List of famous playwrights

Famous playwrights are those whose plays have been translated into multiple languages and / or performed in multiple generations.

A.

Herbert Achternbusch (* 1938), DE
Arthur Adamov (1908-1970), FR
Aischylos (Αἰσχύλος) , or Aeschylos, iEschylus, iEschylus (525-456), GR
Ilse Aichinger (1921-2016), AT
Étienne Aignan (1773-1824), FR
Edward Albee (1928-2016), US
Johann Georg Albini the Younger (1659–1714), DE
Jean Anouilh (1910-1987), FR
Ludwig Anzengruber (1839-1889), AT
Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918), FR
John Arden (1930-2012), GB
Aristophanes (446-385), GR
Fernando Arrabal (* 1932), ES
Antonin Artaud (1896–1948), FR
David Auburn (* 1969), US
Nicolaus von Avancini (1611–1686), IT
Alan Ayckbourn (* 1939), GB

B.

Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973), AT
Jakob Balde (1604–1668), DE
Howard Barker (* 1946), GB
Ernst Barlach (1870–1938), DE
Peter Barnes (1931-2004), GB
JM Barrie (1860-1937), GB
Philip Barry (1896-1949), US
Gabriel Barylli (* 1957), AT
Wolfgang Bauer (1941-2005), AT
Terry Baum (* 1946), US
Pierre Beaumarchais (1732-1799), FR
Francis Beaumont (1584-1616), GB
Ulrich Becher (1910–1990), DE
Jürgen Becker (* 1932), DE
Jurek Becker (1937-1997), DE
Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), IE
Max Beckmann (1884-1950), DE
Brendan Behan (1923-1964), IE
Oleksandr Bejderman (* 1949), UA
David Belasco (1853-1931), US
Gottfried Benn (1886–1956), DE
Ugo Betti (1892–1953), IT
Jakob Bidermann (1578–1639), DE
August Theodor Blanche (1811–1868)
Augusto Boal (1931-2009), BR
Eric Bogosian (* 1953), US
Robert Bolt (1924-1995), GB
Guy Bolton (1884-1979), US
Wolfgang Borchert (1921-1947), DE
Dion Boucicault (1820-1890)
John Bowen (* 1924), GB
Thomas Brasch (1945-2001), DE
Volker Braun (* 1939), DE
Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), DE
Hermann Broch (1886–1951), AT
Ferdinand Bruckner (1891-1958), AT
Christine Brückner (1921-1996), DE
Caspar Brulow (1585-1627), DE
Alfred Brust (1891–1934), DE
Georg Büchner (1813–1837), DE
Oliver Bukowski (* 1961), DE
Abe Burrows (1910-1985), US
Henry James Byron (1835-1884), GB

C.

Vojtěch Cach (1914–1980)
Caecilius Statius (220–168 BC), Rom.
Daniel Call (* 1967)
Franz Callenbach (1663–1743)
Elias Canetti (1905-1994)
Veza Canetti (1897–1963)
Cao Yu (1910-1996)
Karel Čapek (1890-1938)
Ion Luca Caragiale (1852-1912)
Paul Vincent Carroll (1900–1968)
George Chapman (1559-1634)
Klaus Chatten (* 1963)
Andrew Cherry (1762-1812), IE
Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725)
Agatha Christie (1890-1976)
Caryl Churchill (* 1938)
Jean Cocteau (1889–1963)
Pierre Corneille (1606–1684)
Thomas Corneille (1625–1709)
Georges Courteline (1858–1929)
Noël Coward (1899–1973)
Mart Crowley (1935-2020)
Johann Paul Crusius (1588–1629)
Nilo Cruz (* 1960)

D.

Thomas Dekker
Ariel Dorfman
Tankred Dorst
Alexandre Dumas the Elder J. (1824-1895)
Nell Dunn (* 1936), GB
Christopher Durang
Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Charles Dyer

E.

José Echegaray (1832-1916), ES
David Edgar
Günter Eich
TS Eliot , UK
Gundi Ellert
Hans Magnus Enzensberger , DE
Euripides (480 or 485/84-406 BC), ancient times

F. G

John Galsworthy (1867-1933)
Federico García Lorca (1898-1936)
Armand Gatti (1924-2017)
Jean Genet (1910-1986)
Katharina Gericke (* 1966)
David Gieselmann (* 1972)
William Schwenck Gilbert (1836-1911)
Jean Giraudoux (1882–1944)
John Godber (born 1956)
Reinhard Goering (1887–1936)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832)
Carlo Goldoni (1707-1793)
Yvan Goll (1891-1950)
Olympe de Gouges (1748–1793)
Christian Dietrich Grabbe (1801–1836)
Harley Granville-Barker (1877-1946)
Jörg Graser (* 1951)
Günter Grass (1927-2015)
Simon Gray (1936-2008)
Isabella Augusta Gregory (1852-1932)
Alexander Sergejewitsch Gribojedow (1795–1829)
Trevor Griffiths (* 1935)
Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)
Andreas Gryphius (1616–1664)
Sacha Guitry (1885-1957)
Albert Ramsdell Gurney (1930-2017)
Karl Gutzkow (1811–1878)

H

I.

Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906), NO
William Inge (1913-1973), US
Eugène Ionesco (1909-1994), FR / RO
David Ives (* 1950), US

J

Günter Jankowiak
Alfred Jarry (1873-1907), FR
Elfriede Jelinek (* 1946), AT
Douglas William Jerrold (1803-1857), GB
Denis Johnston
Thomas Jonigk
Ben Jonson (1572-1637), GB

K

L.

M. N

O

Sean O'Casey (1880-1964)
Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953)
Gerlinde Obermeier
Clifford Odets
Joe Orton (1933-1967)
John James Osborne
Albert Ostermaier
Alexander Nikolajewitsch Ostrowski (1823-1886)

P

R.

S. T

U

V

Ramón María del Valle-Inclán (1866–1936), ES
John Vanbrugh
Paula Vogel

W.

Friedrich Karl Waechter , DE
Heinrich Leopold Wagner (1747–1779), DE
Richard Wagner (1813-1883), DE
Naomi Wallace (* 1960), US
Martin Walser (* 1927), DE
Robert Walser (1878–1956), DE / CH
Theresia Walser (* 1967), DE
Wendy Wasserstein (1950-2006), US
Keith Waterhouse
John Webster (ca.1579 – ca.1634), GB
Frank Wedekind (1864-1918), DE
Peter Weiss (1916–1982), DE / SE
Theodor Weißenborn (* 1933), DE
Nikolaus Welter (1871–1951), LU
Franz Werfel (1890–1945), AT
Timberlakewertebaker , US / GB
Arnold Wesker (1932-2016), GB
John Whiting (1917-1963), GB
Urs Widmer (1938–2014), CH
Hubert Wiedfeld (1937-2013), DE
Adolf von Wilbrandt (1837–1911), DE
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), IE
Thornton Wilder (1897-1975), US
Emlyn Williams (1905-1987), GB
Tennessee Williams (1911-1983), US
August Wilson (1945-2005), US
Lanford Wilson (1937-2011), US
Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (1885–1939), PL
Elizabeth Wong (* 1958), US
William Wycherley (1640-1716), GB

Y

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

List of famous playwrights

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

G

H

I.

J

K

L.

M.

N

O

P

R.

S.

T

U

V

W.

Y

Z

See also