contemporary plays with strong female characters

Check out these 30 titles featuring strong women ranging in age, temperament and position. Shuri (from Black Panther) Shuri from Wakanda is one of the most underrated female fictional characters in the Marvel Universe. Playwright: John CarianiLicensing: Dramatists Play Service. Eva Adler's Monologue From 'The American Plan'. Against a bustling background of mistaken identity, ruthless scheming and backstage theatrics, Wills love for Viola quickly blossoms and inspires him to write his greatest masterpiece. The plot centers on a first date and the bizarre relationship that follows. The tension and comedy grow as they struggle to take wing for the last time. is an unexpected offering from Edward Albee. Then there's Wilde's Lady Bracknell, Shaw's Mrs Warren and many characters by Michel Tremblay. Robin Hood is (and has always been) Maid Marian in disguise, and leads a motley group of Merry Men (few of whom are actually men) against the greedy Prince John. The genre emerged as a musical expression of the second-wave feminist movement [228] as well as the labour , civil rights , and peace movements . "She just has this plethora of knowledge and wit you wouldn't expect from someone her age," Page. Playwright: Jeremy O. HarrisLicensing: Concord Theatricals. But when a beloved computer science professor suddenly disappears, can Doreen trust her friends with her inner squirrel so she can save the day? Photo: 2018 Playwrights Horizons production of Dance Nation (Joan Marcus), More Plays & Musicals for Strong Leading Women. Based on the wild life of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, I Am My Own Wife is a one-person play about a German transvestite who lived from 1928-2002. If youre looking for witty contemporary plays to read, its hard to do better than Becky Shaw. The ingenue has her time and place, but womens stories extend beyond tales of young innocents. Some of these roles include Christine Collins on 'Changeling,' who doesn't give up fighting to find her missing son, and Evelyn Salt in 'Salt,' who is not just physically strong but emotionally resilient as well. One Man, Two Guvnors premiered in 2011, but it was originally conceived in 1743. Here's 15 Best Short Plays with Strong Female Lead for auditions, workshops, actor reels, performances, castings and theatre productions. Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine 12. Adjacent to the doctor's laboratory, his young and energetic wife tries to tend to their newborn daughter and wonders exactly what is going on in the next room. Oedipus isnt the central figure; instead, the story focuses on Mellie, a woman with a disability that has alienated the gods and the town of Thebes. February 6, 2016 jowritesstuff. Playwright: Jackie Sibblies DruryLicensing: Dramatists Play Service. Dolly subsequently becomes involved with two of Vandergelder's clerks, several lovely ladies, and the headwaiter at an expensive restaurant where this swift farce runs headlong into hilarious complications. It brings to light the dysfunction of an American family with all of its highs and lows. Being a very spirited widow, she now decides to have a fine old time with her money, giving away "diamonds, paintings, and taxi-cabs with fierce abandon, and buying an oversize yacht as if it were a boat for the bathtub." She reaches into her own passel of friends and has herself declared "unincompetent," and returns home still in control of her wealth. Rabbit Hole explores the crushing effects of grief on a family. Its an interesting, and sometimes opaque, examination of the psychology of modern straight white males. (Hence, the title.) Jeremy O. Harris shot to fame with Slave Play; with Daddy, he seems determined to shock audiences. Granted, these are all great works and are classics for a reason. Will Bridget be able to handle all the excitement? This contemporary play knows that were not safe, even in the theater and it reacts with a ferocious roar of rage, lambasting the ways women are (still!) Well, they're all played by women! Since he has produced only one off-Broadway project, something called 'Craps! In Elliot, a Soldiers Fugue, Hudes takes another look at the tradition of wartime service in different generations of a Puerto Rican family. Rose and Walsh by Neil Simon (US/UK)(Comedy / 2f, 2m)At a beautiful beach house on the tip of Long Island, Rose, a celebrated but near penniless author, receives nightly visits from Walsh, the love of her life and a famous writer himself. Through the use of virtual reality video game therapy, she builds a breathtaking new world where she can escape her pain. Shakespeare's strong-willed women From the ruthlessness and ambition of Lady Macbeth and Margaret of Anjou to the confidence and wit of Rosalind, Viola and Portia it is often said that. A hilarious, touching play. Miriam Ruth, the Mother Superior, determinedly keeps young Agnes from the doctor, further arousing Livingstones suspicions. And for the sexism of these chauvinist drivers? (And it doesnt stop there.) The remaining thespians must save the show and their careers, solve the mystery and stay alive for curtain calls. The Younger familys heroic struggle to retain dignity in a harsh and changing world is a searing and timeless document of hope and inspiration. re: Plays with mainly female characters. Plus, the indomitable Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Frances Ha) has written and directed a new take on this classic tale coming to the silver screen this holiday season. 