Fans of Straight Plays

I noticed that the majority of the theater board is musicals, which is awesome! Are any of you, however, into straight plays? I.E. shows without song or dance?

Which is your favorite? Do you have a favorite playwright? If you want to get into the nitty gritty, what era of playwrighting/shows is your favorite?

I would have to say my favorite play is August: Osage County, which actually just closed on Broadway, whereas my favorite playwright is Albee. And I love absurdism!

Share is you feel compelled :)

I love plays by Samuel Beckett like End Game and Waiting for Godot but they are a bit . . . odd. I really hated Brecht until I read the Good Person of Sichaun which I really enjoyed (much to my astonishment). I like all sorts of different eras and styles. Luckily my homework for the summer is to read as many plays as possible for English as well as Drama so I've stocked up on some Oscar Wilde, Arthur Miller and Debbie Isitt. Plays rock. :)

I love the Spanish XVIIth century (I'm Spanish myself). The verse is complicated, but one you get used it's beautiful. I also like Shakespeare very much, Wilde's comedies are really funny (The Importance of Being Earnest is wonderful) and I had such fun with Agatha Christie's Three Blind Mice...

On the other hand, I find Chejov most boring, and I seem unable to appreciate Lorca's sublimity as my countrymen think it deserves.

I like Shakespeare and a lot of the other 16th/17th century English playwrights like Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher, Middleton etc. Amongst more modern playwrights, I like Tom Stoppard, Caryl Churchill...I'm sure there are others, but I'm just having a mental blank.

I also like physical theatre/devised theatre companies like Complicite and Kneehigh.

Sorry, MmeBergerac, I think Lorca's awesome. But I find English Restoration and 18th century drama tedious in the extreme. All the subtlety of the Benny Hill Show, but written in opaque language.

I like Shakespeare and a lot of the other 16th/17th century English playwrights like Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher, Middleton etc. Amongst more modern playwrights, I like Tom Stoppard, Caryl Churchill...I'm sure there are others, but I'm just having a mental blank.

I also like physical theatre/devised theatre companies like Complicite and Kneehigh.

Sorry, MmeBergerac, I think Lorca's awesome. But I find English Restoration and 18th century drama tedious in the extreme. All the subtlety of the Benny Hill Show, but written in opaque language.

Cool, I've never heard of Fletcher. I'll have to check him out :)

Top Girls by Churchill is CRAZY...we did scenes from that in our classes last year. Love it. And if you're a fan of physical theater, check out some of the stuff for the Jacques Lecoq (sp) school in Paris. That schtuff's nuts. I love it :)


I have difficulty with anything in the Romantic genre, especially some of Hugo's stuff. It gets muddy to read for me.

Also, Wilde fans: Lady Windemere's Fan. Thoughts?

Cool, I've never heard of Fletcher. I'll have to check him out :)

He wrote two plays in collaboration with Shakespeare (Henry VIII and Two Noble Kinsmen) towards the end of Shakespeare's life (well, at least two that we know about) as well as a bunch with Francis Beaumont.

Top Girls by Churchill is CRAZY...we did scenes from that in our classes last year. Love it

It's a fantastic play, isn't it? I'm also very fond of Owners

And if you're a fan of physical theater, check out some of the stuff for the Jacques Lecoq (sp) school in Paris. That schtuff's nuts. I love it :)

I believe that the founders of Complicite trained at the Lecoq school.

The Polish group The Song of the Goat (Pieśń Kozła) are also very impressive to watch (although they really do sacrifice narrative intelligibility to physical experimentation to the point where it's more like watching a circus than a piece of theatre, IMO - it's beautiful and you're blown away by the fact that they can actually physically do it, but there's nothing remotely resembling a coherent plot)

Yeah, when the plot is lost, that really gets on my nerves. Part of the reason I'm not the biggest fan of avant-garde shows. Sometimes I find them trying to send a message so much, that it's ultimately useless.

And was Fletcher part of the Chamberlain's Men? I recall seeing his name mentioned...perhaps it was in regards to his playwriting, but there is something pertaining to him at the Globe, I believe!! :)

And was Fletcher part of the Chamberlain's Men? I recall seeing his name mentioned...perhaps it was in regards to his playwriting, but there is something pertaining to him at the Globe, I believe!! :)

I had to look that one up, as I didn't know! Unlike Shakespeare he didn't act, but his plays were staged by the Lord Chamberlain's Men, yes.

My favorite straight play of all time is Six Degrees of Separation, although I didn't see the play on Broadway - I've seen the movie adaptation an insane amount of times and I've read the play (second favorite would probably be Our Town); the last ones I read were The Lion in Winter and Joe Egg, and I'll be starting August: Osage County and The Little Foxes sometime soon.

Oh my goodness, Lion in Winter and August are so good!!!!

^ Well, I can only speak for The Lion in Winter since that's the only one of the two I've read in full so far, but agreed!! It was SO good; Eleanor is a fabulous part, omg. I'm starting August soon and I can't wait to read it.

Some other plays that I've read recently are The Exonerated and Equus, and I totally recommend them both.

I have yet to read The Exonerated, but Equus is fantastic. One of my favorites. I love Shaffer.

Also a big Tennessee Williams fan. Suddenly Last Summer is my personal fave. Do we have any Neil Simon enthusiasts?

^ Yes, I'm really looking forward to seeing Brighton Beach Memoirs/Broadway Bound later this year. :D

And I've been reading a lot of John Guare's plays lately and Doubt by John Peter Shanley (I didn't see the show, but I've seen the film and wanted to read it, as totally late to the game as that is).

I love Shakespeare and Wilde - we're studying The Tempest and The Importance of Being Earnest this year, so I'm thrilled. I've seen productions of both recently, two of The Tempest over the summer and The Importance of Being Earnest last week, which was great. I think when you study a play it really helps to see it performed. I studied Top Girls last year and thought it made an interesting point, but I didn't love it.

Also, Wilde fans: Lady Windemere's Fan. Thoughts?

I haven't seen it (I suspect Earnest is the only one of Wilde's plays that's performed frequently), but I enjoyed reading it - I read Earnest as part of a collection of Wilde's plays, so I read the others as well. As ever, Wilde shows sparkling wit and made me laugh out loud on several occasions.

My favorite all time straight play would have to be The Miracle Worker. I just admire Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan for their accomplishments.

LOVE me some straight plays! :D

Of course, I'm a huge Shakespeare nerd. The Tempest and Macbeth are my favorites.

I also really love Chekhov (though I am a firm believer that it's meant to be seen if you've already read it or seen it. Otherwise it's just too long/too boring/has too many characters). Beckett can be amazing if done well, but sometimes his stuff is just too inaccessible on the page.

I also adore The History Boys (which is lucky for me, since I'm stage managing a production of it in a couple of months!)