DEPARTMENTAL READING-PLAY and MUSICAL LIST Master List/Moree-8/06
The following list should direct your reading for play reports, scene and monologue material, as well as design and technical projects. If you choose a play NOT on this list, it must meet the following criteria:
1. It must be by an author already on the list .
2. It must be approved by a member of the faculty who will add it to the
master list through the Director of Theatre.
* (year) indicates Pulitzer Prize Award
+ indicates awards including Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics, etc.
Although they don’t suffice for experiencing the text first hand, movie versions of plays and musicals are acceptable ways to meet this requirement.
Albee, Edward Seascape*(1975), Three Tall Women*(1994), A
Delicate Balance*(1967), The Goat, or Who is
Sylvia+, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?+, The
American Dream et al., Zoo Story/The Sandbox
Anderson, Jane Defying Gravity
Anderson, Maxwell Elizabeth the Queen, Mary of Scotland, Anne of a Thousand Days, Bad Seed, Winterset
Anderson, Robert I Never Sang for My Father, Tea and Sympathy, You Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water’s Running
Anouilh, Jean Antigone, Waltz of the Toreadors, Beckett
Auburn, David Proof*(2001)+
Axelrod, George The Seven Year Itch
Ayckbourn, Alan Absurd Person Singular, Family Values, Season’s Greetings, Relatively Speaking
Baldwin, James The Amen Corner, Blues for Mr. Charlie
Barrie, J.M. Peter Pan
Beckett, Samuel Waiting for Godot, Endgame, Happy Days
Blessing, Lee Cobb, Down the Road, Independence, Nice People Dancing to Country Music, A Walk in the Woods, Fortinbras, Going to St. Ives, The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, Two Rooms, Eleemosynary
Bogosian, Eric Red Angel, Suburbia
Bolt, Robert A Man for All Seasons
Brecht, Bertolt The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Mother Courage and
Her Children, The Good Woman of Stzuan
Buchner, Georg Woyzeck
Capek, Joseph and Karel R.U.R.
Chase, Mary Harvey*(1945)
Chekov, Anton The Cherry Orcha rd, The Seagull, Three Sisters,
Uncle Vanya
Churchill, Caryl Cloud 9, Top Girls
Cleage, Pearl Blues for an Alabama Sky, Bourbon at the Border, Flyin’West
Coburn, Donald L. The Gin Game*(1978)
Connelly, Marc The Green Pastures*(1930)
Coward, Noel Blithe Spirit, Hay Fe v er, Private Lives
Cowen, Ron Summertree
Cristofer, Michael The Shadow Box*(1977)
Crouse, Russel Life with Father, Life with Mother
Crowley, Mart Boys in the Band, A Breeze from the Gulf
Cruz, Nilo Anna in the Tropics*(2003)
Dancing at Lughnasa Brian Friel+
Druten, John Van Bell , Book, and Candle
Durang, Christopher
Durrenmatt, Fr iedrich The Visit
Edson, Margaret Wit*(1999)
Feldshuh, David Miss Evers’ Boys
Ferber, Edna Stage Door
Fishburne, Laurence Riff Raff
Foote, Horton The Young Man From Atlanta*(1995),
Note: Foote wrote the screenplay for To Kill a Mockingbird ,
The Death of Papa, Laura Dennis, Lily Dale, The Traveling Lady, The Trip to Bountiful
Foster, Hunter Summer of 42
Frings, Ketti Look Homeward, Angel
Fugard, Athol Blood Knot, Master Harold and the Boys, My
Children! My Africa !
