Must Read Plays?- Page 2

[Q]

Posted: 6/18/11 at 12:42pm

Idiot - I saw the LA production, and was blown away. I've always been a fan of Brian Kerwin (for a variety of reasons!) and he provided one of my greater theatrical experiences in that production (and the set was EXCEPTIONAL, I thought.)

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 6/18/11 at 2:06pm

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

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 6/18/11 at 2:17pm

Most of the plays I'd list first have been named already.

HAMLET
JULIUS CAESAR
LOOK BACK IN ANGER
CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS

And when you're ready to switch it up, anything by Charles Mee
http://www.panix.com/userdirs/meejr/indexf.html

[Nettik]

Posted: 6/18/11 at 3:19pm

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

Posted: 6/18/11 at 4:36pm

JC I'd recommend reading Cloud Nine although it's so theatrical (with surreal concepts like the same characters played by different actors--and not matching up gender wise--in Act II, etc). Tommy Tune did the New York production with Yeston contributing incidental music.

[into_the_woods2]

Posted: 6/18/11 at 6:07pm

Buried Child by Sam Shepard

How I learned to Drive by Paula Vogel

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/18/11 at 6:20pm

Most everything else I would mention has already been posted, but read The Normal Heart. Seriously, read it or you fail.

I know, broken record, flashback to 2004. Just read it. And read The Destiny of Me while you're at it.

Others yet to be mentioned:

Stoppard's Arcadia, Rock 'n Roll, The Real Thing
Sarah Ruhl's eurydice, and for something a little bit weirder, Dead Man's Cell Phone
Anything Tony Kushner has written ever. Even "bad" Kushner is worth reading.
Bennett's The History Boys
Lucas' Reckless
Lindsay-Abaire's Rabbit Hole

Posted: 6/18/11 at 6:20pm

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).

[OhTossums2]

Posted: 6/18/11 at 9:14pm

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

[OhTossums2]

Posted: 6/18/11 at 9:14pm

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

[OhTossums2]

Posted: 6/18/11 at 9:14pm

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

[jv92]

Posted: 6/18/11 at 9:26pm

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.

[broadwaynoitall]

Posted: 6/19/11 at 12:02am

Angels in America

Romeo and Juliet

Fences

Posted: 6/19/11 at 12:11am

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.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 6/19/11 at 11:09am

I think Tennesse Williams, Arthur Miller and Eugene O'Neill would be a great place to start!

Also, in addition to the ones already mentioned-

Art, by Yasmina Reza
Philadephia, Here I Come, by Brian Friel
No Man's Land, by Harold Pinter

[The Josh]

Posted: 6/19/11 at 2:23pm

The Importance of Being Earnest.

[PianoMann]

Posted: 5/19/14 at 10:44pm

Bumping this (very helpful) thread!

Does anyone have anything new to contribute? I've been looking for some classics to read over my summer break, and have gotten a lot of good ideas from here thus far!

Thanks to everyone who has contributed in the past!

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 12:43am

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

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 1:04am

Venus in Fur is one of my favorite plays I've ever seen, and I also loved reading In the Next Room and wish I saw it. As far as older plays, I love Betrayal (though some people find Pinter incredibly dull). The Children's Hour is also excellent.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 1:21am

^ 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.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 1:21am

^ 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.

[dreaming]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 9:34am

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.)

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 10:53am

"Stoppard's Arcadia"

^I'll second that! Arcadia is a genius masterpiece in my opinion.

Someone mentioned Romeo and Juliet, but there's a lot more Shakespeare that I'd put in the "must-read" category: Hamlet, Macbeth, the Merchant of Venice and Othello just to name a few.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 4:08pm

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".)

*********

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



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

[budfrump]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 6:02pm

These have all been said, but just to reiterate, definitely check out...

The Glass Menagerie
A Raisin in the Sun
Angels in American
The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?

I also just read Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegria Hudes, which won the Pulitzer for Drama a couple years ago. I thought it was very interesting. Definitely check it out.