The NYTimes List of the Top 25 Plays since Angels

The 25 Best American Plays Since ‘Angels in America’

Kind of shocked this hasn't been posted. But then again, it's not about the ice castle in Frozen.

Their number one is Topdog/Underdog, and an overall fairly surprising and diverse list of work.

Updated On: 6/1/18 at 10:50 AM

I can count the ones I've seen on this list on one hand, so I can't really comment on the quality of the list. I am surprised at the omissions of Wit, Doubt and anything by Martin McDonagh. Also, I've seen all of August Wilson's Pittsburgh cycle plays and wouldn't choose Seven Guitars as the best.

bandit964 said:
Re: August Wilson, I think only 3 of his Century Cycle plays were eligible as 1993 is the beginning of the period they're looking at. (Seven Guitars, King Headley II, & Radio Golf.)"

Good point bandit964. Of those three, Seven Guitars is by far the best. Though to be fair, I saw King Headley II when it was still a work in progress (I think). It was a tough one to sit through, very long with multiple long monologues by each main character. After a while, I groaned inwardly each time an actor geared up to launch into another one!

Posters have mentioned Tom Stoppard's Arcadia and the plays of Martin McDonagh.

The list, however, is meant to include only American plays. Neither Stoppard nor McDonagh is American.

No way should The Humans be ranked over August: Osage County. I do agree that its legacy has been somewhat discounted, which is absolutely unfair. I remember in the days of the original production someone on here calling it "TV on stage," so I guess that interpretation is as old as the play itself.

And I saw both Johanna Day and Amy Morton in it - Day was first, and then I saw Morton when she returned for the final performance. I found Day's performance to be superior, actually. Her smashing the plate, tilting her head to the flies and screaming "YOU DON'T WANNA BREAK SH*T WITH ME, MOTHAF*CKAAAAAA!" is something I'll remember forever.

August: Osage County - behind the current Angels in America - is one of my favorite productions to date. I was just mesmerized. I went and got a TKTS ticket on a Wednesday matinee and was just captivated. I was blown away. I was wrapped up in the family drama. I just loved it. The movie just failed because it relied to heavily on "start casting" and that over shadowed the whole movie. It's a brilliant, brilliant play, and much better than The Humans, imo.

I'm surprised The Realistic Joneses is up there. And surprised "The Whale" is not, as I thought that was quite good. But I am waiting for Parks to have her big breakthrough in a mainstream way. She's brilliant.

And I thought "Clybourne Park" as an utter bore.

Updated On: 6/1/18 at 11:30 PM

Like many others, surprised at the omission of Proof and Doubt as well as Ayad Akhtar's brilliant Disgraced. Also surprised at the complete omission of anything by Rajiv Joseph, one of, in my mind, the most talented playwrights working today. Will give them credit for picking Jesus Hopped the "A" Train, a superior work to the better known Between Riverside and Crazy to represent Stephen Adly Guirgis.

Now that I've read the whole section rather than just surveying the list of top 25 plays, I understand they were really out to pick the top 25 American playwrights of the last quarter century and chose a single favorite play for each one. That certainly explains some omissions, though overlooking OSLO is still inexplicable to me.