Fuller, Charles A Soldier’s Play*(1982)
Gibson, William The Miracle Worker
Gilroy, Frank D. The Subject Was Roses*(1965)
Giraudoux, Jean The Madwoman of Chaillot
Goetz, Augustus The Heiress
Goldman, James The Lion in Winter
Goodrich, Frances and
Hackett, Albert The Diary of Anne Frank*(1956)+
Gordone, Charles No Place to Be Somebody*(1970)
Graham, Bruce Coyote on a Fence, Desperate Affection
Greenberg, Richard Take Me Out+
Griffin, Tom The Boys Next Door
Guare, John Six Degrees of Separation, Marco Polo Sings a Solo
Gurney, A.R. Scenes From American Life, The Dining Room, Sylvia
Hansberry, Lorraine Raisin in the Sun, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, To Be Young, Gifted, and Black
Harelik, Mark The Immigrant
Hart, Moss and George
S. Kaufman You Can’t Take it With You*(1937)
Heggen, Thomas and Mister Roberts+
Joshua Logan
Hellman, Lillian The Children’s Hour, The Lark, Toys in the Attic, Another Part of th e Forest, The Little Foxes
Henley, Beth Crimes of the Heart*(1981) Abundance, The Debutante Ball, The Miss Firecracker Contest, The Wake of Jamey Foster
Howe, Tina Painting Churches, Coastal Disturbances
Hughes, Langston Simply Heavenly
Hwang, David Henry M. Butterfly+
Ibsen, Henrik A Doll’s House, An Enemy of the People,
Ghosts, Hedda Gabler, The Wild Duck,
When We Dead Awaken
Inge, William Bus Stop, Picnic*(1953), Come Back Little Sheba, Splendor in the Grass, Dark at the Top of the Stairs
Ionesco, Eugene The Bald Soprano, The Chairs, The Lesson,
Rhinoceros
Ives, David All in the Timing-Six One Act Co medies
Jones, Preston The Last Meeting of the Knights of the White Magnolia, Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander, The Oldest Living Graduate
Kanin, Garson Born Yesterday
Kaufman, Moises Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, The Laramie Project
Kesserling, Joseph Arsenic and Old Lace
Ketron, Larry Fresh Horses
King, Larry The Night Hank Williams Died
Kopit, Arthur Oh, Dad, Poor Dad…, Wings
Korder, Howard Boys’ Life
Kramer, Larry The Normal Heart
Kramm, Joseph The Shrike*(1952)
Kushner, Tony Angels in America : Millennium Approaches*(1993)
Lee, Robert E. Inherit the Wind, Auntie Mame
and Lawrence
Lindsay, Howard and
Crouse, Russell State of the Union*(1946)
Lucas, Craig Reckless
Ludwig, Ken Lend Me a Tenor
MacLeish, Archibald J.B.*(1959)
Mamet, David Glengarry Glen Ross*(1984), American Buffalo, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Speed-The-Plow, Oleanna
Mann, Emily Still Life
Margulies, Donald Dinner With Friends*(2000)
Martin, Jane Anton in Show Business, Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage, Keely and Du, Talking With, The Boy Who Ate the Moon
McCullers, Carson Ballad of the Sad Café
McDonagh, Martin The Beauty Queen of Leeane, The Lieutenant of Inishmore
McLure, James The Day They Shot John Lennon, Laundry and Bourbon/Lonestar, Pvt. Wars
McNally, Terrence Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Master Class+, Love Valor Compassion+, Where Has
Tommy Flowers Gone?, Lips Together Teeth Apart
Medoff, Mark When You Comin’ Back , Red Ryder? Children of a Lesser God+, The Hands of Its Enemy, The Heart
Outright, Tommy J and Sally
Miller, Arthur All My Sons, The Crucible+, Death of a Salesman*(1949)+, The Price, After the Fall, Creation of the World and Other Business, A View from the Bridge
Miller, Jason That Championship Season*(1973)+
Milligan, Jason And the Rain Came to May, Life After Elvis
Mosel, Tad All the Way Home*(1961)
Nash, Richard N. The Rainmaker
Norman, Marsha ‘Night Mother*(1983), Getting Out
Notage, Lynn Crumbs from the Table of Joy
Odets, Clifford Golden Boy, Country Girl
O’Neill, Eugene Beyond the Horizon*(1920), Anna Christie*(1922), Strange Interlude*(1928), Long Days Journey Into Night*(1957)+, Ah Wilderness, Mourning Becomes Electra, Desire Under the Elms, The Iceman Cometh
Note: Eugene O’Neill won the Nobel Prize
Osborn, Paul On Borrowed Time
Parks, Suzan-Lori Topdog/Underdog*(2002)
Patrick, John Teahouse of the August Moon*(1954)+, The Curious Savage
Pielmier, John Agnes of God, Impassioned Embraces
Pinter, Harold Betrayl
Potok, Chaim The Chosen
Pirandello, Luigi Six Characters in Search of An Author
Pomerance, Bernard Elephant Man
Price, Reynolds August Snow, Full Moon
Rabe, David Hurlyburly+, The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel,
In the Boom Boom Room, Streamers, Sticks and
Bones , A Question of Mercy
Reza, Yasmina Art+
(trans. Christopher Hampton)
Rice, Elmer Street Scene*1929), The Adding Machine
Rudnick, Paul I Hate Hamlet, Jeffrey
Sackler, Howard The Great White Hope*(1969)
Saroyan, William The Time of Your Life*(1940), Hello Out There
Schenkkan, Robert The Kentucky Cycle*(1992)
Schisgal, Murray Luv
Sedaris, Amy and/or The Book of Liz, The Santaland Diaries and Sedaris, David Season’s G reetings.
