Best Broadway Plays

Job, written by Max Wolf Friedlich and directed by Michael Herwitz, plays at the Hayes Theater on Broadway after two sold-out runs off-Broadway at the Connelly Theatre and Soho Playhouse. This tight, 80-minute play follows a worker who has to meet with a therapist in order to get the ok to head back to work. Peter Friedman and Sydney Lemmon reprise their roles in what TheaterMania called, “exhilarating…[a] taught and verbally lacerating two-person drama.”

McNeal, written by Ayad Akhtar and directed by Bartlett Sher, stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Jacob McNeal, a great writer with great grudges and an interest in AI. The play runs at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre. You can’t get much starrier than the Academy Award-winning Robert Downey Jr, but the rest of the creative team have their own laurels as well. Ayad Akhtar is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who has had his plays Disgraced, The Who & the What, and Junk produced at Lincoln Center. And Bartlett Sher is a Tony Award-winning director whose recent productions include South Pacific, Oslo, My Fair Lady, Camelot, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The King and I.

Oh, Mary!, written by Cole Escola and directed by Sam Pinkleton, plays at the Lyceum Theatre after a hit run off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Come see Mary Todd Lincoln – in the throes of alcoholism, mourning the loss of her would-be cabaret career, fighting with her husband, and flirting with her new acting teacher. The New York Times called this blast of a show, “silly, nasty, tasteless and, in the end, good theater – the kind of show that will leave you gagging, both in the sense that you’ll be losing your mind with joy, and that you might just be grossed out.” Come see the show everyone’s been talking about!

Stereophonic, written by David Adjmi and directed by Daniel Aukin with music by Will Butler, runs at Broadway’s Golden Theatre after a hit run off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons. Following a rock band in the 1970s as they record an album and endure the pressure of fame, success, and their own relationships, The Daily Beast called it, “one of the most original, stunningly designed, and technically dazzling plays in New York.” It just won the Tony Award for Best Play in 2024.

The Hills of California, written by Jez Butterworth and directed by Sam Mendes, plays at the Broadhurst Theatre after its hit run in London on the West End. Jez Butterworth is an award-winning playwright whose previous works Jerusalem, The River, and The Ferryman were embraced by Broadway audiences. Sam Mendes is an acclaimed theater director known for The Lehman Trilogy, The Ferryman, and the 1998 and 2014 productions of Cabaret, but he is perhaps best known for his film work, directing the films American Beauty, Road to Perdition, and the James Bond films Skyfall and Spectre. The Hills of California is set during a particularly hot summer in the 1970s, when the Webb sisters return to Blackpool to visit their dying mother. As they wait for their final sister to join them and reminisce about their childhood – when their mother was trying to turn them into a music group – old wounds come to the surface. Time Out London said, “Jez Butterworth’s first play in seven years unfurls with the richness and depth of a well-crafted novel…the performances are uniformly tremendous.”

The Roommate, written by Jen Silverman and directed by Jack O’Brien, plays at the Booth Theatre. Patti LuPone (Evita, Company, Sweeney Todd, Gypsy) and Mia Farrow (Rosemary’s Baby, The Great Gatsby, The Watcher) star as two surprising roommates with a new lease on life, and this play gives both stars ample room to shine. Patti LuPone is well known and well loved by theater fans, but Mia Farrow doesn’t come to the Broadway stage as often. She was most recently seen in Love Letters in 2014, and Broadway audiences are eager to see her return! Bad behavior, new beginnings, and big laughs take the stage in this comedy that the Tampa Bay Times said “breathes new life into the odd couple trope.”

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Set 19 years after the final book, Harry, Ron and Hermione are back on a new adventure: middle age. Harry is now the head of Magical Law Enforcement at the ministry of magic, Hermione is the Minister of Magic, and Ron owns a store in Diagon Alley. The majority of the play follows Harry and Ginny Weasley’s second son Albus Severus as he starts his journey at Hogwarts. Unlike the rest of his family, Albus is sorted into Slytherin. Thus begins this epic tale of adolescence, magic, friendship, and the struggle to discover one’s true potential. Get immersed in the fantastical world that has dominated modern media for over 20 years. 

Home, written by Samm-Art Williams and directed by Kenny Leon, played at the Todd Haimes Theatre and follows Cephus Miles who loses the love of his love when she leaves for college and meets another man. The original production by the Negro Ensemble Company premiered in 1979, and this revival is part of the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Refocus Project. Time Out New York said, "this play shines in the details. By the end it has won you over into joy."

Appropriate: Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and directed by Lila Neugebauer, Appropriate ran at the Belasco Theatre and follows the Lafayette family when they return to their father’s estate in Arkansas after his passing and discover a few surprising objects among his possessions. Sarah Paulson and Corey Stoll starred in what The New York Times called a “very fine, subversively original new play.” This production won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play in 2024.

Mary Jane, written by Amy Herzog and directed by Anne Kauffman, ran at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre and starred Rachel McAdams as a mother taking care of her chronically ill child. This acclaimed play ran off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop, and Time Out New York called it “exquisite and deeply moving” in a 5-star rave review.

