Celebrate the bonds that bring us together on International Day of Friendship! This special day honors the connections we share with friends around the world, reminding us of the importance of camaraderie, support, and love. To help you celebrate, we’ve curated a list of titles about friendship that will warm your heart and inspire you. Reach out to your friends, old and new, and let them know how much they mean to you.
Happy International Day of Friendship!
Musicals
A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet; book, music, and lyrics by Alex Wyse and Ben Fankhauser
Two nobodies dream of writing one hit song for everybody, but their day job composing jingles for commercials isn’t the big break they hoped for. That is, until they’re plucked from obscurity by a world-famous pop star named Regina Comet (if destiny had a child, it would be her) and she wants them to create an anthem for her supernova pipes…and her new perfume. They’re so close to the big-time that they can smell it, but following your passion doesn’t always lead where you expect. Making a hit song can be messy.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid; book by Kevin Del Aguila, music and lyrics by Michael Mahler and Alan Schmuckler
Photo by Glen Stubbe, 2022 Children’s Theatre Company Production
There is a shorter, 60-Minute Edition also available for licensing.
Middle school, ugh. It’s the worst. But Greg is determined not to be at the bottom of the popularity chart. He’ll leave that to his weird neighbor, Fregley. Or maybe Greg’s best friend, Rowley Jefferson. But it’s not going to be Greg…no way.
Jeff Kinney’s popular character takes center stage as Greg’s cartoon diary becomes a hilarious and heartfelt musical. Will Greg’s plans to become popular lead him to sacrifice his one true friend? Can anyone avoid the dreaded Cheese Touch? Grab a hall pass and don’t be late for an adventure familiar to anyone who actually survived middle school.
Honky Tonk Angels by Ted Swindley
2023 Riverside Theatre production
When three gutsy gals from different backgrounds take charge of their lives, they decide to follow their honky tonk dreams all the way to the city of Nashville. Combining 30 classic country tunes (including “Stand By Your Man,” “9 to 5,” “Harper Valley PTA” and more!) Honky Tonk Angels is a hilarious, foot-stomping good time.
The Marvelous Wonderettes by Roger Bean
This smash Off-Broadway hit takes you to the 1958 Springfield High School prom, where we meet Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy, and Suzy: four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their crinoline skirts! As we learn about their lives and loves, the girls serenade us with classic ‘50s hits including “Lollipop,” “Dream Lover,” “Stupid Cupid,” and “Lipstick on Your Collar.” In Act II, the Wonderettes reunite to take the stage and perform at their ten-year reunion. We learn about the highs and lows the girls have experienced in the past decade and are charmed to find that no matter what life throws their way, they will conquer it together. Featuring over 30 classic ’50s and ’60s hits, The Marvelous Wonderettes will keep you smiling in this must-take musical trip down memory lane!
Plays
The Comeuppance by
Winner of the 2024 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play
Photo by Monique Carboni, 2023 Signature Theatre production
When group of old classmates meet to pre-game their twentieth high school reunion, everyone is nervous for the night ahead. As alcohol and pot help the self-declared “Multi-Ethnic Reject Group,” let their guards down, they begin to reminisce about their teenage selves and reveal how their lives have unfolded since graduation. Did their friendships stand the test of time, or will they realize they don’t have as much in common as they thought they did? Brilliantly witty, theatrical, and moving, The Comeuppance focuses on millennials and their reckoning with the world they will soon inherit.
Dinner with Friends by
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Photo by The Hollywood Reporter, 2014 Off-Broadway revival
As described by New York Magazine: “Two married couples have been best friends for years. In their Connecticut home, Karen and Gabe, international food writers, are giving a dinner for Beth and Tom, which he doesn’t attend. It emerges from the heartbroken Beth that he has left her for another woman. Gabe and Karen are almost as crushed, having expected ‘to grow old and fat together, the four of us.’ When Tom shows up at his home in the next scene, late at night, he is enraged that Beth broke the news of their breakup in his absence. Late as it is, he rushes over to his friends in the next scene to present his side of the story.
