IPI Backstage

Royalty Free Plays

If you are considering directing a play at IPI but aren't sure which one, please consider the plays listed below. There are melodramas, comedies, tragedies, farces, mysteries, and many more. Browse and you're sure to find something that interests you. The only thing that they have in common is that they are all in the public domain. This means that there are no royalty fees associated with producing these plays. It is much easier to produce a play that makes it into the black (i.e. profit) when you don't have to put out a couple hundred dollars just to get the legal rights to do it.

Title			Author	Current Publisher(s)

Arms and the Man			Bernard Shaw	Dover Thrift
	Witty masterpiece combines high comedy with social commentary in deflating romantic misconceptions of love and warfare. First produced in 1894, Arms and the Man is one of the most acted and studied of Shaw's plays. It is reprinted here from an authoritative early edition, complete with Shaw's preface to Volume II of Plays: Pleasant and Unpleasant.
The Cherry Orchard			Anton Chekov	Dover Thrift
	Classic of world drama concerns the passing of the old semifeudal order in turn-of-the-century Russia, symbolized in the sale of the cherry orchard owned by Madame Ranevskaya. The work also showcases the great Russian writer's rich sensitivities as an observer of human nature. An inexpensive, high-quality edition, reprinted from a standard edition of the play.
Cyrano de Bergerac			Edmond Rostand	Dover Thrift
	A quarrelsome, hot-tempered, and unattractive swordsman falls hopelessly in love with a beautiful woman and woos her for a handsome but slow-witted suitor. A witty and eloquent drama.
A Doll's House			Henrik Ibsen	Dover Thrift
	One of the best-known, most frequently performed of modern plays, displaying Ibsen's genius for realistic prose drama. A classic expression of women's rights, the play builds to a climax in which the central character, Nora, rejects a smothering marriage and life in "a doll’s house."
Dr. Faustus			Christopher Marlowe	Dover Thrift
	One of the glories of Elizabethan drama: Marlowe's powerful retelling of the story of the learned German doctor who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power.
The Duchess of Malfi			John Webster	Dover Thrift
	The evils of greed and ambition overwhelm love, innocence, and the bonds of kinship in this dark tragedy concerning the secret marriage of a noblewoman and a commoner. John Webster's great Jacobean drama detailing the fiendish schemes of two brothers who desire their wealthy sister's title and estates ends with a bloody and horrifying climax.
An Enemy of the People			Henrik Ibsen	Dover Thrift
	When Dr. Thomas Stockmann learns that the famous and financially successful baths in his home town are contaminated, he insists they be shut down for expensive repairs. Ridiculed and persecuted by the townsfolk for his honesty, he is declared an "enemy of the people." A powerful drama by the "father of modern drama."
*The Emperor Jones*			Eugene O'Neill	Dover Thrift
	The Emperor Jones is an expressionistic play much-admired for its powerful psychological portrayal of brute power, fear, and madness.
Exiles			James Joyce	Dover Thrift
	This 3-act play was first published in 1918; and like much of Joyce's other works, it is an imaginative reconstruction of his own life. In it, Richard Rowan, an Irish writer who has spent much time abroad, feels estranged from Irish society when he returns to Dublin.
The Father			August Strindberg	Dover Thrift
	Many experiences in the personal life of poet, author, and dramatist August Strindberg involved a duel between the sexes, with ruthless, aggressive women usurping male prerogatives of decision-making and leadership. Strindberg explores this theme in The Father — his best work and one of the most gripping psychological dramas of modern theater.
*Ghosts*			Henrik Ibsen	Dover Thrift
	Powerful psychological drama (1881) exposes hypocrisy of social conventions and society's moral codes. Mrs. Helen Alving is haunted by her husband's infidelities and the disease he has passed to their son. Ultimately, she is forced to acknowledge the "ghosts" that have kept her from living "just for the joy of life."
*Hands Around*		Arthur Schnitzler		Dover Thrift

