Every year, we license thousands of amateur performances of NHB-published plays, helping amateur groups, schools, youth theatres and others create their own brilliant productions. With over 1,500 titles on our list, there’s no shortage of exciting options!

However, there are certain shows we see companies are drawn to time and time again – so we’re rounding up the plays which we licensed the most for amateur performance in 2023. Can you guess which made the list? Here they are, in reverse order…  

10. Chaos by Laura Lomas

Cast: flexible (no set cast size or gender breakdown)

In a series of dislocated and interconnected scenes, a group of characters search for meaning in a complicated and unstable world.

Originally written for the National Theatre’s Connections Festival, Chaos has quickly established itself as one of our most-popular shows for schools and youth theatres. It offers completely flexible casting requirements – meaning it can work for any size or type of group – as well as opportunities for chorus work, movement and music.

Loved this play? Take a look at: buckets by Adam Barnard

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9. The Railway Children, adapted for the stage by Mike Kenny from the novel by E. Nesbit

Cast: 5f 6m, doubling (6f 9m possible)

A well-to-do Edwardian family find themselves far from the home they know and facing unexpected adventures in this imaginative stage version of the much-loved classic novel, which has also been adapted multiple times for screen.

With a variety of plum roles for both younger and older performers, and able to be simply staged (the steam train is optional!), this is a wonderful and uplifting crowd-pleaser for any time of year.

Loved this play? Take a look at: Swallows and Amazons, adapted by Helen Edmundson and Neil Hannon from the novel by Arthur Ransome

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8. The Good Life, adapted by Jeremy Sams from the TV series by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey

Cast: 3-6f 3-6m plus 1 goat (real or otherwise)

This sparkling reimagining of the television classic – about a middle-aged couple aiming to live self-sufficiently in well-heeled, buttoned-up Surbiton, much to the horror of their neighbours – reunites the classic characters from the show (not forgetting Geraldine the goat!) as they get themselves into and out of scrapes: some old, some new, all hilarious.

Tapping in to issues that resonate now more than ever, The Good Life leaps (goat-like) straight into our list of most-performed plays, following its professional debut tour around the UK in 2021.

Loved this play? Take a look at: The Nightingales by William Gaminara

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7. Things I Know To Be True by Andrew Bovell

Cast: 3f 3m (wide age range)

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.

Also a set text for GCSE Drama, Things I Know To Be True has been a firm favourite with amateur groups since its professional UK premiere in 2016, and now rises up into our most-performed Top 10. It offers strong performance opportunities for the whole cast, as well as an affecting and highly theatrical story which will leave audiences spellbound.

Loved this play? Take a look at: The Last of the Haussmans by Stephen Beresford

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6. Machinal by Sophie Treadwell

Cast: 10f 14m, doubling

First seen on Broadway in 1928 – with numerous major professional revivals since – this is a powerful expressionist drama about the dependent status of women in an increasingly mechanised society. The author was a campaigning journalist in America between the wars, and this play is based on one of her assignments: a sensational court case involving a young woman named Ruth Snyder, who had murdered her husband and been sentenced to the electric chair.

In addition to the full-length version, authorised one-act and ten-minute abridgements of the play are also available for performance.

Loved this play? Take a look at: The Thrill of Love by Amanda Whittington

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5. Nell Gwynn by Jessica Swale

Cast: 5-7f 7m

London, 1660. King Charles II has exploded onto the scene with a love of all things loud, extravagant and sexy. And at Drury Lane, a young Nell Gwynn is causing stirrings amongst the theatregoers. This exhilarating play 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.

Nell Gwynn was first seen at Shakespeare’s Globe, London, and later transferred to London’s West End, where it won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy.

Loved this play? Take a look at: Anne Boleyn by Howard Brenton

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4. The Welkin by Lucy Kirkwood

Cast: 13-16f 2-4m

Suffolk, 1579. A young woman is sentenced to hang for a heinous murder – but when she claims to be pregnant, a jury of twelve matrons are taken from their housework to decide whether she’s telling the truth, or simply trying to escape the noose.

