Throughout history, there have been many women playwrights who have made significant contribution to the field. The list includes many familiar and great female playwrights such as Joyce Carol Oates, Doris Lessing, Nora Ephron, Lillian Hellman, Elfriede Jelinek.The women playwrights featured in this list are from United States, United Kingdom, Canada & Australia and many more countries.
Lashana Lynch27 November 1987, British
Actress
Danai Gurira14 February 1978, American, Zimbabwean
Actress
Nora Ephron19 May 1941, American
Screenwriter, Producer, Director
Yolanda King17 November 1955, American
Activist
Sophie Hunter16 March 1978, British
Theatre Director
Roxann Dawson11 September 1958, American
Actress
Joyce Carol Oates16 June 1938, American
Writer
Doris Lessing22 October 1919, British
Novelist, Short Story Writer
Dorothy L. Sayers13 June 1893, British
Writer
Charlayne Woodard29 December 1953, American
Actress
Frances Hodgson Burnett24 November 1849, British, American
Novelist
Lillian Hellman20 June 1905, American
Dramatist and Screenwriter
Yang Jiang17 July 1911, Chinese
Playwright
Caryl Churchill03 September 1938, British
Dramatist, Women's Rights Activist
Elfriede Jelinek20 October 1946, Austrian
Novelist & Nobel Prize Winner in Literature
Frances Burney13 June 1752, British
Novelist
Rebecca Humphries03 October 1987, British
Actress, Playwright
Zoe Kazan09 September 1983, British, American
Actress
Julia Jones27 March 1923, British
Actress
Lisa Edelstein21 May 1966, American
Playwright, Television actor, Actor, Film actor,
Else Lasker-Schüler11 February 1869, German
Poet
Amanda Palmer30 April 1976, American
Singer, Street artist, Composer, Pianist,
Marilyn vos Savant11 August 1946, American
Columnist
Ruby Dee27 October 1922, American
Actress
Carrie Hamilton05 December 1963, American
Actress
Gypsy Rose Lee08 January 1911, American
Entertainer
Lorraine Hansberry19 May 1930, American
Writer, Theatre director, Screenwriter,
Sarah Solemani04 September 1986, British
Actress
Michaela Coel01 October 1987, Ghanaian, British
Actress
Elaine May21 April 1932, American
Actor, Film director, Screenwriter, Stage actor,
Christine Jorgensen30 May 1926, American
Actor
Continue Reading Below
Sally Wainwright1963 AD, British
television producer, screenwriter, playwright
Patricia Wettig04 December 1951, American
Actor, Playwright, Stage actor, Television actor
Amelia Bullmore31 January 1964, British
Actress
Julia Donaldson16 September 1948, British
Writer, Playwright, Author, Children's writer
Anna Deavere Smith18 September 1950, American
Stage actor, Film actor, Television actor, Writer,
Tovah Feldshuh27 December 1952, American
Television actor, Film actor, Writer, Playwright,
Anna Silk31 January 1974, Canadian
Actress
Marguerite Duras04 April 1914, French, Vietnamese
Writer, Film director, Screenwriter, Publisher,
Kate Atkinson20 December 1951, British
Novelist
Clare Boothe Luce10 March 1903, American
Former U.S. Congressman, Diplomat, Journalist,
Sharman Macdonald08 February 1951, British
Playwright, Writer, Screenwriter
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu15 May 1689
Explorer, Poet, Writer, Playwright
Edna O'Brien15 December 1930, Irish
Novelist
Kathy Acker18 April 1947, American
Author
Eve Ensler25 May 1953, American
Artist, Actor, Playwright, Autobiographer, Writer,
Sarah Kane03 February 1971, British
Playwright, Writer
Mary Hayley Bell22 January 1911, Chinese, British
Actress
Ali Smith24 August 1962, Scottish
Writer
Maeve Binchy28 May 1939, Irish
Novelist
Ntozake Shange18 October 1948, American
Playwright
Katharine Viner04 January 1971, British
Journalist
Françoise Sagan21 June 1935, French
Writer, Playwright, Novelist, Screenwriter,
Caroline Graham17 July 1931, British
Screenwriter, Novelist, Writer
Kerry Greenwood17 June 1954, Australian
Novelist, Playwright, Writer, Poet lawyer, Science
Laura Wade16 October 1977, British
Writer
Sue Townsend02 April 1946, British
Writer
Josephine Tey25 July 1896, British
Writer, Playwright, Novelist, Screenwriter,
Augusta, Lady Gregory15 March 1852, Northern Irish
Dramatist
Hannah Szenes17 July 1921, Hungarian
Writer, Poet
Natalie Clifford Barney31 October 1876, American
Playwright
Judy Campbell31 May 1916, British
Actor, Playwright
Mercy Otis Warren
Buchi Emecheta21 July 1944, Nigerian
Writer, Novelist, Sociologist, Playwright, Editor,
Leslye Headland1981 AD, American
film director, screenwriter, playwright
Yasmina Reza01 May 1959, French
Actor, Linguist, Translator, Playwright, Novelist,
Natalia Ginzburg14 July 1916, Italian
Author
Suzan-Lori Parks10 May 1963, American
American playwright
Minnie Maddern Fiske19 December 1865, American
Actress
Hannah More02 February 1745, British
Writer, Poet, Essayist
Annie Baker31 March 1981, American
screenwriter, author, writer
Mina Loy27 December 1882, British, American
Poet
Ingeborg Bachmann25 June 1926, Austrian
Poet, Writer, Journalist, Screenwriter,
Sarah Ruhl1974 AD, American
playwright
Betty Comden03 May 1917, American
Screenwriter, Librettist, Performer, Stage actor,
Susannah Doyle05 July 1966, British
Actor, Film actor
Susan Glaspell01 July 1876, American
Playwright
Wendy Wasserstein18 October 1950, American
Playwright
Nelly Sachs10 December 1891, German, Swedish
Poet, Playwright, Writer
Denise Mina21 August 1966, Scottish
Crime writer
Ama Ata Aidoo23 March 1942, Ghanaian
Author
Jane Bowles22 February 1917, American
Writer
Maryse Condé11 February 1937, French, Guadeloupean
Novelist
Angelina Weld Grimké27 February 1880, American
Journalist
Mabel Dodge Luhan26 February 1879, American
Biographer
Jean Kerr10 July 1922, American
Author
Felicia Hemans25 September 1793, British
Poet
Jean Webster24 July 1876, American
Writer
Eliza Haywood1693 AD, British
British author
Efua Sutherland27 June 1924, Ghanaian
Playwright
Gerda Lerner30 April 1920, American
Historian
Mavis Gallant11 August 1922, Canadian
Writer
Beth Henley08 May 1952, American
Playwright
Madeleine de Scudéry15 November 1607, French
Writer