This article is a list of the top ten best Shakespeare comedy roles. We’ll look at a vast selection of characters who show up in an array of his plays—not just the “comedies”—and examine what they can offer to audience and actor alike. 

As always, this list is purely our own opinion: our personal favourites, the ones who made us laugh all those years ago the first time we discovered them. If you disagree, or you think a certain exclusion is too much to ignore, let us know! Get in touch and we’ll do all we can to right this injustice.

#1 Beatrice (from Much Ado About Nothing)

“I thank god and my cold blood I am of your humour for that. I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.”

She is wit, she is smarts, she is passion. Beatrice, as far as characters go, is the full package (also ending up at #3 on our list of Best Shakespeare Characters.) She brings levity and heart to the at-times bogged-down politics of Much Ado About Nothing, sparring with her friend/enemy/crush Benedick as she wrestles with the feelings that develop between them. However, despite these affections brewing, she also fears that such feelings will cost her independence and identity. It’s a surprisingly complex characterisation for somebody who could easily give in to their emotions and fulfil the action of the plot.

Beatrice is often labelled as a ‘proto-feminist’ Shakespearean character. She exhibits unusual traits for a female character written at the time. In addition, her actions in the later part of the play can be read as a challenging of conventional masculinity and chivalry. Famously, Beatrice asks Benedick to kill his best friend Claudio after humiliating a friend of hers. While some scholars have interpreted this request as needlessly cruel, there is a way to view this action as Beatrice highlighting the inherent flaws in the chivalric system. And how ‘real men’ are more than the beckons of the hegemonic system that props them up.

For some quick wit and wisdom from Beatrice: Beatrice Monologue: Much Ado About Nothing Act 3 Scene 1

#2 Sir John Falstaff (from Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, The Merry Wives of Windsor)

“Hal, if I tell thee a lie, spit in my face, call me a horse.”

Falstaff is an incomparable lout, drinker and petty criminal, who doles out terrible advice and questionable schemes to his adoring cohort of reprobates. Among them, however, is Hal—future King of England—who looks up to Falstaff as a sort of demented father figure. Sounds awful, no? Well Falstaff is also one of Shakespeare’s most vibrant and lovable characters, who lives life to the fullest and brings vitality with him every time he steps on stage. While his morality and courage is questionable, he is a charismatic figure in the landscape of Henry IV, and an important influence on the future king’s life. His death, as described in detail during Henry V, speaks to the love his friends (and his creator) had for him.

And a quick note about The Merry Wives of Windsor: the story goes that Queen Elizabeth I enjoyed Falstaff’s schemes so much she requested a play in which he falls in love. Talk about fan service… This has been debated by scholars and critics ever since (scrutinising the timeline and plots of the Henry plays), but it’s too good a tale not to repeat in this context. Suffice to say,

#3 Bottom (from A Midsummer Night’s Dream)

“What do you see? You see an ass head of your own, do
you?”

Of all the characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Nick Bottom—weaver, ac-tor, donkey—endures a particularly wild journey through the play. When we first meet him, he is dominating a cast meeting of his amateur theatrical troupe The Mechanicals, insisting he is perfect for every single part. Next, he takes a nap in a forest, gets turned into an ass and is seduced by Titania, queen of the fairies. And while you’d think his story would end with him being changed back to a human, Bottom acts like a true professional and performs the play-within-a-play at the climactic wedding scene. Enthusiastically, if not brilliantly.

Bottom and his band of thespian misfits bring much-needed, grounded humanity to a play that threatens to run off into fantasy or sex farce in its other plot threads. Indeed: every one of his castmates belong on this list, as their meeting reads like a scene from The Office. And in some ways, this is what makes their humour so triumphant; they might seem ridiculous, but it comes from a place of real. Any actor experiencing Midsummer will recognise Bottom as a friend of theirs … or themselves.

#4 Viola (from Twelfth Night)

“O time, thou must untangle this, not I.”

Strap in, folks. This play is a high-concept romp full of farce and mistaken identity. Viola, shipwrecked and far from home, assumes the identity of a man she names Cesario, in order to find work with the local Duke Orsino. Viola falls for this handsome noble, but he only has eyes for the Countess Olivia. But when he sends “Cesario” to the Countess to convey his feelings, she falls madly in love with Viola’s clever disguise. And this is just one of the play’s many surreal happenings.

Twelfth Night is a perfect example of Shakespeare’s love of contrived, situational comedy. In the hands of a lesser writer, the last three words in the previous sentence should scare discerning audiences away (and with good reason). But Shakespeare was forever smart, grounding such ridiculousness in plot with rounded, relatable characters. Viola’s reactions to her own maddening situation feel like a fourth-wall-break from any beloved modern sitcom; her intelligence and wit mark her as not only one of Shakespeare’s best comedy roles, but one of his best characters hands down.

For a snippet of Viola’s schemes catching up with her: Viola Monologue (Act 2, Scene 2)

#5 Kate (from The Taming of the Shrew)

 “Why sir, I trust I may have leave to speak,
And speak I will.”

Katherina “Kate” Minola is the worst thing one could possibly imagine in Renaissance Padua: an assertive, independent woman who disdains the notion of marriage. She finds herself at the centre of a plot spun by a man who hopes to woo her younger sister (provided Kate is married off first). She marries a man named Petruchio, who tries his best to ‘tame’ the ‘shrew’ so that their marriage might work and he can inherit her father’s riches. But not all men, right?

The Taming of the Shrew is a divisive play in Shakespeare’s canon. Some scholars even suggest Shakespeare would have been accused of sexism at the time of its first production—which is to say nothing of its reception now! We’re not here to defend the play, simply to celebrate the brilliance of a comic character whose wits are so perfectly displayed. In modern productions, Kate’s views and intelligence only serve to ingratiate her further with the audience; contemporary actors often perform her final, famous speech about women obeying their husbands with irony, sarcasm. It is not her husband that has tamed Kate, but the other way around. And while the play might belong in the bin, a feminist retelling of the work on film remains one of the best Shakespeare film adaptations.

#6 Mercutio (from Romeo and Juliet)

“True, I talk of dreams, Which are the children of an idle brain…”

Mercutio is the free-wheeling best friend of Romeo Montague—the fun one in the friend group always up for crashing a party of a sworn enemy. He doesn’t appear in the play for long, but his friendship helps to guide Romeo through his matters of the heart. In the first scene of Act III, Mercutio’s murder at the hands of Juliet’s cousin Tybalt represents the ‘death’ of the play as a comedy as well. Until this moment, it follows a similar trajectory to any of Shakespeare’s comedy plays. But with the literal death of the life of the party, the action turns and the tragedy unfolds.

Mercutio is the second character on this list that isn’t strictly in a comedy. But in the landscape of Romeo and Juliet‘s teen angst, impulsive weddings and respectable body count, Mercutio is a breath of fresh air. He’s the lovable best friend of the title character, he’s quick-witted and brings levity to proceedings. And when he’s gone, the audience mourns him just as Romeo does.

For a snippet of Mercutio’s unhinged ranting on love: Mercutio Monologue (Act 1, Scene 4)

#7 Dogberry (from Much Ado About Nothing) 

“A good old man, sir; he will be talking: as they say, when the age is in, the wit is out: God help us!”

In Much Ado About Nothing, Dogberry is the highly inept, wildly self-important constable of Messina. Somehow placed in charge of the citizen militia, he instructs his fellow volunteers terribly. He tells them to sleep on the job and never to attempt to stop a crime for fear it may taint the officer in question. Despite his incompetence, he manages to fail forward throughout the play, even arresting one of the its villains after a farcical court scene.

Dogberry is one of Shakespeare’s most celebrated comedic characters. The role was originally written for one of his regular collaborators, William Kempe. It has since been played by Samuel Johnson, John Woodvine, Michael Keaton and Nathan Fillion. The character’s name has even been adopted into English vernacular as “dogberryism”, referring to a malapropism in which one word is mistaken for a similar-sounding other: “Thou wilt be condemned into everlasting redemption for this.” (swapping “damnation” for “redemption”.)

#8 Nurse (from Romeo and Juliet)

““Yea,” quoth he, “dost thou fall upon thy face?
Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit…”

Juliet’s Nurse in Romeo and Juliet is perhaps the most kind and nurturing character in the play—if not in all of Shakespeare’s works. She’s more a mother to the young heroine than Juliet’s own, and offers sensible, loving advice to her young charge. Despite this, she proves to be an entertaining and joyous presence in the lives of those around her. In one notable scene, the Nurse takes a note from Juliet to Romeo and is harassed by Romeo’s friends; rather than back down, she shares an exchange of banter with Mercutio (knowing more than she should about the lyrics of a rude song) and wins the boys’ respect.

One of the great things about Nurse for any actor portraying her is how versatile she can prove to be in performance. She can be played shrewd and sarcastic as much as older and dottery. She can be doting, firm, grumpy or eccentric. A little script analysis of the text reveals a lot about her life: a child she’s lost, and how she knows Juliet better than her parents. It goes a long way to bring depth to this character—who might otherwise have fallen into the background with less memorable characters.

#9 The Gravediggers (from Hamlet)

“What is he that builds stronger than either the mason, the shipwright, or the carpenter?”

Technically a pair of characters, we’ll count them together in our number nine entry. The Gravediggers appear once in Hamlet, in the penultimate scene where they dig a grave for Hamlet’s deceased love Ophelia. As they dig, they argue about whether or not she deserves a Christian burial as she died from suspected suicide; however, this topic is quickly lost as they riddle and joke with each other. Hamlet soon arrives and observes them, when the second gravedigger leaves Hamlet confronts the first about whose grave is being dug. Their conversation turns to the nature of life and death, and how all humans will eventually be buried and gone.

There is a fascinating layer of the absurd to the characters of the gravediggers. They feel more like they belong in a Samuel Beckett play than in a work of Shakespeare, as their commentary on the nature of life and death and the madness of Hamlet (as they know him not by sight) feels almost like a meta-commentary. And while the setting of the scene is macabre, their presence still lifts the sombre tone of the play with some beautifully deployed gallows humour.

#10 Hamlet (from Hamlet)

“I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is
southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.”

