Best Drama & theatre books

The 39 highest-rated Drama & theatre books, scored from 20.3K reader ratings.

Sort byDecadeMinimum ratingsAdaptation39 results

By year of first publication, 1559–2016. The busiest stretch is 1600–1649, with 11. Select a bar to narrow the list.

1
8.28.2 / 10
The Importance of Being EarnestOscar Wilde891 ratingsWilde’s farce about two young men who both pass themselves off as Ernest is short, quick and built almost entirely out of wit.Our view
2
8.18.1 / 10
Angels in AmericaTony Kushner87 ratings“Angels in America” is a vast, ambitious and deeply moving play about being gay in America.Our view
3
8.08.0 / 10
HamletWilliam Shakespeare1.7K ratingsA revenge tragedy with a ghost and a royal family at its centre, though its real subject is hesitation.Our view

Why The Importance of Being Earnest is #1

The Importance of Being Earnest (Oscar Wilde) scores 8.2/10 from 891 ratings — 0.1 points ahead of Angels in America in second place.

The score is a weighted average across 3 independent rating sources. A title with few ratings is pulled toward the category average, so a handful of enthusiastic reviews cannot outrank a book that thousands of readers have judged. To keep the list varied, the top 20 holds at most two books from one series and three by one author; the rest follow further down. Method →

Frequently asked questions

Which title here has the most ratings?

Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck) — 3.6K ratings and 7.7/10, which puts it at #8 on this list.