What are your favorite plays?

[JAR]

What are your favorite plays?

Mine are:

Antigone by Sophocles
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

Edited to add: Two other plays that I really like are:

Tartuffe by Moliere
Uncle Vanya by Chekhov

[Phil]

Originally posted by JAR
What are your favorite plays?

The double reverse or the flee-flicker.

Oh . . . I guess you mean theatrical plays.

That Caesar thing you were talking about's not bad.

[Mark]

Originally posted by Phil

The double reverse or the flee-flicker.

Oh . . . I guess you mean theatrical plays.

That Caesar thing you were talking about's not bad.

I predict a bright future for that young Bill Shakespeare fellow!

"Night of the Iguana" is one of my all time favorites.

Also, although I don't know if it has ever been produced, the script to Woody Allen's "God" is terrific.

[Phil]

Originally posted by Mark
. . ."Night of the Iguana" is one of my all time favorites.
. . .

Good call!

[SteveW]

Richard III
Death Of A Salesman
The Crucible
Macbeth
Long Day's Journey Into Night
The Caine Mutiny Court Martial

[Chaos]

First, these plays the school theatre group I was in did:

"Der Park" (The Park) by Botho Strauss (a modern version of A Midsummer Night´s Dream); I played Lysander´s equivalent.
"Lysistrata" by Aristophanes; I played Kinesias (and had the hottest scene in the play :D )
"Trommeln in der Nacht" (Drums in the Night) by Bertolt Brecht; I played both waiters
A fantasy play written by another group member, in which I got to play a king; by best lines were "I would gladly switch with any beggar", and the queen responded "Well, then, go ahead..."


Other great plays are:

"A Midsummer Night´s Dream" by Shakespeare
"Nathan der Weise" (Nathan the Wise) by Lessing
"A Peace" by Aristophanes
"Die Kleinbürgerhochzeit" (roughly: An Ordinary Citizens´ Wedding) by Bertold Brecht
The theatre version of "A Christmas Carrol" by Charles Dickens

[aerosolben]

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Waiting for Godot

and a second for the Flea Flicker. When it works, it's beautiful.

[Boo]

I love a good shotgun personally, wait I think this is the wrong thread......

Plays on stage;

Othello
Cyrano de Bergerac
Sunday in the Park with George
Our Town

Anything by Tennessee Williams manages to give me goosebumps.



Boo

[jj]

Hmmm.

MacBeth
Midsummer Night's Dream
Comedy of Errors (the Flying Karamatzov's version)
Play Memory

[jallenecs]

Originally posted by JAR
What are your favorite plays?

Mine are:

Antigone by Sophocles
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

I second the Sophocles; the entire cycle rocks. I also like Macbeth VERY much.

Does opera count? Because I've always been very partial to Die Zauberfloete (The Magic Flute) and La Traviata.

[7th sextile]

The Frogs

Macbeth

King Lear

Red Roses For Me

The Starry Plough

A Man for All Seasons

[lurkerjuzjoinedup]

Taming of the Shrew

The Glass Menagerie

and its sheer comic hilarity The Importance of Being Earnest

[asthmatic camel]

A Doll's House... Ibsen
Abigail's Party... Mike Leigh
The Cyclops... Euripides
A Midsumme....... well, you guessed the rest already

[juryjone]

I'm kinda surprised that most of the plays listed are the REALLY old ones. I tend to skew a bit more recently - like the last half of the twentieth century:

Sleuth (and Whodunnit) by Anthony Shaffer
Equus by Anthony's twin brother, Peter
Sticks and Bones by David Rabe
A Streetcar Named Desire by Williams

(although the musical version presented on the Simpsons - "Streetcar!" - is equally good)

Cast: You can always depend on the kindness of strangers...
To pluck up your spirits, and shield you from dangers...
Marge/Blanche: Now here's a tip from Blanche you won't regret...
Cast: A stranger's just a friend you haven't met...
You haven't met...
STREETCAR!

[Gregory]

Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard, and A Doctor In Spite of Himself by Molière.

[MoeFaux]

Mamet's "Oleanna".
The movie is great, too. "Don't call your wife baby".

[JAR]

Originally posted by MoeFaux
Mamet's "Oleanna".
The movie is great, too. "Don't call your wife baby".
Mamet's great. I've seen two of his movies and I really liked them.

[MoeFaux]

Yeah, his style is to make his characters lines so halting and brisk. Very strange, but it comes out well.

[a_unique_person]

"Who's afraid of Virginia Wolf". Spellbinding on stage, much better than the movie. You just don't get that real feeling of sweat and angst on film.

"Waiting for Godot", beat the show about nothing by many years.

Early David Williamson. The Removalists, Don's Party, The Club, The Coming of Stork.
(Alas, I have only seen the films.)