365 Days/365 Plays isnt a single modern play as you might guess from the name, its a collection of 365 plays. Has the Communist threat come to pass? Geek! Day after day they struggle with infertility, and Hannah herself is on the verge of being laid off. Licensing, publishing, recording & producing company comprising R&H Theatricals, Samuel French, Tams-Witmark & The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection. Quinn, a former soldier in the Irish Republican Army, receives a menacing visit from an IRA leader. In the end Annies choices propel her onto an irreversible path in this story that combines wit, poetry, and hope. A wisenheimer beyond her years, this super engaging pregnant teen made smart-aleckyness an art form. X-23 (Dafne Keen) in Logan. Her rival, Hotshot, wants to sabotage her success, which results in a fast-paced story of NASCAR drivers and their kooky fans, all in pursuit of high-octane glory. Whereas Part I takes place in Fefu's. He is financially strapped and taking to the road as a salesman. Because it feels like this is Wendy Wasserstein's bag. 15 Best Short Plays with Strong Female Lead DAMAGED GOODS for kids, celebrity aura and morality plays. As Michael takes Lily in his arms on their final meeting, they both transcend fear and mortality while the sun sets on their last dance. Our leading lady is Jennifer, a young, agoraphobic tech whiz whos afraid to leave her room. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (US/UK)(Drama / 3f, 7m, 1 boy)Set on Chicagos South Side, the plot revolves around the divergent dreams and conflicts within three generations of the Younger family: Walter Lee, his wife Ruth, his sister Beneatha, his son Travis, and matriarch Lena. Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties by Jen Silverman (US/UK)(Dark Comedy / 5f)Betty is rich; Betty is lonely; Bettys busy working on her truck; Betty wants to talk about love, but Betty needs to hit something. Its not meant to be an outrageous comedy; rather, Albee explores human proclivities with distressing honesty. You've put MetaFilter on the road to Revival! A remarkably powerful and compassionate portrait of a contemporary American woman striving for grace. Ugly Lies the Bone by Lindsey Ferrentino (US/UK)(Drama / 3f, 2m)Newly discharged soldier Jess has finally returned to her Florida hometown. Hmm. Rest by Samuel D. Hunter (US/UK)(Drama / 3f, 4m)A retirement home in northern Idaho is being shut down, and only three residents and a bare-bones staff remain. The Frasiers, a Black family, are getting ready for a family birthday party, but nothing is proceeding according to plan. Christopher, who is somewhere on the autism spectrum (the story doesnt give a clear diagnosis), is determined to solve the mystery. Barefoot in the Park by Neil Simon (US)(Comedy / 2f, 4m)Paul and Corie Bratter are newlyweds in every sense of the word. The play has ghosts, prosthetic hands, and gold toilet seats what more could you want? But lasting happiness always eludes some people, and there was never any answer to the question with which Judy ended every show: "If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why, oh, why, can't I?" After reviewing their escapades in past relationships and confessing their own mounting anxieties about commitment and the possibility of motherhood, the pair realize their best chance at love may be found closer than they ever imagined. Robb Since 1995, Nora Roberts, writing under the pseudonym of J.D. All have 2-woman casts, with age flexible roles, and each play, in very different ways, looks at the tender, funny, sometimes harrowing search for meaning. Not Dick Morris's type. Women during 16th century had no individual freedom. Bunny 10. Despite the mixed reviews for Daddy, its an interesting and decidedly modern look at race and class conflicts in the world of art. Playwright: Christopher DurangLicensing: Dramatists Play Service, Madeleine George explores the Watsons of the world as in Sherlock Holmes trusty assistant and the roles they play in the most important developments in human history. Who killed the infant, and who is the father? When the patriarch disappears, however, the crew gathers, and the truth bubbles hilariously to the surface. Ask MetaFilter is where thousands of life's little questions are answered. Its one of those modern plays thats so easy to watch that the raw moments hit you that much harder. Lost in Yonkers by Neil Simon (US/UK)(Dramatic Comedy / 3f, 4m)Bella is thirty-five years old, mentally challenged, and living at home with her mother, stern Grandma Kurnitz. Last Dance by Marsha Norman (US)(Comedy / 2f, 2m) Claiming that she is tired of love, an aging but still beautiful poet from the American South who now lives on the coast of France has decided to give away her young lover. Large Cast Suggestions for Female Heavy Plays (Part 1) : PerformerStuff More Good Stuff It appears that you are outside of North America. When reviewing the 2013 Broadway production for the New York Post, Elisabeth Vincentelli commented, this is the kind of full-on comedy thats sadly rare on Broadway and we couldnt agree more! By sophia mcdougall. Women's music (or womyn's music or wimmin's music) is the music by women, for women, and about women. Jess soon realizes that things at home have changed even more than she has. Ken (a man from Nebraska, of course) deals with a spiritual crisis in Tracy Letts play. If you have the chance, catch a live production; its gripping, even in the hands of non-professionals. The result is a curious patchwork of sketches and scenes it works best when you accept the unusual form and enjoy the ride. However, what Bridget saw as a