Female Playwrights
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.
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Birthdate: June 20, 1905
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana
Died: June 30, 1984
Birthdate: July 10, 1640
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Canterbury, England
Died: April 16, 1689
Birthdate: February 3, 1874
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: July 27, 1946
Gertrude Stein was an American playwright, novelist, poet, and art collector. She is remembered for publishing works about lesbian sexuality, which was considered a taboo at that time. Over the years, Gertrude Stein has been the subject of several works of art. In the 2011 movie Midnight in Paris, Stein was portrayed by Kathy Bates.
Birthdate: May 13, 1907
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: London, England
Died: April 19, 1989
Daphne du Maurier was an English playwright and author. Many of her works, which have been praised for narrative craft, have been adapted into films, including three of Alfred Hitchcock's movies. Such was her popularity that she was selected along with four other Women of Achievement to be featured on a set of British stamps, which were issued in 1996.
5
Caryl Churchill(British Playwright Best Known for Her Plays: ‘Top Girls’, ‘Cloud 9’ and ‘Serious Money’)
Birthdate: September 3, 1938
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: London, England
British playwright Caryl Churchill is best-known for works that emphasize on feminist-issues, sexual-politics and abuses of power. Most renowned works of Churchill, who also gained attention for using non-naturalistic techniques, include the farce Cloud 9 about sexual politics; the play Top Girls that deals with feminist issues; and the satirical play Serious Money that was largely written in rhyming couplets.
Birthdate: March 16, 1978
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Hammersmith, London
Sophie Hunter is an English playwright, opera director, and former performer. She is credited with co-founding and popularizing a theatre company called Boileroom, which was honored with the Samuel Theatre Trust Award in 2007 for its play The Terrific Electric, which marked Sophie Hunter's directorial debut.
7
Lorraine Hansberry
(Writer, Theatre director, Screenwriter, Playwright, Human rights activist)
Birthdate: May 19, 1930
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died: January 12, 1965
Lorraine Hansberry was a writer and playwright best remembered for her play A Raisin in the Sun which emphasizes the plight of African-Americans living under racial segregation. At the age of 29, Lorraine Hansberry received the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, becoming the youngest playwright and the first African-American dramatist to win the prestigious award.
Birthdate: December 23, 1955
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Glasgow, Scotland
Birthdate: February 14, 1978
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Grinnell, Iowa, United States
Danai Gurira is best known as Michonne from The Walking Dead and as Okoye from the Marvel films Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. She earned a Tony nomination for writing the Broadway play Eclipsed. She has been a UN Goodwill Ambassador and promotes arts and women empowerment.
10
Olympe de Gouges(French Playwright, Political Activist, and Advocate for Women's Rights)
Birthdate: May 7, 1748
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Montauban, France
Died: November 3, 1793
Olympe de Gouges was an 18th-century French playwright and political activist. Her writings on women's rights and abolitionism were popular in various countries. She was an outspoken advocate against the slave trade in the French colonies. She demanded that French women be given the same rights as French men. She was executed during the Reign of Terror.
11
Zoe Kazan
(American Actress Known for Her Role in the TV Series 'Olive Kitteridge')
Birthdate: September 9, 1983
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States
Born to screenwriters Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord, Zoe Kazan is also the granddaughter of director Elia Kazan and thus was never a stranger to show business. Now a regular on Broadway and in films, she also bagged an Emmy nomination for her role in the miniseries Olive Kitteridge.
Birthdate: August 17, 1893
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died: November 22, 1980
Mae West began her career as a child actor in vaudeville. She later appeared in films such as You Done Me Wrong and Go West, Young Man. She became famous for her signature double entendres and sexual liberty she projected on screen. She also wrote books and plays later.
Birthdate: January 31, 1964
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Chelsea, London, England, United Kingdom
Birthdate: June 13, 1893
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Oxford, England
Died: December 17, 1957
Birthdate: May 19, 1941
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: New York City, New York, United States
Died: June 26, 2012
Nora Ephron was an American writer, filmmaker, and journalist. She is known for writing films like Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally... The Nora Ephron Prize was created by the Tribeca Film Festival in her memory. Her life and work inspired the 2016 documentary film Everything Is Copy, which was directed by her son Jacob Bernstein.
Birthdate: November 24, 1849
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Cheetham, Manchester, England
Died: October 29, 1924
Birthdate: October 30, 1896
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Quincy, Massachusetts, United States
Died: August 28, 1985
Birthdate: June 16, 1938
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Lockport, New York, United States
19
Amanda Palmer
(Singer, Street artist, Composer, Pianist, Musician, Playwright, Blogger, Songwriter)
Birthdate: April 30, 1976
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: New York City
20
Elaine May
(Actor, Film director, Screenwriter, Writer, Playwright)
Birthdate: April 21, 1932
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Birthdate: December 5, 1963
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA
Died: January 20, 2002
22
Julia Donaldson
(Writer, Playwright, Author, Children's writer)
Birthdate: September 16, 1948
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Hampstead, London, England
Birthdate: 1981 AD
Birthplace: Haslemere, England
24
Tovah Feldshuh
(Television actor, Film actor, Writer, Playwright, Stage actor)
Birthdate: December 27, 1952
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: New York City
25
Mary Hayley Bell
(English Writer and Actress Who is Best Remembered for Her Novel 'Whistle Down')
Birthdate: January 22, 1911
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Shanghai, China
Died: December 1, 2005
Mary Hayley Bell was an English writer and actress. She is perhaps best remembered for her novel Whistle Down the Wind, which was later adapted into a film with her daughter Hayley Mills playing the lead role. As far as her acting career is concerned, Mary Hayley Bell had a prominent stage acting career for about a decade.
