10 Great Plays for the Holiday Season

Why not enjoy the holiday season by reading a classic play? Many of literature’s best plays are freely available online because they are out of copyright. This not only means a great read, but a free read as well! Below is ten plays in a number of formats from a variety of periods and genres.

The Importance of Being Earnest | Oscar Wilde
A classic farce in the comedy of manners style, ridiculing the very people who attended its London premiere in 1895.
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King Lear | William Shakespeare
If you feel like something a little heavier, try King Lear on for size. A powerful tragedy in true Elizabethan style, Lear is for Shakespeare enthusiasts who don’t mind sinking their teeth into the mind of one of the Bard’s most complex protagonists.
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The School for Scandal | Richard Sheridan
How could you go past a play with characters like Lady Sneerwell, Sir Benajmin Backbite or Old Crabtree? Sheridan’s masterpiece is a delightful comedy of manners mocking society’s upper class.
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A Doll’s House | Henrik Ibsen
This play caused such a scandal at its Copenhagen premiere in 1879 that Ibsen was forced to write a rarely performed alternate ending. Text-heavy but beautifully written, A Doll’s House represents realistic theatre at its very best.
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream | William Shakespeare
If you fancy a bit of magical realism, this gem has it all – romance, fairies, forests, and of course an ass head! Five acts of pure Shakespeare bliss, this light-hearted romantic comedy is a hell of a lot of fun.
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The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus | Christopher Marlowe
Any play that has the protagonist selling his soul to the devil in return for twenty-four years of power and riches has got to be a good read! Based on the Faust legend, Marlowe’s play uses a combination of prose and blank verse.
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The Playboy of the Western World | John Millington Synge
A beautifully written Irish work from the turn of the 20th century. As with Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, this controversial play also caused a literal riot when it premiered at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre in 1907.
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Oedipus the King | Sophocles
Not exactly light-hearted reading for the holiday season, but who can ignore the greatest tragedy ever written? A must read for all teachers and students of drama and theatre.
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Tartuffe (The Hypocrite / The Imposter) | Jean-Baptiste Moliere
Censored at the outset by King Louis XIV, Moliere’s Tartuffe is a masterpiece of comic playwriting.
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Everyman | Anonymous
The best known morality play, Everyman is a medieval didactic work written in verse and aimed at teaching its audience the difference between right and wrong.
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