While this is three plays, I have always wanted to do Thornton Wilder's one-act plays:
- Pullman Car Hiawatha (5m, 4f, plus 10+ chorus members [gender neutral, doubling possible]. Stage manager could be played by either man or woman.
- Happy Journey from Trenton to Camden (2m, 2w)
- The Long Christmas Dinner (5m. 7f)
These three plays form the basis for his Pulitzer Prize-winning
Our Town.
Wilder had the incredible ability to show the universal in the mundane.While other playwright have more prominent reputations.
- Eugene O'Neill is the most celebrated of American playwrights four Pulitzer Prizes (the most of any playwright) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (the only American playwright to win). He wrote 31 full-length plays
- Arthur Miller wrote 37 plays. Two won the Pulitzer Prize, Death of a Salesman and The Crucible
- Tennessee Williams wrote 29 plays. Two won the Pulitzer Prize: A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Along with The Glass Menagerie, these plays form most of Williams' reputation.
- Robert E, Sherwood won three Pulitzer Prizes for Drama, but he is little remembered outside of theater history.
- Edward Albee won three Pulitzer Prizes for Drama: A Delicate Balance, Seascape, and Three Tall Women. The jury for drama selected his masterpiece Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolff for the award, but the Pulitzer board rejected the nomination and did not give a drama prize that year (1968). He wrote 34 plays.
- Neil Simon wrote 34 plays; won one Pulitzer Prize for Lost in Yonkers; plus numerous Academy nominations for his film scripts. Simon's plays won three Tony Awards, but generally didn't get a lot attention for his writing. Comedy gets no respect.
More recently
- David Mamet, out of 37 plays, has won the Pulitzer once for Glengarry Glen Ross
- August Wilson has won the Prize twice (Fences, The Piano Lesson) and been a finalist four other times out 16 plays
- Lynn Nottage just won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for her play Sweat, her second after Ruined. Not bad for only nine plays. But it is doubtful that she is well known out side of theatre circles.
All of this is to contrast Thornton Wilder who only wrote three full-length plays:
Our Town,
The Skin of Our Teeth, and
The Matchmaker. The first two both won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and the third was the basis for the musical
Hello Dolly. Wilder also won a third Pulitzer for his novel
The Bridge at San Luis Rey. If Wilder's dramatic output had rivaled that of O'Neill, Miller and Williams, her would be heralded as America's greatest playwright.
Sorry for the length. My children tell me I do go on with meaningless trivia. To which I point our their cretin-like lack of curiosity. They only want to hear about what they already know and since they already know it they don't want to hear about it.
Hope this helps.
Go Wilder. If you can't tell I am a fan.
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James Van Leishout
Olympia WA
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-25-2017 09:16
From: Ellen O'Reilly-LaSalle
Subject: One Act Play Suggestions
I am looking for suggestions for one act plays that either have flexible casting or a cast that is female heavy. I would like to find two plays to pair together for a performance. A common theme would be great. Each would need to run 30 to 45 minutes.
Thank you!!
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Ellen O'Reilly-LaSalle
Dighton Rehoboth Regional High School
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