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If you like reading plays, what are some of your favourites?

33 replies

WaterBird · 01/02/2019 07:32

They can either be classics or more modern. I've just started getting into them and have been enjoying them, but haven't read too many yet.
Thanks.

OP posts:
QuaterMiss · 01/02/2019 08:13

For unique formatting of dialogue you might like Anatomy of a Suicide by Alice Birch.

I'd also suggest:

Chekhov's First Play - Dead Centre
Brilliant Adventures - Alistair McDowall
Faith Healer - Brian Friel
Angels in America - Tony Kushner (actually better to read than watch for me).

I'll take it for granted that you're deep into Beckett. And Sarah Kane.

EyesUnderARock · 01/02/2019 08:05

Oh, and Murder in the Cathedral by TS Elliot.

EyesUnderARock · 01/02/2019 08:04

I love plays with a rhythm and flow to the words:

Under Milkwood
Anything Brecht, Caucasian Chalk Circle is my favourite.
Lorca

Oscar Wilde for frivolous fun

QuaterMiss · 01/02/2019 07:58

It's always a mystery to me why playreading at school level begins with Shakespeare (alone!) and scarcely acknowledges anything beyond the mid-20th century ...

shostakovich · 01/02/2019 07:58

Pretty much anything by Arthur Miller (The Crucible, Death of a Salesman), Oscar Wilde and Tennessee Williams.

I keep returning to J.B. Priestley - his plays don't get performed much these days (apart from An Inspector Calls) but well worth a read. Try Time and the Conways and Dangerous Corner.

For something more meaty, you could do worse than Ibsen (Ghosts, The Maser Builder).

WaterBird · 01/02/2019 07:49

@QuaterMiss
I just started taking a univgsity course about reading and writing plays. I read some Shakespeare when I was younger but hadn't really done much with modern plays. So far in this course I have read 4: A Streetcar Named Desire, A Doll's House, Death of a Salesman, and The Stronger. I guess I just really like the unique formatting of dialogue.

OP posts:
QuaterMiss · 01/02/2019 07:43

My list would be a million titles long!

Far Away by Caryl Churchill is a good place to start on modern/contemporary work.

What's prompted your interest OP?

FranKatzenjammer · 01/02/2019 07:37

A Taste of Honey- Shelagh Delaney

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