"The Crucible"

[Cleopatra]

" Bacchae" of Euripides ( Sir. Peter Hall directed it in the ancient theater of Epidaurus last year and it was the most amazing performance I have ever seen)
"Medea" of Euripides
" The Theban Circle" of Aescylus
"Prometheus bounded" of Aescylus
"Oedipus Rex" of Sophocles
" Lysistrata" of Aristophanes
" The birds" of Aristophanes

Everything Ipsen has written especially "Edda Gabler".

"King Lear","Othello", " Macbeth"," Romeo & Julliet", " Midsummer night's dream"

"American Buffalo" of D.Mammet
" A view from the bridge" of Arthur Miller ( I found the "Death of a Salesman" very depressive).

I used to like Tenesee Williams but I don't know what happened to me lately and I have changed my mind...

" Who is afraid of Virginia Wolf" of E.Alby of course, I have played that in real life ...

Although the word theatre comes from the greek verb Theomai that means "I watch" I enjoy listening to theatrical plays on the radio too.

Do you have such programs in the States or Australia?

[JamesM]

I liked 'Jesus Hopped the A Train', when I heard it on Radio 3.

[a_unique_person]

Originally posted by Cleopatra


" Who is afraid of Virginia Wolf" of E.Alby of course, I have played that in real life ...

Although the word theatre comes from the greek verb Theomai that means "I watch" I enjoy listening to theatrical plays on the radio too.

Do you have such programs in the States or Australia?

Ibsen, yes. Timeless.

You as Virginia Wolf? Say it isn't so. You may be breaking many hearts right now by saying that. Next you will be saying "The Taming of the Shrew" was also about you.

If we are out driving on a Sunday afternoon, we come across the radio plays on the ABC. Better than the *@*$** ^%# the kids seem to like on the radio, and they usually get interested in the play too.

[Cleopatra]

Very funny Unique.

You would look great in the costume of this male chauvinistic pig Petruccio.

In fact I think that you behave like Petruccio.

You want everytime you point the Sun to a woman suggesting that it's the Moon that she agrees with you.

Dream-on.

Also, AUP I don't know if I have mentioned to you how much I like Herman Hesse. Ha!

[a_unique_person]

Originally posted by Cleopatra
Very funny Unique.

You would look great in the costume of this male chauvinistic pig Petruccio.

In fact I think that you behave like Petruccio.

You want everytime you point the Sun to a woman suggesting that it's the Moon that she agrees with you.

Dream-on.

Also, AUP I don't know if I have mentioned to you how much I like Herman Hesse. Ha!

Blehh, Herman Hesse. My wife liked him. At least we both like Franz Kafka.

[Mr Manifesto]

Krapp's Last Tape, Samuel Beckett.
Oscar, author unknown (an Australian play about a woman who gives birth to a singing fish, much to the chagrin of her mother)
Nothing by David f***ing Williamson (foreigners might know him as the bloke who wrote the play that Madonna was in) <---- And just as a point of clarification, David Williamson did not write a play called 'nothing'.
And Pygmalion is garbage. Shaw couldn't event spell 'Pig manure' properly.

[Mr Manifesto]

Originally posted by Gregory
Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard, and A Doctor In Spite of Himself by Molière.

Now, what was that really depressing Stoppard play that I liked..?

[lofgoernost]

Seems like a long, long time since I've read or seen a play.

I've never read the play, but I liked the Wallace Shawn film of "Uncle Vanya."

I once saw Harold Pinter's "The Caretaker." Very good - I would like to have seen Donald Pleasance perform it.
I also read Pinter's "The Homecoming;" it really fired me up - I think I threw the book across the room, one otherwise quiet Sunday morning.

"The Importance of Being Earnest" is always fun, and "Othello" is great for, if nothing else, the presence of Iago.

[pgwenthold]

Originally posted by JAR
What are your favorite plays?

Mine are:

Antigone by Sophocles
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

Edited to add: Two other plays that I really like are:

Tartuffe by Moliere
Uncle Vanya by Chekhov

I second Antigone (well, I'd take any Sophocles over Shakespeare any day), and the _very_ good call on Tartuffe. That is a great show.

Personally, I also like "You Can't Take It With You." Sort of cheesey, in a sense, but such wonderful subplots in it.

[Peter Jenkins]

My favourite play is a radio play. In fact it works much, much better as a play for voices only. Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas.

However, I do like stage plays , and my last visit was to the Open Air Theatre in regents park, to see 'A Midsummer Nights Dream'.
I have just Brought tickets for 'The Good Intent', a fictional account of the life of the real life Hero, Sanders Draper.
(the story of Sanders Draper) (http://www.ultralab.anglia.ac.uk/pages/schools_online/schools/Sanders_Draper/History.html)
Peter

[fhios]

Ottello: A clinching thriller. Yeah, there's some kind of deep comment about something, too, but I'd still love to see Hitchcock's version.

