The 222 Greatest Plays
Are plays literature? Almost all have been created to be viewed, enjoyed as theatrical presentations, rather than to be read. But most have also been published in books like other forms of literature. They are studied as literature in educational institutions.
Dramatic works are chosen for The Greatest Plays of All Time on the same basis that reading materials have been chosen for our lists for other literary forms, such as The Greatest Novels and The Greatest Stories. It is the result of extensive research and surveys involving thousands of readers, writers, critics and scholars.
Every effort has been made to include the significant dramas from all cultures and from all periods—from ancient times to recent years.
Of course the Greatest Plays list is not perfect and never can be, as new dramatic works are continually discovered and older works are appreciated anew. Check back for updates.
Latest update: February 16, 2024
BCE
472
The Persians
by Aeschylus, Greece
Play
458
Agamemnon
by Aeschylus, Greece
Play
The Eumenides
by Aeschylus, Greece
Play
The Libation Bearers
by Aeschylus, Greece, Play trilogy
c.450–425
Prometheus Bound
by Aeschylus, Greece
Play
442–441
Ajax
by Sophocles, Greece
Play
431
Medea
by Euripides, Greece
Play
429
Oedipus Rex
by Sophocles, Greece
Play also known as Oedipus; Oedipus Tyrannus; Oedipus the King
428
Hippolytus
by Euripides, Greece
Play
c.428
Andromache
by Euripides, Greece
Play
423
The Clouds
by Aristophanes, Greece
Play
422
The Wasps
by Aristophanes, Greece
Play
c.420–410
Electra
by Sophocles, Greece
Play
418
Electra
by Euripides, Greece
Play
415
The Trojan Women
by Euripides, Greece
Play
414
The Birds
by Aristophanes, Greece
Play
412
Helen
by Euripides, Greece
Play
411
Lysistrata
by Aristophanes, Greece
Play
405
The Frogs
by Aristophanes, Greece
Play
406
The Bacchae
by Euripides, Greece
Play
401
Oedipus at Colonus
by Sophocles, Greece
Play
c.200
Menaechmi (The Twin Brothers)
by Plautus, Rome
Play
Miles Gloriosus
by Plautus, Rome
Play
166
Andria
by Terence, Rome
Play
161
Eunuchus
by Terence, Rome
Play
CE
c.300
The Vision of Vasavadatta
by Bhasa, India
Play
c.400
The Recognition of Sakuntala
by Kalidasa, India
Play
c.1300
The Chalk Circle
by Li Qianfu, China
Play
c.1400
Atsumori
by Zeami Motokiyo, Japan
Play
c.1500
The Feather Mantle
by Anonymous, Japan
Play
1584
Sapho and Phao
by John Lyly, England
Play
Campaspe
by John Lyly, England
Play
1586
The Spanish Tragedy
by Thomas Kyd, England
Play
The Siege of Numantia
by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Spain
Play
1587
Tamburlaine the Great
by Christopher Marlowe, England
Play
Doctor Faustus
by Christopher Marlowe, England
Play
c.1591
The Battle of Alcazar
by George Peele, England
Play
1592
Doctor Faustus
by Christopher Marlowe, England
Play
1598
The Peony Pavilion
by Tang Xianzu, China
Play
1603
A Woman Killed with Kindness
by Thomas Heywood, England
Play
1604–1605
The Honest Whore
by Thomas Dekker, Thomas Middleton, England
Play
1606
Volpone
by Ben Jonson, England
Play
1610
The Alchemist
by Ben Jonson, England
Play
The Duchess of Malfi
by John Webster, England
Play
1619
Lost in a Mirror
by Lope de Vega, Spain
Play
1622
The Changeling
by Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, England
Play
1631
Punishment Without Revenge
by Lope de Vega, Spain
Play
1635
Life Is a Dream
by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Spain
Play
1636
Le Cid
by Pierre Corneille, France
Play
1643
The Mayor of Zalamea
by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Spain
Play
1667
Andromaque
by Jean Racine, France
Play
1670
Bérénice
by Jean Racine, France
Play
The Bourgeois Gentleman
by Molière, France
Play also known as The Would-Be Gentleman; The Middle-Class Gentleman; The Tradesman; The Shopkeeper Turned Gentleman
1677
The Rover
by Aphra Behn, England
Play
Phèdre
by Jean Racine, France
