Most Performed

Our most popular plays for amateur performance, based on the number of licenses issued in 2023.

The 40 titles listed below were our most popular titles licensed for performance by amateur groups worldwide.

Read more about the Top Ten most performed plays of 2023, over on our Blog>>

Showing 1-28 of 40 items.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (stage version)

By Joan Aiken Adapted by Russ Tunney

A thrilling, funny and spectacular adaptation of Joan Aiken's classic children's novel, perfectly suited to performance by theatre companies and drama groups of any size.

The Wind in the Willows (stage version)

A delightful stage adaptation that combines all the joy and mystery of Kenneth Grahame's much-loved classic with the lightness of touch and playful theatricality that award-winning playwright Mike Kenny is known for.

Wendy & Peter Pan

By Ella Hickson Original author J.M. Barrie

A refreshingly modern version of J.M. Barrie's much-loved story that puts the character of Wendy firmly centre stage.

The Welkin

Lucy Kirkwood's play about a woman sentenced to hang for murder in 18th-century rural Suffolk.

The Thrill of Love

A gripping drama about Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain.

Things I Know To Be True

A complex and intense portrait of the mechanics of a family – and a marriage – through the eyes of four siblings struggling to define themselves beyond their parents' love and expectations.

Rules for Living

A theatrically playful, dark comedy about the unwritten rules we follow in our lives.

The River

A bewitching story from the author of global smash hit Jerusalem.

The Railway Children (stage version)

By E. Nesbit Adapted by Mike Kenny

An imaginative stage adaptation of E. Nesbit's much-loved children's classic.

Queers: Eight Monologues

By various Created by Mark Gatiss

Queers celebrates a century of evolving social attitudes and political milestones in British gay history, as seen through the eyes of eight individuals.

Philip Pullman's Grimm Tales (stage version)

Adapted by Philip Wilson Original author Philip Pullman

A deliciously dark version of the Grimm Tales, from master storyteller Philip Pullman.

Nora : A Doll's House

By Stef Smith Original author Henrik Ibsen

A bold new version of Ibsen's brutal portrayal of womanhood.

Nell Gwynn

Jessica Swale's play Nell Gwynn charts the rise of an unlikely heroine, from her roots in Coal Yard Alley to her success as Britain’s most celebrated actress, and her hard-won place in the heart of the king.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (stage version)

A brilliant adaptation of Mary Shelley's Gothic masterpiece that places the writer herself amongst the action as she wrestles with her creation and with the stark realities facing revolutionary young women, then and now.

Machinal

A powerful expressionist drama from the 1920s about the dependent status of women in an increasingly mechanised society, based on the true story of Ruth Snyder.

Lilies on the Land

A revealing, funny and wonderfully moving portrait of four women who sign up to join the Women's Land Army during World War II.

Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons

A play about what we say and how we say it; about the things we can only hear in the silence; about dead cats, activism, eye contact and lemons, lemons, lemons, lemons, lemons.

Ladies' Day

Work, love and life are just one long, hard slog for the fish-filleting foursome Pearl, Jan, Shelley and Linda. But their fortunes are set to change when Linda finds tickets to Ladies' Day at Royal Ascot the year it relocated to York.

Ladies Down Under

The funny, heart-warming sequel to the enormously successful Ladies' Day, following the lasses from Hull on their adventures down under.

Kindertransport

A modern classic about one woman's struggle to come to terms with her past - brutally separated from her German Jewish parents at the age of 9 and brought to England with the promise of a new life...

Jekyll & Hyde (National Youth Theatre version)

A radical re-imagining by playwright Evan Placey of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale, written for the National Youth Theatre.

Jeeves & Wooster in 'Perfect Nonsense'

An inventive, fast-paced comedy based featuring P.G. Wodehouse’s iconic double act.

The IT

A darkly comic state-of-the-nation play exploring adolescent mental health and the rage within. Winner of the Best Play for Young Audiences Award at the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards 2023.

The Incident Room

A play about the manhunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, going behind the scenes to investigate the case that nearly broke the British police force.

The Hound of the Baskervilles (stage version)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most celebrated Sherlock Holmes story gets a gloriously funny makeover.

The Good Life

By Jeremy Sams Original author John Esmonde and Bob Larbey

A witty reimagining of a television classic for the stage, with a wellyful of laughs that's sure to delight audiences everywhere.

Emilia

A riotous, witty reclaiming of the life of Emilia Bassano, poet, mistress, mother, and exceptional woman – widely considered the 'Dark Lady' of Shakespeare's sonnets.

Education, Education, Education

A theatrical love letter to the schools of the 1990s, asking big questions about a country in special measures, exploring what we are taught and why, and where responsibility lies. Full of inventive theatricality and irreverent humour.

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Olivia Hirst & David Byrne

EV Crowe