“Hamlet? On this list? Really? Can you check again?” Trust us: Hamlet is a funny character. He’s intelligent, quick-witted and (let’s be honest) hella dramatic. His plan for revenge—to topple his uncle who murdered his father and married his mother—isn’t exactly direct. It involves feigning madness, putting on a play and a lot of screwing around. In his ‘mad performance’, he jests and clowns and carries on, which is doubly enjoyable for audiences who are in on his ‘joke’. This also helps to offset the more serious and tragic elements of the play.

Much like the gravediggers he encounters in Act V, Hamlet’s antics feel more absurd than they do blatantly comical. You could almost argue that this is why he is such an enduring, enigmatic character. He reacts strangely, not as a perfect hero should. And this serves to complexify his character—and how he deals with trauma and grief. Despite the tragic circumstance, Hamlet is most definitely laughing. It’s just a matter of whether or not the world laughs with him.

For a glimpse into the lighter side of Hamlet, check out: Hamlet’s Advice to the Players

Conclusion

So there you have it! Ten of the best Shakespeare comedy roles designed to make us laugh. Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the genius of his comic writing. There are always new characters to discover, and old ones to return to and re-evaluate. Keep looking for them, as you will find them in the most unlikely places.

The post Best Shakespeare Comedy Roles appeared first on StageMilk.

As always, any best-of lists on StageMilk are the personal opinions of the team. This list is, by no means, exhaustive. So if you think we’ve made a glaring omission to Best European Playwrights, feel free to write to us and put a new name forward.

For more best-of lists:

• Four Incredible German Playwrights
• The Best Plays of All Time
• Best French Plays

Best European Playwrights

Aeschylus (525 BCE – 456 BCE)

Country of origin: Athens (Ancient Greece)

Notable works: Oresteia (458 BCE), The Persians (472 BCE), The Supplicants (463 BCE)

Aeschylus, an ancient Athenian writer regarded as the ‘father of tragedy’, is one of the most influential playwrights in human history. While the vast majority of his body of work has been lost over the millennia, he is generally credited with the modernisation of form in Ancient Greek theatre—introducing characters and conflict on stage rather than relying on the chorus. His seven plays that remain in circulation today are fascinating studies of human emotion: how characters defy the fates to craft their own destiny, and are ultimately punished for their efforts.

Sophocles (497/496 BCE – 406/405 BCE)

Country of origin: Athens (Ancient Greece)

Notable works: Antigone (441 BCE), Oedipus Rex (429 BCE), Electra (409 BCE)

Sophocles, who lived to an impressive 90+ years, has the fortune of sitting across the timelines of his two great peers and rivals, Aeschylus and Euripides. Much like them, he is credited with employing the kinds of techniques that helped to modernise tragedy. Like Aeschylus, just seven of his 100 or so works are still known to us, but are unparalleled character studies of figures in crisis. Antigone and Oedipus Rex are still commonly studied and performed today.

Euripides (480 BCE – 406 BCE)

Country of origin: Athens (Ancient Greece)

Notable works: Medea (431 BCE), The Trojan Women (415 BCE), Bacchae (405 BCE)

The third and final of our ‘big three’ of classicists on this list (no offence, Aristophanes). Euripides represents an exciting shift in tragedy and drama: he further humanises the characters in his plays, adding mortal, fault-like traits to mythical and even deified beings. This warts-and-all style lends itself to tropes that audiences would later recognise in the forms of romance and comedy. There is something darkly comical about the tragedies that survived through to today; this grants his work a nuanced, modern sensibility in its writing that engages contemporary audiences.

Aristophanes (446 BCE – 386 BCE)

Country of origin: Athens (Ancient Greece)

Notable works: The Clouds (423 BCE), Lysistrata (411 BCE), The Frogs (405 BCE)

It wasn’t all tragedy and brooding back then. Aristophanes was a celebrated dramatist and poet, whose highly politicised works paint an incredible picture of Athenian life at the time of his writing. Many scholars agree his works give perhaps the best insight into that time, and also the power dynamics at play in society that he seemed to rally against. Aristophanes was a public, controversial figure in his lifetime, unafraid to piss off the people in charge. Interestingly, he was also a director of his own work, taking great care to fully craft the worlds of his stories onstage.

William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)

Country of Origin: England

Notable works: Hamlet (1599), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1605), Macbeth (1606)

What do we need to say? William Shakespeare is generally regarded as the greatest writer of all time. His work spans multiple genres and forms, the overwhelming majority of which are still regularly performed around the world. While he is praised for his complex characters, solid plotting and detailed worlds, Shakespeare should be recognised best for his incredible use of language and poetry—a talent he continued to develop and hone throughout his career. In addition to his legacy as a writer, Shakespeare was a prominent public figure in his own lifetime as an actor and owner of a theatre company. A enduring version of his theatre, the Globe, is still in operation today.

For more on William Shakespeare:

• Best Shakespeare Plays
• Best Shakespeare Sonnets
• In What Order Should I Read Shakespeare?
• Decoding Shakespeare: Understanding and Performing His Words

Molière (1622 – 1673)

Country of origin: France

Notable works: Tartuffe (1664), The Misanthrope (1666), The Miser (1668)

Born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, Molière (his stage name) was a sensation during his own lifetime—a celebrated actor and writer across multiple media and forms. He is perhaps the best known French writer in history, whose influence can not only be seen in subsequent generations of comedy writers, but on French language and culture itself. Such was his gift for satire, he often attracted denunciation and criticism from such organisations as the Catholic Church and royalty. This, however, failed to affect his widespread popularity that continues, around the world, today.

Carlo Goldoni (1707 – 1793)

Country of origin: Republic of Venice

Notable Works: Griselda (1735), The Servant Of Two Masters (1745), Women’s Gossip (1750 – 1751)

Carlo Goldoni is not a name you might know as well as others on this list. His best known play is The Servant of Two Masters which, in 2011, was adapted by Richard Bean as One Man, Two Guvnors (opening at the National Theatre before touring internationally.) But Goldoni was a hugely influential figure in both comedy and opera, capturing the sentiments of life in his native Venice—where statues in his honour stand today. Eventually, he left the Republic for France, where he sought more enlightened audiences and looser censorship from the Church. And this was only the beginning of his adventures abroad, which culminated in a tragic death following the Revolution. Goldoni was a prolific writer of charming material, and remains one of the best writers many have never heard of.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 – 1832)

Country of origin: Germany

Notable works: Iphigenia in Tauris (1787), Egmont (1788), Faust (Part one 1808, Part two 1832)

One of the masters of the Romantic period, Goethe was a playwright, poet, novelist, scientist, theatre director, critic and politician. Despite his theatre writing credits being modest (compared to some on this list), Goethe’s body of work as a whole should be read and appreciated, so that one can fully understand and appreciate the extent of his genius—and the wide influence he had on fields such as art, philosophy and science. One of his best-known contributions to the arts was via a fervent fan of his, Ludwig van Beethoven; Beethoven put his poetry to music in his legendary 9th Symphony.

Henrik Ibsen  (1828 – 1906)

Country of origin: Norway

Notable works: A Doll’s House (1879), An Enemy of the People (1882), Hedda Gabler (1891)

Along with Chekhov (below), Henrik Ibsen is one of the founding members of the naturalism and modernism movements in theatre, and is one of the world’s most respected dramatists. His works stripped back the societal facades of conservative European culture, to reveal the moral and personal dilemmas that lurked beneath. Ibsen also turned his attention to matters of politics and societal indifference: his at-the-time incendiary An Enemy of the People indicts the public for their seeming preference to ignore dangerous issues. This same flaw would see Europe engulfed in two world wars in the decades following his death. While born in Norway, Ibsen spent years of his  life in exile (27 years of his life were spent in Italy and Germany), and most of his plays were written in Danish.

Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900)

Country of origin: Ireland

Notable works: Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance (1893), The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)

Oscar Wilde wasn’t just a playwright, he was a poet, novelist and celebrated public figure—a real celebrity, by our modern standards and understanding of the concept. His plays elevated him to the height of success in 1890s London, as they exhibited his formidable wit and propensity for satire. His novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, has also passed into popular culture—forming a central plot in modern works such as the television series Penny Dreadful and a celebrated stage adaptation by the Sydney Theatre Company in 2020. Sadly, Wilde’s career was damaged by a highly publicised indecency trial, for which he received a full pardon as late as 2017. Wilde’s popularity remains strong with audiences, as does his influence on subsequent writers and public personalities.

Anton Chekhov (1860 – 1904)

Country of origin: Russian Empire

Notable works: The Seagull (1896), Uncle Vanya (1898), The Cherry Orchard (1904)

Anton Chekhov was a middle-class physician from the former Russian Empire. In his spare time, he indulged in a writing hobby … and subsequently helped birth the modernism movement that changed theatre forever. His work is often misattributed as being a bit emo rather melancholy; this was, in fact, his attempt to highlight the sometimes ridiculous nature of the self-important middle classes of the late Russian Empire. Chekhov’s work is humorous, deadpan and always nurturing of even the most self-important and odious characters. His contribution to modern drama is almost unmatchable—his work was beloved by theatre guru Konstantin Stanislavski, who would revolutionise acting/performance theory—and continues to be performed and explored by actors and directors today.

Bertolt Brecht (1898 – 1956)

Country of origin: Germany

Notable works: The Threepenny Opera (1924), Life of Galileo (1937) The Resistable Rise of Artuo Ui (1941)

Legendary theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht is perhaps best known as a director, as well as the creator of “epic theatre” and the Verfremdungseffekt (the distancing effect, or theatre of alienation.) However, he first gained recognition as a playwright (starting with The Threepenny Opera co-written with Kurt Weill), and continued to write brilliant, provocative work up until his death. Brecht’s work is idiosyncratic of his own theatre-making practice, and therefore leaves plenty of room for contemporary directors and actors to adapt and reimagine his words.

Frederico García Lorca (1898 – 1936)

Country of origin: Spain

Notable works: Blood Wedding (1932), Yerma (1934), The House of Bernarda Alba (1936)

Frederico García Lorca lived a short, tragic life, during which he produced some of the most beautiful poetry and drama of the early 20th century. Rising to prominence with poetry volumes about his life in Andalusia, García Lorca’s writing was informed by the art movements gripping Europe post WW1: symbolism, futurism and surrealism (he was a noted close friend of Salvador Dalí). Despite his professional success, García Lorca suffered in his personal life due to his homosexuality and his political views—both of which were condemned by the rising right-wing movement in Spain. In 1936, he was murdered by Nationalist forces; his remains have never been recovered.

