In 2015 the esteemed theatre critic Michael Billington published his selection of The 101 Greatest Plays – From Antiquity to the Present. Michael said in the introduction to his book, that his selection was “a provocation”, a “prelude to a debate in which everyone is free to join”. Well, I was provoked!
So for the 101st episode of the podcast, I invited Michael to join me in conversation about his selection. Conscious of the limits of my experience and knowledge compared with Michael’s, given his estimate that he has seen some 10,000 plays in his lifetime, I also invited the renowned arts journalist Mark Lawson to join in the debate. During our discussion we not only wrangled over specific inclusions and exclusions in Michael’s list, including most controversially his omission of both King Lear and Waiting for Godot, we also addressed more general questions about the criteria for selection, what elements make a great play, and what makes a play more likely to endure beyond its own time. Finally, given that Michael made his selection ten years ago now, we asked what, if any, great plays we would nominate from more recent new work.
Listeners won’t be surprised to learn that we didin’t always see eye-to-eye on individual choices, but there was also much agreement. Inevitably we finally all agreed that a list of 101 was just not enough to do justice to the history of dramatic literature!
We’d love to hear what you think when you’ve heard our debate, so please email us at plays@theplaypodcast.com with your comments and suggestions. As Michael said, everyone is free to join in.
Below is a list of the 101 titles Michael selected. To hear the reasons for his choices, and some of his ommissions, I highly recommend that you also acquire a copy of his book via our link below.
