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#26

In your opinion who is the greatest playwright of the 20th century?

Posted: 9/23/16 at 3:25pm

I'm not going to argue that Lillian Hellman, Caryl Churchill, Lorraine Hansbury, or Sarah Kane are up there with Tennessee.



But I'm name-dropping them because I feel like there are plenty of woman playwrights who deserve a mention before we get to David Mamet-level and Neil LaBute-level playwrights.

Updated On: 9/23/16 at 03:25 PM

#28

In your opinion who is the greatest playwright of the 20th century?

Posted: 9/23/16 at 4:16pm

I'm name-dropping them because I feel like there are plenty of woman playwrights who deserve a mention before we get to David Mamet-level...



I'm not going to argue about the first three, but Sarah Kane? I'd have to argue (in my opinion, or course) that even The Anarchist is better than Blasted or 4.48 Psychosis. And that says nothing of American Buffalo, Oleanna, or Glengarry Glen Ross, which I consider to be theatrical masterworks. Maybe it's my own tastes but even after many re-readings and well directed and acted productions, I just find Miss Kane... bad.

"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir
#29

In your opinion who is the greatest playwright of the 20th century?

Posted: 9/23/16 at 4:26pm

Always been O'Neill for me. I admit some of his earlier stuff has dated and is a bit stiff, but everything is redeemed w A Long Day's Journey Into Night. The musicality of his naturalistic language, the complexity of the characters. Jamie's soliloquy when he reveals his feelings about his brother gives me chills every time.

#33

In your opinion who is the greatest playwright of the 20th century?

Posted: 9/23/16 at 5:12pm

It's unusual to see so many names mentioned already, and yes most of them, I agree. But no one has mentioned Tony Kushner, (the monumental Angels In America alone), and also Larry Kramer and Harvey Fierstein. I think they represent a huge part of the struggles and mores and attitudes to think about.

I think when I saw Neil LaBute before some of these others I kind of thought "Oh No Way".

Again, Lillian Hellman, Williams, of course everyone has their own thoughts.

I Can Has Cheezburger With This?

Updated On: 9/23/16 at 05:12 PM

#35

In your opinion who is the greatest playwright of the 20th century?

Posted: 9/23/16 at 6:22pm

LaBute is a pretty awful playwright who doesn't deserve to be anywhere near this thread.

Ibsen is essential but published his last major work in 1899. Miller wrote three great plays (Salesman, Bridge, and Sons - in that order) and it's true as Orson Welles said that you only need one, but I still don't think he reaches the heights of the others listed. So I'll throw my support behind Chekhov, Strindberg, Shaw, Beckett, Williams, Albee, Pinter, and add Stoppard as well. Have to become more familiar with Wilson, Hellman, Friel and Hansberry - though I did see earlier this year the Goodman's stunning production of The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window, and I'm tempted to add the latter to my list on the basis of that play alone.

#36

In your opinion who is the greatest playwright of the 20th century?

Posted: 9/23/16 at 6:24pm

@SDP, Oh I know, just giving you a little bit of a hard time, maybe because I'd probably put Kane in my top 10.

@Steve C., I thought about Kushner but even though I judge Angels is the most important work of my lifetime, I don't think Tony has a sustained body of work, and that's how I took the inquiry. (Another reason all of this is really pretty meaningless.) And I don't think there is a serious basis for including Kramer or Fierstein, unless you include someone like Labute and I would not.



#38

In your opinion who is the greatest playwright of the 20th century?

Posted: 9/23/16 at 8:03pm

I included Neil LaBute because like him or not, he was one of the most frequently produced playwrights of the 1990's and early 2000's. I struggle to think of other playwrights of that era who weren't just "one hit wonders."

Anyway, can I say that I'm thrilled that there is currently a strong thread going about non-musicals?

#41

In your opinion who is the greatest playwright of the 20th century?

Posted: 9/23/16 at 9:23pm

Kudos for MOAI for being the first to mention TOM STOPPARD, a figure I would put at the very top of the playwrighting pyramid since the late 60's certainly. In my view, ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN..., TRAVESTIES, and ARCADIA are among the most brilliant pieces of English theater literature ever written in the 20th century. (And, yeah, I've hated many of his later plays as well. Sorry, Tom.)

#43

In your opinion who is the greatest playwright of the 20th century?

Posted: 9/23/16 at 9:34pm

Someone in a Tree2 said: "Kudos for MOAI for being the first to mention TOM STOPPARD, a figure I would put at the very top of the playwrighting pyramid since the late 60's certainly. In my view, ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN..., TRAVESTIES, and ARCADIA are among the most brilliant pieces of English theater literature ever written in the 20th century. (And, yeah, I've hated many of his later plays as well. Sorry, Tom.)



"

I've seen two productions of Arcadia this year, and in a week or two I'm going to see a third. That play just does not get old.

#47

In your opinion who is the greatest playwright of the 20th century?

Posted: 9/23/16 at 10:47pm

For me, it's Tennessee Williams, though I acknowledge the merits of most of the others noted here.

Certainly Caryl Churchill has written far more than "two famous plays". Her work is consistently provocative even though most of it isn't commercially intended.

Maria Irene Fornes might make a lot of lists, as long as we are searching for vaginas.

#50

In your opinion who is the greatest playwright of the 20th century?

Posted: 9/24/16 at 6:48am

Good debate. Here are my contributions...

Simon and Ayckbourn need to be crossed off the list because the vast majority of their bodies of work have not achieved the international recognition that others have.

I'd like to add Terrence Rattigan to the list as the British equivalent of Tennessee Williams but would then have to immediately cross him off for the reasons I cite above.

I find Sarah Kane's work very interesting but I think you have to see the whole body of her work (as I did at the Sheffield Crucible a couple of years ago) to make sense of the various ideas running through her plays.

Samuel Beckett?? Why does anyone still produce this rubbish? I'd rather watch a Jason Bourne movie than a Samuel Beckett play!

Although Ibsen, Chekhov and Shaw may have lived in the twentieth century and their work remains relevant, the tone of their plays often feels as though it belongs in the nineteenth century.

Objectively speaking I'd say the answer was Arthur Miller but my vote will go to Tennessee Williams: I don't think there's been a playwright since who comes anywhere near either of them in terms of greatness and I often leave a modern play disappointed that there is no dramatist around today who can address contemporary issues with the same quality of writing and the same depth of understanding.

Updated On: 9/24/16 at 06:48 AM

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