The Most-Produced School Plays of 2025–26 (According to Playbillder)
Here are the school plays (not musicals) that proved most popular with Playbill's program-building service.
By Natan Zamansky
Every school year, from September to June, budding theatricians around the world get to work on school productions of plays and musicals, building their skills to become the next generation of theater artists. But the question remains: What are the most popular school shows right now?
Fortunately, we at Playbill have data from the hundreds of schools around the country that purchase their programs from Playbillder, Playbill’s program-building service, this past school year. Last week, we told you what were the most popular shows with schools that designed and printed their programs through Playbillder in the 2025-26 school year, and you may have noticed that they were all musicals. But what of the plays? Well, we've also put together a list of the most popular school plays, and here they are:
Top School Shows in 2025-26:
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (Public Domain)
- The Outsiders (Dramatic Publishing)
- Peter and the Starcatcher (Music Theatre International)
- Radium Girls (Dramatic Publishing)
- Clue (Concord Theatricals)
- (tie) Almost, Maine (Concord Theatricals), Our Town (Concord Theatricals), Trap (Concord Theatricals), and Puffs (Concord Theatricals)
- (tie) 12 Angry Jurors (Concord Theatricals) and The Play That Goes Wrong (Concord Theatricals)
- Arsenic and Old Lace (Concord Theatricals)
- The Importance of Being Earnest (Public Domain)
- Twelfth Night (Public Domain)
A Midsummer Night's Dream, which proved to be the most-produced play of 2025, tops the list this year, and Shakespeare bookends with Twelfth Night taking the number 10 slot. The top 10 includes many perennial favorites such as Radium Girls, Our Town, and Arsenic and Old Lace. The Outsiders is a new addition to the top 10, having shot up in popularity with interest in the property no doubt bolstered by the Tony-winning musical adaptation of the S.E. Hinton's novel. While rights to perform the musical are not available yet, Christopher Sergel's play adaptation of the novel is enjoying its popularity by proxy.
Take a look below at some of the creative cover designs that schools and community theatres created for their Playbillder programs for these shows:
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