The 101 GREATEST PLAYS of the Past 100 Years (1920-2020)

This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

Broadway World, 102 Books

The 101 GREATEST PLAYS of the Past 100 Years (1920-2020) as determined by Peter Nason

This list was originally published in 2020 and was added to this site over 2 years ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
1305 Long Day's Journey Into Night Eugene O'Neill 1956 American English
599 A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams 1947 American English
428 Death Of A Salesman Arthur Miller 1949 American English
12440 Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? Edward Albee 1962 American English
101 Waiting for Godot Samuel Beckett 1953 Irish French
7650 Angels In America Tony Kushner 1991 American English
3919 Fences August Wilson 1985 American English
9714 The Crucible Arthur Miller 1953 American English
11299 A Raisin In The Sun Lorraine Hansberry 1959 American English
3049 Our Town Thornton Wilder 1938 American English
3459 The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams 1944 American English
2260 The Iceman Cometh Eugene O'Neill 1946 American English
1386 Six Characters in Search of an Author Luigi Pirandello 1921 Italian Italian
1084 Mother Courage and Her Children Bertolt Brecht 1941 German German
3515 Rhinoceros and Other Plays Eugène Ionesco 1959 Romanian French
15746 The Children's Hour Lillian Hellman 1934 American English
14232 Glengarry Glen Ross David Mamet 1984 American English
14983 August Tracy Letts 2008 American English
5986 The Homecoming Harold Pinter 1965 British English
4666 Saint Joan George Bernard Shaw 1923 Irish English
2427 A View From The Bridge Arthur Miller 1955 American English
5273 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Tennessee Williams 1955 American English
14983 The Heidi Chronicles Wendy Wasserstein 1989 American English
14232 Fool For Love Sam Shepard 1983 American English
15797 All My Sons Arthur Miller 1947 American English
13941 Master Harold...And The Boys Athol Fugard 1982 South African English
14154 The Vortex Noel Coward 1924 British English
2246 The Bald Soprano Eugène Ionesco 1950 French French
2863 Endgame Samuel Beckett 1957 Irish French
13509 Machinal Sophie Treadwell 1928 American English
1409 No Exit Jean Paul Sartre 1944 French French
14162 The Little Foxes Lillian Hellman 1939 American English
14983 Clybourne Park Bruce Norris 2010 American English
17117 The Flick Annie Baker 2014 American English
14983 God Of Carnage Yasmina Reza 2006 French French
14232 Noises Off Michael Frayn 1982 British English
14232 Doubt John Patrick Shanley 2004 American English
15894 The Dumb Waiter Harold Pinter 1957 British English
17117 Radio Golf August Wilson 2007 American English
4652 True West Sam Shepard 1980 American English
16497 The Zoo Story Edward Albee 1958 American English
17117 4000 Miles Amy Herzog 2011 American English
14232 Sweat Lynn Nottage 2015 American English
14232 Copenhagen Michael Frayn 1998 British English
2737 Look Back In Anger John Osborne 1956 British English
14205 The Women Clare Booth Luce 1936 American English
14950 Crimes Of The Heart Beth Henley 1978 American English
14197 What The Butler Saw Joe Orton 1969 British English
14939 The Odd Couple Neil Simon 1965 American English
16579 The Diary Of Anne Frank Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich 1955 American English
17117 Red John Logan 2009 American English
3181 Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead Tom Stoppard 1966 British English
14943 Picnic William Inge 1953 American English
9713 The Boys In The Band Matt Crowley 1968 American English
14948 The Dutchman Amiri Baraka 1964 American English
17117 The Aliens Annie Baker 2010 American English
8322 American Buffalo David Mamet 1975 American English
14983 The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia? Edward Albee 2000 American English
16675 Inherit The Wind Jerome Lawrence, Robert E. Lee 1955 American English
17117 Wit Margaret Edson 1993 American English
16698 The Skin Of Our Teeth Thornton Wilder 1942 American English
14191 Private Lives Noel Coward 1930 British English
17117 Betrayal Harold Pinter 1978 British English
9511 Joe Turner's Come And Gone August Wilson 1984 American English
17117 Torch Song Trilogy Harvey Fierstein 1982 American English
17117 The Inheritance Matthew Lopez 2020 American English
17117 Love! Valour! Compassion! Terrence McNally 1995 American English
17117 Gloria Branden Jacob-Jenkins 2015 American English
14983 Six Degrees Of Separation John Guare 1990 American English
14232 Ruined Lynn Nottage 2009 American English
17117 Amadeus Peter Shaffer 1979 British English
2489 Murder In The Cathedral T. S. Eliot 1935 British English
16815 Sweet Bird Of Youth Tennessee Williams 1959 American English
14983 The Humans Stephen Karam 2014 American English
16833 The Man Who Came To Dinner George S. Kaufman, Moss Hart 1939 American English
14967 Strange Interlude Eugene O'Neill 1928 American English
16852 The Time Of Your Life William Saroyan 1939 American English
13938 Marat Sade Peter Weiss 1963 German German
17117 Good People David Lindsay-Abaire 2011 American English
17117 Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike Christopher Durang 2013 American English
16892 Harvey Mary Chase 1944 American English
17117 Proof David Auburn 2000 American English
14232 M. Butterfly David Henry Hwang 1988 American English
3079 Waiting For Lefty Clifford Odets 1935 American English
17117 The Motherf**Ker With The Hat Stephen Adly Guirgis 2011 American English
16951 You Can't Take It With You George S. Kaufman, Moss Hart 1936 American English
17117 Bad Jews Joshua Harmon 2013 American English
16973 A Delicate Balance Edward Albee 1966 American English
17117 Jitney August Wilson 1982 American English
17117 Talley's Folly Lanford Wilson 1979 American English
14983 The Pillowman Martin McDonagh 2003 Irish English
17007 Blithe Spirit Noel Coward 1941 British English
17117 A Doll's House, Part 2 Lucas Hnath 2017 American English
17117 Master Class Terrence McNally 1995 American English
17117 Between Riverside & Crazy Stephen Adly Guirgis 2014 American English
17117 The Wolves Sarah DeLappe 2016 American English
17054 Balm In Gilead Lanford Wilson 1965 American English
17067 The Mousetrap Agatha Christie 1952 British English
17117 Anna In The Tropics Nilo Cruz 2003 American English
17117 The Royale Marco Ramirez 2013 American English
17117 Other Desert Cities Jon Robin Baitz 2011 American English
17117 Slave Play Jeremy O. Harris 2018 American English