Looking for your perfect next play to perform? Why not try a female-led, small-cast play?
We speak to hundreds of theatre groups and companies every year, and something we hear almost daily is the strong demand for exciting and rich roles for your talented, passionate female performers. So in this Spotlight, we're sharing a hand-picked selection of sixteen female-led, small-cast plays – all available for amateur performance – which we think you'll love.
The plays below each offer great roles for an all-female or mostly-female cast of up to six, and cover a wide range of themes and genres – from gripping dramas about family conflict and young women in peril, to hilarious comedies about long-lasting friendships and looking for love later in life.
From big-name writers such as Moira Buffini, Rona Munro, Tom Wells and Amanda Whittington, with plays premiered at famous venues including the Birmingham Rep, Hampstead Theatre and Traverse Theatre, you'll find a mix of established, popular hits, plus fresh new releases that are ready to entertain whole new audiences.
You can find loads more shows like these using our Play Finder on the left-hand column of this page – use the drop-down menu in the 'Cast' field to continue your search.
If you're interested in finding out more about these plays, or need any other help or advice, be sure to get in touch with our friendly and knowledgeable Performing Rights team for information and to request your free inspection copy – contact us via this website, drop us an email, or give us a call on 020 8749 4953.
All the Little Lights
A poignant, moving and darkly funny play about young girls slipping through the cracks in society. Joint winner of the 2016 George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright.
Boys Will Be Boys
An exhilarating play about a ruthless female City trader who takes on a young and ambitious protegee.
Cruising
A hilarious, real-life comedy about pensioners going in search of love - from the sublime to the downright saucy.
Di and Viv and Rose
A warm and funny play about female friendship, crackling with wit and poignant observation.
Folk
Surprising and poignant, Folk is a hilarious and not-so-holy story of hope, coming together and finding your feet when your world is turned upside down.
Girls and Dolls
A striking play from Northern Ireland about two women and the childhood tragedy they'll never be allowed to forget.
Iron
An intense psychological drama set in a women's prison, in which a mother and daughter try to break through the barriers of time, memory and punishment which separate them.
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.
Out of Love
A tale of friendship, love and rivalry over thirty years from award-winning playwright Elinor Cook.
Pack
A raw, uncompromising drama about bigotry and racism that explores the insidious rise of the British National Party. Winner of the 2012 Papatango New Writing Competition.
Sex & God
Four women from different moments in the twentieth century talk across time in Linda McLean's extraordinary play about faith, lust and family.
Swallow
Passionate, painful and playful, Stef Smith’s Swallow takes a long, hard look at the extremes of everyday life.
The Urban Girl's Guide to Camping
A bittersweet comedy about life, love and friendship once school is long gone.
The White Bike
An affecting play, based on a true story, about what happens when our world is turned upside down.