Contemporary Verse Dramatists

20th Century

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William Archer (1856-1924)
  • Peer Gynt (1892) co-translator with his brother, Charles Archer of Henrik Ibsen's verse drama

Archer wrote extensively about the stage and craft, and was a major translator of Ibsen into English.  He seems to have favored Ibsen's prose (paragraph) works, and put them forward to change Anglophone drama.

W. H. Auden (1907-1973)

Anthony Burgess (1917-1993)
  • Cyrano de Bergerac (1971, 1985, 1991), translator of Edmond Rostand
  • Oedipus Rex (1972), translator of Sophocles
  • Cavalier of the Rose (1982), librettist, composer Richard Strauss, original libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal
  • Carmen (1986), translator of Georges Bizet
  • Oberon Old and New (1985), librettist, composer Carl Maria von Weber; an original libretto by James Robinson Planché is also in English
  • Blooms of Dublin: A Musical Play Based on James Joyce's Ulysses (1986)
  • A Clockwork Orange: A Play with Music (1987)
  • Chatsky, or the Importance of Being Stupid (1993), four act verse comedy, translated from Alexandr Griboyedov's (1823) rhymed verse comedy, Woe from Wit (Russian: Го́ре от ума́, romanized: Gore ot uma)

James Bridie (1888-1951)
  • Plays for Plain People (19??) Mr. Bofry, Lancelot, Holy Isle, Jonah and the Whale, The SIgn of the Prophet Jonah, The Dragon and the Dove
  • The King of Nowhere (19??) The King of Nowhere, Babes in the Wood, The Last Trump
  • Susannah and the Elders (19??) Susannah, What Say they?, and The Golden Legend of Shults, The Kitchen Comedy
  • Colonel Wotherspoon (19??) Colonel Wotherspoon, What it is to be Young, The Dancing Bear, The Girl who did not want to go to Kuala Lumpur
  • The Sleeping Clergyman (19??), The Sleeping Clergyman, The Amazed Evangelist, Jonah and the Whale, Tobias and the Angel, The Anatomist
  • The Switchback (19??), The Siwtchback, The Pardoner's Tale, The Sunlight Sonata
  • Moral Plays (19??), Marriage is no Joke, Mary Read (co-written with Claud Gurney), The BLack Eye--and a Preface
  • The Forrigan Reel, ballad opera (1949)

Full bibliography

Peter Brook (1925-2022)
  • Orghast, written with Ted Hughes (1971)

J. Comyns Carr (1849-1916)

Ronald Duncan (1914-1982)
  • The Dull Ass' Hoof (1940), collection of plays
  • Peter Grimes (1943), helped write last scene with librettist Montagu Slater based on the section "Peter Grimes", in George Crabbe's long narrative poem The Borough.  Composer Benjamin Britten
  • This Way to the Tomb (1945), verse drama with incidental music by Benjamin Britten
  • The Rape of Lucretia: An Opera in Two Acts (1946), librettist for composer Benjamin Britten, based on the André Obey's play Le Viol de Lucrèce (1931)
  • The Eagle Has Two Heads (1946), with original verse interpolations, transladaptated from Jean Cocteau's L’aigle à deux têtes
  • The Typewriter (1947), translation from Jean Cocteau's La Machine à écrire
  • Stratton (1950)
  • St Spiv (1950), later furnished with musical songs by Jerry and Jeff Wayne
  • Our Lady's Tumbler (1951), with music by Arthur Oldham
  • Don Juan (1953), also director
  • The Death of Satan: A Comedy (1954), also director; later made into a television play by the CBC as The Return of Don Juan
  • The Apollo of Bellac (1957), translation from Jean Giraudoux's L'Apollon de Bellac or L'Apollon de Marsac
  • Abelard and Heloise (1960)
  • The Catalyst (1962), also known as Ménage à Trois, Lord Chamberlain tried to censor public performance
  • O-B-A-F-G (1964), experimental play in one act for stereophonic sound
  • The Seven Deadly Virtues (1966)
  • Schubert (1970), dramatic monologue with music
  • Lenin (1981)

A friend and mentee of Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot.  Instrumental in setting up and naming the English Stage Company at London's Royal Court Theatre, which opened in 1956.  More information at the University of Exeter.

Lord Dunsany (1878-1957)
  • Five Plays (1914), The Gods of the Mountain, The Golden Doom, King Argimenes and the Unknown Warrior, The Glittering Gate, The Lost Silk Hat
  • A Night at an Inn (1916)
  • Plays of Gods and Men (1917), The Laughter of the Gods, The Queen's Enemies, The Tents of the Arabs, A Night at an Inn
  • If (1921)
  • Plays of Near and Far (1922), The Compromise of the King of the Golden Isles, The Flight of the Queen, Cheezo, A Good Bargain, If Shakespeare Lived Today, Fame and the Poet
  • Alexander and Three SMall Plays (1925), Alexander, The Old King's Tale, The Evil Kettle, The Amusements of Khan Kharuda
  • Seven Modern Comedies (1928), Atalanta in Wimbledon, The Raffle, The Journey of the Soul, In Holy Russia, His Sainted Grandmother, The Hopeless Passion of Mr Bunyon, The Jest of Hahalaba
  • The Old Folks of the Cneturies (1930)
  • Mr Faithful (1935)
  • Plays for Earth and Air (1937), radio plays, Fame Comes Late, A Matter of Honour, Mr Sliggen's Hour, The Pumpkin, The Use of Man, The Bureau de Change, The Seventh Symphony, Golden Dragon City, Time's Joke, Atmospherics
  • The Ghosts of the Heaviside Layer,a nd Other Fantasms (1980), published posthumously, includin The Prince of Stamboul (1925), Lord Adrian (1933)
  • The Ginger Cat and Other Lost Plays (2005), published posthumously, The Ginger Cat (1914), The Murderers (1919), Mr Faithful (1922)
  • The Seventh Symphony (1937), part of Plays for Earth and Air, after Beethoven's 7th Symphony

