Fiddler on the Roof

Here are 10 facts about the award-winning musical, "Fiddler on the Roof."

The Tennessee Williams Revival

Playwright Tennessee Williams continues to inspire decades after his death.

Lorraine Hansberry: Young, Gifted and Black

Playwright and author Lorraine Hansberry is best known for "A Raisin in the Sun." Today we celebrate her life and work.

Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun"

The play that "changed American theatre forever," according to The New York Times , started with a few short lines from a long poem.

Brian Friel (1929 - 2015)

Brian Friel, the Tony Award-winning playwright who created "Dancing at Lughnasa" and more than 30 other plays, has died in Ireland, according to The Associated Press. He was 86. The government and the Arts Council of Ireland said Friel died Friday in his seaside home in County Donegal, northwest Ireland, the setting for most of his five decades of work, the AP said. No cause of death was given. "His mythical stories from Ballybeg reached all corners of the world from Dublin to London to Broadway and onto the silver screen," said Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who praised Friel as "the consummate Irish storyteller. His work spoke to each of us with humor, emotion and authenticity."

Henning Mankell (1948 - 2015)

Henning Mankell, the hesitant figurehead of Scandinavian crime fiction whose books about the gloomy, soul-searching police inspector Kurt Wallander enticed readers around the world, has died, according to The Associated Press.

Century Spotlight: Arthur Miller

A century after Arthur Miller was born, we remember the prolific playwright's legacy. Miller reflected the American experience in his work, exploring topics that resonated with his mid-20th-century audiences.

Edward Albee (1928 - 2016), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf playwright

Albee was one of the most acclaimed and influential American playwrights of the 20th century. He won the Tony Award for best play for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1963) and “The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?” (2002), and was a three-time Pulitzer Prize-winner for drama.

Dario Fo (1926 - 2016), Nobel Prize-winning playwright

The Italian playwright's biting political satire was recognized with 1997’s Nobel Prize for literature.

William Trevor (1928 - 2016), award-winning Irish writer

William Trevor, the award-winning Irish novelist, playwright, and author of short stories, died Monday, Nov. 21, 2016, in England, according to multiple news sources. He was 88. Trevor was a three-time winner of the Whitbread Prize (now known as the Costa Book Awards). He also was a five-time nominee for the Booker Prize, most recently for his 2009 novel “Love and Summer.” Writers paid tribute to their colleague. John Banville, the author of “Time Pieces: A Dublin Memoir” praised Trevor in The Irish Times as “one of the great short-story writers, at his best the equal of Chekhov and Babel. But we should also celebrate his novels, in particular ’Mrs. Eckdorf in O’Neill’s Hotel,’ an inexplicably neglected twentieth-century masterpiece. … His death is a heavy loss to Irish letters and to world literature.”

Marc Spitz (1969–2017), Spin magazine writer

A music journalist and author, Marc Spitz wrote for Spin magazine and Salon.com.

A.R. Gurney (1930 - 2017), playwright and novelist

Playwright penned the plays “Love Letters,” “The Cocktail Hour”…

Sam Shepard (1943 -2017), Pulitzer Prize-winning True West playwright

Sam Shepard, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Oscar-nominated actor, died July 27, 2017, according to multiple news sources. He was 73.

Written by Him and Her

We take a look back at successful writing partners who were also romantic partners.

Janusz Glowacki (1938 - 2017), Antigone in New York playwright

Janusz Glowacki, the renowned Polish-born U.S. playwright and screenwriter whose “Antigone in New York” won a 1998 critics award, died Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017, according to multiple news sources. He was 78.

Thomas Meehan (1929 - 2017)

Tony Award-winning book writer of “Annie” and “The Producers”…

Bernard Pomerance (1940–2017)

Playwright won a Tony Award for "The Elephant Man."

Neil Simon (1927–2018), “The Odd Couple” playwright

Neil Simon, one of the most popular and prolific playwrights and screenwriters of the second half of the 20th century, died Sunday, Aug. 26, 2018, of complications from pneumonia, according to his publicist Bill Evans as reported by CNN. He was 91.

Ntozake Shange (1948–2018), pioneering black feminist poet and playwright

Wrote the influential play ‘For Colored Girls’ which won an Obie Award.