26
Katharine Viner
(Journalist)
Birthdate: January 4, 1971
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Yorkshire, England
27
Patricia Wettig
(Actor, Playwright, Stage actor, Television actor)
Birthdate: December 4, 1951
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Cincinnati
Birthdate: December 20, 1951
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: York, England
29
Anna Deavere Smith
(Actress, Playwright & Professor)
Birthdate: September 18, 1950
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Birthdate: February 22, 1892
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Rockland, Maine, United States
Died: October 19, 1950
31
Elfriede Jelinek(Austrian Playwright, Novelist and 2004 Nobel Prize Winner in Literature)
Birthdate: October 20, 1946
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Mürzzuschlag, Austria
Elfriede Jelinek is an Austrian novelist and playwright who was honored with the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature. Widely regarded as the most prominent playwright of the German language, Elfriede Jelinek has several prestigious awards and honors under her belt.
32
Françoise Sagan
(Playwright)
Birthdate: June 21, 1935
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Cajarc, France
Died: September 24, 2004
33
Josephine Tey
(Author Known for Her Novel ‘The Daughter of Time')
Birthdate: July 25, 1896
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Inverness, Scotland
Died: February 13, 1952
Elizabeth Mackintosh, better known by her pseudonym, Josephine Tey, was a physical education teacher before becoming a full-time author. She first tasted success with The Man in the Queue, a detective novel written as Gordon Daviot. Her work A Shilling for Candles was made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock.
34
Sarah Kane
(Playwright, Writer)
Birthdate: February 3, 1971
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Brentwood
Died: February 20, 1999
35
Caroline Graham
(Screenwriter, Novelist, Writer)
Birthdate: July 17, 1931
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Nuneaton
Birthdate: December 29, 1953
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Albany, New York, United States
37
Ali Smith
(Scottish Author, Playwright, Academic and Journalist)
Birthdate: August 24, 1962
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Inverness, Scotland
Born to working-class parents in Scotland, Ali Smith grew up to earn a PhD from the University of Cambridge. While teaching at the University of Strathclyde, she developed chronic fatigue and took a break to write. Known for books such as Autumn, she often collaborates with her partner Sarah Wood.
38
Sue Townsend
(Writer and Humorist Best Known for Creating the Character 'Adrian Mole')
Birthdate: April 2, 1946
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Leicester, England
Died: April 10, 2014
Best known for creating the protagonist Adrian Mole, Sue Townsend was a legendary comic writer from Britain. Apart from the Adrian Mole series, she had also penned other novels and plays. A chain-smoker as a teenager, she had her first marriage at 18 and was a mother of three by 22.
Birthdate: November 2, 1964
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States
40
Hannah Szenes
(Writer, Poet)
Birthdate: July 17, 1921
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Budapest
Died: November 7, 1944
Hungarian Jewish poet and SOE member Hannah Szenes went down in history for voluntarily parachuting into occupied Europe during World War II to assist the Allied forces and the armed resistance against the Nazis. Captured at the Hungarian border, she was eventually tortured and executed by a firing squad.
41
Judy Campbell
(Actor, Playwright)
Birthdate: May 31, 1916
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Grantham
Died: June 6, 2004
42
Annie Baker
(screenwriter, author, writer)
Birthdate: 1981
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Boston
43
Clare Boothe Luce
(Author, Politician)
Birthdate: March 10, 1903
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Died: October 9, 1987
44
Yang Jiang(Chinese Playwright and Translator Who Wrote Several Successful Comedies)
Birthdate: July 17, 1911
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Beijing, China
Died: May 25, 2016
Yang Jiang was a Chinese author, translator, and playwright. Yang Jiang is credited with writing several successful comedies. A prolific translator, Yang was the first Chinese to come up with a proper Chinese version of Don Quixote. Her translation is considered the definitive translation of the popular novel in China.
45
Nelly Sachs
(German-Swedish Poet and Playwright, Known for His Play ‘Eli: Ein Mysterienspiel vom Leiden Israels')
Birthdate: December 10, 1891
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Schöneberg, Berlin, Germany
Died: May 12, 1970
Nelly Leonie Sachs, internationally noted German-Swedish poet and dramatist, wrote conventional romantic poems until the rise of Nazism brought about a drastic change in her life. Forced to flee to Sweden, she began writing about the grief and yearnings of her fellow Jews, concurrently translating German works into Swedish and vice-versa. She won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1966.
46
Sharman Macdonald
(Playwright, Writer, Screenwriter)
Birthdate: February 8, 1951
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Glasgow
47
Marguerite Duras
(Former novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker)
Birthdate: April 4, 1914
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Vietnam
Died: March 3, 1996
Birthdate: October 24, 1969
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland
Alex Awards winning Irish-Canadian playwright, literary historian, short story writer, novelist, and screenwriter Emma Donoghue is best known for authoring award winning novels like Room and Hood. Room, an international best-seller, was adapted into a film bearing same title that not only emerged as a critical and commercial success but also garnered four Oscar nominations at the 88th Academy Awards.
Birthdate: October 16, 1977
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Bedford
Birthdate: June 20, 1983
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, U.S.