Samuel Beckett (1906 – 1989)

Country of origin: Ireland

Notable Works: Waiting for Godot (1954), Happy Days (1961), Play (1964)

As far as this list of writers goes, few defy a simple explanation quite like Samuel Beckett. A minimalist, a formalist, a modernist and an absurdist, Beckett’s work is best described as … exactly that. His. His toyed with language, form and staging throughout his career: sometimes his work could look quite natural, other times it would appear grotesque and almost like clown-like. In his life (and in death via his tenacious estate), Beckett insisted on faithful adaptations of his work that respected not only his words but his stage directions and design choices. For this reason, every Beckett play feels like it gives a direct link back to the brilliant mind of one of Ireland’s greatest contributions to the arts. In 1969, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Václav Havel (1936 – 2011)

Country of origin: Czech Republic

Notable Works: The Garden Party (1963), Unveiling (1975), Temptation (1985)

To appreciate Václav Havel’s work, you must know the incredible story of his life—which is arguably more fantastic and dramatic than anything he ever wrote. Havel was an outspoken writer and activist who challenged the Communist ruling party of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. His political work frequently saw him surveilled, persecuted and even imprisoned. However, when the regime toppled in 1989, Havel assumed the presidency: first of Czechoslovakia and then of the newly-formed Czech Republic in 1992 after a landslide election victory. Until his death, Havel was a humanist, anti-consumerist and champion of free speech; his plays are incendiary and hilarious and remain as a fitting tribute to the man.

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This article lists the best theatre actors working on stages today. Some of these names will be extremely familiar to you, perhaps due to their work in film and television. Others will be more obscure, or recognisable after a quick Google search of their face or CV. Regardless, these are actors to know, to study and to love.

Before we jump in, our usual disclaimer: the names on this list are purely the opinions of us good folk at StageMilk. They were chosen after much debate, and selected from a “long list” that well and truly lived up to its name. That being said, we’d be thrilled to hear any suggestions you have of names you’d like to see added. Feel free to email us or comment below so we can keep this resource growing!

Acting for Theatre

Why make a list of the best theatre actors? Because stage acting is a tough gig. It requires training, conviction, focus and an incredibly thick skin. And while you think on that, consider this: while some performances are now being filmed for posterity, the overwhelming majority of theatre is performed for a few weeks or months and never seen again. Like tears in rain.

So it stands to reason that the best theatre actors are going to teach you a great deal about your craft. How do they approach a performance that requires continued effort and realisation of a character? How do they work with others, and command their voice and body in a space that would engulf any other (untrained) human being?

Acting for theatre is a challenge. Once you can identify what makes an actor great on a stage, you can learn a great deal that will come in handy when crafting your own performances.

Best Theatre Actors

James Earl Jones

Living legend James Earl Jones is best known as the voice actor for Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise, as well as the murdered king in one of Shakespeare’s greatest film adaptations of Hamlet. While his voice is instantly recognisable and his film credits are extensive, Jones is also regarded as one of the world’s greatest stage actors. He debuted on Broadway in 1957, distinguishing himself as a Shakespearean actor. However, his work in theatre has continued through to this day—earning him three Tony Awards and countless other accolades. In 2022, the Manhattan-based James Earl Jones Theatre was renamed in his honour.

Tom Hiddleston

Tom Hiddleston is one of those actors who seemingly exploded over the last ten-or-so years, and has never looked back. All things Loki aside, Hiddleston spent the first decade of his career working on stage; despite his meteoric rise, he still finds time to take on fascinating and complex theatre roles—including a lauded run as Hamlet in 2017 directed by Kenneth Branagh. Hiddleston only made his Broadway debut in 2019, so it’s safe to say we have many years ahead of us to catch his brilliance in person.

Viola Davis

There are few actors working today with quite so much clout and respect as Viola Davis. In the 1990’s and 2000’s, she rose to the top of the theatre world, earning both an Obie and Tony Award within two years of each other. Her early film and television career was solid, although her breakout was 2008’s Doubt, for which she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Davis is one of the most recognised and decorated actors in the business—as of the writing of this article, she has achieved the extremely rare EGOT status. And while her continuing work in several film franchises keeps her from stage work, we can only hope she’ll return to her roots in the future.

Simon Russell Beale

Ask an actor who their favourite stage performers are, and there’s a good chance they’ll mention Simon Russell Beale. Beale has been acting in film and television since the 1990’s, however he is best known and loved as one of theatre’s champions in the modern age. He spent his early career working with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), where he met frequent collaborator Sam Mendes. Since the 1990’s, Beale is most commonly associated with the National Theatre, contributing some truly iconic performances across every conceivable genre. There are many clips of his stage work online; below, we’ve opted to include one of the many instances of him talking about and exploring his craft.

Sir Ian McKellen

Sir Ian McKellen has enjoyed a long, prosperous career in both stage and screen. Best known for his portrayal of Gandalf the Grey in The Lord of the Rings and as Magneto in the X-Men series of films, McKellen has not let his Hollywood success keep him from stages in England and America. His stage credits have continued to accrue with consistency; they include standards such as a 2017 production of King Lear (available via National Theatre’s online portal), but also less conventional choices such as an age-blind production of Hamlet that saw him return to the title role for the first time in fifty years.

Denzel Washington

As with many of the actors on this list, Denzel Washington in theatre before transitioning, with great success, to film. His achievements in both fields are rivalled by very few; and yet Washington has distinguished himself by taking on a large number of stage roles in his later career. He played the role of Troy Maxson in Fences (an August Wilson play he later directed for screen in 2016), and enjoyed starring roles in Broadway revivals of A Raisin in the Sun and The Iceman Cometh. In one of his most recent films, the bizarre and brilliant The Tragedy of Macbeth by Joel Coen, his stage acting/Shakespearean origins play into one of the most mesmerising performances in recent memory.

Dame Judi Dench

Like Sir Ian McKellen, Dame Judi Dench is less of an actor at this point in her life, and more of a cultural icon. Dench has long-standing professional relationships with the best theatres in England, including the Old Vic (where she made her professional debut in 1957), the RSC and the National Theatre. Her recent stage credits have dwindled, her last role being Paulina in a Branagh-led production of The Winter’s Tale in 2015. But Dench continues to work in film and television, with little sign that she would ever slow down or retire. Take a look at this incredible clip of Dench in the original London staging of Cabaret…

Ben Whishaw

It’s hard to think the voice of Paddington could impress us any more, and yet here we are… Ben Whishaw is a RADA-trained actor, heavily involved with youth theatre at the start of his life. His 2004 portrayal of Hamlet at the Old Vic was widely acclaimed, and while his film career began to pick up steam around the same time, he has often returned to theatre to take part in some landmark productions of new and established plays: Mercury Fur by Philip Ridely in 2005, Mike Bartlett’s Cock in 2009 and The Pride in 2010 (his off-Broadway debut). Whishaw’s stage credits are noticeably quiet post-COVID pandemic, but it is unlikely that theatre has seen the last of him.

David Tennant

David Tennant is best known as the 10th Doctor of the long-running British television series Doctor Who. Before, during and after his much loved tenure as the titular Doctor, Tennant was crafting a reputable stage career that continues to this day. Tennant’s stage work is often associated with Shakespeare—perhaps due to his lauded portrayal of Hamlet in 2008, which was later filmed for television. However, his early career was diversified by roles both canon and experimental—and marked by collaborations with less famous but nonetheless influential companies such as 7:84 Theatre Company Scotland and the Dundee Repertory Theatre.

Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch became known to the world as Sherlock Holmes in the 2010 series Sherlock. At the time, he seemed to come out of nowhere—this perfectly formed actor with strange affectations and a name to match. In reality, Cumberbatch had been delivering excellent performances as a stage and screen actor long before his supposed ‘overnight’ success. Classically trained, Cumberbatch had completed a slew of fine stage turns in the early 2000’s, including a 2005 production of Hedda Gabler that netted him an Olivier Award nomination for Supporting Role and his West End Debut. His stage career seems to have paused in 2015 with a production of Hamlet, presumably due to his screen career. However, we must make mention of his excellent work in the 2011 play Frankenstein, in which he alternated between playing the titular doctor and his monstrous creation.

Hugo Weaving

English actor Hugo Weaving has spent most of his life living and working in Australia. While he is best known for his roles in The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings films, Weaving has consistently performed on Australian stages as is recognised as one of the country’s most revered actors. Weaving is closely associated with Sydney Theatre Company, having performed with them since the early 1980’s. In 2018 and 2019, Weaving delivered a one-two punch for the company of experimental theatre (The Resistable Rise of Artuo Ui) and a staged classic (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), solidifying his reputation as a bold and diverse actor regardless of medium.

Chiwitel Ejiofor

Chiwitel Ejiofor is recognisable from countless big-budget films as a solid supporting and character actor. His first major role was in Steven Spielberg’s 1997 drama Amistad; currently, he portrays Karl Mordo in the Doctor Strange franchise within the MCU. Given his considerable range and classical training, it is perhaps no surprise that Ejiofor’s stage career is as impressive as his work in film. Not long after he dropped out of drama school to film Amistad, he was cast as Othello in a production that ran at the Bloomsbury Theatre and Theatre Royal in Glasgow. An impressive feat for an actor aged just 18 years old.

Mark Rylance

Much like Simon Russell Beale (above), Mark Rylance is considered one of the ‘giants’ of British stage. Unlike Beale, Rylance has also enjoyed a formidable film career over the past ten years after being championed by such directors as Steven Speilberg—appearing back to back in films Bridge of Spies in 2015 and The BFG in 2016. Rylance has long been associated with the works of William Shakespeare, having appeared in numerous RSC and Shakespeare’s Globe productions throughout his career. But his best-known contribution to theatre is his critically acclaimed performance as Johnny Byron in Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem ‘the best British play ever’. He has reprised the role four times since its writing, and it is difficult to think of the character separate from the actor and vice versa.

