5m)
From this piece of Irish sporting history John Breen has fashioned a funny, lively play about rugby in which both teams, plus fans, children, relatives and even a dog, are portrayed by a cast of six, with no props and only a half-time change of shirt.

Bouncing Back by Gail Young (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 10w, 3m)
Bouncing Back follows a group of women returners to the game of Netball, the trials and tribulations of their training sessions, group bonding, getting sponsorship, tough coaching and the stress of organizing “me time.” Will the team get fitter? Will they ever win a game? Will the coach ever find true love? And why do they all worship someone called Tracey?

Stumped by Shomit Dutta (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2m)
A game of cricket deep in the Cotswolds. Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter are padded up and waiting to go in… What could possibly go wrong? Stumped is a shadowy caprice that turns the tables on two giants of 20th-century drama and subjects them to an unwelcome blend of their own worlds created by an unseen figure.

The Changing Room by David Storey (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 22m)
Inside the claustrophobic confines of a semi-professional rugby league changing room, players bare their souls and their bodies in David Storey’s gritty, realist drama. Hailed as “mysterious and mesmerizing” by the New York Times during its original Broadway run, The Changing Room shows you what goes on behind sports’ closed doors.

Tennis

An Upset by David Auburn (US)
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2m)
When a cocky, jaded tennis star loses a pivotal match to an inexperienced Romanian player, the two men lock into an unlikely battle for dominance on and off the court over the course of three encounters. Over the course of three encounters on the Grand Slam circuit, this short play peers irreverently, and explosively, behind the locker room door.

Ballgirl by Gracie Gardner (US/UK)
(10 Minute Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w)
In this short monologue, Marcy crouches on the sidelines at the U.S. Open, ready for anything.

Deuce by Terrence McNally (US)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 2m)
Warmly funny and unexpectedly touching, this is the story of retired tennis stars Leona Mullen and Midge Barker, who once made up a championship doubles team. When they meet again at the U.S. Open, the women – now at the end of their lives – find themselves trying to make sense of the professional partnership that brought them to the top of the sports world in their youth.

The Last Match by Anna Ziegler (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 2m)
Played out under the bright lights of the US Open semifinals, this gripping drama pits rising Russian star Sergei Sergeyev against American great Tim Porter in an epic showdown that follows two tennis titans through pivotal moments in their lives both on and off the court. This contemplative and fast-paced story captures the intense world of competitive sports, human rivalry, and what it means to want something – and what lengths we will go to in order to feel relevant, important and young.

Well-Behaved Women by Carmel Dean (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Drama / 9w)
This contemporary song cycle for 4 to 20+ women is a celebration of many historic women who fought to have their voices heard and bravely made their mark on the world. Its powerful, emotional and often hilarious songs leave audiences entertained, moved and inspired. One of those women in question? The U.S. Open’s own Billie Jean King, whose song “Hey, Bobby Riggs” details her infamous Battle of the Sexes tennis match in 1973 that secured the equal pay for women at the U.S. Open for decades to come.

Volleyball

Bump -> Set -> Spike -> Bruise by Diana Lobontiu (US/UK)
(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… 

Volleygirls by Rob Ackerman (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 8w, 3m)
The pressure is on for the down-and-out Saint Agnes girls’ volleyball team to defeat their biggest rival and to save their coach’s job. But with a limited number of players, a string of losses, an awkward confrontation with an angry parent and two of the girls about to come to blows over a boy, things are looking rather grim.

COMBAT SPORTS

Athena by Gracie Gardener (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w)
Mary Wallace and Athena are brave, and seventeen, and fencers, and training for the Junior Olympics. They practice together, they compete against each other, they spend their lives together. They wish they were friends.

And in This Corner: Cassius Clay by Idris Goodwin (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 7m)
At the sound of the bell, young Cassius Clay Jr. takes his first step into the ring and starts becoming the man the world would know as Muhammad Ali. This swift, vibrant historical drama bobs and weaves through the iconic boxer’s early life in Jim Crow-era Louisville.

Golden Boy by William Gibson, Clifford Odets, Charles Strouse and Lee Adams (US)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 4w, 17m)
Joe Wellington, a young black man from Harlem, is trying to rise up out of the ghetto to fame in the brutal world of boxing. But he makes one mistake: falling in love with his manager’s girl Lorna, a seen-it-all white woman whom he loves not wisely but all too well. This rousing musical play adapted from Clifford Odets’ classic drama – which is also available to license (US) – begins and ends with the rhythmic, breathing exhaust of the prizefighting ring.

