Search results
Here's our top 10 comedy plays from the 21st Century - from Neil Labute, to Kenneth Lonergan - these plays are sure to make you giggle!
- Andy Propst
- Hamlet by William Shakespeare. What doesn't this tragedy have? There's sublime poetry, rich psychology for characters of both sexes, a hefty dose of comedy to leaven the mood, and, depending on a director's interpretation, a crackling good mystery lying underneath the tale of "The Melancholy Dane."
- Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill. This autobiographical play about O'Neill's young adulthood scorches from start to finish. You can feel the rawness as soon as it starts, as a man—along with his two adult sons—strives to ensure that his wife remains serene after a stint in rehab for morphine addiction.
- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee. The language of theater—not in the stagecraft sense, but in the actual dialogue sense—became something new with this lacerating 1962 drama.
- Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. "Attention must be paid." Indeed. Not just to Willy Loman and the sad realities of his life as a mediocre traveling salesman and the delusions that barely keep him afloat, but also to Miller's exquisite modern tragedy about an average Joe.
Guides for comedic plays including detailed plot summaries, character breakdowns, video examples, scenes and monologues.
- Blithe Spirit – (Noel Coward) Sharp, twisted, and hilarious, this delightful comedy play about ghosts and timeless romantic relationships first premiered in West End in 1941.
- The Foreigner – (Larry Shue) Put simply, The Foreigners is pure comedic pleasure. The play follows “Froggy” LeSuer and Charlie as they go on vacation to a fishing lodge in rural Georgia.
- Noises Off – (Michael Frayn) Noises Off is hands down one of the best farces of all time. Every time it’s performed the play packs a dangerous amount of laughter that has audiences giggling nonstop, from beginning to end.
- Rumors – (Neil Simon) Rumors is a play about a 10-year anniversary party where four couples visit the home of Charlie, the deputy mayor of New York.
- Anna in the Tropics (2003) It’s 1929, and you’re a Cuban immigrant in a Florida cigar factory in Tampa. As you work long hours at this tedious job, a man called a lector reads aloud to you from the front of the room.
- 365 Days/365 Plays (2003) 365 Days/365 Plays isn’t a single modern play — as you might guess from the name, it’s a collection of 365 plays. In a truly remarkable feat, Suzan-Lori Parks wrote one play every day for a full year.
- Almost, Maine (2004) Almost, Maine has one of the most unusual stories of any contemporary play. The show was a smash hit when it premiered in Portland in 2004, but when it transferred to the off-Broadway Daryl Roth Theatre in 2006, it lasted just one month.
- August: Osage County (2007) The staunchly Midwestern Weston family seems normal on the surface. When the patriarch disappears, however, the crew gathers, and the truth bubbles hilariously to the surface.
Jun 16, 2021 · 1.1k. The 21 Best Comedies of the 21st Century. June 16, 2021. Comment. What is funny? “Funny” can describe straight-up ha-ha pleasure: watching Lucy Ricardo get drunk on Vitameatavegamin or...
Cymbeline. Love’s Labours Lost. Measure for Measure. Sir Thomas Moore. The Merry Wives of Windsor. The Merchant of Venice. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Twelfth Night. Two Gentlemen of Verona. Other Shakespeare Play Types. Comedy Plays.
People also ask
Is it a good time to watch a comedy?
Are Shakespeare's comedy plays a cohesive group?
Is the play that goes wrong funny?