Act Two begins with another dinner, twelve and a half years earlier, in a summer house on Martha’s Vineyard, where Karen and Gabe are introducing Beth to Tom. Then we skip five months after the events in Act One, as Beth reveals to Karen…that she has fallen in love with an old friend whom she intends to marry…Later that day, in a Manhattan bar, Tom, a lawyer, tells Gabe about his [newfound] happiness, to which Gabe reacts sourly. Still later that night, Gabe and Karen are going to bed in the Vineyard house, and discuss the Tom-and-Beth situation, as well as their own [marriage]…clinging to it like the shipwrecked to their raft…”
Elsewhere by Don Zolidis
At a boarding school in New Hampshire, the former headmaster’s house sits empty, abandoned decades ago after his son disappeared inside and now thought haunted. But when four students break in on a dare, they don’t finds ghosts or ghouls, but instead a doorway to another world: Elsewhere. Elsewhere is a realm of pure imagination, overflowing with everything Sylvan, Ariel, Jenna, and Vi could ever want: magic, adventure, acceptance, purpose, a half-human, half-buffalo librarian. But the longer they stay in Elsewhere, the more it seems there’s something not quite right with the fantasy utopia—and the less willing Elsewhere is to let them go back to their real lives. To escape this dream world, the four friends must journey through their darkest nightmares. (An alternate version of this play amended for language and content is also available.)
Five Women Wearing the Same Dress by
During an ostentatious wedding reception at a Knoxville, Tennessee, estate, five reluctant, identically clad bridesmaids hide out in an upstairs bedroom, each with her own reason to avoid the proceedings below. They are Frances, a painfully sweet but sheltered fundamentalist; Mindy, the cheerful, wise-cracking lesbian sister of the groom; Georgeanne, whose heartbreak over her own failed marriage triggers outrageous behavior; Meredith, the bride’s younger sister, whose precocious rebelliousness masks a dark secret; and Trisha, a jaded beauty whose die-hard cynicism about men is called into question when she meets Tripp, a charming bad-boy usher to whom there is more than meets the eye. As the afternoon wears on, these five very different women joyously discover a common bond in this wickedly funny, irreverent, and touching celebration of the women’s spirit.
The Garbologists by
Danny’s a white, blue-collar, New York City sanitation worker. Marlowe’s the Black, Ivy-educated newbie who just joined his route. Thrown together in the cab of a nineteen-ton garbage truck, they spend their first shifts sparring, one-upping each other, and practicing the secret art of mongo: hunting for discarded treasure. But as their lives become increasingly intertwined, these two essential workers from different worlds discover there’s more that binds them than picking up the trash.
Good Kids by Naomi Iizuka
University of Michigan Production
Something happened to Chloe after that party last Saturday night. Something she says she can’t remember. Something everybody is talking about. Set at a Midwestern high school, in a world of Facebook and Twitter, smartphones and YouTube, Good Kids explores a casual sexual encounter gone wrong and its very public aftermath. Who’s telling the truth? Whose version of the story do you believe? And what does that say about you?
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: High School Edition by John Tiffany, Jack Throne, and J.K. Rowling
2024 Hoboken High School North America Pilot Production
Nineteen years after Harry, Ron, and Hermione saved the wizarding world, they’re back on a most extraordinary new adventure–this time, joined by a brave new generation that has only just arrived at the legendary Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When Harry Potter’s head-strong son Albus befriends the son of his fiercest rival, Draco Malfoy, it sparks an unbelievable new journey for them all—with the power to change the past and future forever. Prepare for spectacular spells, a mind-blowing race through time, and an epic battle to stop mysterious forces, all while the future hangs in the balance. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (High School Edition) is a special adaptation of the beloved worldwide hit. Tailored for high school theatre productions, it provides young actors the opportunity to play Harry, Hermione, Ron, and all of their favorite characters on their very own stage and bring the wizarding world to life for their communities. Your students will be empowered to conjure the magic through their own creativity, making it a truly exciting and engaging experience for students and audiences alike.
