Since its creation in the 1930s, Dramatists Play Service has become America’s leading play publishing company. Directors and drama teachers should become very familiar with their well-designed website (which is a breath of fresh-air compared to Samuel French’s user-unfriendly site).
The best dramas and comedies of the last three decades are available through this remarkable company. Some of their hit shows include:
- Steel Magnolias
- Driving Miss Daisy
- Tuesdays with Morrie
- Grey Gardens
- and one of my favorite murder-mysteries: Deathtrap
All of the plays within their impressive catalog have been produced by professional theaters. In fact, many of the plays and musicals have made it to Broadway. (Note to playwrights: Don’t bother submitting your work to this company unless your show is already a professional success.)
This is a striking contrast to other play publishing companies which specialize in easy-to-produce plays with large female casts. Dramatists Play Service offers plays that are not-so-easy to produce, not-so-easy to perform. Their plays are a great and wonderful challenge.
Award Winning Dramas
While they do have quite a few comedies and light-hearted musicals, Dramatists Play Service's crowning achievement is their collection of captivating Pulitizer Prize Winning dramas. They also have a special section showcasing their Tony award winning shows.
Monologues
Again, there are other companies better suited for junior high and high school performers. However, actors striving to reach professional levels of their craft should definitely check out their website’s monologue collection. The two books (one for male actors, the other for female) are an impressive assortment of powerful speeches. Some of the monologues are from timeless classics, while others are hand-picked from lesser-known gems.
Well Organized Search Engine
In the beginning of this article, I was a bit unkind to the powerhouse play company, Samuel French. Well, that’s simply because their website doesn’t give its visitors much help. When a director or drama teacher is searching for a show, she wants to be able to search for shows with a specific cast size – perhaps with a certain number of males or females. Dramatist Play service gives visitors the option to search plays based upon the number of male / female performers.
By clicking on the Play Finder menu item, users can enter keywords, cast information, and play type, thus making the search for the perfect play a little bit easier.
