The Greatest Plays of All Time
Click to learn how this list is calculated.
This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.
| Rank | Book | Authors | Year | Country | Language | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16739 | Exiles | James Joyce | 1918 | Irish | English | |
| 16686 | Present Laughter | Noel Coward | 1942 | British | English | |
| 16801 | Caligula | Albert Camus | 1944 | French | French | |
| 16747 | The Misanthrope / Tartuffe | Molière | 1666 | French | French | |
| 16772 | The Two Gentlemen Of Verona | William Shakespeare | 1594 | British | English | |
| 17163 | Death And The Maiden | Ariel Dorfman | 1991 | Chilean | Spanish | |
| 17163 | Far Away | Caryl Churchill | 2000 | British | English | |
| 17163 | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | August Wilson | 1984 | American | English | |
| 17163 | Bent | Martin Sherman | 1979 | British | English | |
| 17163 | Our Country’s Good | Timberlake Wertenbaker | 1988 | British | English | |
| 17163 | Intimate Apparel | Lynn Nottage | 2003 | American | English | |
| 17163 | An Oak Tree | Tim Crouch | 2005 | British | English | |
| 17163 | The Effect | Lucy Prebble | 2012 | British | English | |
| 17163 | One Man, Two Guvnors | Richard Bean | 2011 | British | English | |
| 17163 | Faith Healer | Brian Friel | 1979 | Irish | English | |
| 17163 | Frozen | Bryony Lavery | 1998 | British | English | |
| 17163 | The Flick | Annie Baker | 2014 | American | English | |
| 17163 | Radio Golf | August Wilson | 2007 | American | English | |
| 17163 | The Aliens | Annie Baker | 2010 | American | English | |
| 17163 | Wit | Margaret Edson | 1993 | American | English | |
| 17163 | Betrayal | Harold Pinter | 1978 | British | English | |
| 17163 | Torch Song Trilogy | Harvey Fierstein | 1982 | American | English | |
| 17163 | The Inheritance | Matthew Lopez | 2020 | American | English | |
| 17163 | Love! Valour! Compassion! | Terrence McNally | 1995 | American | English | |
| 17163 | Amadeus | Peter Shaffer | 1979 | British | English | |
| 16860 | Sweet Bird Of Youth | Tennessee Williams | 1959 | American | English | |
| 16895 | The Time Of Your Life | William Saroyan | 1939 | American | English | |
| 17163 | Proof | David Auburn | 2000 | American | English | |
| 17163 | Jitney | August Wilson | 1982 | American | English | |
| 17163 | Talley's Folly | Lanford Wilson | 1979 | American | English | |
| 17049 | Blithe Spirit | Noel Coward | 1941 | British | English | |
| 17163 | A Doll's House, Part 2 | Lucas Hnath | 2017 | American | English | |
| 17163 | Master Class | Terrence McNally | 1995 | American | English | |
| 17100 | Balm In Gilead | Lanford Wilson | 1965 | American | English | |
| 17163 | Anna In The Tropics | Nilo Cruz | 2003 | American | English | |
| 17163 | The Royale | Marco Ramirez | 2013 | American | English | |
| 17163 | Other Desert Cities | Jon Robin Baitz | 2011 | American | English | |
| 17163 | Slave Play | Jeremy O. Harris | 2018 | American | English | |
| 17163 | The Mysteries | Tony Harrison | 1985 | British | English | |
| 16839 | Design For Living | Noel Coward | 1933 | British | English | |
| 16846 | The House Of Bernarda Alba | Federico García Lorca | 1936 | Spanish | Spanish | |
| 16860 | Mr Puntila And His Man Matti | Bertolt Brecht | 1940 | German | German | |
| 16907 | The Deep Blue Sea | Terence Rattigan | 1952 | British | English | |
| 16925 | Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll | Ray Lawler | 1955 | Australian | English | |
| 16952 | The Entertainer | John Osborne | 1957 | British | English | |
| 16994 | Serjeant Musgrave’s Dance | John Arden | 1959 | British | English | |
| 17005 | Chips With Everything | Arnold Wesker | 1962 | British | English | |
| 17024 | Black Comedy | Peter Shaffer | 1965 | British | English | |
| 17163 | Absurd Person Singular | Alan Ayckbourn | 1972 | British | English | |
| 17163 | Bingo | Edward Bond | 1973 | British | English | |
| 17163 | Racing Demon | David Hare | 1990 | British | English | |
| 17163 | King Charles Iii | Mike Bartlett | 2014 | British | English | |
| 17163 | The Normal Heart | Larry Kramer | 1985 | American | English | |
| 17163 | Fefu And Her Friends | María Irene Fornés | 1977 | American | English | |
| 17163 | Short Eyes | Miguel Pinero | 1974 | American | English | |
| 16988 | Journey’s End | R. C. Sherriff | 1929 | British | English | |
| 17163 | The Orphans’ Home Cycle | Horton Foote | 2009 | American | English | |
| 17163 | The Piano Lesson | August Wilson | 1987 | American | English | |
| 16960 | At The Hawk's Well | William Butler Yeats | 1916 | Irish | English | |
| 17000 | The Well Cradle | Zeami Motokiyo | 1430 | Japanese | Japanese | |
| 17163 | The Other Shore | Xingjian Gao | 1986 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 17163 | The Hostage | Brendan Behan | 1958 | Irish | English | |
| 17144 | The Best Mayor, The King | Lope de Vega | 1635 | Spanish | Spanish | |
| 17163 | Collected Plays | Mahesh Dattani | 2000 | Indian | English | |
| 16891 | The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare, Volume 2 | William Shakespeare | 1623 | British | English | |
| 17136 | Roméo Et Juliette / Macbeth | William Shakespeare | 1597 | British | English | |
| 17163 | Shakespeare | Judi Dench | 2024 | Unknown | Unknown | |
| 17120 | King Henry Vi, Part 3 | William Shakespeare | 2001 | British | English | |
| 16762 | King Henry Vi, Part 2 | William Shakespeare | 1594 | British | English | |
| 17120 | Henry Vi, Part 1 | William Shakespeare | 2000 | British | English | |
| 16946 | Agamemnon | Aeschylus | -458 | Greek | Ancient greek | |
| 17163 | The Collected Oscar Wilde | Oscar Wilde | Irish | English | ||
| 17163 | Insignificance | Terry Johnson | 1982 | British | English | |
| 17163 | Enron | Lucy Prebble | 2009 | British | English | |
| 17163 | I Will Marry When I Want | Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o | 1977 | Kenyan | Gikuyu | |
| 17163 | August Wilson | Patti Hartigan | 2023 | Unknown | English | |
| 16873 | The Theban Plays | Sophocles | -442 | Greek | Ancient greek | |
| 17163 | Sea Wall / A Life | John Stephens | Unknown | Unknown | ||
| 17163 | Saint Joan Of The Stockyards | Bertolt Brecht | 1931 | German | German | |
| 17163 | Romance Of The Western Chamber | Wang Shifu | 1200 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 17163 | Four Comedies | Molière | 1982 | French | French | |
| 17163 | The Method | Isaac Butler | 2022 | American | English | |
| 17163 | Year Of The King | Antony Sher | 1985 | British | English |