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 5m)
As a lifelong fan, Macedonio Guerra has followed wrestling only to become a “jobber,” one who is paid to lose to bigger-name stars in the ring. Macedonio meets Vigneshwar Paduar, a young Indian man from Brooklyn, who he wants to team up with. The wrestling execs go for it, but pitch them as “terrorists” in the ring. Unspoken racism, politics and courage are all woven into this play that leaves it all on the mat.

The Great White Hope by Howard Sackler (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 10m)
A fictional, idealized life story of boxing champion Jack Johnson, here called Jack Jefferson. Acting as a lens focused on a racist society, this Broadway drama explores how segregation and prejudice created the demand for a “great white hope” who would defeat Johnson and how this, in turn, affected the boxer’s life and career.

The Royale by Marco Ramirez (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 4m)
Jay “The Sport” Jackson dreams of being the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. But it’s 1905, and in the racially segregated world of boxing, his chances are as good as knocked out. When a crooked boxing promoter hatches a plan for “the fight of the century,” “The Sport” just might land a place in the ring with the reigning white heavyweight champion.

Torera by Monet Hurst-Mendoza (US/UK) 
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 2m, 2 any gender) 
Bullfighting in Yucatán, Mexico is a world nearly exclusive to men – yet for Elena María Ramírez, it is her life’s ambition. With the help of her best friend, a matador’s son, Elena begins secretly training to compete with the greatest. But when she discovers that her seemingly inherent talent can beat even the most accomplished toreros, this young woman must choose between accepting society’s limits or breaking boundaries.

DANCE AND MOVEMENT

2019 Steppenwolf Theatre Company production of Dance Nation (Michael Brosilow)

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. And if their new routine is good enough, they’ll claw their way to the top at Nationals in Tampa Bay. A play about ambition, growing up and how to find our souls in the heat of it all.

Lysistrata Jones by Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 6w, 6m)
The Athens University basketball team hasn’t won a game in thirty years. But when spunky transfer student Lysistrata Jones dares the squad’s fed-up girlfriends to stop “giving it up” to their boyfriends until they win a game, the team’s legendary losing streak could finally come to an end.

So You Wanna Be A Cheerleader? by M.G. Davidson (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 6w, 2m, 10 any gender youth)
When cheerleading captain Britney and her three squad members Britnee, Brittani, and, uh, Kevin… realize they have to find a fifth squad member to be eligible to compete at Nationals, they decide to hold tryouts to see who in their school is up to the challenge. How can you choose from a talent pool that includes a football player with a head injury, an eccentric goth girl and a nerd with a vendetta? This screwball comedy asks the eternal question of our time: So You Wanna Be a Cheerleader?

The Winter Guard Play by Avery Deutsch (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 7w)
Winter guard is NOT color guard. Forget the football, forget the pom poms. In Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, a high school winter guard team attempts to choreograph a routine on the topic of global warming. A play about catching flags, catching each other, and realizing the grown-ups aren’t going to save you. 

We Are The Tigers by Preston Max Allen (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dark Comedy / 10 any gender)
The Tigers’ high school cheerleading squad is meeting for their annual sleepover at captain Riley’s house – and they’ve brought their teenage troubles with them. However, love triangles, a lustful boyfriend and hurt feelings won’t compare to the untimely death of one of their own in the front yard. Will that be the only murder? Who did it? With a pop-driven, belty score and a seriously silly book, We Are the Tigers will have audiences cheering for the Tigers as the Tigers learn to cheer for themselves.

MISCELLANEOUS SPORTS

Ice Sports

Glory by Tracey Power (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 1m)
In 1933, four friends set out to prove to Canada that hockey isn’t just a sport for men. But with the Great Depression weighing heavily on the nation and political tensions rising in Europe, can they overcome the odds, and people’s expectations, to forge their own path to glory?

Octophobia by James Still (US)
(10 Minute Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w)
Just before her big moment before the judges, a young ice skater contemplates her complex fear of figure-eights in this short play.

Motor Sports

The Trip Back Down by John Bishop (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 6w, 9m)
Bobby Horvath, stock car racer, had visions of being the greatest, but he has returned home knowing he isn’t and never will be. Racing brought him excitement and escape from the drudgery of a factory job. The action moves in and out of the past as Bobby struggles to come to terms with himself. But when past and present collide, the results are unexpected in this blue-collar mid-American town with a deadening routine of life. 

Vrooommm! by Janet Allard (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 6w)
In this breezy “NASComedy” the fast lane is stalled to a screeching halt by the arrival of a woman driver on the NASCAR scene, and egos get bruised as Holly “Legs” Nelson starts stealing the show, driving so fast some think she’s cheating. Her rival, Hotshot, wants to sabotage her success, which results in a fast-paced story of NASCAR drivers and their kooky fans, all in pursuit of high-octane glory.

