Hischak - 100 Greatest American Plays

100 Greatest American Plays

Only a few American plays come close to classic tragedy. Eugene ONeils Long Days Journey into Night is one of them. Pictured from the original 1956 production are (in the foreground) the parents, played by Florence Eldridge and Fredric March, and their sons, played by Bradford Dillman (left) and Jason Robards. Photofest

100 Greatest American Plays

Thomas S. Hischak

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

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Names: Hischak, Thomas S., editor.

Title: 100 greatest American plays / Thomas S. Hischak, [editor].

Other titles: One hundred greatest American plays

Description: Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016035213 (print) | LCCN 2016055239 (ebook) | ISBN 9781442256057 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781442256064 (electronic)

Subjects: LCSH: American drama.

Classification: LCC PS625 .A25 2017 (print) | LCC PS625 (ebook) | DDC 812.008dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016035213

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For Bob and Jackie Sanders,

who know and love theatre from both sides of the footlights

Chronological List of the 100 Greatest Plays

The Contrast (1787) by Royall Tyler

Fashion (1845) by Anna Cora Mowatt

Uncle Toms Cabin (1853) by George L. Aiken

Ten Nights in a Barroom (1858) by William W. Pratt

East Lynne (1863) by Clifton W. Tayleure

Rip Van Winkle (1866) by Dion Boucicault and Joseph Jefferson

The Heart of Maryland (1895) by David Belasco

Barbara Frietchie (1899) by Clyde Fitch

Peg o My Heart (1912) by J. Hartley Manners

The Bat (1920) by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood

The Emperor Jones (1920) by Eugene ONeill

Anna Christie (1921) by Eugene ONeill

Abies Irish Rose (1922) by Anne Nichols

The Adding Machine (1923) by Elmer Rice

The Show-Off (1924) by George Kelly

What Price Glory? (1924) by Maxwell Anderson and Laurence Stallings

The Front Page (1928) by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur

Street Scene (1929) by Elmer Rice

Biography (1932) by S. N. Behrman

Ah, Wilderness! (1933) by Eugene ONeill

Tobacco Road (1933) by Jack Kirkland

Awake and Sing! (1935) by Clifford Odets

Three Men on a Horse (1935) by John Cecil Holm and George Abbott

Waiting for Lefty (1935) by Clifford Odets

The Women (1936) by Clare Boothe Luce

You Cant Take It with You (1936) by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart

Of Mice and Men (1937) by John Steinbeck

Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1938) by Robert Sherwood

Our Town (1938) by Thornton Wilder

Life with Father (1939) by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse

The Little Foxes (1939) by Lillian Hellman

The Man Who Came to Dinner (1939) by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart

Mornings at Seven (1939) by Paul Osborn

The Philadelphia Story (1939) by Philip Barry

The Time of Your Life (1939) by William Saroyan

Arsenic and Old Lace (1941) by Joseph Kesseling

The Skin of Our Teeth (1942) by Thornton Wilder

Harvey (1944) by Mary Chase

The Glass Menagerie (1945) by Tennessee Williams

Born Yesterday (1946) by Garson Kanin

The Iceman Cometh (1946) by Eugene ONeill

All My Sons (1947) by Arthur Miller

A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) by Tennessee Williams

Mister Roberts (1948) by Thomas Heggen and Joshua Logan

Death of a Salesman (1949) by Arthur Miller

Come Back, Little Sheba (1950) by William Inge

The Member of the Wedding (1950) by Carson McCullers

The Crucible (1953) by Arthur Miller

Picnic (1953) by William Inge

The Rainmaker (1954) by N. Richard Nash

Bus Stop (1955) by William Inge

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) by Tennessee Williams

Inherit the Wind (1955) by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee

The Matchmaker (1955) by Thornton Wilder

Auntie Mame (1956) by Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee

Long Days Journey into Night (1956) by Eugene ONeill

The Miracle Worker (1959) by William Gibson

A Raisin in the Sun (1959) by Lorraine Hansberry

The Best Man (1960) by Gore Vidal

The Zoo Story (1960) by Edward Albee

Mary, Mary (1961) by Jean Kerr

Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962) by Edward Albee

Barefoot in the Park (1963) by Neil Simon

The Odd Couple (1965) by Neil Simon

The Lion in Winter (1966) by James Goldman

The Boys in the Band (1968) by Mart Crowley

The House of Blue Leaves (1971) by John Guare

That Championship Season (1972) by Jason Miller

Streamers (1976) by David Rabe

Gemini (1977) by Albert Innaurato

Deathtrap (1978) by Ira Levin

Talleys Folly (1979) by Lanford Wilson

True West (1980) by Sam Shepard

Crimes of the Heart (1981) by Beth Henley

A Soldiers Play (1981) by Charles Fuller

The Dining Room (1982) by A. R. Gurney

Torch Song Trilogy (1982) by Harvey Fierstein

Brighton Beach Memoirs (1983) by Neil Simon

night, Mother (1983) by Marsha Norman

Glengarry Glen Ross (1984) by David Mamet

Fences (1987) by August Wilson

Steel Magnolias (1987) by Robert Harling

Joe Turners Come and Gone (1988) by August Wilson

M. Butterfly (1988) by David Henry Hwang

The Heidi Chronicles (1989) by Wendy Wasserstein

Lend Me a Tenor (1989) by Ken Ludwig

The Piano Lesson (1990) by August Wilson

Six Degrees of Separation (1990) by John Guare

Lost in Yonkers (1991) by Neil Simon

Angels in America (1993) by Tony Kushner

Love! Valour! Compassion! (1995) by Terrence McNally

Buried Child (1996) by Sam Shepard

How I Learned to Drive (1997) by Paula Vogel

Dinner with Friends (1999) by Donald Margulies

Proof (2000) by David Auburn

Take Me Out (2003) by Richard Greenberg

Anna in the Tropics (2003) by Nilo Cruz

Doubt (2005) by John Patrick Shanley

August: Osage County (2007) by Tracy Letts

Clybourne Park (2012) by Bruce Norris

Preface

There are hit plays and flop plays. There are plays that are of the moment and those that find new life decade after decade. There are plays of significant literary merit and those that just entertain. Then there are great plays, those that are important as well as stageworthy. This book is about one hundred of those plays.

There are many ways in which outstanding American plays can be listed. One can look at those works that won Pulitzer Prizes, Tony Awards, New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, and other citations. A much different list could be made from those works that had the longest Broadway and Off-Broadway runs. Yet both of these lists include inferior plays that found favor for a short time and have mercifully faded from view. Another approach to naming one hundred outstanding plays might be to look at the playwrights, selecting the finest work from our best playwrights over the past two hundred years. Such a list will include many American classics but ignore many popular and critical favorites.