Nathan Lane

Nathan Lane is a beloved screen actor, known for his instantly recognisable voice, as well as playing Rosencrantz in one of Shakespeare’s greatest film adaptations of Hamlet. In addition to his extensive film and television credits, Lane has worked tirelessly on stage for almost fifty years, winning three Tony Awards out of a shocking six nominations. Lane is often thought of as a comedy actor and a Broadway musical star; it’s important to recognise his more dramatic roles as well, such as his celebrated portrayal of Roy Cohn in the National Theatre production of Angels in America. The clip, below, is at times hilarious. But it’s never without the pathos and complexity that has long separated Lane from the pack. A peerless performer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLhq8jt4p3Q

Andrew Scott

Andrew Scott’s version of Hamlet’s famous soliloquy (included below) went viral some years ago, at a time when most people knew him from his work as Jim Moriarty in the BBC’s Sherlock adaptation. For many, this extremely heartfelt, emotional rendition was a shock to the system—people everywhere seemed to ask who this incredible, intense performer was! (Yes, of course he’s the Hot Priest from Fleabag, but that was still two years away…) Scott has been delivering fine stage performances since his early twenties, when he left acting school to pursue a career in London. From the late 1990’s onwards, he has been working for some of the most prestigious companies in the world—rendering his performance as Hamlet in 2017 as a triumphant culmination more than an overnight success. Scott has a long and storied career ahead of him; we can only hope he’ll keep returning to the stage to bring us more of this intimacy and brilliance…

The post Best Theatre Actors appeared first on StageMilk.

This article contains a list of the best film adaptations of stage plays. It explores some of the better known film adaptations, as well as more obscure choices that are often missing on other best-of lists. Whether you are an actor, or simply have a passion for great art/storytelling, these are films you simply have to see. A few of the titles might be known to you already—perhaps even favourites!—but we’re certain there will be others you might discover here for the very first time. 

Article Updated Feb 1, 2024

Before we get into things, allow us to ask for a little sympathy and understanding as we present the usual disclaimer: there are hundreds of incredible stage-to-screen adaptations out there … in fact, our original shortlist for this article was twice as long as the selection included below. What we have included are, as always, our personal choices here at StageMilk. If you disagree, or want to suggest a glaring omission, have at it in the comments section! It’s your internet-given right to do so and we applaud you for it.

#1 Hamlet (1948)

Sir Laurence Olivier’s adaptation of Hamlet (which he also directed) is so synonymous with filmed Shakespeare it almost feels like self parody—the Danish prince lounging about, fondling his dagger, while the waves crash below. Don’t write it off, though: it’s a sleek, bold adaptation that cuts the text almost in half, and it focuses on the tense psychological drama that has us returning to the titular sook year-in-year-out in theatres around the world.

As for Larry? His performance is incredible, in a way that lifts the text into a heightened realm without ever feeling too theatrical or overdone. Hamlet was the first sound film adaptation of the play in English, and the first British film to win an Academy Award. It is still very much worth your time to this day.

#2 A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Directed by Elia Kazan and starring Marlon Brando and Vivian Leigh, A Streetcar Named Desire was an early example of the way Hollywood was going to evolve for the better in the post-war decades: influenced by theatre forms and practitioners, and destined to tell the stories of the common person struggling against the American dream. Both Brando and Kazan were early method acting acolytes, and brought this new focus on truth in drama to the silver screen in a way that still renders the film engaging and truthful. Impressive for a movie a better part of a century old.

This isn’t the first time we’ll encounter Tennessee Williams on this list—his brand of claustrophobic, character-focused psychodrama plays well within the intimacy of cinema. And yet, somehow, Streetcar manages to transcend the sometimes-problem of theatre adaptations feeling ‘stagey’. Williams’ characters feel epic, operatic, larger than life. And yet there’s never a hint of anything less than real.

#3 12 Angry Men (1957)

You can keep your car chases, special effects and big budgets. The 1954 adaptation of 12 Angry Men stands as one of the finest examples of how engaging work can be made from nothing more than a good script and a room of old white men talking. 12 Angry Men removes the ‘courtroom’ from the courtroom drama and instead focuses on the thoughts, beliefs and prejudices of the twelve jurors determining the outcome of a murder trial. At the start of the play, just one juror believes the defendant’s innocence. As he calmly makes his case based on reason over passion, the brilliant drama of the film unfolds from there…

Here’s a fun fact for you: 12 Angry Men actually began its life as a made-for-television play, broadcast live by CBS in 1954. The original version is still available online and is worth a viewing, as are many other live drama titles from an era when great theatre was piped into your home like so many terrible Netflix Christmas movies.

#4 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

Another Tennessee Williams classic, this adaptation is widely regarded for its incredible cast and fairly faithful adaptation of the original smash-hit Broadway show (the film would be the third-highest grossing release for its studio in 1958.) While the film is a triumphant piece of cinema, it’s nonetheless tainted by changes made to Williams’ original script—namely its exploration of homosexuality and homophobia. Of course, the themes remain. Ironically, their muted presentation lends the film a brilliant subtlety that is otherwise absent in a play of Big Characters in a Big House chasing Big Money from Big Daddy.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is undeniably a masterpiece: a provocative work for a big studio to produce. American films of this kind would largely diminish in the decade that followed, not seen again until the sixties boiled over and Hollywood knew it would have to address the real world (we’re looking at you, Paint Your Wagon!) It may feel slightly dated to a contemporary audience, but understand this movie for its context and enjoy it for the subversive work of art that it is.

#5 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

It is perhaps no surprise that one of the finest plays of the 20th century become one of its finest films. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf has just four characters and a handful of locations—remaining faithful to the scale of the original stage work. And yet, it takes its audience on an incredible journey into the lives of the two couples that comprise its world, anchored by monumental performances (among them Liz Taylor, who gained a second Best Actor statue for her work).

Who’s Afraid… is one of only two films to have been nominated in every eligible category of the Academy Awards; every member of its cast was nominated for their acting. But its main enduring impact on cinema was that it paved the way for Hollywood to update (and eventually dismantle) the censorship of the Production Code. Forget Easy Rider: the rebellion of sixties and seventies cinema began right here.

#6 Rhinoceros (1974)

Eugene Ionesco’s absurdist comedy takes place in a world where people spontaneously turn into rhinoceroses. No other way to put it, really. As the numbers of rhinoceroses grow, the central characters begin to feel the pressure to confirm, change and leave humanism behind. It has long been seen as a statement against fascism and totalitarianism (especially in Ionesco’s native homeland of France, where the play was originally produced in 1959.)

Between 1973 and 1975, the American Film Theatre produced thirteen incredible films of stage adaptations: summaries of which could be an entire article in itself. In picking just one, it’s hard to go past Rhinoceros for its brilliant casting of Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, whose comic sensibilities help heighten the absurdity of the story without losing any pathos. Wilder’s final monologue (above, spoilers) is as heartbreaking as any performance captured on film in the history of cinema.

#7 Woyzeck (1979)

Georg Büchner’s tale of a soldier driven to madness and murder is a famously postmodern, absurd and problematic text. The play was left unfinished—it actually contains a collection of scenes at the end that directors are instructed to either add, reorder or omit entirely. And despite the reprehensible gender politics of the plot, Woyzeck is a fairly popular work to reimagine and interrogate on stage even today.

The great Werner Herzog is behind this particular screen adaptation; it stars his deranged muse Klaus Kinski who barely seems to be acting. While the film feels quite conventional in watching (compared to other iterations of the text), it stands as an example of how groundbreaking Büchner’s writing was: its short, fractured scenes are the perfect match for the medium of cinema.

#8 Amadeus (1984)

It’s easy to forget that Amadeus is an adaptation of a stage play—the story, the characters, the setting and themes all feel so, well, epic. Cinematic. But like all good epics films, the action is anchored by strong characters: the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Antonio Salieri, the man whose jealousy of the young prodigy drove him to despicable acts of sabotage and cruelty.

For their work as Salieri and Mozart, F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. While Abraham got the final gong, his performance is inarguably improved by the calculated clowning of Hulce for him to play against. This is film is a masterclass for actors and storytellers alike.

#9 Henry V (1989)

Kenneth Branagh has helmed several excellent Shakespeare adaptations, but none shine quite so brightly as his take on a young King finding his way as a ruler and a man. Henry V, for all its granduer in scale and story, is a simple, intimate journey of Henry discovering who he is and how his calling as monarch may change him for better (or worse). Henry V is not just a great Shakespeare adaptation, but a great film: Branagh knows when to depart from a well-proven text to create some truly iconic cinematic moments. He knows when to rely on the language, and when to strike out on his own as director so that he might tell the story with images rather than words.

Take the above excerpt as an example of this: after Henry learns that he has won the battle against France, Branagh allows the audience to survey the devastation of the Battle of Agincourt—offering up visual vignettes that tell snippets of the larger story. For a large portion of the scene, Henry wanders in and out of the crowd: just one of his people, living and mourning with the rest of the weary army. Also, that’s a young Christian Bale he’s carrying in the scene.

#10 The Mahabharata (1989)

Peter Brook’s 1985 stage production The Mahabharata, a nine-hour adaptation of the ancient Indian Sanskrit poem, is one of the most celebrated theatre events in theatre history. Brook assembled an international team of theatre-makers and actors and developed the work for years until it was ready to be seen. After touring the world in various theatre festivals, he set about adapting and filming the play—cut down to a manageable five hours (plus change).

The play itself can be difficult to track down, although rumour has it a bootleg is available online somewhere… Certain aspects of the piece have aged better than others (the international casting remains as contentious an issue as it was when the work first premiered), but the artistry of all involved is undeniable. To quote the story’s ‘author’ Vyasa: “If you listen closely, at the end you’ll be someone else.” Too true for theatre this good.

#11 Noises Off (1992)

Stage comedy, especially farce, can be a difficult thing to pull off on camera. Perhaps it’s something to do with the timing, or the way that cinema requires continued focus when the stage can offer the spectacle. Maybe it’s the ‘live’ aspect of theatre that comedy to feel truly alive and spontaneous Whatever it is, this adaptation of Noises Off captures it perfectly. it’s a hilarious and faithful filming of the original play, helmed by an all-star cast (including a surprisingly funny Michael Caine as the harried director).

It’s one of those films that simply shouldn’t work; as a piece of farce (that will particularly tickle actors and theatregoers) it’s certainly not for everybody. But if you’ve ever been to an amateur/independent production of Noises Off and find yourself keeping well away because of that, take a chance on this film and treat yourself to comedy done damn well.