The Half-Life of Marie Curie by
In 1911, Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discovery of the elements radium and polonium. By 1912, she was the object of ruthless gossip over an alleged affair with the married Frenchman Paul Langevin, all but erasing her achievements from public memory. Weakened and demoralized by the press lambasting her as a “foreign” Jewish temptress and a homewrecking traitor, Marie agrees to join her friend and colleague Hertha Ayrton, an electromechanical engineer and suffragette, at her summer home in England. THE HALF-LIFE OF MARIE CURIE revels in the power of female friendship as it explores the relationship between these two brilliant women, both of whom are mothers, widows, and fearless champions of scientific inquiry.
Included in Broadway Book Club’s Women’s Voices Specialty Collection
King James by
Photo by Jeenah Moon, 2023 Off-Broadway production
“King” LeBron James’s years playing in Cleveland bring promise, prosperity, and renewal to a city in desperate need of all three. His tenure also unites Shawn and Matt in an unlikely bond forged by fandom. Over twelve years, from LeBron’s rookie season to an NBA Championship, the men navigate their turbulent friendship through their shared love of basketball—and the endless amiable arguments that erupt from that love. A clever comedy, King James is an intimate exploration of the place that sports occupy in our lives and relationships.
The Last Sunday in June by
It is the last Sunday in June, the day of the annual Gay Pride Parade through New York’s Greenwich Village. Tom and Michael, his partner of seven years, intend to spend the day planning their impending move from the Big Apple to the upstate town of Nyack, but their plans are rerouted as one friend after another drops by to view the parade from the window of their apartment. An afternoon originally designated for shopping at Pottery Barn instead turns into a series of conversations about relationships, self-acceptance and the very meaning of what it is to be gay, eventually calling into question Tom and Michael’s relationship itself.
Love! Valour! Compassion! by
Winner of the 1995 Tony Award® for Best Play
At a beautiful Dutchess County farmhouse, eight men hash out their passions, resentments, and fears over the course of three summer weekends. There’s Perry and Arthur, a professional couple of long standing, whose relationship, while strained, always manages to settle into the loving routine of a couple grown too familiar with one another, but happily so. The owner of the summer house, Gregory, is an aging choreographer who dotes on his younger lover, Bobby, who is blind. Their relationship seems solid, until an irresistible dancer, Ramon, callously flaunts his sex appeal and manages to seduce Bobby on the first night in the house. Trying to keep Ramon to himself is John Jeckyll, a soured ex-patriot Brit with a taste for melodrama—and cruelty. John rankles everyone around him, speaking the unspeakable in haughty nonchalance while probing the weaknesses of the others. The painful truth about his ire eventually becomes clear when he has to take care of his terminally ill twin brother, James. Unlike John, James inspires nothing but affection in those around him, and here lies both the crux of John’s complaint and the source of one of the play’s most blistering and revealing of monologues about the related questions of gay identity and self-esteem. Finally, there is Buzz, a maniacal lover of the musical theater. Like James, Buzz suffers from AIDS, and he has resigned himself to a life of humorous anecdotes and comforting trivia. Strange things can happen, though, and against all odds, Buzz finds himself falling in love for what may be one last summer.
Mac Beth adapted by Erica Schmidt
After school, seven teenage girls convene in an abandoned lot to perform a play. They drop their backpacks, transform their uniforms, and dive into a DIY retelling of Macbeth. As the girls conjure kings, warriors, and witches, Shakespeare’s bloody tale seeps into their reality. MAC BETH recontextualizes a classic text to expose the ferocity of adolescence and the intoxicating power of collective fantasy.
