Lucas Hnath's Tony-nominated A Doll’s House, Part 2 and Simon Stephens' The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (based on the book by Mark Haddon) were the two most-produced plays in America during the 2019–2020 season, according to American Theatre's annual list. Both plays, seen on Broadway, received 12 productions nationally.
In second place with ten productions was Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe's monologue play Every Brilliant Thing, followed by the musical Bright Star, by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, and Dominique Morisseau's play Pipeline, which received nine productions each.
The list, which typically features ten plays but this year includes 14 due to ties, also includes Nia Vardalos' adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's Tiny Beautiful Things (8); Joshua Harmon's Admissions (8); two plays by Lauren Yee: Cambodian Rock Band—which will soon be seen Off-Broadway—(8) and The Great Leap (8); Lucy Kirkwood's The Children (8); Ken Ludwig's adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express (8); Jocelyn Bioh's School Girls or, The African Mean Girls Play (8); Larissa FastHorse's The Thanksgiving Play (8); and Sarah DeLappe's The Wolves (8).
Yee, who is featured twice in the list, was also the second most-produced playwright in the U.S. with 18 productions. In first place was Lauren Gunderson, who was produced 33 times in the last season (12 co-writing credits). Hnath’s works received 17 productions and Morisseau 16. Check out the full list of the 20 most-produced playwrights here.
As stated each year, National Theatre collects data from the programming at Theatre Communications Group’s member theatres. The publication does not include Shakespeare productions or productions of A Christmas Carol. Productions with fewer than two weeks of performances were not counted.