Play Licensing
Interested in producing a play that premiered at the Purple Rose?
An exclusive collection of Purple Rose premieres has been published and is available for licensing.
BROWSE SCRIPTS
The current script catalogue is available for download.
READ SCRIPTS
Extensive script samples are available in PDF format for each title in our collection. Order complete scripts with this script order form. Script orders are for perusal purposes only and do not indicate approval of production rights.
Collectible author-autographed scripts are also available for purchase exclusively through the Purple Rose Box Office.
PERFORMANCE RIGHTS
The Purple Rose licenses both professional and non-professional production rights for all plays in our collection. A licensing application must be submitted and approved prior to production. Download the application now.
For complete licensing terms and royalty rates, please contact Marketing Director, Heidi Bennett at 734.433.7782 ext. 18 or email licensing@purplerosetheatre.org. Completing this application does not guarantee approval for production rights. Please allow 2-4 weeks for processing.
The Purple Rose is not an online publisher; however, we are always seeking new plays for production. Please review our submission guidelines before submitting any material.
All plays available through The Purple Rose Theatre Company are fully protected under international copyright law. Unauthorized reproduction – including photocopying and scanning – of any play is strictly forbidden by law.
For more information about Purple Rose premiere scripts, please contact the Purple Rose Business Office at 734.433.7782 or email licensing@purplerosetheatre.org.
Premiere Script Titles
David MacGregor
Consider the Oyster
During the celebration of a Detroit Lions Super Bowl victory, Gene Walsh impulsively proposes marriage to the love of his life. When she joyously accepts, he tumbles over the coffee table. This chance fall begins a hilarious cascade of startling twists that turn the happy couples’ future upside down and inside out.
Contains strong language and adult themes.
Gravity
"Isaac Newton was not humanity's first scientist. He was our last sorcerer." Experience the humanity and humor of one of history's greatest icons as he grapples with the choice between love and immortality. For centuries, the true nature of the work that engaged Isaac Newton in the years after his Principia Mathematica rocked the world in 1687 lay hidden among trunks of forgotten papers. Based on Newton's actual letters, this play explores his relationship with a mysterious patroness as he pursued the most important work of his life. Newton drove himself relentlessly in pursuit of Truth, riding the delicate line between divinity and madness.
Vino Veritas
On Halloween night, two couples prepare to attend an annual costume party. Though the evening begins as usual, familiar traditions unravel when the foursome shares a bottle of South American ceremonial wine made from the skin of blue dart tree frogs. Under the influence of this tribal truth serum, what follows is an unpredictable night of unbridled honesty that stretches the bounds of their friendship forever.
The Late Great Henry Boyle
In this charming love story, meet the endearingly befuddled medieval scholar Henry Boyle. After a painful divorce, Boyle develops an absinthe habit while writing a novel that inexplicably becomes an overnight pop culture sensation. Suffering from intense media scrutiny and recurring hallucinations about giant rodents, a chance meeting with a damsel named Rachel might be the only thing that can pull Boyle back from the edge.
Jeff Daniels
Best of Friends
Two middle-aged married couples — the Martins and the Porters — stand on the verge of becoming “the best of friends.” A perceived slight over dinner quickly devolves the blossoming relationship into an escalating game of one-upmanship to see which couple can devise a plan that will sever the relationship forever.
Escanaba
"Everyone has a home somewhere." The legend begins in this final installment of the classic Yooper trilogy. Alphonse Soady is putting the finishing touches on his newly-constructed deer camp when a wild-eyed James Negamanee bursts through his door fleeing a black bear. This origin story reveals the role this strange trespasser plays in time-honored Soady Deer Camp traditions, including the saga of the Soady Ridge Buck.
Panhandle Slim & The Oklahoma Kid
Featuring six original songs, this "play with music" tells the fateful tale of a prairie showdown between a vagrant outlaw and a singing cowboy. Thrown together by unfortunate circumstances, Panhandle Slim and The Oklahoma Kid argue the virtues of mayhem, music and the meaning of life.
Escanaba In Love
The hilarious prequel to Escanaba in da Moonlight is set in the Soady deer camp during World War II and outfitted with a whole new cast of Wacky Yoopers. Eighteen-year-old Albert Soady, Jr. is celebrating his final hunting season before he becomes a sharpshooter for the U.S. Army when he falls head-over-heels for the legendary Big Betty Balou. The question is, does she have what it takes to become part of Escanaba’s “royal” family?
Guest Artist
In his most autobiographical work yet, Daniels weaves a funny and poignant story about a young man coming face to face with his hero and explores the tangled relationship between the dreams of youth and the wisdom of age. American Theatre Critics Association New Play finalist
Shoe Man
Set in a small town, Jeff Daniels' first play spoofs some of the community's passionate beliefs, including the grand game of golf. The intertwining of these passions, both on and off the course, leads to infidelity, mayhem, and critical lessons in the proper way of hitting a seven iron.
Norma & Wanda
Two very different sisters get themselves into an outrageous pickle with an old high school boyfriend, a chaotic church social and a secret family recipe for Christmas sausage.
Michael Brian Ogden
Corktown
In the dark underworld of modern-day Detroit, Joey — an Army veteran turned enforcer for the Irish Mob — struggles with a crisis of conscience about his work. He’s looking for a way out of “the life,” but ends up finding love in the very last place he expected to find it. Trouble is, his partner Laurence and his sadistic boss Cobb stand between him and a new beginning.
Contains violence and strong language.
Bleeding Red
The biggest football match in twenty years is about to kick off across the pond in London. Tommy, confirmed bachelor and passionate Liverpool fan, arrives at his best mate Bobby's flat to discover he's been dumped by his fiancee. Trouble is, Bobby is the linchpin of the all-important pre-game ritual. Tommy must get him to the pub before the game starts, even if it means recruiting the help of another traitorous female, Bobby's fetching sister Sarah.