#12 Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

“Coffee’s for closers.” “Always Be Closing.” “Fuck you, that’s my name.” “This watch cost more than your car.”  David Mamet‘s infinitely quotable swear-a-thon packs a helluva dramatic punch, as it follows a group of old white men contending with the pointy end of capitalism. The writing is razor-sharp and the performances—by a cast of heavyweights—are expectedly tight. Funnily enough, most of the film’s famous quotes come from the same scene (also included above.) It was actually an addition to the film script by Mamet, who wished to cast Alec Baldwin despite having no parts left for him.

Mamet is known primarily as a writer; however, his directorial efforts do wonders for his material’s heightened dramatic style and idiosyncratic use of language: Mamet-speak, as it’s sometimes called. There are several Mamet stage-to-screen adaptations; most of them are worth your time, if only to soak in the master’s words. But this one is unmissable.

#13 A Few Good Men (1992)

Good year for filmed theatre, 1992… Aaron Sorkin adapted his hit play about a hazing ritual gone wrong at Guantanamo Bay into a tight, courtroom drama that never feels anything less than cinematic. The film was directed to perfection by Rob Reiner, who brought in a cast of comic and dramatic actors to give the swathes of text light and fire. Jack Nicholson’s famous rant (above) is perhaps its greatest claim to fame, but the film belongs to Tom Cruise: it’s a stunning performance he has seldom, if ever, topped in his storied career.

Aaron Sorkin’s career was launched in the world of theatre, although his work in television with the likes of The West Wing and cinema with The Social Network is perhaps better known to the general public. However, his great talent for situational drama, dialogue-driven stories and compelling characters can all be traced back to his stage-centric roots. Sorkin is a must-know for any actor keen to improve their craft, as he is the perfect illustration of what happens when stage and screen techniques mesh to create lasting, brilliant stories.

#14 Vanya on 42nd Street (1994)

Of all the films on this list, Vanya on 42nd Street is perhaps the most unconventional. Director Andre Gregory had been conducting theatre workshops with several of his esteemed New York stage colleagues to better understand the work of Anton Chekhov. Eventually, director Louis Malle documented their findings in a film that looks more like the documentary of a rehearsal than its own work of art. No costumes, no sets, just actors in a dilapidated theatre creating magic.

It was the second collaboration between Malle, Gregory and actor/writer Wallace Shawn, who had come together before in 1981 to produce the delightful My Dinner With Andre. As Andre strictly a film, we were unable to include it on this list. However, it is perhaps one of the greatest filmed plays ever made, even if the film did come first…

#15 Play (2001)

Three characters—two couples between them—and the subject of infidelity that unites them. Except it’s Samuel Beckett, who insists that the character speak at break-neck speed fused into urns in a bleak, apocalyptic setting. You’d think this would detract from the drama, but Play is a perfect piece of theatre (now film) that speaks to relationships, jealousy and infidelity. Watch the entire thing (linked above). It’s 16 minutes, and there’s nothing out there quite like it.

This is one of nineteen productions made as part of the Beckett on Film project. While adapting the entire body of a writer’s work to film is an undertaking in itself, the strict nature of Beckett’s writing and rules around performance/adaptation posed particular problems for directors. What resulted are a collection of strange pieces of cinema that inhabit a half-life between screen and stage. Do yourself a favour and track down the lot of them. Get lost and paddle around in the abyss.

#16 Incendies (2003)

Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Wajdi Mouawad’s play is another example of a theatre work perfectly suited to cinema. Canadian twins Jeanne and Simon meet with a notary following their mother Nawal’s death, who tasks them with delivering two letters to her (unnamed) home country in the Middle East. One letter is for their father, who they believed to be dead. The other is for their long-lost brother of whom their mother would not speak. The film spans the decades and longtitude lines, and culminates in a shocking finale we’ll let you discover for yourself.

Incendies was the film that brought Villeneuve international attention; it was regarded highly by critics at release, and rightly so. However, it is worth noting that Mouawad’s script itself was not used (Villeneuve collaborated with writer Valérie Beaugrand-Champagne). And as Villeneuve has no connection to Arab culture, we do wonder if a future adaptation by a director with a personal connection to their heritage could elevate this incredible material even further.

#17 Closer (2004)

Closer follows four characters entangled through knots of sex, relationships, jealousy and heartbreak. The action of the play is contained—almost claustrophobic—as they seek and break connections that bring them all closer together. In fact, the action of the play is so tightly coiled that the interactions can feel melodramatic. But the tone of the work, and the humanity of these four central figures, ensures that Closer never becomes ridiculous. Sometimes it’s absurd, but c’est l’amour…

Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts and Clive Owen play the four leads to perfection in this adaptation, directed by Mike Nicholls. At the time, the risqué (read: frank) nature of the piece caused some controversy, especially in a film populated by so many Hollywood stars that audiences weren’t used to seeing pole-dance or use such graphic language. If that sounds silly, that’s because it was. The performances are excellent, and remain high points in the careers of all involved.

#18 Doubt (2008)

Even in the relative distant past of the late 2000’s, Doubt felt like a Hollywood film from another age. It’s a big-budget adaptation of a popular play, with a cast you can count on your fingers and themes that are sure to have audiences putting their popcorn down in shock and unease. It shouldn’t work, it shouldn’t exist! But it does, and thank God it was made. Performances from its four heavyweight leads are sensational, and it (thankfully) retains the ambiguity of its Pulitzer- and Tony-Award-winning counterpart as to the actual guilt of accused Father Flynn.

Of particular note is the performance of Viola Davis, who appears in one small scene of the film as the mother of the Catholic school’s first black student. Davis’ acting is hugely resonant in a film full of commanding characters, and is often overshadowed by her co-stars with greater screen-time. Ultimately, it is the restraint of director John Patrick Shanley (also the writer) in not expanding his world for the silver screen. Doubt triumphs in its careful sense of focus.

Speaking of Viola Davis…

#19 Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020)

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is one of the finest stage-to-screen adaptations of the past ten years, not to mention a brilliant film in its own right. Set in Chicago in 1927, the film documents a troubled recording session for the artist Ma Rainey and her band, whose tensions bubble up and over as they struggle to contend with ego, insecurity and the exploitation of black artists by the white-controlled music industry. Davis leads an exceptional cast, including Chadwick Boseman in his final on-screen performance.

Like many of the films on this list, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom simmers away within the claustrophobic confines of a single major location—the inevitable result of many stage adaptations unfolding on a set stage. But helmed by veteran stage director George Costello Wolfe, this only serves to focus the drama even further and add weight to the rising tensions. Mix in one of the best casts assembled on screen in the past ten years, and there’s no doubt that this film will be regarded as a classic for years to come.

And of course … #20 Angels In America (2003)

When talking about stage-to-screen adaptations, it’s hard to go past the HBO miniseries based on Tony Kushner’s masterpiece, which threw down the gauntlet as the best American work of contemporary theatre in the early nineties. Yes yes yes it’s television and not a film … but the brilliance of this rendition is undeniable. The cast, the design, the singular vision of director Mike Nichols. It synthesizes everything Kushner poured into his script and not only makes it work on film, but sing.

However, much like the epic of Amadeus, Angels in America is anchored by the power and intimacy of its characters. They help the audience navigate the scenes, the magic realism, dream sequences and multitudes of characters—who are actually doubled up by the cast, as per theatrical tradition. Show this to a friend for the first time and be sure to watch their face when you tell them the Rabbi at the funeral is actually Meryl Streep.

We can’t not talk about this one. Not until everybody’s seen it and knows it as the magnum opus it is.

Honourable Mentions

• Inherit the Wind (1960) directed by Stanley Kramer, based on the play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee.
• A Raisin in the Sun (1961) directed by Daniel Petrie, based on the play by Lorraine Hansberry.
• Butley (1974) directed by Harold Pinter, based on the play by Simon Gray.
• Richard iii (1995) directed by Richard Loncraine, based on the play by William Shakespeare.
• The Crucible (1996) directed by Nicholas Hynter, based on the play by Arthur Miller.
• Titus (1999) directed by Julie Taymor, based on Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare.
• The Shape of Things (2003) written and directed by Neil LaBute, based on his play of the same name.
• Fences (2016) directed by Denzel Washington, based on the play by August Wilson.

The post Best Film Adaptations of Stage Plays appeared first on StageMilk.

This article is a list of the best three-hander plays for actors. These plays represent some of the most brilliant, engaging and highly-regarded stage works for three actors; we have included a short description of each, as well as our reasons for the play’s inclusion.

Before we jump into the list itself, here’s a little disclaimer about our choices—which you may remember from our similar collection of best two-hander plays. This list of the best three-hander plays is the opinion of none other than the StageMilk team, and we bear full responsibility for any joy/confusion/derision/pain our choices might elicit. If you agree with our choices, want to add to the list or loudly protest all ten selections (it is the internet, after all), feel free to comment or send us a message on social media. As always, we’ll take the silver lining of being able to discuss theatre with passionate people!

No Exit (1944) by Jean-Paul Sartre

“Hell is other people.” Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialist masterpiece is the perfect distillation of what a good three-hander can be. No Exit’s characters find themselves trapped together in hell, in a room they are unable to leave. At first, they seem to weather this (seemingly) tame version of eternal damnation … but soon, guilt, shame and anger catch up with them as their sins are brought to light. Further complications arise in the form of a love triangle: each character’s intended utterly despises them, damning them to further anguish in the existence they have to share.

No Exit is perhaps the most famous work we’ve included on this list. And yet it’s often dismissed by actors for study or performance for exactly this reason: it’s too “old” or “classic” or “canon” to be of any real dramatic worth in contemporary society. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. No Exit is a sharp, economical thriller with characters who feel so real despite the absurdity of their shared situation. Take a chance on this one, and you’ll see why it is such a lauded piece of modern drama.

Play (1962-1963) by Samuel Beckett

“Front centre, touching one another, three identical grey urns. From each a head protrudes, the neck held fast in the urn’s mouth.” A man, a woman and the ‘other woman’ detail their entanglement in an affair. They speak in rapid bursts—sometimes over one another—in a way that filters the plot and characters into mere abstractions. On the last page of the script comes the incredible stage direction of “REPEAT PLAY”. The action and the story begins again—much like the cycle of love and passion and loss that fuels all infidelity.