Mrs. Warren's Proffession: Shaw was a great logician who wrote about the differences between the life that should be, and the life that is; and this is one of his best explorations of that theme.

All My Sons: Better by far than Death of a Salesman, this gets into some very uncomfortable themes about social responsibility.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: Positively hysterical!

Frankenstein in Love, Or The Life of Death: A great piece of horror!

The Flies: Sartre's only truly dramatic work!

[Lord Muck oGentry]

Anything by Jean Anouilh will do until a good play comes along.

[Glory]

Originally posted by Peter Jenkins
My favourite play is a radio play. In fact it works much, much better as a play for voices only. Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas.

Peter

You just inspired me to change my profile.
Hint: Location

Glory

[Glory]

"Man and Superman" by George Bernard Shaw

"God's Favourite" by Neil Simon

"Noises Off" by Michael Frayn

"Death Trap" by I haven't the foggiest idea. Can anytone help me out?

"Torch Song Trilogy" by Harvey Fierstein

"Arsenic and Old Lace" by Joseph Kesselring

"As You Like It" by William Shakespeare

"The Tempest" by William Shakespeare

"Blythe Spirit" by Noel Coward

Glory

[Zep]

For some reason, my 16yo Zeplette has recently turned onto Shakespeare. Hamlet, Macbeth, etc, and loved it. She also saw Rosencrantz and Gildernstern recently and liked it too. She also likes goth and grunge music...what the..???

Myself, I loved The Importance of Being Earnest each time I have seen it, but I haven't seen much theatre at all for many years, actually.

But then don't get me started on Gilbert and Sullivan...

[Mr Manifesto]

Originally posted by fhios

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: Positively hysterical!


Ah, yes. Haven't seen the play, but laughed my socks off when I saw the movie. I still play 'questions tennis' with my friends to annoy them.


The Flies: Sartre's only truly dramatic work!

I wrote a play once that was so eerily close to this play I thought I plagarised it. gotta go more later

[fhios]

Originally posted by Glory
"Death Trap" by I haven't the foggiest idea. Can anytone help me out?

Ira Levinson, author, also, of The Stepford Wives

[Glory]

Originally posted by fhios


Ira Levinson, author, also, of The Stepford Wives

Thankyou! That was driving me nuts.

Glory

[Peter Jenkins]

Llareggub, a lovely little town, in the same general area as Llamedos, Isn't it, Bach
Peter

[Chaos]

I have to addd two more:

"Whatever you want" by Shakespeare

and a play by Sartre; in German it was called "Geschlossene Gesellschaft"; I don´t know the English title, probably something like "close company".

[juryjone]

Originally posted by fhios


Ira Levinson, author, also, of The Stepford Wives

Hate to be nitpicky, but that's Ira Levin, and not his son.

Also wrote Rosemary's Baby.

[hgc]

Originally posted by Glory
...

"Noises Off" by Michael Frayn

...Yeah, I saw that last year on Broadway, w/ Peter Gallagher. I did not like it, but ...

ATTENTION ALL SCIENCE GEEKS:

"Copenhagen" by Michael Frayn, is the greatest play about science, ever. It's an account (supposing by the Frayn) of the meeting between Bohr (and Bohr's wife) and Heisenberg during the war.

[Glory]

Okay, I am getting a little confused. Did Ira Levin, or levinson as the case mey be, write the play "Deathtrap" or the film version with Michael Caine, Christofer Reeve and Dyan Cannon, or both?

Glory

[hgc]

Originally posted by Glory
Okay, I am getting a little confused. Did Ira Levin, or levinson as the case mey be, write the play "Deathtrap" or the film version with Michael Caine, Christofer Reeve and Dyan Cannon, or both?

Glory Yes. Ira Levin wrote the play. Movie link (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083806/)

[Glory]

Originally posted by hgc
Yes. Ira Levin wrote the play. Movie link (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083806/)

Okey dokey! Thanks.

Glory

[RSLancastr]

Originally posted by Chaos
I have to addd two more:

"Whatever you want" by Shakespeare

and a play by Sartre; in German it was called "Geschlossene Gesellschaft"; I don´t know the English title, probably something like "close company". I believe it is "Closed Society", but am not sure.

I think you don't know the English title of the Shakespeare work either... Do you mean "As You Like It?"

[Underemployed]

Originally posted by Chaos
I have to addd two more:

"Whatever you want" by Shakespeare



Shome mishtake shurely? "As You Like It" perhaps?

And a BIG second for Cyrano De Bergerac, a skeptic for all seasons.

[Underemployed]

Aiee simulpost with RSL....Neither of us have anything better to do than nitpick....

[Chaos]

Originally posted by Underemployed


Shome mishtake shurely? "As You Like It" perhaps?



I stand (or sit, more correctly) corrected. Blame it on translation.