First seen at the National Theatre, London, The Welkin is a gripping courtroom drama in the mould of The Crucible and Twelve Angry Men. With roles for up to twenty performers (in a majority-female cast featuring a wide range of ages) and a plot full of twists and turns, this new entry on our list of most-performed plays is likely to be a regular for years to come.

Loved this play? Take a look at: The Last Witch by Rona Munro

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3. The Hound of the Baskervilles, adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson from the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle

Cast: 3m (playing various roles)

Packed full of verbal and visual ingenuity, this gloriously funny makeover of the most celebrated Sherlock Holmes story is a mainstay amongst our most popular shows for amateur performance.

It’s easy to see why: with three actors playing multiple roles, and offering abundant opportunities for silly comedy and slapstick, this perennially popular show is a guaranteed good time for groups and audiences alike.

Loved this play? Take a look at: Jeeves & Wooster in ‘Perfect Nonsense’, adapted by The Goodale Brothers from the works of P.G. Wodehouse

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2. Ladies’ Day by Amanda Whittington

Cast: 4f 1m (doubling, or up to 6m)

This exuberant comedy, about four likely lasses from the Hull fish docks on a day trip to the races, has been a permanent fixture on the amateur-theatre scene for fifteen years now – and was a popular pick once again in 2023.

Audiences and groups have long loved following the exploits of fish-filleting foursome Pearl, Jan, Shelley and Linda – whose stories continue in the hilarious sequel Ladies Down Under (which also ranks in our full top 40 most-performed shows!), and the third play in the series, Ladies Unleashed, which is also now available for performance.

Loved this play? Take a look at: Di and Viv and Rose by Amelia Bullmore

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1. Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale

Cast: 8-10f 8-14m (plus 2 extras)

This hugely popular comedy-drama, first seen at Shakespeare’s Globe, London, in 2013, returns to the top spot on this year’s most-performed list.

Set in 1890s Cambridge, Blue Stockings is a moving, comical and eye-opening story of young women fighting for education and self-determination against the larger backdrop of women’s suffrage. The play follows the course of one tumultuous academic year as Tess and her fellow first years at Girton College battle for the right to graduate – and overcome the hurdles in their way.

Accompanying music by Laura Forrest-Hay is also available for companies to license.

Loved this play? Take a look at: Emilia by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm

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A word from NHB’s Performing Rights Manager, Tamara von Werthern…

Our Most-Performed Plays list is always an exciting chance to take the pulse of amateur theatre – and I am really thrilled to find it healthier than ever. Nick Hern Books licensed more performances of our plays than ever before in 2023, and it’s so heartening to see that there are plenty of newcomers amongst companies’ favourites.

I’m particularly pleased by how many of the titles featured here are new plays from the past few years. It currently feels harder than it ever has been for new writing to thrive in the UK professional sector, and amateurs are once again a big part of supporting and nurturing that part of the theatre industry. I know from speaking to professional playwrights just how much they value this kind of backing from amateur groups.

I’m also struck by the variety of this list. There’s everything here, including laugh-out-loud comedy, extravagant period pieces, poignant and emotionally intense drama, and interrogations of the current state of our world. And the casts also come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from intimate three-handers to sprawling character lists of dozens. Never let it be said that amateurs lack ambition!

Thank you so much to everyone who was involved in an NHB production in 2023, and I look forward to working with you again this year. Do get in touch if you want to chat through your options and receive free digital inspection copies of our plays to consider for performance.

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To see the full, extended list of our Most-Performed Plays of 2023 – featuring lots more well-known names, plus some exciting new voices – head to our website.

Thanks so much to all of the ambitious, passionate amateur companies whom we helped create fantastic productions in 2023. We’re always inspired to see your incredible work, and can’t wait to help you stage more brilliant shows this year, too.