Play is the kind of work you usually encounter in drama school as an exercise and promptly forget about. But it is worth any actor’s time for the deftness of the writing and how these three strange representations of characters are so completely wrought—urns and all. As part of the Beckett On Film series (2000), British director Anthony Minghella helmed a brilliant adaptation (featuring Alan Rickman) that is worth a Google and a watch.

Old Times (1971) by Harold Pinter

It begins simply enough: married couple Kate and Deeley discuss Kate’s friend Anna who is coming to stay. Anna’s relationship with Kate seems strange, or at least strained; Deeley can’t believe he’s never met her before. But when Anna arrives, murky recollections of the past suggest a web of moments shared between the three of them—none of which they can seem to agree on. In the peculiar climax of the piece, Anna declares to Kate “I remember you dead”, after finding her corpse in the little house they shared, twenty years past.

Confused? So are we. So is everyone! There are numerous theories as to what Old Times means, including split personalities, ghosts and even fractured timelines. Such is the genius of Harold Pinter‘s brilliant, streamlined puzzle of a show. It subverts, it delights and it will surely keep us engaged with its themes and characters for many years to come.

Unveiling (1975) by Václav Havel

Unveiling is one-act comedy by Václav Havel: beloved Czech statesman, activist, artist and Frank Zappa superfan (seriously, look this up). Considered ‘part two’ of his Vaněk trilogy, it places the protagonist—a stand-in for Havel—in the living room of bourgeois couple Vera and Michael. The couple seem desperate to impress and spoil their guest, displaying their modern art and collection of American music. Vera and Michael’s talking is near-constant, cyclical and absurd; as the piece progresses they begin to break down, begging forgiveness from Vaněk for their complicity in the Communist regime that saw his own life as a playwright destroyed.

The play is an angry, embittered admonishment of class and political indifference by Havel—whose own persecution during Soviet oppression was extreme. That being said, it’s absolutely hilarious: productions of it are exceedingly rare, but it is worth tracking down the text and becoming immersed in its excellent use of language. It is sometimes translated in English as “A Private Viewing”.

This Is Our Youth (1996) by Kenneth Lonergan

One of the better known plays on this list, Kenneth Longergan’s exploration of adolescence in Reagan’s America is a darling of graduation showcases in drama schools around the world. That’s not to say the play itself isn’t worth reading, performing and falling in love with. The plot, involving two privileged young friends, a girl that captures their interest and a stolen sum of $15,000, is largely there to keep the incredible interactions of the characters humming along. Are they vapid, self-absorbed and (at times) incredibly foolish? Sure. But we defy you not to love them all.

This Is Our Youth plays a lot like a Neil Simon comedy. Its complex underpinnings around adolescent anxiety in an age of materialism elevates it beyond simple battles of wit between ‘young kids these days’. This Is Our Youth is a deceptively deep and nuanced work, and a hell of a ride at that.

The Boston Marriage (1999) by David Mamet

David Mamet has written a vast array of brilliant works for small ensembles of two, three or four performers. While the obvious choice for this list might have been his breakout hit American Buffalo (1975), we have instead decided to single out The Boston Marriage for its acerbic wit and brilliantly crafted female characters. Anna and Claire are a formidable double act, and the frankness with which Mamet portrays a lesbian relationship at the start of the 20^th century marks it as a surprisingly forward-thinking work of queer theatre.

The Boston Marriage plays out as a drawing room farce; however, it brings depth and warmth to two characters whose likeable qualities are in short supply (the third character, their maid Catherine, spends much of the play in tears from their rebukes). The language is rich, and yet economical, the plot is simple, and yet affecting. The play is lesser known, and yet one of the author’s finest works. Look it up: you’ll have a blast.

The Brothers Size (2006) by Tarell Alvin McCraney

Ogun Size is trying to help his younger brother Oshoosi back onto his feet after a stint in prison. Oshoosi is less concerned with a normal life than he is the prospect of owning a car—a symbol and means of freedom so long denied to him. The situation is complicated by the arrival of Oshoosi’s former cellmate and lover Elegba, whose persistent  disregard for a straight life puts the three characters into increasingly fraught situations.

The Brothers Size is a perfect example of concentrated storytelling—everything you could hope to find in a good three-hander. Despite its masterful sense of focus, its themes are numerous and momentous and never once feel like a reach from the author. Ogun, Oshoosi and Elegba are simply dealing with the here-and-now of their lives, doing their best to navigate all that the world throws at them.

The Aliens (2010) by Annie Baker

Annie Baker has a number of impressive plays to her name: Body Awareness, Circle Mirror Transformation and The Flick (which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2014). Among them is The Aliens: a love letter to oddball male friendships in small, nowhere towns. The play takes place in an alley behind a coffee shop. Its two central characters, Jasper and KJ, talk art and music and bullshit as they avoid all responsibilities of life. According to the author, “at least one-third of the play should be silent, uncomfortably so”. And much of The Aliens is exactly that—silent and uncomfortable.

But it’s compelling. When so much of the play is nothing, every moment of ‘something’ means the world; high schooler Evan emerges from the coffee shop and strikes up a strange friendship with the two older boys. Their exchanges feel so natural and unforced. Look past Baker’s trademark silences and find the beauty in this understated masterpiece. And you’ll soon recognise the heights this young author would one day reach in later plays.

The Bleeding Tree (2014) by Angus Cerini

When it burst onto the Australian theatre scene in 2014, Angus Cerini’s story of a mother and her daughters took out a top literary prize and enjoyed a rash of brilliant productions across the country. The subject matter is severe—it’s often described as a ‘murder ballad’ refit for the stage—but the characters are compelling and the story of their attempt to get away with murder keeps you immediately engaged.

While The Bleeding Tree shines in performance, it’s fair to say the play on the page is no easy read. There’s no character description, no mention of who says what, just brilliant fragments of thought and speech such as: “With a bullet through your neck, numbskull of yours never looked so fine.” It’s a challenge for actors to realise, but a damn rewarding one at that. Focused, yet epic, it’s a story of domestic violence and the fallout of toxic masculinity we’re bound to tell again and again.

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Updated 31 May 2021

So here are my favourite TV shows about acting. Some are wildly comical, others educational, but I recommend checking them out.

#1 Extras

Ricky Gervais is a comedy legend. The creator of The Office, Derek and of course Extras. Extras follows the life of Andy Millman, a struggling actor who can’t seem to do anything but extra work. This show is quintessentially British and captures Ricky Gervais’ signature awkward humour. With cameos from Patrick Stewart, Kate Winslet and Daniel Radcliffe, what more could you want? Sheer brilliance, that had to be featured at the top of this list.

Genre: British Comedy/Awkward Comedy

#2 Toast of London

I only recently stumbled on this gem on Netflix. It’s a bizarre look inside the world of Steven Toast, a mediocre, washed-up actor who believes himself to be anything but mediocre. Steve finds himself in a myriad of hilarious situations. At times the comedy goes too far and the musical interludes can be testing, but push past the first few episodes and you’ll see this show is absolute gold and a must-watch for actors.

The voice-over sections are definitely a highlight, and especially for anyone who has worked in the voice-over industry, you will die. We have a video below with some of the best clips.

Genre: British Comedy

#3 Inside the Actors Studio

This is an incredible show to help you become a better actor. James Lipton sits down with the greatest actors of our time and delves into their process and career. Some interviews are more captivating than others, but there’s always something to be garnered from these legendary creatives. This classic series is a must-watch for actors.

Genre: Interview series

#4 Master of None

Aziz Ansari has created a hilarious and moving TV show, based largely on his own life. Although a lot of the series delves into the complex world of dating, it also addresses the inherent struggles of being an ethnic, early-career actor, fast approaching 30. Dev’s desperate attempts to get his foot in the door are comedic genius, but the underlying message reminds us that stardom isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

#5 Curb your Enthusiasm

You’re right, Larry David isn’t an actor, he’s a writer. Well, he is acting in this show, but he’s playing himself, a writer. Still, this show is very much about the industry and features actors, writers and directors. This is one of the funniest shows around and I would binge all nine seasons if you haven’t already. Larry David wrote Seinfield and so if you love that type of humour, Curb your Enthusiasm is for you.

Genre: American Comedy

#6 The Come Back

If you love “Smelly Cat”, you’ll love The Come Back. It’s a fun look at the life of a sitcom actor. It has a very American feel, but is a great show.

Genre: American Comedy

#7 Entourage

You’ve probably already binged this one if you’re an actor. At times it yields to stereotypes and is very male-oriented, but it’s still good fun and inspiring for actors who are yet to head to LA. Just don’t take it too seriously!

Genre: Comedy

#8 Barry

This is a new addition to the list, but what an incredible show! Headed up by Bill Hader, who plays assassin turned actor, Barry. It’s one of my favourite shows at the moment and it’s hilarious. It also features plenty of action, which even though it’s a comedy, is done incredibly well. The acting teacher, played brilliantly by Henry Winkler, is shockingly similar to some acting gurus I have come across over the years.

Genre: Dark Comedy

#9 Call my Agent

This little gem is the only non-English speaking suggestion on the list. It’s also less oriented around actors, than agents. But it’s brilliant! We get to see in inner workings of one of Paris’ biggest acting agencies. It’s a great insight into the acting world, and absolutely hilarious. Created by Fanny Herrero, there are currently two seasons to binge on Netflix, and hopefully more to come in the next few years.

Genre: Comedy

#10 Schitt’s Creek

This final TV on our list is not centred around actors but features one of the best portrayals of an actor on screen I have seen in a long time, so I felt it deserved to be featured. Moira Rose, played by Catherine O’Hara is simply hilarious and her performance permeates the show so much that sometimes we do feel it is all about acting! It’s such a brilliant show that I had to add it to the list. Her acting career certainly features heavily in the show, and well if you haven’t watched it, just do it!

Genre: Sitcom

Conclusion

There are our favourite TV shows about acting, but we’re sure there’re a bunch more out there. Let us know in the comments if your favourite didn’t make the list!

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We have listed some of the best plays by each author below their names, so make sure you have read of some of these or go along to see Australian plays when they are on!