Jane Milmore (1955–2020), screenwriter and producer for “Martin,” “The Hughleys”

Jane Milmore was a producer, screenwriter, and playwright whose TV credits include “Martin,” “The Wayans Brothers,” and “The Hughleys.” Milmore won a People’s Choice Award and an NAACP award for her work on “Martin,” as well as winning a Prism Award for her work on “The Hughleys.” She co-created the short-lived 1993 sitcom “Daddy Dearest,” starring Don Rickles and Richard Lewis. Other shows Milmore worked on with her longtime writing partner, Billy Van Zandt, include “Newhart,” “Suddenly Susan,” and “Yes, Dear.” Milmore and Van Zandt also wrote more than 20 plays together, including “You’ve Got Hate Mail” and “The Boomer Boys Musical,” and Milmore was an actress, appearing in her plays as well as in movies and TV shows.

Mart Crowley (1935–2020), “Boys in the Band” playwright

Mart Crowley wasthe groundbreaking playwright whose 1968 play The Boys in the Band was one of the first to portray the lives of gay men on stage.The play is about a group of gay and bisexual friends at a birthday party in New York City.Itwas a hit which led to a 1970 movie adaptation directed byWilliam Friedkin.Crowley had been an assistant and close friend to actress . In 2002, hewrote a sequel The MenFromthe Boys, that looked at the original characters lives 35 years later. In 2018, a revival of The Boys in the Band onBroadway featured out gay actors including Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, and Matt Bomer.A new movie version of the play is due out on Netflix in 2021.

Larry Kramer (1935–2020), playwright and AIDS activist

Larry Kramer was an influential playwright and AIDS activist whosebest-knownplay isThe Normal Heart, which was about theearly days of the AIDScrisis.

Douglas Turner Ward (1930–2021), pioneer of Black theater

Douglas Turner Ward was an actor, playwright, and director who co-founded New York’s Negro Ensemble Company.

Ed Bullins (1935–2021), playwright of the Black Arts Movement

Ed Bullins was a playwright known for works including “The Taking of Miss Janie” and “In New England Winter.”

James Rado (1932–2022), co-creator of the hit rock musical ‘Hair’ 

James Rado was a co-writer of the story and lyrics for the groundbreaking musical ‘Hair,’ the first Broadway musical to feature rock music.    

Ama Ata Aidoo (1942–2023), award-winning Ghanaian author, politician

Ama Ata Aidoo was a Ghana-born writer, poet, politician and academic known for works such as “Our Sister Killjoy,” “Changes: A Love Story,” and “The Dilemma of a Ghost.”

Tina Howe (1937–2023), Coastal Disturbances playwright 

Tina Howe was a playwright whose “Coastal Disturbances” was nominated for the 1987 Tony Award for Best Play.0

Benjamin Zephaniah (1958–2023), poet, author, and Peaky Blinders actor

Benjamin Zephaniah was a celebrated British poet, author and playwright who regularly appeared on the period crime drama “Peaky Blinders.” 

Mbongeni Ngema (1955–2023), playwright who spotlighted apartheid

Mbongeni Ngema was a South African playwright, composer, and activist whose 1988 musical, “Sarafina!” took aim at apartheid.0

Edward Bond (1934–2024), socially-conscious playwright and director

Edward Bond was a playwright and theater director whose often socially conscious work included “Saved,” “Narrow Road to the Deep North,” “Lear,” and “The Sea.” 

David Mixner (1946–2024), gay rights activist and author 

David Mixner was a gay rights activist and author who cofounded the LGBTQ+ Victory fund and broke ways with President Bill Clinton over his “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. 

Christopher Durang (1949–2024), Tony-winning comedic playwright

Christopher Durang was a Tony Award-winning, Pulitzer-finalist playwright known for “Miss Witherspoon” and “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.”

Samm-Art Williams (1946–2024), playwright known for Home

Samm-Art Williams was an actor, writer, and producer who worked on shows like “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and “Martin” whose Tony Award-nominated 1979 play, “Home,” is returning to Broadway this summer.

Shay Youngblood (1959–2024), award-winning novelist and playwright

Shay Youngblood was an award-winning novelist and playwright who explored her upbringing as a Black woman in America.

Billy Edd Wheeler (1932–2024), co-writer of the country hit Jackson

Billy Edd Wheeler was a songwriter and author whose work earned him induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, best known for “Jackson,” the Grammy Award-winning single by and .

Jules Feiffer (1929–2025), satirical cartoonist

Jules Feiffer was a cartoonist and writer whose satirical wit earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 1986 and made him one of the most influential cartoonists of the 20th century. 

Athol Fugard (1932–2024), famed South African playwright 

Athol Fugard was a famed South African playwright whose widely celebrated work probed the ugliness of apartheid and its aftermath.