How do I get permission to put on a play?

Please don't forget that any performance or public reading of a play is illegal unless a licence has been obtained from the author or the author's agent. If you wish to perform a play published by Currency Press, then the first step is to get formal permission.

For most Currency Press authors, the agents control the performing rights. Always contact the agent first, before you do anything else. Information about who handles the performing rights for a play is on the imprint page of the published book with the other copyright information but if you need further information, or no agent details are listed, then contact Currency Press for further information.

You should apply for performance rights at least three months prior to your proposed production.


We are an amateur group or a school; do we still need to apply for permission to perform?

Yes! It is essential that you get permission, even if you are intending no more than a reading of the play or you are performing the play for free. Not only is this a legal obligation, but it is through royalties that playwrights make their living.


Are there any exceptions?

Yes. A very small number of plays published by Currency Press are in the public domain, but in most cases copyright lasts from the time of creation for the life of the creator plus 70 years. If you are not sure whether copyright on a play has expired it is best to check before planning your production.
 

Performing Rights administered by Currency Press

Currency Press handles the amateur performing rights for a small number of our authors who are listed below.
To apply for performing rights for any of these plays only, please fill out the amateur performance rights application form and fax or mail it in to Currency.

If a play is not listed here, then please contact the agent or Currency Press for more details.


Lisa Benyon:
Love Seen in a Laundromat

Matt Cameron:
Ruby Moon   NB Rights not currently available in Victoria or Western Australia
Tear From A Glass Eye

Dick Diamond:
Reedy River

Sumner Locke Elliot:
Rusty Bugles

Daniel Evans:
Opening a Fuzzwollop's Frame of Mind

Libby Hathorn & J.Andrew Johnstone:
The Tram to Bondi Beach

Daniel Keene:
All Souls
Cho Cho San
Citizens + Soldiers (The Serpent's Teeth)
Half and Half
The Nightwatchman

Jenny Kemp:

The Black Sequin Dress

Still Angela

Ray Mathew:
The Life of the Party

John Mulligan:
The Sex Life of Snails

Joanna Murray-Smith:
Bombshells

Flame

Honour

Love Child

Nightfall

Ninety NB Rights not currently available

Rapture

Rockabye NB Rights not currently available

The Female of the Species

John O'Donoghue:
Abbie and Lou
Essington Lewis: I am work
A Happy and Holy Occasion

Theo Patrikareas:
The Divided Heart
The Promised Woman
The Uncle from Australia

Ralph Peterson:
The Night of the Ding Dong

Jennifer Rogers:
Jigsaws

Steve Taylor and Kevin Densley:
Last Chance Gas

Robyn Waite:
The Search

Ian Wilding:
October

Torrez