RECOMMENDED PLAY READING LIST
Reading any of the plays on this list of contemporary works may help to inspire you in writing your play. Many of these plays have teenage or youthful characters that you might easily relate to. Most of these should be available through Amazon or other major book sellers. This list is in no particular order.
I and You - Lauren Gunderson. Two teenagers meet one night and go on a journey of self discovery about themselves and each other.
Fences - August Wilson. African American family in 1957 with strong emphasis on father and son relationship.
Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller. Great American drama about a father and husband's decline and the effect on his family.
The House of Ramon Iglesia. Jose Rivera. The story of a young man’s effort to break away from his immigrant family.
This is our Youth - Kenneth Lonergan. Forty eight hours in the lives of three struggling teens.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Jeffrey Hatcher. Adaptation of the famous story by Robert Louis Stephenson.
Brighton Beach Memories - Neil Simon. A teenage boy's reflection on growing up in Brooklyn in the 1940s.
Pipeline - Dominique Morrisseau. A single mother tries to save her son from school expulsion and the “school to prison” pipeline.
In the Continuum - Danai Gurira & Nikkole Salter. The play puts a human face on the devastating impact of AIDS in Africa and America through the lives of two courageous young women.
Old Wicked Songs - Jon Marans. The complicated relationship between a young music prodigy and his Viennese music teacher.
Master Harold and the boys - Athol Fugard. A brilliant play about a young white boy and his relationship with two African men during Apartheid in South Africa.
A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennesse Williams. Classic American play about the complex and destructive relationship between a husband and wife when her sister comes to live with them.
The Baltimore Waltz - Paula Vogel. Tells the story of a brother and sister on a journey through Europe to find a cure for her fake illness.
for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf- Nitozake Shange. Tells the story of seven women who have suffered oppression in a racist and sexist society.
The Diary of Anne Frank - Francis Goodrich & Albert Hackett. Dramatization of Anne Frank and her family in hiding during World War Two.
To Kill A Mockingbird - Aaron Sorkin. Most recent adaptation of the great American novel by Harper Lee.
The Wolves - Sarah Delappes. From the safety of their suburban stretch circle, a young women’s soccer team navigates big questions and wages tiny battles.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Simon Stephens. A young man with autism goes on a journey to uncover the mystery of a missing dog.
The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams. Gritty story during the Depression about a brother and sister living with an overbearing mother.
A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry. The story of a Black family living in the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s.
The Cherry Orchard - Anton Chekhov - A family verges on bankruptcy while their country stands on the brink of revolution.