Directing
Directing at CoPs
CoPs. It’s a great venue to direct a play. Our Little Theatre can accommodate a thrust, traverse, and standard proscenium arch arrangement, in an intimate venue with up to date technical facilities, knowledgeable crew and a great cast pool.
We ask directors to submit play(s) and then the Play Selection Committee will consider all submissions before coming to a decision on a balanced season of 5 plays.
Our aim is to select the best season possible by maximising the number of submitting directors and being offered a good range of plays to choose from. We are now looking for directors for the season from September 2025 to June 2026
Anyone can submit a play to direct, and we are actively seeking new directors. Experience at CoPs or at other venues is seen as an advantage, so assisting to direct a current CoPs production is a way to gain that experience. Do please ask…
Process
At this early stage, if you are considering submitting for the 2025-26 Season, then all you need to do is email andy@cops.org.uk by DATE AND TIME.
We will then get back in touch. The number of plays we ask for may be dependent on how many potential directors we have: if we only have 5, we might ask for 3 or more plays from each. If we have 20 directors, it may just be 1 – but please be aware, if we cannot make a balanced season, we may come back and ask for another choice.
If you already know plays you want o submit, you can fill in our Play Submissions form online now. The submission process will close at TIME AND DATE and we will look to make a decision by November/December depending on the number of plays submitted.
Finding a Play
A list of previous productions can be seen on our Archives page.
Since starting in 1962, we have never repeated a play, up until this season, with Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen. The last time this play was performed at CoPs was in 1968, so bare in mind that it is unlikely we would repeat one we have done fairly recently.
The list of websites below can assist in finding new plays.
Please note: we will only select plays which are available for amateur performance at the time the selection takes place. It is therefore unlikely that plays that are currently professional at the time of submission will be selected.
Play Selection Sources
Publishers
Just because a play is listed on these sites, it does not necessarily mean it is available for amateur performance. Some are just plays that they publish. Generally, if it is available for amateurs, you will see a price per performance quoted, but you will often also see:
“This title is currently restricted in London…” or “Some restrictions currently apply for this title“.
These may be possible to do, but it all depends – the second of those restriction statements applied to Flare Path but we still got a licence for June 2018. If there is no price quoted and “This title is not currently available for performance.” – then this is likely to be a no go.
The following are the main licence holders websites for the UK:
Perusal Copies
To save money, you can get perusal copies of plays from some publishers (e.g. Nick Hern Books)
HCC’s Performing Arts Library – Welwyn Garden City
A large collection, including monologues, sketches, one-act and full length plays. From Shakespeare to contemporary playwrights. However, they do no buy every new play. They also have play sets for reading and performance, but please note that although you can get single copies of plays out for free on a normal library ticket, play sets are chargeable and are restricted to company tickets, and only certain members of CoPs can get gets out on our company ticket. Please ask Andy Lee, by emailing andy@cops.org.uk if you do need a play set, and this can be arranged.
Project Gutenberg
For classic works, which are out of copyright, you can often download them for free from Project Gutenberg. The releases are available in plain text, but wherever possible, other formats are included, such as HTML, PDF, EPUB, MOBI and Plucker. Most releases are in the English language.
Doollee Database
The Doollee Database has details of 56,653 and 193,348 of their plays, and is useful if you want to find out who publishes a certain play.
Awards
They are often a source of great play ideas, but bear in mind that professional plays will often take some years to become available for amateur performances, so it’s better looking a few years back. Below are links to some of the more well-known awards sites:
