World Theatre Day: 8 popular plays of all times which you should read

Theatre is one of the oldest art forms that has been entertaining people all across the world since the last 2500 years. From Greek to Roman to Indian, theatre has always been a unique and colourful means of expression of ideas, beliefs and even discomforts. Many plays were written for the sake of society in times of conflict and turbulence. They were meant to make people aware of the cause and effects of the war and how it serves no purpose to any party. Theatre was, and still remains an important medium to address the society, its taboos and its functioning. Be it class, sex, religion, patriarchy, subjugation of women, violence, etc theatre has took up all these issues in various forms.

March 27 is celebrated as World Theatre Day all across the globe. It was initiated in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute. In order to mark this occasion, various national and international theatre events are organized which celebrate the art. It involves staging of new plays, reproduction of classic plays and other theatrical activities.

Here are 8 popular plays of all times which you should definitely read!

Considered as father of all tragedies, Hamlet is a play that comes straight out of Shakespeare’s treasure box and has become timeless in retrospect. The story revolves around prince Hamlet who discovers his mother’s infidelity toward his father, King Hamlet and his realization that it was the King’s own brother Claudius who killed him. Hamlet is drawn as a shattered man struggling to avenge his father and combating internal conflict.

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The play is a farcical comedy in three acts wherein, the protagonists maintain fictitious identities to escape burdensome social obligations. It mocks Victorian traditions, frivolous social customs and society. It successfully manages to provide commentary on various issues and offers reform at the same time.

Pic credit: Peacock Books

Considered as the most significant play of the 20th century, this play is typical example of the Theatre of the Absurd, and people use the phrase 'waiting for Godot' to describe a situation where they are waiting for something to happen, but it probably never will. The play is a symbol for the purposeless nature of man's existence. Vladimir, Estragon, Pozzo, Lucky and the boy (characters), all represent mankind and Godot represents the ethereal and the unknown.

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The play is a three-act play in prose. It is significant for its critical attitude towards the 19th century marriage norms. It aroused great controversy at the time, as it concludes with the protagonist, Nora, leaving her husband and children because she wants to discover herself. Nora rejects to live in a ‘Doll House’ created by her husband and therefore subverts the ideas and beliefs of that time.

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The plays was a stinging satire on the British class system. It revolves around Henry Higgins, a phonetician, who agrees to coach and groom Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl and transform her into a socially acceptable person, no less than a duchess. But in the process he begins to admire her.

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The play is a tale of a catastrophic confrontation between fantasy and reality, embodied in the characters of Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski. It dramatizes the life of Blanche DuBois, a Southern belle who, after encountering a series of personal losses, leaves her aristocratic background seeking refuge with her sister and brother-in-law in a dilapidated apartment building.

Pic credit: Penguin UK

The play was one of the first and most famous plays in the history of American Theater that explored the agonies of the Black community. It tells the story of a black family's experiences in south Chicago, as they attempt to improve their financial circumstances with an insurance payout following the death of the father.

Pic credit: Vintage

The play is a tragedy about two young lovers-Romeo and Juliet- whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. In the present times, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers.

Pic credit: Maple Press