100 Best Plays of All Time: Comedies, Tragedies and Tragicomedies.
Kumar Paral is a writer, a culture enthusiast, and a bibliophile.
100 Great Plays of the World
Plays are one of the earliest form of literature in the world. The term "play" refers the written works of playwrights for theatrical performance or reading. Both the terms Play and drama are used interchangeably now.
Folk arts, harvest festivities, religious performances and rituals had contributed much in the origin of plays. It is believed that classical drama, the earliest systematized form of drama, first appeared in Greece and Rome in the west and in India in the east.
The earliest records indicate that the Sanskrit dramas of ancient India had been performed even before the beginning of Christian Era. The origin of western drama also dates back to early Christian era. The greatest classical dramatists were Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides in Greek, Seneca in Latin and Kalidsa, Bhasa and Bhavabhuti in Sanskrit.
William Shakespeare
Plays were the most important medium of entertainment till the advent of cinema in the early 20th century. Though it has lost the former glory now, still it is considered as the one of the serious mode of entertainment all over the world. Still plays are produced, enjoyed and discussed as a genre of literature which is very relevant in the contemporary life.
This Top 100 Plays of the World is a list of my favorite plays. It comprises the plays which are written or translated in English. Your opinions and comments are welcome.
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Top 100 Great Plays of the World
- Hamlet by William Shakespeare
- Shakuthala by Kalidasa
- Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
- Karna-bhara by Bhasa
- Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett
- Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
- Othello by William Shakespeare
- Faust by Goethe
- The Palace of Eternal Life by Hong Sheng
- The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde
- Arms And The Man by George Bernard Shaw
- Harivamsa by Bhasa
- Pratima-nataka by Bhasa
- The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
- Udhwastha Dharmashala by Govind Purushottam Deshpande
- Blood Knot by Athol Fugard
- Saturday Night at the Palace by Paul Slabolepszy.
- Madhyama-vyayoga by Bhasa
- A Dance of the Forests by Wole Soyinka'
- Vikramōrvaśīyam by Kalidasa
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot in Doon School
Top 100 Great Plays of the World
21. The Story of the Western Wing by Wang Shifu
22. Before the Blackout by Wole Soyinka
23. Duta-Ghattotkacha by Bhasa
24. Madmen and Specialists by Wole Soyinka'
25. Death and the King's Horseman by Wole Soyinka'
26. Panch-ratra by Bhasa
27. The Black Hermit by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
28. Volpone, Or The Fox by Ben Johnson
29. A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
30. Uttararamacharit by Bhavabhuti
31. King Lear by William Shakespeare
32. Andhar Yatra by Govind Purushottam Deshpande
33. The Injustice to Dou E by Guan Hanqing
34. The Jade Hairpin by Gao Lian
35. Chandalika By Rabindranath Tagore
36. Agra Bazar by Habib Tanvir
37. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
38. Tartuffe by Moliere
39. Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov
40. Malatimadhava by Bhavabhuti
www.commons.wikimedia.org
Top 100 Great Plays of the World
41. Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw
42. The Frogs by Aristophanes
43. Playboy of the Western World by John Millington Synge
44.Rhinocerous by Eugene Ionesco
45. Macbeth by William Shakespeare
46. She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith
47. Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw
48. Abhisheka-natka by Bhasa
49. Mahaviracharita by Bhavabhuti
50. Tughlaq by Girish Karnad
51 Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
52 Mother Courage by Bertolt Brecht
53 No Exit by JP Sartre
54 The Peony Pavilion by Tang Xianzu
55 The Peach Blossom Fan by Kong Shangren
56 The Orphan of Zhao by Ji Junxiang
57 Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
58 The School For Scandal by R.B. Sheridan
59 Oedipus At Colonus by Sophocles
60 A Street car Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Top 100 Great Plays of the World
61 Pygmalian by George Bernard Shaw
62 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard
63 Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot
63 Medea by Euripides
65 Hayavadana by Girish Karnad
66 Anthony And Cleopatra by William Shakespeare
67 The Lady's Not for Burning by Christopher Fry
68 Urubhanga by Bhasa
69 Look Back in Anger by John Osborne
70 Roots by Arnold Wesker
71 Duta-Vakya by Bhasa
72 The Lion and the Jewel by Wole Soyinka'
73 The Gods Are Not To Blame by Ola Rotimi
74 The Tempest by William Shakespeare
75 American Buffalo by David Mamet
76 The Balcony by Jean Genet
77 The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov
78 The Clouds by Aristrophanes
79 Mitti ki Gaadi by Habib Tanvir
80 Saturday Night at the Palace by Paul Slabolepszy.
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Top 100 Great Plays of the World
81 The Black Hermit by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
82 A Dance of the Forests by Wole Soyinka'
83 Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya by Habib Tanvir
84 Mālavikāgnimitram by Kalidasa
85 Juno and the Paycock by Sean O'Casey
86 Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
87 Henry VI Part I by William Shakespeare
88 Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen
89 Panch-ratra by Bhasa
90 The Hairy Ape by Eugene O’Neill
91 The Oresteia by Aeschylus
92 The Misanthrope by Moliere
93 Three penny Opera by Bertolt Brecht
94 Devil's Disciple George Bernard Shaw
95 Juno and the Paycock by Sean O'Casey
96 Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neil
97 An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde
98 The Sea Gull by Anton Chekhov
99 The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov
100 Caligula by Albert Camus
Play : All My Sons By Arther Miller
Quiz
For each question, choose the best answer. The answer key is below.
- Who is author of "Oedipus the King" ?
- Sophocles
- Kalidasa
Answer Key
- Sophocles
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This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.
© 2013 Kumar Paral