Our Top Picks

• Andrew Bovell
  1

  Speaking in Tongues, When the Rain Stops Falling

• Joanna Murray-Smith
  2

  Bombshells, Rockabye, Honour

• Nick Enright
  3

  Blackrock, Daylight Saving

• Dorothy Hewett
  4

  The Chapel Perilous, This Old Man Comes Rolling Home

• Louis Nowra
  5

  Cosi, Radiance, The Golden Age

• Patricia Cornelius
  6

  The Call, Love, Do Not Go Gentle 

• Patrick White
  7

  Ham Funeral, The Season at Sarsaparilla 

• Michael Gow
  8

  Away, Europe, The Kid

• David Williamson
  9

  The Club, Don’s Party, The Removalists

• Peter Kenna
  10

  A Hard God, The Slaughter Of St. Teresa’s Day

• Leah Purcell
  11

  The Drover’s Wife, Box the Pony

• Nakkiah Lui
  12

  Kill the Messenger, Blackie Blackie Brown

• Jack Davis
  13

  No Sugar, The Dreamers

• Kate Mulvany
  14

  The Seed, The Harp in the South

• Declan Greene
  15

  Moth, Pompeii, L.A. 

• Hilary Bell
  16

  Wolf Lullaby, Fortune

• Ray Lawler
  17

  Summer of the Seventeenth Doll

• Wesley Enoch
  18

  The 7 Stages of Grieving, Black Medea

• Glace Chase
  19

  Triple X

• Stephen Sewell
  20

  The Blind Giant is Dancing

• Tommy Murphy
  21

  Holding the Man, Strangers in Between, 

• Angela Betzein
  22

  The Hanging, Hoods 

• Susan Miller
  23

  Driving into Walls, Medea 

• Kendall Feaver
  24

  The Almighty Sometimes

• Angus Cerini
  25

  The Bleeding Tree, Wretch

Australian Plays Transform

If you’re interested to learn more about Australian playwrights, or if you’re looking for where you can find Australian plays to read, visit Australian Plays Transform. This is the new home of Australian Playwriting, and is the result of a consolidation of the two organisations Playwrighting Australia, and Australian Plays.

Australian Theatre for Young People

If you’re looking for fresh, emerging, and up and coming playwrights, Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) is where you want to go. Pound for pound, ATYP produces the most work of new Australian playwrights of any company in the country! This is the place to go for work by Australian writers, for young Australian audiences.

Griffin Theatre Company

If Australian writing is something you want to see more when you go to the theatre, then Griffin Theatre Company should definitely be on your radar. Griffin is Australia’s leading new writing theatre, dedicated to bringing the best Australian stories to the stage.

Griffin Theatre Company hosted this forum in 2012 to discuss Australian Playwrighting:

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#1 Forbidden Planet (1956)

A pioneering science fiction film, Forbidden Planet plays as a loose adaptation of The Tempest, substituting Prospero for marooned scientist Doctor Morbius, his daughter Miranda for the Doctor’s own daughter Altaria and his enslaved sprite Ariel as science fiction fan fave “Robby The Robot”. Forbidden Planet plays beautifully as a relic of the Atomic Age—science (and with it, the threat of nuclear destruction) stands in for the magics of Prospero, as warns against the potentially destructive nature of mankind when power and ambition are allowed to run rampant in a ‘godless’, distant setting.

#2 Throne of Blood (1957)

The first of two films on this list by Japanese master Akira Kurosawa, Throne Of Blood plays out the drama of Macbeth in Feudal Japan. Kurosawa had long planned to adapt the work (which proved difficult during WWII due to its non-Japanese subject matter), and actually delayed the project for nearly a decade after learning about Orson Welles’ direct adaptation in 1948. Throne Of Blood draws on traditional Noh theatre elements; by modifying certain elements of Shakespeare’s text (such as swapping out the witches for an evil spirit), Kurosawa creates a story that feels grounded in the culture and history of Japan, while still speaking to the most engaging elements of the original text.

#3 West Side Story (1961)

While few might fail to make the connection between this classic tale of star-cross’d lovers and Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet, it is worth examining how this film touches upon new themes and, by the transparency of its own adaptation, helps us understand the original text all the more. West Side Story updates the Montague/Capulet tensions of the original plays by touching upon the very real race relations of the 1950s and 1960s: first- and second-generation immigrants of Puerto Rican and Polish descent. And for those who might have known the original play’s plot and saw the ending coming: remember that Shakespeare’s tragedy speaks of Romeo and Juliet’s doomed love right as the piece begins. His audience knew the story that was about to unfold, just as audiences of West Side Story knew it from the original text. This only goes to highlight the futility of racial hatred and violence.

#4 Chimes At Midnight (1965)

As with most films by Orson Welles, Chimes At Midnight was a nightmare to produce, dismissed by most critics upon release and now hailed as some of his best work. In Chimes, Welles adapted the story of Falstaff, drawing story and text from Henry IV (parts 1 and 2), Richard II, Henry V and The Merry Wives Of Windsor. Its cinematography has long been praised; Welles’ filming of the Battle Of Shrewsbury has been read as a staunchly anti-war sentiment, and is counted as an influence on the likes of such chaotic battle scenes as the opening of Saving Private Ryan. As with all Wellesian projects, it remains mired in the circumstances of its making. Look past this for some truly groundbreaking cinema.

#5 Ran (1985)

The second Kurosawa film on this list, Ran adapts the story of King Lear, with similar changes made to the text a la Throne Of Blood to reflect Feudal Japanese culture (Lear’s daughters, for instance, are gender-swapped to sons). Ran is the last of Kurosawa’s ‘epic films’; it is regarded by many critics as his final masterpiece. What is perhaps most interesting about Ran is how its protagonist, Hidetora Ichimonji, has been compared to the director of the film in which he features. Kurosawa has even made the comparison himself—likely meditating on the end of his life and career and the legacy he would leave behind. Ran features spectacular battles and favours wide shots over close-ups for an experience that feels simultaneously theatrical and cinematic. An utterly perfect film.

#6 My Own Private Idaho (1991)

In contrast to the other films on this list concerning the “Henriad”, Gus Van Sant’s stunning contribution to New Queer Cinema places the story of Henry IV and V in a world of street hustlers. Friends Mike and Scott (played to perfection by River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves) live a life of prostitution, partying and toying with Falstaf/father figure Bob. Searching for Mike’s absent mother, the two deal with the impending responsibility of adulthood by way of Scott inheriting his father’s riches. My Own Private Idaho is a dreamy, surreal experience (perhaps mirroring Mike’s own struggles with narcolepsy) that contrasts its stylised pseudo-Shakespearean script against an improvised, verite shooting style.

#7 The Lion King (1994)

You probably knew this one already. The Lion King is the most famous adaptation of Hamlet ever committed to celluloid; while there are some deviations from the text (the absence of the players subplot, downplaying the Prince’s faux-madness, the talking animals) it explores the dynamics of the original characters with a sophistication and clarity seldom seen in Shakespearean adaptations. Interestingly, Disney continued their Shakespearean adaptations with The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride (Romeo and Juliet), and some have compared the breakout characters Timon and Pumbaa to that of Hamlet’s friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. We’ll conclude this passage with the information that Timon and Pumbaa’s canonical surnames are Berkowitz and Smith. Don’t say we never give you anything.

#8 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

10 Things…’ status as an adaptation of Taming Of The Shrew is fairly well signposted by its recycling of character names its setting in Padua High School. It remains a popular text for study in high schools due to the easy parallels one can draw between film and play. If you’ve never encountered it, or remember it with disdain from having to study it in an English class, it is well worth a revisit. Strong performances help ground the sometimes-convoluted plot, and it engages satisfyingly with a feminist reading of Katherine that is (depending on who you ask) lacking in the original text.

#9 She’s The Man (2006) 

Perhaps a stretch to include on any list of films beginning with the word “best”, this 2006 adaptation of Twelfth Night swaps out Shakespeare’s exotic Illyria for a high school, and riffs on the disguising of protagonist Viola as a boy so she can pursue her interest in soccer. Depending on who you ask, it’s either a surprisingly enjoyable comedy or a weak attempt to recapture the magic of 10 Things I Hate About You. Bet on the former camp having grown up watching it.

#10 The King (2019)

David Michod’s re-imagining of Henry IV and V is simultaneously beautiful and ugly: a film that uses stunning cinematography to capture a story grounded in the grit and dirt and blood of its Medieval setting. Despite the realism, however, there is something very post-modern in how the ‘epic’ of the story is so gloriously downplayed. Most of the dialogue is delivered in mumbles and whispers—the battles as slow and awkward as the pace of the film. Every facet of The King is crafted to perfection, and yet it never once engages in sensationalism. The result is an intriguing enigma.

Conclusion: Tenuous and Obscure Shakespeare

These ten films have been tied directly to Shakespeare—either as (loose) adaptations, or having taken enough influence from his work that the connection is undeniable to artist and audience alike. However, if we were to draw our net even slightly wider across the medium, we can see the way in which Shakespeare’s stories and characters appear in countless other films. Macbeth, the story of the underdog taking over only to be killed themselves leads us neatly to Scarface, just as Henry IV’s quiet, reluctant path to brilliant (if ruthless) ruler echoes throughout The Godfather. In the character of Lady Macbeth, we find the femme fatale. In Hamlet’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: the comic relief best friends such as Timon Berkowitz and Pumbaa Smith. The more you search for Shakespeare in film, the more you’ll find him. And why? Because his stories and characters continue to resonate. They signify good stories and characters—even when they’re clearly not. Is Game Of Thrones a loose adaptation of The War Of The Roses, its families squabbling for power for hours of drama at a time in a Medieval landscape? No. But its creators wouldn’t mind you drawing your own comparison…

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Hare received two Academy Award nominations for his work as a screenwriter for The Hours and The Reader. Hare founded a film company called Greenpoint Films in 1982, under which he has written a number of screenplays, including adapting his play Plenty into a film starring Meryl Streep in 1985.

Brought up in Brexhill, Hare won scholarships as a young person to study at Lancing College and then later at Cambridge. As a Cambridge graduate he headed straight into theatre and attributes that path to his love for theatre as a child. He ran a small theatre group from a van called Portable Theatre from 1968-1971 and wanted the aim for theatre to shock people and take audiences somewhere new. This was the context where he first started writing plays and discovered he had a flair especially for writing dialogue.