*Heartbreak House*			George Bernard Shaw	Dover Thrift
	One of the distinguished comic dramatist's more somber plays, this entertaining allegory examines apathy, confusion and lack of purpose as causes of major world problems, with larger-than-life characters representing the evils of the modern world.
*Hedda Gabler*			Henrik Ibsen	Dover Thrift
	This dark psychological drama was first produced in Norway in 1890 and depicts the evil machinations of a ruthless, nihilistic heroine: the infamous Hedda Gabler. Readers will discover a masterly exploration of the nature of evil, along with the potential for tragedy that lies in human frailty. A true masterpiece.
*An Ideal Husband*			Oscar Wilde	Barnes & Noble Dover Thrift
	Wilde's scintillating drawing-room comedy revolves around a blackmail scheme that forces a married couple to reexamine their moral standards. A supporting cast of young lovers, society matrons, and a formidable femme fatale exchange sparkling repartee, keeping the action of the play at a lively pace.
*The Importance of Being Earnest*			Oscar Wilde	Barnes & Noble Dover Thrift
	Witty and buoyant comedy of manners is brilliantly plotted from its effervescent first act to its hilarious denouement, and filled with some of literature's most famous epigrams. Widely considered Wilde's most perfect work, the play is reprinted here from an authoritative early British edition.
*Lady Windermere's Fan*			Oscar Wilde	Barnes & Noble