Play
1691
Athalie
by Jean Racine, France
Play
1700
The Way of the World
by William Congreve, England
Play
1721
The Love Suicides at Amijima
by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japan
Play
1728
The Beggar's Opera
by John Gay, England
Play
1730
The Game of Love and Chance
by Marivaux, France
Play
1753
The Mistress of the Inn
by Carlo Goldoni, Italy
Play
1767
Minna von Barnhelm or the Soldiers' Happiness
by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Germany
Play
1775
The Rivals
by Richard Sheridan, England
Play
1777
The School for Scandal
by Richard Sheridan, England
Play
1779
Nathan the Wise
by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Germany
Play
1784
The Marriage of Figaro
by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, France
Play
1785
The Task
by William Cowper, England
Play
1787
Don Carlos
by Friedrich Schiller, Germany
Play
1798
Speed the Plough
by Thomas Morton, England
Play
1800
Mary Stuart
by Friedrich Schiller, Germany
Play
1808–1832
Faust
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany
Play
1821
The Prince of Homburg
by Heinrich von Kleist, Germany
Play
1825
Woe From Wit
by Alexander Griboyedov, Russia
Play
1831
Queen Margot
by Alexandre Dumas, France
Play
1835
Chatterton
by Alfred de Vigny, France
Play
1836
The Government Inspector
by Nicolai Gogol, Ukraine
Play
1852
The Lady of the Camellias
by Alexandre Dumas, fils, France
Play
1860
The Storm
by Alexander Ostrovsky, Russia
Play
1867
Peer Gynt
by Henrik Ibsen, Norway
Play
1879
Woyzeck
by Georg Büchner, Germany
Play
A Doll's House
by Henrik Ibsen, Norway
Play
1882
An Enemy of the People
by Henrik Ibsen, Norway
Play
1884
The Wild Duck
by Henrik Ibsen, Norway
Play
1887
The Father
by August Strindberg, Sweden
Play
1889
Miss Julie
by August Strindberg, Sweden
Play
1891
Hedda Gabler
by Henrik Ibsen, Norway
Play
1892
Pelleas and Melisande
by Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgium
Play
Lady Windermere's Fan
by Oscar Wilde, Ireland
Play
1893
The Master Builder
by Henrik Ibsen, Norway
Play
1894
Arms and the Man
by George Bernard Shaw, Ireland
Play
1895
An Ideal Husband
by Oscar Wilde, Ireland
Play
The Importance of Being Earnest
by Oscar Wilde, Ireland
Play
1896
The Seagull
by Anton Chekhov, Russia
Play
1898
Cyrano de Bergerac
by Edmond Rostand, France
Play
Candida
by George Bernard Shaw, Ireland
Play
1900
Uncle Vanya
by Anton Chekhov, Russia
Play
1901
Three Sisters
by Anton Chekhov, Russia
Play
1902
The Lower Depths
by Maxim Gorky, Russia
Play
The Power of Darkness
by Leo Tolstoy, Russia
Play
1903
The Cherry Orchard
by Anton Chekhov, Russia
Play
Man and Superman
by George Bernard Shaw, Ireland
Play
1904
Riders to the Sea
by John Millington Synge, Ireland
Play
Peter Pan
by J.M. Barrie, Scotland
Play
1905
Major Barbara
by George Bernard Shaw, Ireland
Play
Summerfolk
by Maxim Gorky, Russia
Play
1906
Spring Awakening
by Frank Wedekind, Germany
Play
1907
The Playboy of the Western World
by John Millington Synge, Ireland
Play
1916
Pygmalion
by George Bernard Shaw, Ireland
Play
1920
R.U.R.
by Karel Čapek, Czechia
Play
Bohemian Nights
by Ramón del Valle-Inclán, Spain
Play
1921
Six Characters in Search of an Author
by Luigi Pirandello, Italy
Play
1922
Henry IV
by Luigi Pirandello, Italy
Play
1923
Saint Joan
by George Bernard Shaw, Ireland
Play
1924
The Vortex
by Noel Coward, England
Play
Juno and the Paycock
by Sean O'Casey, Ireland
Play
1926
The Plough and the Stars
by Sean O'Casey, Ireland
Play
1927
Sunset
by Isaac Babel, Russia
Novel
1928
The Three-Penny Opera
by Bertolt Brecht, Germany
Play
Machinal
by Sophie Treadwell, United States
Play
1930
Private Lives
by Noel Coward, England
Play
1931
Mourning Becomes Electra
by Eugene O'Neill, United States
Play
1933
Blood Wedding
by Federico Garcia Lorca, Spain
Play
1934
The Children's Hour
by Lillian Hellman, United States
Play
1935
Awake and Sing!
