SECURING PERFORMANCE RIGHTS FROM PLAY PUBLISHERS 

Choosing a piece for your Thespy? To participate, you’ll need to select material the publishers have approved for use in the Thespy program. Please check this page often — due to the nature of rights and licensing, this list could change at any time. And be sure to read the list carefully: Not all materials from these publishers are approved.  

Each publisher has their own process by which they must approve the performance rights for the titles they represent. Details about pre-approved materials are noted after each listing. If no such details are present, the publisher has granted blanket approval of their catalog for Thespys use.

When submitting a Thespy entry at a qualifier or ITF, it’s important to identify the correct publisher. This will prevent possible licensing problems if you’re invited to perform in a Thespy showcase.

Publishers who wish to be added to this list may contact EdTA for more information.​
  • Broadway Licensing (Playscripts, Dramatists Play Service)
    • Most work is acceptable, however, the following pieces are exceptions and are not eligible for Thespy performances:
      • The Play The Goes Wrong 
      • The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong 
      • An American Daughter 
      • Hangmen 
      • Nollywood Dreams 
      • Notes from the Field 
      • The Santaland Diaries 
      • Season’s Greetings 
      • The Sisters Rosenweig 
  • Broadway Play Publishing, Inc.
  • Brooklyn Publishers
  • Concord Theatricals (R&H Theatricals, Samuel French, Inc. Tams-Witmark, The Musical Company)
    • Note that exceptions are works that appear on Concord’s “Red Light” List. Permission is not granted for pieces that appear on this list. 
  • Dramatic Publishing Co.
    • Thespians may only use a selection from Dramatic Publishing for live, in-person adjudication and performance at a chapter or international event. Please contact Dramatic Publishing directly to determine if your selection is available to be recorded and streamed for competition.
  • Eldridge Publishing Company
  • Heuer Publishing
  • Music Theatre International
  • Original Works Publishing
  • Stage Partners
  • Theatrefolk
  • Theatrical Rights Worldwide
  • Uproar Theatrics
  • YouthPLAYS
    • Royalties are waived for monologues and scenes/excerpts lasting less than 10 minutes for Thespian and other adjudicated school festivals. Permission for this use only is automatically granted so long as each participant has purchased a digital or printed copy of the script through YouthPLAYS.
  • Any public domain play written prior to 1926.
    • Public domain means that the public owns the work, not the author because the term of the copyright has expired or the work was never covered by copyright in the first place (i.e., original works by William Shakespeare or Sophocles).
  • Monologues from the D.M. Larson plays below are available for the Thespys. All other D.M. Larson monologues will result in a disqualification.
    • Beauty IS a Beast (ISBN-13: 978-1511495967)
    • Big Nose (ISBN-13: 978-1542471077)
    • Death of an Insurance Salesman (ISBN-13: 978-1518665547)
    • Ebony Scrooge (ISBN-13: 978-1537655239)
    • Flowers in the Desert (ISBN-13: 978-1530169085)
    • Holka Polka! (ISBN-13: 978-1502445490)
    • Operation Redneck (ISBN-13: 978-1540824349)
    • Somebody Famous (ISBN-13: 978-1539753483)
    • Superhero Support Group (ISBN-13: 978-1540471772)
    • My William Shatner Man Crush (ISBN-13: 978-1505910155)
    • To Be a Star (ISBN-13: 978-154130020)