Plays Every Student Should Read Before College

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For a theater student, reading a diverse selection of plays is essential to understanding the breadth of theatrical literature and the evolution of drama. Here are some seminal plays across different genres and periods that are considered crucial for theater students to read:

Greek

• Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles
•  Antigone by Sophocles

Renaissance

• Hamlet by William Shakespeare
• Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
• Julius Cesar by William Shakespeare
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

The Modern Era: Realism

•  A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
• A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
• Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
• The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

The Modern Era: Experiential

• The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams
• Our Townby Thornton Wilder
• Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
• The Bald Sopranoby Eugène Ionesco 

CONTEMPORARY: MILLENNIAL (POC & LBGTQIA)

• Angels in America:  A Gay Fantasia on National Themes by Tony Kushner
• How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel
• Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl
• Ruined by Lynn Nottage
• Spring Awakening by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater
• Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward,
• The Laramie Project -Moisés Kaufman 
•  The Wolves – Sarah Delappe

Sources

• Dramatic Magazine
• Performer Stuff
• Stage Partners