by Clifford Odets, United States
Play
1938
Our Town
by Thornton Wilder, United States
Play
1939
The Little Foxes
by Lillian Hellman, United States
Play
Arsenic and Old Lace
by Joseph Kesselring, United States
Play
1941
Blithe Spirit
by Noel Coward, England
Play
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
by Bertolt Brecht, Germany
Play
1943
The Life of Galileo
by Bertolt Brecht, Germany
Play
1944
No Exit
by Jean-Paul Sartre, France
Play
1945
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
by Bertolt Brecht, Germany
Play
The Glass Menagerie
by Tennessee Williams, United States
Play
1946
The Iceman Cometh
by Eugene O'Neill, United States
Play
1947
A Streetcar Named Desire
by Tennessee Williams, United States
Play
1949
Death of a Salesman
by Arthur Miller, United States
Play
1950
The Bald Soprano
by Eugene Ionesco, France
Play
1952
The Deep Blue Sea
by Terence Rattigan, Engl;and
Play
The Chairs
by Eugene Ionesco, France
Play
Waiting for Godot
by Samuel Beckett, Ireland
Play
1954
Twelve Angry Men
by Reginald Rose, United States
Play
1956
Look Back in Anger
by John Osborne, England
Play
The Visit
by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Switzer.
Play
Long Day's Journey into Night
by Eugene O'Neill, United States
Play
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
by Tennessee Williams, United States
Play
1957
The Entertainer
by John Osborne, England
Play
Endgame
by Samuel Beckett, Ireland
Play
1958
The Caretaker
by Harold Pinter, England
Play
The Zoo Story
by Edward Albee, United States
Play
1959
Serjeant Musgrave's Dance
by John Arden, England
Play
A Raisin in the Sun
by Lorraine Hansberry, United States
Play
1960
A Man for All Seasons
by Robert Bolt, England
Play
1962
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
by Edward Albee, United States
Play
1963
The Garden Party
by Vaclav Havel, Czech.
Play
The Crucible
by Arthur Miller, United States
Play
1964
The Piano Lesson
by August Wilson, United States
Play
1965
The Homecoming
by Harold Pinter, England
Play
1966
The Fate of a Cockroach
by Tawfiq Al-Hakim, Egypt
Play
1967
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
by Tom Stoppard, England
Play
1968
The Lion in Winter
by James Goldman, United States
Play
1969
What the Butler Saw
by Joe Orton, England
Play
1973
Equus
by Peter Shaffer, England
Play
1975
Death and the King's Horseman
by Woled Soyinka, Nigeria
Play
1977
The Elephant Man
by Bernard Pomerance, United States
Play
Fefu and Her Friends
by María Irene Fornés, United States
Play
1978
Fifth of July
by Lanford Wilson, United States
Play
1979
Cloud 9
by Caryl Churchill, England
Play
Amadeus
by Peter Shaffer, England
Play
1982
Top Girls
by Caryl Churchill, England
Play
Noises Off
by Michael Frayn, England
Play
The Real Thing
by Tom Stoppard, England
Play
"Master Harold"...and the Boys
by Athol Fugard, S. Africa
Play
1984
Glengarry Glen Ross
by David Mamet, United States
Play
1985
Fences
by August Wilson, United States
Play
1988
M. Butterfly
by David Henry Hwang, United States
Play
1990
Dancing at Lughnasa
by Brian Friel, England
Play
1992
Angels in America
by Tony Kushner, United States
Play
1993
Arcadia
by Tom Stoppard, England
Play
1998
Copenhagen
by Michael Frayn, England
Play
2000
Proof
by David Auburn, United States
Play
2001
Topdog/Underdog
by Suzan-Lori Parks, United States
Play
2004
The History Boys
by Alan Bennett, England
Play
Stuff Happens
by David Hare, England
Play
2007
Dara Shikoh
by Danish Iqbal, India
Play
2009
Jerusalem
by Jez Butterworth, England
Play
2011
Water by the Spoonful
by Quiara Alegría Hudes, United States
Play
2015
John
by Annie Bsker, United States
Play
The Humans
by Stephen Karam, United States
Play
