American Theatre Magazine has released its lists of the Top 10 Most-Produced Plays and Top 20 Most-Produced Playwrights for the 2017–2018 season. The numbers are collated based on the season announcements of Theatre Communication Group’s member theatres.
Shakespeare in Love, adapted for the stage by Lee Hall and based on the screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, was named the most-produced play of the upcoming season, with 15 productions slated for the next year. It was closely followed by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori’s Tony-winning musical Fun Home (12) and Dominique Morisseau’s Skeleton Crew (11), which played two sold-out engagements Off-Broadway last year.
Completing the list were Marjorie Prime (9), Jordan Harrison’s acclaimed play-turned-film; Stephen Karam’s Tony-winning play The Humans (8); Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun (8); Simon Stephens’ Heisenberg (8); Lauren Gunderson and Margo Melcon’s Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (8); and adaptations of Sense and Sensibility (7 by Kate Hamill and 1 by Emma Whipday and Brian McMahon).
Gunderson, who co-wrote Miss Bennet, was named the most-produced playwright of 2017–2018, with 27 productions slated (8 of which are co-writing credits). The achievement marks her third time being included in the Top 20 list.
See the list of the 20 most-produced playwrights below:
1. Gunderson: 27 (including 8 co-writing credits)
2. Simon Stephens : 19
3. Lee Hall: 15
4. Lisa Kron: 15 (including 13 co-writing credits)
5. Dominique Morisseau: 15
6. Arthur Miller: 14
7. Ayad Akhtar: 13
8. Quiara Alegría Hudes: 10 (including 5 co-writing credits)
9. Jordan Harrison: 10
10. Ken Ludwig: 9
11. Tennessee Williams: 9
12. August Wilson: 9 (not including UniSon by the Universes, which uses Wilson’s poetry)
13. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins: 9
14. Kate Hamill: 9
15. Lucas Hnath: 9
16. Aaron Posner: 8
17. Eugene O'Neill: 8
18. Lorraine Hansberry: 8
19. Mark St. Germain: 8
20. Oscar Wilde: 8
American Theatre Magazine’s annual lists customarily don’t include holiday-themed shows or works by Shakespeare, though works about Shakespeare, such as Shakespeare in Love, are included.
“These lists from American Theater reveal a field in spirited conversation with other art forms and our broader culture,” said Teresa Eyring, executive director of TCG. “From adaptations of films and novels to new plays engaging with our shift from an industrial to information age, our field is delighting, inspiring, and sometimes challenging the communities they serve. As we work toward greater gender parity, we also celebrate Lauren Gunderson’s third year on our Top 20 Most-Produced Playwrights List, and her first in the top slot.”
Both lists appear online at AmericanTheatre.org, as well as in the October 2017 Season Preview issue of American Theatre magazine.
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