The Old Friends by
Matriarch Mamie Borden and the remaining members of two longtime Texas farming families await a visit from Mamie’s son Hugo and his wife, Sybil. When Sybil arrives, alone, with alarming news, old friends on opposing sides must confront the issues surrounding legacy, loyalty, and the meaning of happiness that have hounded them for generations. THE OLD FRIENDS is an absorbing and vital chapter in Foote’s beloved and distinctly American body of work.
Ripcord by
A sunny room on an upper floor is prime real estate in the Bristol Place Senior Living Facility, so when the cantankerous Abby is forced to share her quarters with new-arrival Marilyn, she has no choice but to get rid of the infuriatingly chipper woman by any means necessary. A seemingly harmless bet between the old women quickly escalates into a dangerous game of one-upmanship that reveals not just the tenacity of these worthy opponents, but also deeper truths that each would rather remain hidden.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by
Winner of the 1968 Tony Award® for Best Play
Photo by Manuel Harlan, 2017 West End production
Acclaimed as a modern dramatic masterpiece, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is the fabulously inventive tale of Hamlet as told from the worm’s-eye view of the bewildered Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters in Shakespeare’s play. In Tom Stoppard’s best-known work, this Shakespearean Laurel and Hardy finally get a chance to take the lead role, but do so in a world where echoes of Waiting for Godot resound, where reality and illusion intermix, and where fate leads our two heroes to a tragic but inevitable end.
The Savannah Sipping Society by
In this delightful, laugh-a-minute comedy, four unique Southern women, all needing to escape the sameness of their day-to-day routines, are drawn together by Fate—and an impromptu happy hour—and decide it’s high time to reclaim the enthusiasm for life they’ve lost through the years. Randa, a perfectionist and workaholic, is struggling to cope with a surprise career derailment that, unfortunately, reveals that she has no life and no idea how to get one. Dot, still reeling from her husband’s recent demise and the loss of their plans for an idyllic retirement, faces the unsettling prospect of starting a new life from scratch—and all alone. Earthy and boisterous Marlafaye, a good ol’ Texas gal, has blasted into Savannah in the wake of losing her tom-cattin’ husband to a twenty-three-year-old dental hygienist. The strength of her desire to establish a new life is equaled only by her desire to wreak a righteous revenge on her ex. Also new to town, Jinx, a spunky ball of fire, offers her services as a much-needed life coach for these women. However, blinded by her determination and efforts to get their lives on track, she over-looks the fact that she’s the one most in need of sage advice. Over the course of six months, filled with laughter, hilarious misadventures, and the occasional liquid refreshment, these middle-aged women successfully bond and find the confidence to jumpstart their new lives. Together, they discover lasting friendships and a renewed determination to live in the moment—and most importantly, realize it’s never too late to make new old friends. So raise your glass to these strong Southern women and their fierce embrace of life and say “Cheers!” to this joyful and surprisingly touching Jones, Hope, Wooten comedy!
sandblasted by
Angela and Odessa are on a sandy search for something that might not be real, but they are determined to make a way out of no way. When they stumble upon Adah—that’s right, THE Celebrity-turned-Wellness-Maven Adah—they decide to follow her lead, not knowing that the journey could very well be the cure.
School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play by
Paulina, the reigning queen bee at Ghana’s most exclusive boarding school, has her sights set on the Miss Global Universe pageant. But the arrival of Ericka, a new student with undeniable talent and beauty, captures the attention of the pageant recruiter—and Paulina’s hive-minded friends. This buoyant and biting comedy explores the universal similarities (and glaring differences) facing teenage girls across the globe.
Sender by
The third play in the Rightlynd saga. It has been exactly one year and one day since Lynx went missing. For those who cared about him most, it was a year of anger, grief, and a begrudging acceptance of his disappearance. But when he suddenly comes back to town, his girlfriend and best friend are shocked to discover that they might just upend everything for a chance to start over. This stunningly frank, full-hearted dramedy asks us to confront the hard truths we run away from and shines a light on what adulthood really means: moving forward.
