Play Suggestions: Great American Plays

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Great American Plays

Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Play Suggestions
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URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4885
Printed Date: 11/25/24 at 3:39pm
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Topic: Great American Plays

Posted By: skywalkerlt
Subject: Great American Plays
Date Posted: 11/29/10 at 6:03pm

Just to see what people would answer, what would you consider to be Great American Plays?

No musicals and comedies or dramas are alright. Whatcha think?

Replies:

Posted By: donzolidis
Date Posted: 11/29/10 at 7:20pm

Let's see... of the plays I've written -- just kidding.

I'm a sucker for the classics, so I'd go with

Our Town

Long Day's Journey Into Night

A Streetcar Named Desire

Death of A Salesman

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

A Raisin in the Sun

And then we get to the more modern plays - where there's likely to be more debate - if I had to pick five, I'd go with:

True West, by Sam Shepard

Angels in America, by Tony Kushner

Glengarry Glen Ross, by David Mamet

Doubt, by John Patrick Shanley

How I learned to Drive, by Paula Vogel

--I'm pretty white male heavy there, who am I missing?

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www.donzolidis.com

Posted By: edh915
Date Posted: 11/30/10 at 11:59am

An Alphabetical Top Ten:

All My Sons
Doubt
A Long Day's Journey Into Night
The Matchmaker
The Miracle Worker
Night of the Iguana
The Odd Couple
The Subject was Roses
Visiting Mr. Green
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 11/30/10 at 1:58pm

Death of a Salesman
Long Days Journey Into Night
Streetcar Named Desire
The Children's Hour
Winterset
Emperor Jones
Little Foxes
Waiting for Lefty
Raisin in the Sun
Angels in America

It's hard to keep it at ten!

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http://tristanrobin.blogspot.com

Posted By: Amos Hart
Date Posted: 12/01/10 at 12:03pm

In Alphabetical Order:

The Foreigner by Larry Shue

The Front Page by Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur

Fuddy Meers by David Lindsay-Abaire

The House of Blue Leaves by John Guare

Hughie by Eugene O'Neill

Lend Me a Tenor by Ken Ludwig

Our Town by Thornton Wilder

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee

You Can’t Take It With You by Moss Hart & George S. Kaufman

Posted By: jonplaywright
Date Posted: 12/02/10 at 12:20am

Don,

I think my list would be very similar to yours, though I might put Buried Child ahead of True West (bit of a toss-up), and I'd add an August Wilson play like Fences in there.

I'm also a big fan of William Alfred's beautiful blank verse play Hogan's Goat.

Cheers,
Jon

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Co-Chair, Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights
Resident Playwright, Final Draft

YouthPLAYS, plays for young actors and audiences
http://www.youthplays.com - www.youthplays.com

Posted By: edh915
Date Posted: 12/02/10 at 11:27am

Looks like Albee, Wilder, Williams and O'Neill are on everyone's list in one form or another - with Miller running a close second having missed inclusion on only one list.

Even with such a small sampling as this, this would lead someone (me for instance) to conclude that these five are the top U.S. playwrights.

I can't say I disagree.