Before movie, plays were the most popular medium of long-form storytelling for live audiences. From ancient Greece to the Renaissance, plays and playwrights have actually caught the hearts and minds of the masses. Names like Homer and Shakespeare will sound out throughout the ages for their literary expertise.
Like any other excellent country, America has actually produced its reasonable share of remarkable stories through this art type. From the 16th century to the contemporary, American playwrights have actually used an abundant tapestry of humor, scary, love, and secret on and off Broadway. With that in mind, let’s examine the 10 finest American-written plays, a varied collection that will ignite your interest.
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10 The Crucible– Arthur Miller
Why Arthur Miller Wrote “The Crucible”
Composed in 1953, The Crucible Around the Salem Witch Trials of the 17th century and is just partially imaginary. Composed throughout “The Red Scare,” Miller’s story is an allegory for McCarthyism. It was very first carried out at the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway on January 22, 1953, starring E.G. Marshall, Beatrice Straight, and Madeleine Sherwood. The play at first got combined evaluations from both the audience and critics, yet still won the very best Play Tony that year.
By 1956, The Crucible was currently thought about a traditional and a main operate in the canon of American literature. That exact same year, nevertheless, Miller was questioned by the House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities (aka the witch hunt of the day) in 1956 and founded guilty of contempt of Congress for declining to recognize others present at conferences he had actually participated in. It in some way stays pertinent in every age.[1]
9 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof– Tennesse Williams
Unrequited love is heartbreaking|Sienna Miller & & Jack O’Connell in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Tennessee Williams might be the most widely known playwright in American history, and while Feline on a Hot Tin Roof might not be his most well-known piece, it’s probably the most essential. Composed in 1955, this three-act play takes a look at the relationships of the Pollitt household. This play functions concepts such as social mores, greed, superficiality, mendacity, decay, libido, repression, and death. The discussion throughout is frequently composed utilizing nonstandard spelling planned to represent accents of the Southern United States.
“Like a lot of Williams’s works, Feline on a Hot Tin Roof issues itself with the elaboration of a particular dream of damaged manliness, in this case, a manliness left suppressed by the homosexual desire it should keep in abeyance.” Williams draws from his own experiences with homosexuality and alcohol addiction, making this play ahead of its time and still entirely legitimate today.[2]
8 Wicked– Winnie Holzman
Behind The Curtain: The History of WICKED (Part One)
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman.