Ah, the joy of discovering new plays! Whether you’re looking for fresh new monologues, trying to find a new show to put on with other actors, or just keen to keep your finger on the pulse, discovering new plays is fundamental to your development as an actor. Plus, it’s just plain fun! However, when you’re looking for the next play you’re going to fall in love with, it can be tricky to know exactly where to look without drowning in new material.
Actors can find high-quality new plays by investigating a combination of reputable sources. Looking at the season announcements for new writing specific theatres, searching the new releases at reputable playscript publishers, and engaging with media specifically geared towards playwriting will reveal a treasure trove of new material (without the overwhelm).
Below, we break down all of our best tips for finding your new favourite play!
New Writing Theatres
One of the best places to discover new plays is to see what the best new writing theatres across the world are programming. When a play secures a season slot at one of these theatres, it’s worth paying attention to. New writing theatres know how to spot great material, and many plays have gone on from these theatres to become new classics.
Dive into these theatres’ season announcements. Once you’ve had a chance to do your research, go ahead and purchase the scripts for the plays that seem most interesting to you!
Royal Court Theatre (London)
Perhaps the most famous new writing theatre in the world, the Royal Court’s reputation often precedes it. If you’re familiar with Sarah Kane, Martin McDonagh, or Jez Butterworth then you know writers whose careers have launched here.
The Royal Court also has amazing resources for actors and writers. Check out their website, and if you’re in London you have to check out their entirely free 3-floor library of plays!
Playwrights Horizons (New York)
This New York City based Off-Broadway new writing theatre is famous for its American and world premieres. Annie Baker’s The Flick premiered here and went on to win the Pulitzer! Definitely worth keeping tabs on this theatre.
Traverse Theatre (Edinburgh, UK)
Located in Edinburgh, home of the world-famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Traverse Theatre was built to keep the spirit of the fringe alive all year-round! Many famous actors have graced its stage, including Tilda Swinton and Bill Nighy. Check out their website for more.
Griffin Theatre (Sydney)
Finally, Australia gets an honourable mention with its own dedicated new writing theatre, the Griffin Theatre! Located in King’s Cross, Sydney, the theatre programmes a main season of original Australian works and even helps writers develop their plays. A great resource with a track record of launching now famous works like Prima Facie by Suzie Miller.
Award Nominees for Best New Play
Next up, it’s time to roll out the red carpets! Another fantastic way of discovering great new plays is through the yearly nominees for major drama awards. Below, we cover the competitions to keep an eye on.
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
First up, the Pulitzer! Synonymous with quality and prestige worldwide, this is a long established prize for American drama. Past winners include Edward Albee for his masterpiece Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County (later turned into a fantastic film with Meryl Streep), and Annie Baker with The Flick. With nominees announced in early May each year, it’s a great resource for discovering excellent new work.
Tony Award for Best Play
Another amazing resource for new plays, the Tonys award plays performed in any of Broadway’s 41 theatres throughout the year. While most people associate the Tony Awards with musicals, this category is exclusively for straight theatre. Over the years it has featured some incredible nominees and winners. Like the Pulitzer, nominations are announced in early May every year.
Olivier Awards
Last but certainly not least are the UK based Olivier Awards. A vanguard of the theatre scene, past winners include hugely successful plays like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The Pillowman, and On the Shore of the Wide World. Nominees drop early March.
Play Catalogues
Next up is a tried and true method of finding quality new plays, the catalogue. Publishers release catalogues of their work. The new releases section of traditional and indie playscript publishing houses will give you plenty to sink your teeth into. It’s a great way of finding new material to stage with fellow actors, or for perusing to snag that golden new monologue!
Traditional and Indie Publishers
While there are plenty of publishers that publish plays, we recommend the highly established and well respected Concord Theatricals (includes both Samuel French & Dramatists Play Service catalogues). Check out their ‘New Shows’ section for the latest releases. We also recommend Nick Hern for UK scripts and Playlab for Australian plays.
Online Play Catalogues
In addition to the traditional and indie publisher catalogues, there are a variety of online play catalogues that provide excellent material. For new plays specifically, check out the New Play Exchange or cast the net a bit wider with Drama Online, which has literally 1000’s of plays both old and new! Also, just saying, access to Drama Online is included with membership to our StageMilk Scene Club.
Live Theatre Recordings
Another way of finding new plays is by watching recorded versions of plays. Streaming theatre is a growing area that will no doubt continue to expand and improve! We’ve included some current recommendations below. If you want to learn more, discover where to stream theatre online.
National Theatre at Home
Ever wanted to watch brand new plays straight from the West End? Now you can! National Theatre at Home is a branch of London’s world-famous National Theatre that records high quality versions of theatrical productions and makes them available to stream online.
While not all of the productions are new plays, there are still plenty of new works to choose from. You can rent single plays for a one-off charge, or subscribe for a small monthly fee.
Digital Theatre+
Another option for watching recorded versions of theatre productions, this one slightly more global. Digital Theatre+ has a catalogue that includes plays from all over the world, with more American productions than any of the other platforms listed here! Access to Digital Theatre+ is included in a StageMilk Scene Club membership, or you can sign up directly through their website.
Australian Theatre Live
Finally, Australian Theatre Live is a relative newcomer that is making a name for itself with high quality recordings of lots of new Australian works. Their frequent collaborations with Griffin Theatre Company mean that there is plenty of new writing available to watch on the platform! They even offer a free trial. What’s not to love?
Other Methods for Discovering New Plays
Finally, here’s a roundup of some often overlooked sources of inspiration for discovering new material. Don’t count these methods out, as they can unearth some real treasure!
Interviews with Playwrights
The first great and often overlooked resource for finding amazing new plays is listening to or reading interviews with playwrights. Oftentimes they will mention new work they’ve loved, or inspirations for their own work. If you need somewhere to start, let us recommend Playwrights in Conversation – National Theatre podcast and the Royal Court Playwright’s Podcast.
The Library
Next up, the good old fashioned library. As they say, having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card!
The dewey decimal system (how libraries are organised) has play scripts in the numbers 812 for American plays and 822 for English or British plays. There is also 808.2 for collections of plays or dramatic writing. We also highly recommend Methuen Drama for their play compilations!
Your local library will have play scripts that you can go and check out entirely for free, and even place holds on. If you chat to the librarian, they can even often order plays that aren’t on the shelves or in the catalogue. It’s definitely worth a try!
Actor Resumes
The last unconventional method is through investigating established actor’s resumes. If you have any theatre actors you admire (or even film actors, who dabble!) it’s worth checking out their CVs to see any plays they’ve been in that you haven’t heard of. For example, Rosamund Pike was just in new play Inter Alia by Suzie Miller at the National.
If you like an actor’s work, it’s a fair bet that anything theatre work they’ve done will at least interest you somewhat. You can discover some amazing new plays this way!
Final Thoughts on Discovering New Plays
Discovering new plays is a totally joyful experience. From finding killer new monologues, stumbling upon that next great show you’ll stage, or just keeping up to date with the next big thing, it’s one of the best things you can do for your acting development.
We’ve covered a number of different methods for finding high quality new plays without getting totally overwhelmed: new writing theatres, established awards, and respected catalogues. We’ve even included a few more out-of-the-box methods. Start anywhere, and see what you can discover! Happy hunting.
