‘John Proctor Is the Villain’ and August Wilson Top This Year’s Most-Produced Lists
American Theatre • • entertainment
Key Points:
- Since 1994, American Theatre has tracked the most-produced plays annually, noting a trend where new titles often debut at the No. 1 spot post-Covid reopening.
- Recent top debut plays include Lynn Nottage’s *Clyde’s* (2022), Heidi Schreck’s *What the Constitution Means to Me* (2023 and 2024), and *Come From Away* (2023), which also remains popular this year.
- This year’s surprise No. 1 is Kimberly Belflower’s *John Proctor Is the Villain*, a reinterpretation of *The Crucible* that developed over nearly a decade before its professional premiere in 2022 and Broadway run in 2023.
- Classic titles like *Les Misérables* have resurfaced due to licensing cycles, while perennial favorites such as August Wilson continue to dominate the playwrights list.
- New entries to the Top 10 list this year include Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s *Purpose*, Bess Wohl’s *Liberation*, and *Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors* by Gordon Greenberg and Steven Rosen.