Shange, Ntozake For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf
Shaffer, Peter Equus, The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Black Comedy, Lettice and Loveage
Shanley, John Patrick Doubt*(2005), Danny and the Deep Blue Sea,
Beggars in the House of Plenty, Savage in Limbo
Shaw, George Bernard Androcles and the Lion, Caesar and Cleopatra, Candida, Heartbreak House, Major Barbara, Man and Superman, Pygmalion, Saint Joan
Shawn, Wallace Aunt Dan and Lemon
Sherwood, Robert E. There Shall Be No Night*(1941), Abe Lincoln in Illinois*(1939), Idiot’s Delight*(1936)
Shepard, Sam Buried Child*(1979), Curse of the Starving Class, True West, Fool for Love
Shue, Larry The Foreigner, The Nerd
Simon, Neil The Odd Couple, Barefoot in the Park, Lost in Yonkers*(1991)
Slade, Bernard Same Time Next Year
Steinbeck, John The Grapes of Wrath+
adapted by Frank Galati
Stoppard, Tom Jumpers, The Real Inspector Hound, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Travesties
Strindberg, August Miss Julie, The Ghost Sonata, A Dream Play
Swicord, Robin Last Days at the Dixie Girl Café
Synge, J.M. The Playboy of the Western World, Riders to the Sea
Talley, Ted Hooters
Taylor, Renee Lovers and Other Strangers
Taylor, Samuel Sabrina Fair
Thompson, Ernest On Golden Pond, The West Side Waltz,
Tolan, Peter Best Half Foot Forward/Stay Carl Stay/Pillow Talk
Uhry, Alfred Driving Miss Daisy*(1988), The Last Night o f Ballyhoo+,
Vogel, Paula How I Learned to Drive *(1998), The BaltimoreWaltz, The
Mineola Twins, The Long Christmas Ride Home
Wade, Kevin Key Exchange
Wasserstein, Wendy The Heidi Chronicles*(1989)+, An American Daughter, The Sisters Rosensweig, UncommonWomen
Watson, Ara A Different Moon
Weller, Michael Loose Ends, Moonchildren
Wilde, Oscar The Importance of Being Earnest
Wilder, Thornton Our Town*(1938), The Skin of Our Teeth*(1943), The Matchmaker
Williams, Samm-Art Eyes of the American, Woman from the Town
Williams, Tennessee A Streetcar Named Desire*(1948), The Glass Menagerie*(1949), Ca t on a Hot Tin Roof*(1955) A Streetcar Named Desire, The Rose Tattoo+, Battle of Angels, Orpheus Descending, Suddenly Las t Summer, Summer and Smoke, Sweet Bird of Youth, 27 Wagons Full of Cotton /Other Plays
Wilson, August Fences*(1987), The Piano Lesson*(1990), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Jitney, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Seven Guitars, King Hedley II, Two Trains Running
Wilson, Lanford Talley’s Folly*(1980),Angels Fall, Balm in Gilead, Burn This, Fifth o f July, The Hot L Baltimore, Lemon Sky, Rain Dance Redwood Curtain, The Rimer sof Eldritch, A Sense of Place, Serenading Louie
Wright, Doug I A m My Own Wife*(2004
Wolfe, George C. The Colored Museum
Zindel, Paul The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds*(1971), Amulets Against the Dragon Forces, And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, Ladies at the Alamo, The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild, The Pigman
MUSICALS
Showboat
Oklahoma
My Fair Lady
Hello Dolly!
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying *
1776
Jesus Christ Superstar
Man of La Mancha
Carousel
A Little Night Music
Evita
A Chorus Line *
Les Miserables
Grease
Into the Woods
Chicago
The Wiz
Tommy
Once Upon a Mattress
Miss Saigon
South Pacific
Assassins
Rent
Urinetown
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Cabaret
Cats
Company
Crazy for You
Guys and Dolls
Gypsy
Hair
The King and I
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Mame
The Music Man
Oliver
On the Town
Phantom of the Opera
Pippin (not for 2006-2008)
West Side Story
The Wiz
The Lion King
Ragtime
Purlie
The Sound of Music
Other musicals on request
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