Hare was Resident Dramatist at the Royal Court Theatre, London, from 1970 to 1971, and in 1973 became resident dramatist at the Nottingham Playhouse. He co-founded the Joint Stock Theatre Company with David Aukin and Max Stafford-Clark in 1975.

Top Five David Hare Plays

1. Plenty
2. Skylight
3. Racing Demon
4. Amy’s View
5. Stuff Happens

Other David Hare Plays

• Slag (1970)
• The Great Exhibition (1972)
• Brassneck (1973) (with Howard Brenton)
• Knuckle (1974)
• Teeth ‘n’ Smiles (1975)
• A Map of the World (1982)
• Pravda (1985) (with Howard Brenton)
• The Bay at Nice, and Wrecked Eggs (1986)
• The Secret Rapture (1988)
• Murmuring Judges (1991)
• The Absence of War (1993)
• The Judas Kiss (1998)
• Via Dolorosa (1998)
• My Zinc Bed (2000)
• The Breath of Life (2002)
• The Permanent Way (2003)
• The Vertical Hour (2006)
• Gethsemane (2008)
• Berlin (2009)
• Wall (2009)
• The Power of Yes (2009)
• South Downs (2011)
• The Moderate Soprano (2015)
• I’m Not Running (2018)
• Beat the Devil (2020)

Quotes by David Hare

“It’s wonderful fortune for a writer to be born somewhere boring.”

“All good dramatists are scared of the audience.”

“It’s true that although theatre’s highs are quite few, they are peculiarly pure. Those moments when a group of disparate people feel their way towards a common dream are exhilarating.”

“I’m provoked by the amount of unnecessary suffering there is. Politics, like medicine, should be there to relieve suffering. Clearly at the moment it is not doing its job.”

“Screen and stage are such completely different forms. To have managed to do passable work in both of them is something I’m incredibly proud of.”

“You can’t write a play like Amy’s View without confronting the ugliest in yourself and scouring it. It’s a huge emotional effort, and then there is the humiliation of listening to the audience. The humiliation of putting yourself in a position of being judged by eight or nine hundred people is very very undignified.”

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Martin McDonagh was born in London in 1970 to Irish parents. At 22, his parents made their way back home to West Ireland, leaving him and his writer-director brother John Michael in London to pursue their creative endeavours. McDonagh’s work seems forever informed by this event: offering up an insider’s perspective of Irish life and culture, yet forever filtered through an outsider’s lens—the characters and landscape feeling both real and yet heightened, almost comically so.

Mister McDonagh’s plays have swept far and wide from the West End to Broadway, and his films have found international audiences and acclaim. In this article, we hope to give you a few recommendations for films to check out, so you can continue your education of and love affair with this remarkable Irish playwright.

Updated, 26th December, 2022.

Martin McDonagh is currently ranked 39th in our Best Playwrights of All Time.

The Plays

Let’s start at the very beginning. It is, we have been informed, a very good place to start. McDonagh’s first six plays can be broken up into two trilogies. The first of these is The Leenane Trilogy, which takes place in and around County Galway where he and his family spent a significant amount of time during his childhood. The Second being The Aran Islands Trilogy which, as the name would suggest, takes place on The Aran Islands.

The Leenane Trilogy

• The Beauty Queen of Leenane (1996)
• A Skull in Connemara (1997)
• The Lonesome West (1997)

The Aran Islands Trilogy

• The Cripple of Inishmaan (1998)
• The Lieutenant of Inishmore (2001)
• The Banshees of Inisheer (Unpublished)

It is interesting to note that The Banshees of Inisheer was never published, as McDonagh insisted that it “isn’t any good.” A film titled The Banshees of Inisherin, written and directed by him in 2022, is said to bear little resemblance to the play despite the similarity in title. Nice that he was able to salvage something from it.

Moving away from his trilogies, we get into the first of his plays that are set outside of Ireland. Let’s take a look.

• The Pillowman (2003)
• A Behanding in Spokane (2010)
• Hangmen (2015)
•  A Very Very Very Dark Matter (2018)

It’s also worth mentioning that Martin penned two award-winning radio plays: The Woodcutter and The Tale of the Wolf.

Best Plays by Martin McDonagh

It’s no easy task to select a top five from this list of classics … but we signed up for this job, didn’t we? Here are our picks for the best plays by Martin McDonagh:

The Beauty Queen of Leenane (1996)

The play where it all began. Maureen lives in the Irish village of Leenane, where she takes care of her overbearing Mag and dreams of meeting a nice man to escape with. Mag has other ideas, and proceeds to needle and harass her daughter up to the play’s shocking conclusion. It’s a strange, Beckettian tragedy that is both hugely depressing and hilarious. An intimidating debut of a new, young playwright.

The Cripple of Inishmaan (1998)

The first of the Aran Islands Trilogy, Inishmaan follows the disabled orphan Billy Claven, who sees an opportunity to rise above his station when a Hollywood film comes to the neighbouring island of Inishmore. McDonagh has publically lamented that the play is seldom regarded as an Irish play, worrying that his London upbringing ‘taints’ its reputation and keeps it from being properly categorised and canonised. Politics aside, it’s a brilliant piece of writing with memorable characters and perhaps his first turly likeable protagonist.

The Lieutenant of Inishmore (2001)

Not counting the unpublished Banshees of Inisheer, Inishmore acts as the grisly farewell to McDonagh’s Irish trilogies. Set during the troubles in Ireland, the Tarantino-esque farce concerns splintering factions of the IRA, murderers, torturers and a sickly cat named Wee Thomas. Released to acclaim as McDonagh’s star was on the rise, the play feels overwhelmingly cinematic, foreshadowing the direction the writer’s career would soon take.

The Pillowman (2003)

Compared to McDonagh’s trilogies, The Pillowman is something of a strange departure. Gone is the Irish setting, switched out in favour of an unnamed totalitarian state. Gone is an adoration for the past, switched out for the contemporary—perhaps even a dystopic future? Luckily, the sharp wit and violence and menace remain. Children’s author (but only once published) Katurian is interrogated by two police officers about his gruesome fables; apparently, a series of gruesome murders have been taking inspiration from the pages of his writings… To say any more is to give the game away, but know that this play is worth reading/admission alone for the twisted fairytales it contains: “The Tale of the Town on the River”, “The Little Green Pig”, “The Little Jesus” and the titular “Pillowman”.

Hangmen (2015)

Hangmen is a play about the retired life of Britain’s second-most prolific hangman Harry Wade. Given that McDonagh had been working predominantly in cinema at this point in his career, it was hailed as an exciting return for the writer to his native form. And yet, critics marvelled at how his writing for stage had matured and expanded: a Birmingham setting and dialect (despite no personal connection), a large cast of characters populating long scenes. Beyond all of the changes, the strange situations, dark comedy and Pinteresque interlopers returned. Hangmen is a masterful play by a playwright at the height of their game: a shameless, well-deserved victory lap.

Best Films by Martin McDonagh

As Martin McDonagh only has five films under his belt at this time (five more than any of us, to be fair), he has at least made a list of his top five films extremely easy to write. We’ll examine each below in order of release.

Six Shooter (2004)

Six Shooter pairs McDonagh with actor Brendan Gleeson (with whom he would collaborate again on two other projects) for a strange tale of a man returning home to kill himself after the death of his wife. Stylistically, plot-wise it exists as an odd distillation of McDonagh’s previous explorations on stage—as well as the kinds of films he’d spend the next two decades creating to great acclaim. Which isn’t to say Six Shooter blipped by unnoticed: it was awarded the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 2004. We’ll say no more about it when you can watch it below:

In Bruges (2008)

McDonaghs’ feature film debut is about as close as you can get to a perfect film. Two hitmen lay low in a European tourist town after a job goes bad. It sounds like every knock-off Tarantino movie ever made. And yet McDonagh brings warmth, compassion and intelligence to the story, and two characters who you can’t help to love despite their many shortcomings. In Bruges is almost like a fairy tale in its depiction of good and evil and the testings of fate; its full of beautiful imagery and symbolism that allows you to pick it apart across multiple viewings. And special mention must be made to a haunting musical score by Carter Burwell

Seven Psychopaths (2012)

Here’s that tricky third album. Seven Psychopaths was billed to audiences as a crazed crime romp featuring an all-star cast: think an up-market Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels. The actual film? A meta musing on violence, human nature and the role of the writer in Hollywood. In Colin Farrell’s protagonist Ray, you can hear McDonagh sharpening his knife for the town that gave him fortune and fame. It’s not a perfect film, but for the risks it takes and pure ambition it’s worth your time—which is to say nothing of the brilliant dialogue. However, let us make special mention of a Pillowman-esque story-within-a-story that serves as the film’s undisputed highlight, staring a vengeful, psychopathic Quaker.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

A grieving mother rents three billboards on the road to a small, American town to bring attention to her daughter’s unsolved murder. The premise alone, leaving out the antics that follow, would be ridiculous in the hands of a lesser filmmaker. For McDonagh, the film pushed him to new creative heights and accolades, earning a Best Actor award for its lead Frances McDormand and Best Supporting Actor for Seven Psychopaths alum Sam Rockwell. It’s a slow, ponderous film with little resolution or joy to be found. And while it garnered a wider audience for McDonagh, it also drew greater criticism for aspects of his work that were formerly the mark of a bad-boy outsider: casual, graphic violence; amoral, unlikeable protagonists and shock usage of racial slurs and other instances of hate speech. At the end of it all, Three Billboards was a stark declaration that McDonagh has become part of the canon, part of the inner circle.

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

As of the writing of this very paragraph, this film is yet to be on wide release. We’ll update the minute we’ve had a chance to catch his latest, but already it looks to be a classic—as well as a curious return to form. You have turn-of-the-century Ireland, dark comedy, the threat of violence and the reunion of McDonagh’s In Bruges leads: Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell. Early reviews have been raves, and Oscar buzz is already in the air. Surprising nobody, really.

Conclusion

Love him or hate him, the man has a style. Martin McDonagh has carved out a particular place in theatre and film—nipping at the heels of culture until he eventually worked his way to the head of the pack. He has an immense talent for comedy, a gripping grasp of pure horror, and a curiosity for everything in between. So go and check out some (or all) of his work! There’s usually a McDonagh being produced somewhere in the world and, if not, head down to your local bookshop or library and have a good read!

I hope you’ll enjoy the work of Martin McDonagh as much as we do!

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