Best play you've ever seen?

[Manhattan]

What's the best play you've seen?

No musicals, please. Just plays. 

[+ sf westcoaster]

Impossible to limit it to one, but for starters, "Streetcar Named Desire"

[Manhattan]

12 hours ago, sf westcoaster said:

Impossible to limit it to one, but for starters, "Streetcar Named Desire"

May I ask where you saw it and who played the leads?

[+ sf westcoaster]

I have seen it many times, both on Broadway and in regional productions. I pick it as one of my favorites not because of any particular actors, but because it is a magnificent drama,  no matter who the leads are.  

[TonyDown]

I saw both of these multiple times so they were among the best.    

 

I saw the LA production of Switzerland with Laura

Linney and Seth Numrich.   

Two favorite actors.  Clever play about Patricia Highsmith.

 

Switzerland

WWW.GEFFENPLAYHOUSE.ORG

---

An attractive young man interrupts acclaimed novelist Patricia Highsmith at her reclusive home. When might the publishers expect the...

 

 

 

 

Death of the Author

WWW.GEFFENPLAYHOUSE.ORG

The late Orson Bean and Austin Butler were tremendous.  Kudos to the Geffen for casting them.  10+ years ago.

Edited July 8, 2024 by TonyDown

[musclestuduws]

Hands down, “Angels in America.” Likely, the greatest American play ever. 

[+ Lucky]

Our Town with Spalding Grey.

[Bokomaru]

10 hours ago, musclestuduws said:

Hands down, “Angels in America.” Likely, the greatest American play ever. 

Agree, the best. Part 1 that is. Part 2 was a huge let down. 

[+ WilliamM]

56 minutes ago, Lucky said:

Our Town with Spalding Grey.

Aso Our Town with Paul Newman 

[Bokomaru]

By the way Stereophonic is one of those rare shows that lives up to the hype. Best play I’ve seen in years. See it with the current cast, or don’t bother. I doubt it will ever be as good with a different cast. 

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Not sure about 'the best' play, but one that will stick with me for awhile I just saw at Chicago's Steppenwolf 

Little Bear Ridge Road with Laurie Metcalf.  It was superb.  She's one of the best actresses of our generation.

[MikeThomas]

Without going through my Playbills... these come to mind...

Angels in America at the National Theatre with Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane and others.  An all day event!

Jerusalem with Mark Rylance

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Sienna Miller and the very well endowed Jack O'Connell

Present Laughter with Andrew Scott at The Old Vic

Hamlet with Andrew Scott and Juliet Stevenson at the Almeida

 

 

[+ WilliamM]

The Iceman cometh by Eugene O'Neill with Nathan Lane at the Brooklyn Academy of Music 

 

A plus in every way 

[MikeBiDude]

That Championship Season

[musclestuduws]

13 hours ago, Bokomaru said:

Agree, the best. Part 1 that is. Part 2 was a huge let down. 

I actually like Part 2 even more than Part 1. The last production on Broadway with Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane was epiphanic for me. 

[+ nycman]

'night, Mother

Or anything, anytime, with anyone, by Tennessee Williams or Samuel Beckett. The words are the magic. It really doesn’t matter how great or poor the performance. It’s the words. 

 

[Manhattan]

33 minutes ago, nycman said:

'night, Mother

Or anything, anytime, with anyone, by Tennessee Williams or Samuel Beckett. The words are the magic. It really doesn’t matter how great or poor the performance. It’s the words. 

 

Beckett is an interesting choice. Any performance I've ever seen of his plays seemed to be completely dependent on the actors. 
I don't always get the greatness of his writing, but I know it's me not him. 

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

On 7/6/2024 at 9:44 PM, Manhattan said:

What's the best play you've seen?

No musicals, please. Just plays. 

Romeo and Juliet and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre

It was a play at the Toronto Fringe Festival about 8 years ago.

[+ WilliamM]

Strange interlude with Glenda Jackson 

Eugene O'Neill 

Difficult  but mostly wonderful 

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

This thread is jogging my memory.

Did an undergrad London theatre trip in 1999.  Was serendipity that I was able to see Kevin Spacey in Iceman Cometh.

He was absolutely incredible.  One of the best stage performances I've ever seen.

[Marc in Calif]

The Beauty Queen of Leenane, at the Walter Kerr Theater in 1996. It was the first production I saw of a play by Martin McDonagh. I'd go on to see two more of his plays.

I lost myself in both the drama and the beautiful language. 

Three of the actors won Tonys that year, but I especially remember Anna Manahan and Marie Mullen. 

[Manhattan]

47 minutes ago, Marc in Calif said:

The Beauty Queen of Leenane, at the Walter Kerr Theater in 1996. It was the first production I saw of a play by Martin McDonagh. I'd go on to see two more of his plays.

I lost myself in both the drama and the beautiful language. 

Three of the actors won Tonys that year, but I especially remember Anna Manahan and Marie Mullen. 

Was it really 25 years ago? Fuck me, life does go fast. 

I saw that production too and loved it. 

[pleasureseeker]

Amadeus with Paul Scofield, Simon Callow and Felicity Kendall. The most mesmerizing play I have ever seen.

[musclestuduws]

49 minutes ago, scrtlovr said:

Amadeus with Paul Scofield, Simon Callow and Felicity Kendall. The most mesmerizing play I have ever seen.

I wish I had seen that. I recently read a review of a new Mozart’s biography by Simon Callow in the New York Review of Books. Callow describes in it the process of preparing and rehearsing for Amadeus. Fascinating. It was way before my time in the US but I would’ve loved to see the Broadway production with Ian McKellen playing Salieri. I can only imagine how good he was. 

Edited July 15, 2024 by musclestuduws

[+ sf westcoaster]

Three Tall Women with Glenda Jackson and Laurie Metcalf

Edited July 15, 2024 by sf westcoaster