Track and Field

Chariots of Fire by Mike Bartlett and Colin Welland (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 32m, 2 boys, 7 any gender)
Based on the extraordinary true story of Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams, Chariots of Fire is an Olympic tale of hope, honor and belief. At the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, a devout Scottish Christian runs for the glory of God, while the son of an immigrant Lithuanian Jew runs to overcome prejudice. These two young track athletes, who live for the beautiful purity of running, prevail in the face of overwhelming odds.

Hot Air by Michael Hollinger (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 3w, 3m)
Jessica’s set for the county record in the 800-meter run – until she starts smoking again and her times start going up instead of down. She struggles to keep her smoking secret from her advertising professional father when he is asked to market to teens through loopholes in the Tobacco Settlement. Secrets are revealed and father and daughter square off in this lively, hard-hitting comedy for young audiences about tobacco marketing, use and addiction.

Split by Allison Moore (US)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 4m)
In a sport where pushing past a body’s limits sometimes isn’t enough, runner Jake trains for the race that could put his dream in motion despite mounting financial pressures and familial sacrifice. Meanwhile, factory worker Lisa feels life accelerate as she discovers her daughter’s amazing gift of speed. Ready… Set…

Tiny Tim Runs the Marathon by Jonathan Dorf (US)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 8w, 5m, 4 any gender youth)
Media darling Oliver Twist has gone from a lowly orphan to an anxiety-ridden corporate spokesperson, pitching everything from juicers to cereal and tofu by reenacting his adventures. But Oliver’s monopoly on the inspirational rags-to-riches story is threatened when Tiny Tim throws aside his crutches and decides to run the marathon. Also available in a shortened one-act version, Run Like the Dickens (US). 

Tortoise vs. Hare 2: This Time It’s Personal! by Sean Abley (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 4 any gender)
Everyone knows that the slow-and-steady Tortoise beat the bragging Hare in the famous race – but when their great-grandkids Ro-Shell the tortoise and Jack Rabbit are talked into a rematch, anything could happen. The race will be on live TV, and their friends have a lot of ideas about how Ro-Shell and Jack can beat one another, but only good sportsmanship can win the day in this zany, lighthearted retelling of the classic fable.

Track and Field by Tracy Wells (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 26 any gender youth)
The wind in your hair, legs burning, arms pumping, trying to get ahead, doing everything it takes to win the race… but what if the real race isn’t run on a track? It’s the last track meet of the year and as the athletes warm up for their events, they contemplate what lies ahead. This series of interconnected scenes speaks to the fears and dreams of students leaving high school behind and making their way into the world and reminds us all that sometimes the finish line is just the beginning.

Water Sports

Dry Land by Ruby Rae Spiegel (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 2m)
Ester is a swimmer trying to stay afloat. Amy is curled up on the locker room floor. A play about abortion, female friendship and resiliency – and what happens in one high school locker room after everybody’s left.

Honor and the River by Anton Dudley (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 1w, 3m)
Eliot Waterson has had a deep-seeded fear of water ever since his father tragically drowned. But now his mother insists that he join the high school crew team. And when Honor Roberts, one of the most popular boys in school, presents Eliot with the challenge to bring a gift to a girl across the river, he is suddenly forced to face his darkest fear. Soon Eliot and Honor form an unlikely bond, helping each other find the courage to choose their own paths in this heart-warming, coming-of-age story.

Red Speedo by Lucas Hnath (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 3m)
Ray’s swum his way to the eve of the Olympic trials. If he makes the team, he’ll get a deal with Speedo. If he gets a deal with Speedo, he’ll never need a real job. So when someone’s stash of performance-enhancing drugs is found in the locker room fridge, threatening the entire team’s Olympic fate, Ray has to crush the rumors or risk losing everything. A sharp and stylish play about swimming, survival of the fittest, and the American dream of a level playing field – or of leveling the field yourself.

the ripple, the wave that carried me home by Christina Anderson (US/UK) 
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 1m) 
A poignant, transporting and quietly subversive story of racial justice, political legacy and family forgiveness. Janice’s childhood was steeped in her parents’ activism as they fought for the integration of public swimming pools in 1960s Kansas and taught scores of Black children to swim. But Janice later steps away from her parents’ politics and starts her own life and family far away – until she’s pressed into speaking at a ceremony honoring her father.

For more shows that’ll get your blood pumping, visit Concord Theatricals in the US or UK.