Almost, Maine, was the full-length play staged most often in high school producations in 2018-19, according to a survey by the Educational Theatre Association.
Almost, Maine topped the list of most-produced plays for the fifth consecutive year. Second on the list was A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which has placed in the top 10 for 30 years.
Newcomers to the list include include She Kills Monsters and Clue, which were newly available for licensing.
Gregory Bossler, director of publications for the Educational Theatre Association, says the availability of licensing is a major factor in what gets produced. Other factors in popularity are plays with large casts and stories with youthful perspectives.
More than 3,000 schools took part in the survey. They reported an average of 10 performances per production (26,534 performances in total), with an average total audience of 1,806. Based on that data, the association estimates that U.S. high schools serve a total potential audience of 48.1 million.
Here are the 10 most-produced high school full-length plays of 2018–2019.