American Theatre magazine, published by Theatre Communications Group (TCG), has released its annual Top 10 Most-Produced Plays and Top 20 Most-Produced Playwrights lists for the 2026–27 season. Drawn from programming at nearly 300 TCG Member Theatres as well as non-member and commercial venues, this year’s lists offer a snapshot of what audiences across the country will encounter onstage in the season ahead.
John Proctor Is the Villain Tops American Theatre’s Most-Produced Plays List for 2026–27
August Wilson Is the Most-Produced Playwright; Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Kimberly Belflower, Bess Wohl, and More Rank Among the Season’s Most-Produced Writers
By American Theatre’s count,
Kimberly Belflower’s John Proctor Is the Villain will be the most-produced play of the 2026–27 season, with 20 productions nationwide. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Purpose follows with 14 productions, while Bess Wohl’s Liberation and Jonathan Spector’s Eureka Day each have 11 productions. (Productions of A Christmas Carol are not counted for the purposes of this list.)
“I’m overwhelmed and overjoyed by this mind-blowing honor. I love writing plays more than anything in the world, and to know a play that came from my guts and my home will be in so many hands across the country makes me teary-eyed every time I think about it,” said Kimberly Belflower, playwright of John Proctor Is the Villain.
The Top 10 list spans new and recent plays, contemporary musicals, adaptations, and landmark works of the American theatre, with productions ranging froTm Primary Trust by Eboni Booth and Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks to Les Misérables, Dear Evan Hansen, and last year’s most-produced title, Come From Away.
On the most-produced playwrights list,
August Wilson leads the field with 23 productions, followed by Kimberly Belflower with 21 and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins with 19. Lauren Gunderson ranks fourth with 17 productions, followed by Bess Wohl with 14. (Productions by Shakespeare are excluded for the purpose of this list.)
The 2026–27 Top 10 and 20 lists also feature a number of writers whose work has been published by TCG Books and in American Theatre, reflecting the breadth of contemporary dramatic literature reaching stages nationwide.
“These annual lists remind us that there is no single story of the American theatre,” said Emilya Cachapero, Co-Executive Director of National and Global Programming at TCG. “Across the country, theatres are choosing work that reflects different communities, generations, artistic traditions, and ways of seeing the world. The breadth of this season is a powerful reflection of the theatre ecology TCG is proud to serve.”
The lists will be unveiled publicly on September 17 during a live episode of American Theatre’s Offscript and will also appear in the Fall print issue of American Theatre magazine.
Top 10 Most-Produced Plays of the 2026–27 Season*
*13 due to ties; A Christmas Carol excluded
- John Proctor Is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower (20 productions)
- Purpose by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (14)
- Liberation by Bess Wohl (11)
- Eureka Day by Jonathan Spector (11)
- Les Misérables — Claude-Michel Schönberg (music), Herbert Kretzmer (lyrics), Alain Boublil & Jean-Marc Natel (original French text) (10)
- Dear Evan Hansen by Steven Levenson (book), Benj Pasek & Justin Paul (music & lyrics) (9)
- Primary Trust by Eboni Booth (8)
- The 39 Steps by Patrick Barlow, adapted from John Buchan and Alfred Hitchcock (8)
- Come From Away — book, music & lyrics by Irene Sankoff & David Hein (8)
- Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors by Gordon Greenberg & Steven Rosen (7)
- Peter Pan Goes Wrong by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer & Henry Shields (7)
- Sweeney Todd by Hugh Wheeler (book) and Stephen Sondheim (music & lyrics)
- Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks (7)
Top 20 Most-Produced Playwrights of the 2026–27 Season*
*28 due to ties and co-authorship; William Shakespeare excluded
- August Wilson (23 productions)
- Kimberly Belflower (21)
- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (19)
- Lauren Gunderson (17)
- Bess Wohl (15)
- Jeffrey Hatcher (14)
- Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer & Henry Shields (12)
- Thomas Meehan (12)
- Jonathan Spector (12)
- David Lindsay-Abaire (11)
- Ken Ludwig (11)
- Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg (10)
- Irene Sankoff & David Hein (10)
- Tennessee Williams (9)
- Steven Dietz (9)
- Gordon Greenberg & Steven Rosen (9)
- Steven Levenson (9)
- Lynn Nottage (9)
- Patrick Barlow (8)
- Eboni Booth (8)
- Jen Silverman (8)
- Karen Zacarías (8)
These lists were culled from 1,634 total productions: 1,283 productions at 298 TCG Member Theatres, plus 351 productions at non-member and commercial venues.
As always, American Theatre did not consider productions of A Christmas Carol, of which there will be 30 in various adaptations, or productions by William Shakespeare, of which there will be 39 in the coming season. If composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim were counted as a playwright, his 17 productions would place him among this season’s most-produced writers.
American Theatre has been compiling its annual most-produced lists since 1994, offering a season-by-season view of the writers and works shaping the American theatre.
American Theatre magazine is published daily online and quarterly in print by Theatre Communications Group. As the nation’s essential magazine for professional not-for-profit theatre, American Theatre has been providing theatre professionals, students, advocates, and audiences a comprehensive journal for almost 40 years. Quarterly print editions are published every October, January, April, and July, and include play scripts as well as special issues like the Season Preview and Training edition. American Theatre is available online, at selected newsstands nationwide or through TCG Individual Membership.
Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, leads for a just and thriving theatre ecology. Since its founding in 1961, TCG’s constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to over 750 organizations (including member theatres, affiliates, universities) and over 3,000 individual members. Through its programs and services, TCG reaches over one million students, audience members, and theatre professionals each year.
TCG offers networking and knowledge-building opportunities through research, communications, and events, including the annual TCG National Conference, one of the largest nationwide gatherings of theatre people; awards grants and scholarships to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and through the Global Theater Initiative, TCG’s partnership with the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics, serves as the U.S. Center of the International Theatre Institute.
TCG is North America’s largest independent trade publisher of dramatic literature, with 21 Pulitzer Prizes for Drama on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning American Theatre magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts. TCG believes its vision of “a better world for theatre, and a better world because of theatre” can be achieved through individual and collective action, adaptive and responsive leadership, and equitable representation in all areas of practice. TCG is led by co-Executive Directors, Emilya Cachapero, LaTeshia Ellerson, and Alisha Tonsic.
Photo: Left to right: Brianna Martinez, Jules Talbot, Victoria Omoregie, Haley Wong in John Proctor is the Villain; directed by Margot Bordelon; photo by T. Charles Erickson John Proctor is the Villain February 8 – March 10 at The Calderwood Pavilion/BCA.
