Playwrights Galore (2017)

As we bid goodbye to 2017, here's my annual list of playwrights from whom I've seen at least three plays.

No one has progressed on this list more than Haresh Sharma; the number of plays I've seen by him is now only eclipsed by Shakespeare! Sharma has had a bumper crop of shows this year with a dedicated Studios season at The Esplanade and the 30th anniversary celebrations of The Necessary Stage which has seen a slew of new productions and revivals of his work. Elsewhere, rising local playwrights Joel Tan and Faith Ng now join the list.

William Shakespeare (21)

- Twelfth Night (x4)
- Romeo & Juliet (x4)
- Macbeth (x4)
- The Taming of the Shrew (x3)
- The Tempest (x3)
- Hamlet (x3)
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (x3)
- Othello (x2)
- King Lear (x2) 
- Richard III (x2)
- Coriolanus
- Julius Caesar
- Much Ado About Nothing 
- The Winter's Tale
- The Merchant of Venice
- Henry VI Part I
- Henry VI Part II
- Henry VI Part III
- Henry IV Part I
- Henry IV Part II
- Henry V

Haresh Sharma (18)
- Mixed Blessings
- What Big Bombs You Have!!!
- Mobile
- Off Centre
- Gemuk Girls
- godeatgod
- Best Of
- Poor Thing
- Pioneer (Girls) Generation
- Ghost Writer
- Best Of (His Story)
- Actor, Forty
- Those Who Can't, Teach
- Fundamentally Happy
- This Chord and Others
- Hope
- Tropicana the Musical
- Sanctuary

Alan Ayckbourn (11)
- Absurd Person Singular
- Table Manners
- Living Together
- Round and Round the Garden
- Bedroom Farce
- Taking Steps
- Season's Greetings
- Snake in the Grass
- Life of Riley
- Relatively Speaking
- A Small Family Business

Alfian Sa'at (9)
- Cooling Off Day (x2)
- Homesick
- Dreamplay: Asian Boys Vol. 1
- Landmarks: Asian Boys Vol. 2
- Hansel & Gretel
- Cook a Pot of Curry
- Geng Rebut Cabinet
- Hotel
- Siti Khalijah: An Actress Prepares
- Mama White Snake

Chong Tze Chien (7)
- Rant & Rave (x2)
- Real Men, Fake Orgasms
- Spoilt
- Turn by Turn We Turn
- Starring Hitler as Jekyll and Hyde
- Between the Lines: Rant and Rave II 
- Poop!

Noel Coward (5)
- Present Laughter
- Blithe Spirit
- Private Lives
- Design for Living
- Hay Fever

Irfan Kasban (5)
- 94:05 (x2)
- Genap 40
- W.C.
- Tahan
- Angkat

Harold Pinter (4)
- The Lover (x2)
- The Dumb Waiter
- The Collection
- Betrayal

Neil Simon (4)
- The Prisoner of Second Avenue (x2)
- The Odd Couple (female version)
- Rumors
- Lost in Yonkers

 Tom Stoppard (4)
- Rock 'n' Roll
- Arcadia
- The Real Thing
- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Arther Miller (4)
- The Man Who Had All the Luck
- The Crucible
- All My Sons
- Death of a Salesman

Tennessee Williams (4)
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
- The Glass Menagerie
- A Streetcar Named Desire
- Sweet Bird of Youth

Huzir Sulaiman (4)
- Occupation
- Atomic Jaya
- The Weight of Silk on Skin
- The Last Bull: A Life in Flamenco

David Mamet (3)
- Glengarry Glen Ross
- Speed-the-Plow
- November

Anton Chekhov (3)
- The Seagull
- Ivanov
- The Cherry Orchard

Peter Shaffer (3)
- Black Comedy
- White Lies
- Equus

Henrik Ibsen (3)
- Hedda Gabler
- The Master Builder
- An Enemy of the People (x2)

Kuo Pao Kun (3)
- The Coffin is Too Big for the Hole
- Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral
- The Spirits Play

Zizi Azah (3)
- The Gunpowder Trail
- Paradise
- Yusof

Joel Tan (3)
- Jack and the Bean-Sprout
- The Way We Go
- Tango

Faith Ng (3)
- For Better or For Worse
- Normal
- Whale Fall