*The Lower Depths*			Maxim Gorky	Dover Thrift
	This compelling 1902 play, considered Gorky's masterpiece, centers on a group of wretched souls who congregate to play cards, tell stories, and debate whether it is better to live without illusions or to maintain a romanticized worldview. A powerful, influential drama, hailed for its realistic and memorable characterizations.
*Major Barbara*			George Bernard Shaw	Dover Thrift
	When a Salvation Army officer learns that her father, a wealthy armaments manufacturer, has donated lots of money to her organization, she resigns in disgust but eventually sees the truth of her father's reasoning that social iniquity derives from poverty; it is only through accumulating wealth and power that people can help each other.
The Misanthrope			Molière	Dover Thrift
	One of the best of Molière's plays — and one of the greatest of all comedies — spotlighting the absurdities of social and literary pretension, focusing on a man who is quick to criticize the faults of others, yet remains blind to his own.
Miss Julie			August Strindberg	Dover Thrift
	One of the greatest classics of modern theater — the fateful drama of a willful young aristocrat's seduction of her father's valet during a Midsummer's Eve celebration. Inspired by the new ideas of naturalism and psychology that swept Europe in the late 19th century.
*The Playboy of the Western World*			J. M. Synge	Dover Thrift
	Set among the folk of the Aran Islands and western Irish coastlands, The Playboy of the Western World deals with a hero's progress, from timid weakling to paragon of bravery.
Pygmalion			George Bernard Shaw	Dover Thrift
	A rousing success on the London and New York stages, a popular film and a great musical hit (My Fair Lady), this brilliantly written play, with its irresistible theme of the emerging butterfly, is one of the most acclaimed comedies in the English language.
*R.U.R.*			Karel Capek	Dover Thrift
	Great play, that introduced the word "robot" into English, looks to a future in which all workers are automatons. They revolt when they acquire souls (i.e., when they gain the ability to hate) and the resulting catastrophe make for a powerful and deeply moving theatrical experience. Paul Selver translation.
*The Rivals*			Richard B. Sheridan	Dover Thrift
	Immensely popular comedy of manners featuring such memorable characters as the lovely Lydia Languish, her suitor, Capt. Jack Absolute; and Lydia's aunt — Mrs. Malaprop, cleverly revolves around false identities, romantic entanglements, and parental disapproval. Brilliant comic masterpiece satirizing the pretentiousness and sentimentality of 18th-century society.
Salomé			Oscar Wilde	Barnes & Noble Dover Thrift
	Written originally in French in 1892, Wilde's one-act tragedy Salome enacts the biblical tale of a wanton woman's erotic dance and the martyrdom of John the Baptist.
*The School for Scandal*			Richard B. Sheridan	Dover Thrift
	Often called the best comedy of manners in English, and one of the most produced of all theater classics, this delightful play displays Sheridan's mastery of the mechanics of stage comedy, his flair for witty dialogue, and his delight in skewering the affectation and pretentiousness of aristocratic Londoners of the 1770s.
*She Stoops To Conquer*			Oliver Goldsmith	Dover Thrift
	Charming satire of the sentimental comedies of the day has entertained audiences since 1773. A young lady poses as a serving girl to win the heart of a young gentleman too shy to court ladies of his own class. Many delightful deceits, hilarious turns of plot must be played out before the play concludes happily.
Six Characters in Search of an Author			Luigi Pirandello	Dover Thrift
	This 1921 intellectual comedy contrasts illusion with reality by introducing 6 individuals to a bare stage occupied by actors in rehearsal. Proclaiming themselves the incomplete creations of an author's imagination, the 6 demand dialog for the story of their lives. A classic dramatic exploration of the many faces of reality.
The Three Sisters			Anton Chekhov	Dover Thrift
	This landmark probes the lives and dreams of Olga, Masha and Irina, former Muscovites now living in a provincial town from which they long to escape. Their hopes for a life more suited to their cultivated tastes and sensibilities provide a touching counterpoint to the relentless flow of compromising events in the real world.
Ubu Roi			Alfred Jarry	Dover Thrift
	A stunning, controversial work that immediately outraged audiences with its scatological references during the 1896 premiere, the farce satirizes the tendency of the successful bourgeois to abuse his authority and become irresponsibly complacent. Championed as the first absurdist drama, Ubu Roi features a main character that is cruel, gluttonous, and grotesque.
*Uncle Vanya*			Anton Chekhov	Dover Thrift
	This structurally and psychologically compact drama takes place on an estate in 19th-century Russia, exploring the complex interrelationships between a retired professor, his second wife, and the daughter and brother-in-law from his first marriage. Interwoven themes of weakness, delusion, and despair are balanced by an underlying message of courage and hope.
Volpone			Ben Jonson	Dover Thrift
	Bitter, satiric comedy in blank verse is one of the great Elizabethan dramatist’s finest plays. The plot concerns a wealthy, lecherous old man who feigns a mortal illness in order to solicit bribes from greedy acquaintances who hope to inherit his fortune. Many complexities of plot and connivance ensue, but in the end, the guilty parties are exposed and punished.
*The Way of the World*			William Congreve	Dover Thrift
	One of the greatest of all Restoration comedies, this knowing comedy of manners depicts the scheming of a nest of shallow, deceitful aristocrats to prevent two lovers from marrying. The play abounds with felicitous phrasing, delicious verbal battles of the sexes and a depth of feeling and sensitivity.
*What Every Woman Knows*			James M. Barrie	Dover Thrift
	Married by special agreement to John Shand, Maggie Wylie proves to be a highly effective voice for her politician husband. One of the author's most realistic and important theatrical works — graced with flashes of sly humor and dramatic irony — entertainingly develops the theme that behind every successful man is a woman.
*The Wild Duck*			Henrik Ibsen	Dover Thrift
	The idealistic son of a corrupt merchant exposes his father's duplicity, but in the process destroys the very people he wishes to save. Gregers Werle forces his friends, the Ekdals, to confront the truth about their lives — but the truth only serves to wound them further.
A Woman of No Importance			Oscar Wilde	Barnes & Noble


Also of Note: All of William Shakespeare's plays are in the public domain and may be performed without paying royalties. There are many different publishers that keep Shakespeare in print so if you are so inclined, you should have no problem finding a copy of Romeo & Juliet, King Lear, Othello, Julius Caesar, or any of his plays.

*Although this list strives for accuracy, it is your job as a director to make certain that if you choose one of the above the title is indeed in the public domain and no permissions are needed. Also, just because a title is listed above does not mean that every version of that play is in the public domain. This is particularly important for plays that have been translated into English. Many plays have been translated by different people at different times. The publisher(s) listed beside the play have a public domain version.