Chicago Literature Index — Plays

  Title Author/Editor Published Categories

© {copyright_year} Chicago Literary Hall of Fame

 1.  Back of the Yards
Kenneth Goodman 1914 P
 2.  The Front Page

Chicago Premiere: xxxxxxx

Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur
Charles MacArthur link,
Ben Hecht link
1928 P
 3.  Big White Fog

Chicago Premiere: Great Northern Theatre

Theodore Ward
Theodore Ward link
1937 P
 4.  A Raisin in the Sun

Chicago Premiere: Blackstone Theatre

Lorraine Hansberry
Lorraine Hansberry link
1959 P
 5.  Blues for Mister Charlie
James Baldwin 1964 P
 6.  Sexual Perversity in Chicago

Chicago Premiere: Organic Theatre

David Mamet
David Mamet link
1974 P
 7.  The Bleacher Bums

Chicago Premiere: Organic Theatre

Joe Mantenga 1974 P
 8.  American Buffalo

Chicago Premiere: Goodman Theatre

David Mamet
David Mamet link
1975 P
 9.  Cops

Chicago Premiere: Organic Theatre

Terry Curtis Fox 1978 P
 10.  Sister Carrie

Chicago Premiere: Touchtone Theatre

Tom Creamer 1980 P
 11.  Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Chicago Premiere: Goodman Theatre

August Wilson 1982 P
 12.  Emergency Room

Chicago Premiere: Organic Theatre

Ronald Berman 1984 P
 13.  Never The Sinner

Chicago Premiere: Stormfield Theater

John Logan 1985 P
 14.  Dreaming Emmett
Toni Morrison 1986 P
 15.  Checkmates

Chicago Premiere: ETA Theater

Ron Milner 1987 P
 16.  Pill Hill

Chicago Premiere: ETA Theater

Samuel L. Kelly 1988 P
 17.  To the Chicago Abyss
Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury link
1989 FP
 18.  Give the Lady What She Wants

Chicago Premiere: Touchtone Theatre

Kendall Marlowe 1995 P
 19.  Damon, Ring and F. Scott,

Writers’ Theatre

J.R. Sullivan 1996 P
 20.  I Am Lorraine Hansberry

Black Ensemble Theater

Lephate Cunningham Jr. and Jackie Taylor 1996 P
 21.  Comfort Stew

ETA Theater

Angela Jackson
Angela Jackson link
1997 P
 22.  Haymarket Eight

Steppenwolf Theatre

Derek Goldman and Jessica Thebus 1998 P
 23.  The House on Mango Street

Steppenwolf Theatre

Amy Ludwig 1998 P
 24.  Division Street: America

Chicago Premiere: Steppenwolf Theatre

Studs Terkel, adapted by Steve Totland 2000 P
 25.  Proof

Chicago Premiere: xxxxx

David Auburn 2000 P
 26.  Streeterville

Chicago Premiere: Lookingglass Theatre

G. Riley Mills and Ralph Covert 2001 P
 27.  They All Fall Down: The Richard Nickel Story

Chicago Premiere: Lookingglass Theatre

Laura Eason and Jessica Thebus
Laura Eason link
2001 P
 28.  Race

Chicago Premiere: Lookingglass Theatre

John Musial, David Schwimmer and Joy Gregory 2003 P
 29.  Frank’s Home

Chicago Premiere: Goodman Theatre

Richard Nelson 2006 P
 30.  Hizzoner: Daley the First

Chicago Premiere: Beverly Arts Center

Neil Giuntoli 2006 P
 31.  Spare Change

Steppenwolf Theatre

Mia McCullough 2006 P
 32.  Gas for Less

Chicago Premiere: Northlight Theatre

Brett Neveu 2007 P
 33.  I Sailed With Magellan

Chicago Premiere: Victory Gardens Theater

Claudia Allen 2007 P
 34.  Old Town

Chicago Premiere: Strawdog Theatre

Brett Neveu 2008 P
 35.  Superior Donuts

Steppenwolf Theatre

Tracy Letts
Tracy Letts link
2008 P
 36.  High Holidays

Chicago Premiere: Goodman Theatre

Alan Gross 2009 P
 37.  The Crowd You’re In With

Chicago Premiere: Goodman Theatre

Rebecca Gilman 2009 P
 38.  Clybourne Park

Chicago Premiere: Steppenwolf Theatre

Bruce Norris
Bruce Norris link
2010 P
 39.  This Train

16th Street Theatre

Tony Fitzpatrick
Tony Fitzpatrick link
2010 P
 40.  Do The Hustle

Chicago Premiere: Writers’ Theatre

Brett Neveu 2011 P
 41.  Nelson Algren: For Keeps and a Single Day

Chicago Premiere: Lookingglass Theatre

John Musial 2011 P
 42.  The Detective’s Wife

Chicago Premiere: Writers’ Theatre

Keith Huff 2011 P
 43.  The Great Fire

Chicago Premiere: Lookingglass Theatre

John Musial 2011 P
 44.  Crowns

Chicago Premiere: Goodman Theatre

Regina Taylor 2012 P
 45.  Dar He: The Lynching of Emmett Till
Mike Wiley 2012 P
 46.  My Kind of Town

Chicago Premiere: Timeline Theatre

John Conroy 2012 P
 47.  Big Lake Big City

Chicago Premiere: Lookingglass Theatre

Keith Huff 2013 P
 48.  Jar the Floor

Chicago Premiere: ETA Theater

Cheryl L. West
Cheryl West link
2013 P
 49.  Pullman Porter Blues

Chicago Premiere: Goodman Theatre

Cheryl L. West
Cheryl West link
2013 P
 50.  Exit Strategy

Chicago Premiere: Jackalope Theatre Company

Ike Holter 2014 P
 51.  The Midnight City

Steppenwolf Theatre

Tony Fitzpatrick and Stan Klein
Tony Fitzpatrick link
2014 P
 52.  The Sweeter Option

Chicago Premiere: Strawdog Theatre

John Henry Roberts 2014 P
 53.  Rutherford’s Travels

The Pegasus Players’s adaptation of Johnson’s 1990 National Book Award-winning novel, Middle Passage.

Charles R. Johnson 2016 P
 54.  La Havana Madrid

Goodman Theatre

Sandra Delgado 2017 P
 55.  Mahalia Jackson: Moving Thru the Light

Black Ensemble Theater

Jackie Taylor 2019 P
 56.  I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

Steppenwolf Theatre

Isaac Gómez 2020 P
 57.  The Billboard
Natalie Y. Moore
Natalie Y. Moore link
2022 FP