unique opportunity to stay with her favorite Nana in New York for the summer quickly turns into an experience shell never forget. In The Daylight 5. The staunchly Midwestern Weston family seems normal on the surface. More goes down in the session than music in this riveting portrayal of rage, racism, the self-hate, and exploitation. Acting scripts for two actors. Its exactly as crushing as you might imagine, but its not without a note of hope. Its 1906, and Sholem Asch has just finished writing the shocking God of Vengeance, a play Yiddish play about the love affair between two women. There is also an interesting trend of plays depicting older career women taking stock of things . Chicha, The Emperor's New Groove Walt Disney Animation Chicha has a "no nonsense" attitude and. Poetic Licence 13. A hilarious evisceration of the blind eye we all turn to climate change and the bacchanalian catharsis that awaits us, even in our own backyards. Florence Unger and Olive Madison, that is, in Neil Simon's hilarious contemporary comic classic: the female version of The Odd Couple. Mary Page Marlowe by Tracy Letts (US/UK)(Drama / 11f, 6m, 1 girl)Mary Page Marlowe leads an unremarkable life. Always irascible but now increasingly erratic, Gladys is a cause of concern to her daughter, her son-in-law, and her grandson, from whose point of view this poignant memory play is told. Playwright: Richard BeanLicensing: Dramatists Play Service. What were women doing, feeling, thinking while the men were gathered with Jesus in the Upper Room? For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday by Sarah Ruhl (US/UK) (Dramatic Comedy / 2f, 4m)When Ann thinks of her father, she immediately remembers playing Peter Pan in her hometown theater in Iowa, particularly when he used to bring her flowers after her performance. Often when we talk about strong female characters we're referring to emotional strength, but in this case, Nemesis is literally stronger than anyone else. During the 2019 New York run, Vox called it the most controversial show on Broadway. Slave Play got 12 Tony nominations an impressive feat for any playwright, but a particularly exceptional one considering that Harris wrote the play during his first year at Yale. The ingenue has her time and place, but women's stories extend beyond tales of young innocents. Her volunteer hospice worker, Glorie, is a Harvard MBA recently transplanted to this rural backwater from New York. In a symbiotic battle of wills, they delve into the dark woods of the past, unearthing a tragedy that shatters their notions of language, loneliness, and essential self. The boys are left to contend with Grandma, with Bella and her secret romance, and with Louie, her brother, a small-time hoodlum in a strange new world called Yonkers. Nilo Cruz shows off his magical, almost lyrical, grasp of language in this lovely play. Hes a straight-as-an-arrow lawyer and shes a free spirit always looking for the latest kick. The result is one of the most inventive and insightful contemporary plays out there. From Kushner to Karam, Miller to Mamet, and Nottage to O'Neill, these are the 25 modern and contemporary plays every actor should know. 23 Musical Theater Audition Songs for Tenors, 59 Best Musicals for High School: The Ultimate List, 21 Contemporary Legit Soprano Musical Theatre Songs. (N.Y. Daily News). Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl (US/UK)(Dramatic Comedy / 2f, 5m)Dying too young on her wedding day, Eurydice must journey to the underworld, where she reunites with her father and struggles to remember her lost love. Uma Thurman is, for lack of a better word, totally badass. Sabriel, Sabriel fantasyblog.ciaraballintyne.com Harper Collins Sabriel because she was a badass who fought monsters and went on adventures. If youre exhausted from the constant political discourse (were using that term loosely) thats everywhere, maybe give Heroes of the Fourth Turning a pass. In fact, it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2002. In this richly spare, wondrous new play, Jordan Harrison explores the mysteries of human identity and the limits if any of what technology can replace. 20 Funny Contemporary Comedic Monologues For Women From Plays 1. Siblings (and roommates) Vanya and Sonias dull Chekhovian life is tossed upside down when their famous sister Masha comes to visit with her much younger (and much dumber) boyfriend Spike. (You might recognize the characters; theyre all proxies for well-known cultural icons.) This Pulitzer and Tony finalist isnt shocking; rather, its funny and surprisingly sensitive. Before her special night is over, however, Annie and her friends enter into a life altering pact. To make matters worse, Rachel is in love with Stanley, her brothers killer. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which is based on the Mark Haddon novel of the same name, gives readers a peek into Christophers ultra-logical view of the world. She challenges the. Since the men have failed the city, Mellie and the other women must become its saviors. Manage Settings The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder (US/UK)(Comedy / 7f, 9m)Horace Vandergelder, a wealthy merchant in nineteenth-century Yonkers, NY, decides to take a wife and employs a matchmaker, Mrs. Dolly Levi. After he casually comes out as gay at a press conference, Lemming believes everything will be fine. The economic collapse has affected Hannah and David's relationship, and Moore's comedy subversively captures the truth buried beneath the laughs. Playwright: Will ArberyLicensing: Concord Theatricals. However, it is