Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, and Eugene O’Neill get plenty of spotlight on the ELA curriculum stage. And sure, it’s well-deserved! But they aren’t the only incredible American playwrights to pick up a pen in the last century. If you’re looking for some contemporary plays to share with your students, and you’re struggling to find ones that fit your vision AND fit the maturity level of your kiddos, I’ve got a quick idea for you today.
So here it is. You’ve got your stack of A Streetcar Named Desire or Death of a Salesman ready for your students, as always, AND you have a series of Pulitzer-Prize winning contemporary playwright snapshots to share. It’s the classic “yes AND” combination that comes straight from the improv playbook.
Each snapshot will let students learn about an award-winning contemporary playwright by exploring their background, learning about the play which won them a Pulitzer, and then watching a little bit of that play. You’ll get to showcase a diverse range of writers and topics, and you can avoid moments in the plays which might be too intense or mature for the age of your students. My deep dive down the Youtube rabbit hole leads me to believe that most award-winning plays feature at least SOME scenes that are rated PG.
It’s a little like First Chapter Fridays, except for plays. You’re introducing your students to a much wider world than the single lens on theater that whatever your assigned play can provide (wonderful though it may be!), by showcasing complementary work regularly. At the same time, you can work through a whole class read with rich literary merit (that your school has already purchased and approved.)
So how can you get started quickly and easily? That’s what today’s episode is all about. I’ll walk you through how I created some of these snapshots – which I’ll share with you – and then you’ll be ready to create more of your own if you want to go further.
Playwright #1: Lin Manuel Miranda
For an obvious (and awesome) place to start, let’s dip our toes into Lin Manuel Miranda’s much-beloved show, Hamilton, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2016. To guide students through exploring the play quickly, I set up a little clickable activity.
They’ll start with learning about the playwright through his (super cool) website, then watch the extended trailer on PBS, then see several of the show’s most famous songs stitched together in this montage.
After wandering through these carefully curated links, they’ll have a fresh awareness of Lin Manuel Miranda, the context of his work, and the nature of his musical.
I suggest wrapping up the activity with two simple questions: How does (playwright)’s work stand out as unique to you? And did (playwright)’s work make you see theater differently?
(Oh, by the way, you can grab all these activities free down at the bottom of this post!)
Now that you have the idea, it’s just a matter of rinse-and-repeat. You find a playwright whose work you love, then find a bio, a video about the play, and a clip about the play that fit the maturity level of your students.
Playwright #2: Sanaz Toossi
Sanaz Toossi won her Pulitzer in 2023, for her play about adult students in Iran learning English.
In an interview with American Theater, Toossi talked about seeing a play that changed her viewpoint of theater (Amy Herzog’s 4000 miles): “‘I was like, these are actual people. I thought I could never be a playwright because playwriting is about showing people that you’re smart—that’s what I always thought it was. It feels like a project to make everyone feel stupid.’” Perhaps Toossi’s play, now, might open similar doors for students.
Playwright #3: Lynn Notage
The story of Lynn Notage’s play, Sweat, is a fascinating one. When she arrived in Reading, Pennsylvania to try to understand how the city had fallen apart following massive changes in the American economy and the end of many factory jobs, she thought she’d be there only briefly, and that folks were unlikely to talk to her about the breakdown of their city. Instead, people opened up to her and she spent two years interviewing and researching before writing Sweat, which went on to win the Pulitzer Prize (Notage’s second).
The story of how she prepared to write this play is so unique, and may surprise many students. The exploratory clips focus more on the context and research for the play, as most clips available online have some mature language, but I managed to find one that could set the scene and stay appropriate.
Grab the Resource
Ready to grab the resource to get started ASAP? You can sign up for this free download right here. While I’ve gone to some lengths to choose appropriate clips, as always, be sure to preview video you are planning to use in class, as only you can know your community best. Heads up, there is one clip from “Explore the Play” on the Sanaz Toossi handout where the link takes students automatically past a tiny bit of the intro with one (not particularly offensive) swearword. They would only hear it if they dragged the player back to the beginning of the video instead of watching from the link.
I hope these contemporary playwright snapshots will help you showcase more voices in your theater units, and maybe inspire you to create more contemporary snapshots of your own. It’s a lot of fun!