Shutter Sisters by
Photo by Teresa Castracane, 2024 1st Stage Production
A heartfelt dramedy, Shutter Sisters tells the story of two women living parallel lives. A white woman named Michael struggles with strained family relationships at her adopted mother’s funeral, while a Black woman named Mykal navigates a challenge of her own: becoming an empty nester. A surrealist journey through womanhood, identity, and what it means to belong.
Spring Break by
On the first night of Spring Break, new friendships are made and old ones are tested as the nineteen teenagers we first met in Winter Break continue to find joy, heartache, and wonder in the world they’re trying to find their place in. Commissioned for the Educational Theatre Association’s 2022 International Thespian Festival, Spring Break is a candid look into another crucial moment in these teenagers’ lives.
Steel Magnolias by
Photo by Brian Hoerger, 2022 Theatre Three production
The action is set in Truvy’s beauty salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana, where all the ladies who are “anybody” come to have their hair done. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle (who is not sure whether or not she is still married), the outspoken, wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoos and free advice to the town’s rich curmudgeon, Ouiser, (“I’m not crazy, I’ve just been in a bad mood for forty years”); an eccentric millionaire, Miss Clairee, who has a raging sweet tooth; and the local social leader, M’Lynn, whose daughter, Shelby (the prettiest girl in town), is about to marry a “good ole boy.” Filled with hilarious repartee and not a few acerbic but humorously revealing verbal collisions, the play moves toward tragedy when, in the second act, the spunky Shelby (who is a diabetic) risks pregnancy and forfeits her life. The sudden realization of their mortality affects the others, but also draws on the underlying strength—and love—which give the play, and its characters, the special quality to make them truly touching, funny and marvelously amiable company in good times and bad.
Sweat by
Winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Photo by Jenny Graham, 2015 Angus Bowmer Theater production
Filled with warm humor and tremendous heart, SWEAT tells the story of a group of friends who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets, and laughs while working together on the factory floor. But when layoffs and picket lines begin to chip away at their trust, the friends find themselves pitted against each other in a heart-wrenching fight to stay afloat.
These Shining Lives by
These Shining Lives chronicles the strength and determination of women considered expendable in their day, exploring their true story and its continued resonance. Catherine and her friends are dying, it’s true; but theirs is a story of survival in its most transcendent sense, as they refuse to allow the company that stole their health to kill their spirits—or endanger the lives of those who come after them.
TRAYF by
Photo by Teresa Wood, 2018 Theater J Production
Zalmy lives a double life. By day, he drives a Chabad “Mitzvah Tank” through 1990s New York City with his best friend Shmuel. By night, he sneaks out of his orthodox community to roller skate and listen to rock and roll. But when a curious outsider offers him unfettered access to the secular world, is it worth jeopardizing everything he’s ever known? This road trip bromance is a funny and heartwarming ode to the turbulence of youth, the universal suspicion that we don’t quite fit in, and the faith and friends that see us through.
Usual Girls by
Photo by Joan Marcus, 2018 Roundabout Theater production
Kyeoung has spent her entire life negotiating the double standards imposed on her as an Asian American woman. Bullied by boys in childhood, ostracized by girls as a teen, and gas-lit by men as an adult, her experiences with sexuality grow more and more challenging. As we trace Kyeoung from the insecurity of puberty to the disenchantment of her adult life, USUAL GIRLS chronicles the wonder, pain, and complexity of growing up female.
Women in Jeopardy! by
Thelma and Louise meets The First Wives Club in this fun and flirtatious comedy. Divorcées Mary and Jo are suspicious of their friend Liz’s new dentist boyfriend. He’s not just a weirdo; he may be a serial killer! After all, his hygienist just disappeared. Trading their wine glasses for spy glasses, imaginations run wild as the ladies try to discover the truth and save their friend in a hilarious off-road adventure.