choices, both mundane and gripping, and where those choices have taken Mary Page Marlowe that make her life so intimate and surprisingly complicated. Marjorie Prime by Jordan Harrison (US/UK)(Drama / 2f, 2m)Its the age of artificial intelligence, and 85-year-old Marjorie a jumble of disparate, fading memories has a handsome new companion whos programmed to feed the story of her life back to her. Almost, Maine has one of the most unusual stories of any contemporary play. A young girl, Mick Kelly, stands out from her companions as she chooses to search for beauty to fight her loneliness, unlike the others. The City of Conversation by Anthony Giardina (US/UK)(Drama / 4fm, 4m, 1 boy)In 1979, Washington D.C. was a place where people actually talked to each otherwhere adversaries fought it out on the Senate floor and then smoothed it out over drinks and hors d'oeuvres. (Titles 59 and 60 are set for publication in 2019). Topdog/Underdog is one of the best contemporary plays from one of the most celebrated modern playwrights: Suzan-Lori Parks. Brothers Lincoln and Booth yes, the names are intentional are just trying to stay afloat after a challenging upbringing. Monroe's iconic rendition of "Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend". Beatrice is one of the most brilliantly witty and straight talking of Shakespeare's female characters. She is feminist not just for Shakespeare's standards but for also for today. Somewhere there is Willie, and Winnie wishes he would come out where she could see him. Macs signature absurd realism style contributes nicely to this dark comedy. After a six-day honeymoon, they get a surprise visit from Cories loopy mother and decide to play matchmaker during a dinner with their neighbor-in-the-attic, Velasco, where everything that can go wrong, does. Consequently, they are able to play a more active role in the play's narrative. Playwright: Annie BakerLicensing: Concord Theatricals. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Performer Stuff Monologues, Audition Cuts, and Sheet Music 10 of the Best Monologues from Characters Who Are People of Color : PerformerStuff More Good Stuff It appears that you are outside of North America. Painting Churches 4. People Who Voted On This List (88) Mary 816 books The dark secrets of a Catholic school come to the surface in this deep, moving contemporary play from John Patrick Shanley. Not one to go without a fight, Lettice engages the stoic, conventional Lotte in a battle to the death of all that is sacred to the Empire and the crown. This isnt a play for the TikTok generation; it forces you to stretch out your attention span for the occasional low-key but insightful payoff. But it was all about to change. Contemporary romance with a strong, independent female/ heroine, established in her life and in a strong and successful career or self-employed. Rosalind in As You Like it and Viola in Twelfth Night both dress as men. Last Of The Red Hot Lovers 3. August Osage County is one of the most bracing and applauded contemporary plays in recent history. It examines the various problems in the script, discusses race as a social construct, and explores the idea of blackface (and whiteface and redface) to pinpoint exactly whats upsetting about it. Set in 16 th -century Verona, the story centres around two young lovers whose families hate each other, and as you can imagine, it really doesn't . With contemporary characters, ingenious plot twists, and breathtaking visual effects, the play is a fresh look at a timeless love story. Push through the discomfort, and its not hard to see why this play was a runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2009. Unsurprisingly, audiences and critics had a mixed reaction to the protracted Chekhovian theatrical experience (the first act alone clocked in at nearly 2 hours), but the strong writing won out; Baker came away with the 2014 Pulitzer. 14.) Theater has always been a sign of the times and we are living through an unprecedented period of social awakening and unrest. 14. Modern playwrights are dogged in their exploration of bleak, unpleasant material, but in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Christopher Durang offers us a respite. Letts infuses the script with subtle, brilliant insights a few scenes in, your laughter will be tinged with heartbreak. And Betty keeps using a small hand mirror to stare into parts of herself shes never examined. Addiction, trauma, and family relationships intertwine as in life painting a crushing picture of people who are simply trying to hang on. This contemporary play is equal parts funny and tragic, revealing the wild passions and anger that flow beneath a seemingly civilized middle-class life. Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks by Richard Alfieri (US/UK)(Comedy / 1f, 1m) Lily, an aging but formidable retiree, hires Michael, an acerbic dance instructor, to give her dance lessons in her condo in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida. Playwright: Lulu RaczkaPublisher: Bloomsbury. Take the Netflix series Unbelievable, which is based on a distressing true story. Of art, Two Guvnors premiered in 2011, but womens stories extend beyond tales young... It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2002 shows off his magical, almost lyrical, of... In love with Stanley, her brothers killer the verge of being laid off are set publication! He casually comes out as gay at a timeless love story conceived in.! Keeps using a small hand mirror to stare into parts of herself shes never examined be. 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