Mother Play, written by Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel and directed by Tina Landau, made its world premiere at the Hayes Theater. Jessica Lange, Jim Parsons, and Celia Keenan-Bolger starred in this new play about two teenage children moving into a new apartment under the watchful eye of their opinionated mother. New York Theatre Guide called this Broadway show, "the perfect vehicle for Jessica Lange's return to Broadway after an eight-year hiatus.

An Enemy of the People: This revival of Henrik Ibsen’s classic play is newly adapted by Amy Herzog and ran at the Circle in the Square Theatre starring Tony Award winner Jeremy Strong and Emmy Award winner Michael Imperioli. Strong played a doctor who must go up against the establishment – and his own brother (Imperioli) – when he discovers something that could put everyone in town at risk. The New York Times called this Broadway production, “crackling and persuasive…[with] a uniformly excellent cast.”

Patriots, written by Peter Morgan (creator of the TV show The Crown) and directed by Rupert Goold, ran at Broadway’s Barrymore Theatre after a hit run on the West End. Michael Stuhlbarg starred as Boris Berezovsky and Will Keen reprised his Oliver-Award-winning role as Vladimir Putin in this standoff that the Financial Times called a “brilliant, bruising political drama…a play of real political heft about a crisis that concerns us all.”

Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov with a new translation by Heidi Schreck and direction by Lila Neugebauer ran at Lincoln Center Theater’s Beaumont Theatre. With a star-studded cast including Steve Carell, Alison Pill, Alfred Molina, William Jackson Harper, Anika Noni Rose, and Jayne Houdyshell, this classic play follows Sonya and her uncle Vanya who manage the family farm peacefully until Sonya’s father and stepmother come to town.

Doubt: A Parable, written by John Patrick Shanley and directed by Scott Ellis, comes to Broadway’s Todd Haimes Theatre starring Amy Ryan and Liev Schrieber. This Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning play had its Broadway premiere in 2005 starring Cherry Jones and Brian F. O’Byrne, and it has also been adapted into a film starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The play centers around a nun, Sister Aloysius Beauvier, who suspects that a priest, Father Brendan Flynn, may be having an inappropriate relationship with a student. The New York Times called the original production “tight, absorbing, and expertly acted.”

Prayer for the French Republic: Written by Joshua Harmon and directed by David Cromer, Prayer for the French Republic played at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre after an acclaimed run off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club. The play follows a Jewish couple in Paris in 1944 and their great-grandchildren decades later. The New York Times said this “ambitious new play toggles between a contemporary Jewish family facing growing antisemitism and their relatives during World War II.”

Purlie Victorious: Leslie Odom, Jr. returned to Broadway for the first time since his iconic role as Aaron Burr in the megahit Hamilton. Written by Ossie Davis, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch was directed by Kenny Leon and follows Purlie, a preacher who is on a mission to buy back the town’s church. Entertainment Weekly said, “Ossie Davis' 1961 play has whip-smart dialogue, historical wisdom, and the physical comedy of a top-notch farce.” 

I Need That: Written by Theresa Rebeck and directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, this world premiere at Roundabout Theatre Company’s American Airlines Theatre starred Danny DeVito as Sam, his daughter Lucy DeVito as Amelia, and Ray Anthony Thomas as Foster. When agoraphobic Sam receives a notice from the government demanding he clean up his property or face eviction, he has to decide what is trash, what is treasure, and how to know the difference.

Jaja's African Hair Braiding: Written by Jocelyn Bioh and directed by Whitney White, this world premiere played at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Set in Jaja’s bustling hair braiding salon in Harlem during one sweltering summer day, love will blossom, dreams will flourish, and secrets will be revealed. The New York Times called it “a hot and hilarious workplace sitcom.”

The Shark is Broken: Set against the backdrop of the film Jaws, The Shark is Broken is written by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon and directed by Guy Masterson. Ian Shaw stars as his father Robert Shaw, who played the iconic shark hunter Quint in the movie. Watch as Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, and Roy Scheider navigate behind-the-scenes drama as they wait on a mechanical shark that always seems to be broken. WhatsOnStage says the show is “highly original…packed with wit, insight and pop culture references…it’s also deliriously funny.”

The Cottage: Written by Sandy Rustin and directed by Jason Alexander, this romantic comedy begins when a woman decides to tell her husband and her lover’s wife about their affair. What follows is a hilarious romp that TheaterMania says is “positively delightful…there are few things more pleasant on a steamy New York afternoon or evening than to sit down in a cool theater, turn off your brain, and laugh for two hours straight. The Cottage more than fits the bill.”

Alex Edelman: Just For Us: Written and performed by Alex Edelman and directed by Adam Brace, Just For Us played on Broadway after hit runs off-Broadway and in London, Edinburgh, Melbourne, Boston, and Washington D.C. Just For Us follows Alex as he infiltrates a group of White Nationalists in Queens after receiving antisemitic tweets online. The Daily Beast says, “This is brilliant comedy…just as hilarious and sharply observed on Broadway as it was off.”

Grey House: Written by Levi Holloway and directed by Joe Mantello, Grey House ran at Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre. Starring Laurie Metcalf, Tatiana Maslany, and Paul Sparks, the play follows a couple who seek shelter in a remote cabin after their car breaks down. The Chicago Tribune said, “'Grey House' is a savvy, smart, self-aware new play…and it just happens to be legitimately terrifying.”