Must Read Plays? — Page 2

I know it can be a bit boring but Inherit the Wind is a great piece, both dramatically and historically.

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Because you have an interest in musicals, I'd recommend reading Frank Wedekind's Spring Awakening. (Which, depending on the translation you get has slightly different titles, I believe "The Awakening of Spring" is one, for example.) It's always fun to do a comparison of play and musical.

Some other plays I'd highly recommend are:
The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico García Lorca
Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (This hasn't been posted yet?!)
Joe Turner's Come and Gone by August Wilson
A Number by Caryl Churchill (who also wrote Cloud Nine, which I see has already been mentioned a couple of times)

Also, I second A Streetcar Named Desire and Angels in America.

Updated On: 6/18/11 at 03:19 PM

Buried Child by Sam Shepard

How I learned to Drive by Paula Vogel

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While he has the unfortunate reputation of sorta being a lesser Williams, I'm surprised nothing by William Inge has been posted. My personal fave is The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, although Picnic is probably his number one classic. (I actually really like his odd, 60s plays that were complete flops and have some really out there sex comedy).

Proof is very good for a quick read.
I also enjoyed reading Laramie very much.

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Personal favorites:

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
A Delicate Balance
Three Tall Women
The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?
(All by Edward Albee)

A Streetcar Named Desire
The Glass Menagerie
Sweet Bird of Youth
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
(All by Tennessee Williams)

All My Sons
Death of a Salesman
The Crucible
(All by Arthur Miller)

Angels in America- Parts 1 and 2 (Tony Kushner)

And despite the fact that a lot of his other plays fall into the category of "hackneyed", one of my favorite plays (and I've only read it-- never saw a production) is Arthur Laurents' jolson Sings Again. It has a subject matter that interests me, and I think it's a damn good play.

Read Chekhov, Pirandello, Shakespeare and ibsen while you're at it too.

I actually have never heard of Laurent's Jolson Sings Again--and would like to read it. I found a copy, randomly, of his early 70s Off Broadway show The Enclave and picked it up just cuz I adore the percussion based score for it Sondheim did. It's definitely dated--but a really fascinating play, and in its way no less dated than Boys in the Band--I'd be curious if it ever could be stageable.

The Importance of Being Earnest.

All My Sons (Miller)
Contemporary: Other Desert Cities, Vanya and Sonia snd Masha and Spike, Red, and Good People.

^ Venus in Fur, yes. Children's Hour, dated and not in a good way, as opposed to "period." To Kill a Mockingbird never gets tired and for an epic, Galanti's adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath can hardly be beat.

My personal favorites are Anna Deveare Smith's plays "Fires in the Mirror" and "Twilight"-they are brilliant.

I also love Wendy Wasserstein's "The Heidi Chronicles".

I do think "The Children's Hour" is relevant still (sadly).

I think "The Crucible" is highly important and should be read.

And read "Lost in Yonkers"-it's Simon's best work. (We need a revival of this.)

Jordan, CLOUD NINE was a petty big hit off-Broadway. It was directed by Tommy Tune, IIRC. The first act may be the funniest act ever.

Speaking of funny, don't miss Joe Orton. I prefer ENTERTAINING MR. SLOAN, but any of his plays are worth the OP's time.

As for the Elizabethans, Marlowe's EDWARD II is as readable as anything Shakespeare wrote.

And for Brechtian approaches, try Brecht's own MOTHER COURAGE and David Henry Hwang's M. BUTTERFLY. Seeing the latter, I thought my head might explode because I could literally feel the synapses rearranging themselves as my entire view of the world was changed by a mere play! (And for those who are wondering, no, I wasn't in the least surprised by the "big reveal".)

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OT but what happened to Eric's avatar? Why is his hat missing?

Updated On: 5/20/14 at 04:08 PM