Playwright Rankings
Fifty of the most influential playwrights in the history of theatre.
Art & LiteratureTop 50
🌍 World Ranking
▲ Top 5
#1
William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
+5
#2
Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)
+4
#3
Eugene O'Neill (1888–1953)
+3
#4
Tennessee Williams (1911–1983)
+2
#5
Anton Chekhov (1860–1904)
+1
▼ Bottom 5
#1
Yasmina Reza (1959–present)
-5
#2
Heiner Müller (1929–1995)
-4
#3
Jean Genet (1910–1986)
-3
#4
Clifford Odets (1906–1963)
-2
#5
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
-1
Similar Lists
All Items (50)
William Shakespeare (1564–1616)+5
Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)+4
Eugene O'Neill (1888–1953)+3
Tennessee Williams (1911–1983)+2
Anton Chekhov (1860–1904)+1
Sophocles (c. 497–406 BC)—
Euripides (c. 480–406 BC)—
Aeschylus (c. 525–456 BC)—
Aristophanes (c. 446–386 BC)—
Molière (1622–1673)—
Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906)—
August Strindberg (1849–1912)—
Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956)—
Arthur Miller (1915–2005)—
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)—
Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936)—
Federico García Lorca (1898–1936)—
Jean Racine (1639–1699)—
Pierre Corneille (1606–1684)—
Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593)—
Ben Jonson (1572–1637)—
Aphra Behn (1640–1689)—
Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816)—
August Wilson (1945–2005)—
Lorraine Hansberry (1930–1965)—
Edward Albee (1928–2016)—
Harold Pinter (1930–2008)—
Tom Stoppard (1937–present)—
Caryl Churchill (1938–present)—
Tony Kushner (1956–present)—
Suzan-Lori Parks (1963–present)—
David Mamet (1947–present)—
Sam Shepard (1943–2017)—
Lanford Wilson (1937–2011)—
Lillian Hellman (1905–1984)—
Thornton Wilder (1897–1975)—
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980)—
Albert Camus (1913–1960)—
Eugène Ionesco (1909–1994)—
Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)—
Peter Weiss (1916–1982)—
Brian Friel (1929–2015)—
Wole Soyinka (1934–present)—
Athol Fugard (1932–present)—
Sarah Kane (1971–1999)—
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)-1
Clifford Odets (1906–1963)-2
Jean Genet (1910–1986)-3
Heiner Müller (1929–1995)-4
Yasmina Reza (1959–present)-5