Best Of / Lists

Since StageMilk’s inception, lists have been an integral part of the site. We wanted to provide free, no-nonsense resources for actors all around the world. We are constantly updating these lists, and adding new ones. Go forth, and explore!
I find “Best Of” lists really helpful starting points when exploring new areas of information. Don’t get too caught up in the hierarchy of the lists, but just use these as a launching pad.
One of the truly most creative, surreal and fascinating playwrights of the 20th century Eugene Ionesco stands tall amongst a sea of brilliant existential surreal absurdist playwrights of his time. His works are visceral, hilarious,...
You don’t get a theatre named after you by chance. August Wilson was the first and only (to date) African-American playwright to get a theatre named after him. Born in Pittsburgh into a diverse community...
I think all young actors have had those moments when we’ve needed a new monologue or scene to work on in class and haven’t known where to look. We don’t often see plays at major...
Sometimes, less is more. One-person plays, often called one-man or one-woman shows (which we think is perhaps a bit reductive) occupy a unique space in modern theatre. Finding their origins in oration (the foundation of...
Ladies, it’s time we dedicated a whole article to how incredibly talented and driven you are! Here is a list of some of the BEST female playwrights of all time (in no particular order)! If...
Lynn Nottage, born in Brooklyn in the sixties has become one of the most prominent playwrights of her generation. She focuses her attention on the marginalized groups in society, a topic given extra weight in...
The Yin to Henrik Ibsen’s Yang, August Strindberg is one of the greatest playwrights of all time. A contemporary to Chekhov and Ibsen, Strindberg offered something totally different to both of those great writers. Dreams,...
Aphra Behn is one of the most extraordinary playwrights in history. A mystery, wrapped in an enigma, drenched in poetry and social commentary. A spy during the Dutch-Anglo war, a former prisoner and the first...
Talk about an over-achiever – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a statesman, a poet, a scientist, an author and a playwright. In retrospect, calm down Johann, calm down! You’re making the rest of us look...
Here is a list of the Top 10 female Shakespeare roles as chosen by us, the StageMilk team. It’s no secret that Shakespeare and his contemporaries favoured writing parts for men; indeed, the few women...