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965)
  • Sweeney Agonistes (1932 -Fragments)
  • The Rock (1934)
  • Murder in the Cathedral (1935)
  • The Family Reunion (1939)
  • The Cocktail Party (1949)
  • The Confidential Clerk (1953)
  • The Elder Statesmen (1958)

James Forsyth (1913-2005)
  • Emmanuel: A Nativity Play (1952)
  • Three Plays: The Other Heart, Heloise, and Adelaise (1957)
  • The Road to Emmaus: A Play for Eastertide (1958)
  • Joshua (1959)
  • Brand (1960), translated from the Ibsen verse play
  • Dear Wormwood (1961), adapted paragraph play from C. S. Lewis
  • If My Wings Heal (1968)
  • Cyrano de Bergerac (1968), translation of Edmond Rostand
  • The Last Journey (1972)
  • Screwtape (1973), adapted paragraph play from C. S. Lewis,
  • Defiant Island (1975)

Additional information at Doollee, and Encyclopedia.com

Christopher Fry (1907-2005)
  • She Shall Have Music (1934)
  • Open Door (1936)
  • The Boy With A Cart (1938)
  • Robert of Sicily: Opera for Children (1938)
  • Seven at One Stroke: A Play for Children (1939)
  • Thursday's Child (1939)
  • The Tower (1939)
  • A Phoenix Too Frequent (1946)
  • The Firstborn (1948)
  • Thor, With Angels (1948)
  • The Lady's Not For Burning (1948)
  • Ring Round the Moon (1950)
  • Venus Observed (1950)
  • A Sleep of Prisoners (1951)
  • The Dark is Light Enough (1954)
  • The Lark (Translation of Jean Anouilh's L'Alouette", 1955)
  • Tiger at the Gates (From Jean Giraudoux's La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu, 1955)
  • Duel of Angels (From Giraudoux's Pour Lucrèce, 1960)
  • Judith (From Giraudoux's Judith, 1962)
  • The Boy and the Magic (1964)
  • Curtmantle (For Royal Shakespeare Company, 1962)
  • A Yard of Sun (1970)
  • Peer Gynt (Translation of Henrik Ibsen, 1970)
  • Cyrano de Bergerac (Translation of Edmond Rostand, 1975)
  • Can You Find Me: A Family History (1979)
  • One More Thing (1986)
  • A Ringing of Bells (2000)

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

Ted Hughes (1930-1998)
  • The House of Aries (1960), radio play
  • The Calm (1961)
  • A Houseful of Women (1961), radio play
  • The Wound (1962), radio play
  • Difficulties of a Bridegroom (1963), radio play
  • Epithalamium (1963)
  • Dogs (1964), radio play
  • The House of Donkeys (1965), radio play
  • The Head of Gold (1967), radio play
  • The Coming of the Kings and Other Plays (Date unknown), based on juvenile work
  • The Price of a Bride (juvenile, radio play), broadcast, 1966), based on juvenile work, radio play
  • Oedipus (1968), after Seneca
  • Orghast, written with Peter Brook (1971)
  • Eat Crow (1971)
  • The Iron Man (1972), televised, based on juvenile work
  • Orpheus (1973)

Christopher Isherwood (1904-1986)

Chester Kallman (1921-1975)
  • The Rake's Progress, librettist with W. H. Auden (1951), composer Igor Stravinsky
  • Bluebeard's Castle, translator/librettist (1952), original libretto Béla Balázs for the opera by Béla Bartók
  • Delia, or, A Masque of Night, librettist with W. H. Auden (1953), libretto for Igor Stravinsky by never set to music
  • The Visitors, librettist (1953-1956), first performed in 1957 as Panfilo and Lauretta, originally titled The Tuscan Players or Love Propitiated, composer Carlos Chávez, loosely inspired by characters in The Decameron, including plays-within-plays such as Cupid and Psyche, Adam and Eve, and Mary Magdalene
  • Falstaff, translator/librettist (1954), original libretto by Arrigo Boito, composer Giuseppe Verdi
  • The Coronation of Poppea, translator/librettist (1954), original libretto Giovanni Francesco Busenello, composer Claudio Monteverdi
  • The Magic Flute, translator/librettist with W. H. Auden (1956), translation of the libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  • Anne Boleyn, translator/librettist (1959), original libretto Felice Romani, composer Domenico Donizetti
  • The Prize Fight, translator/librettist (1959), original libretto Luciano Conosciani, composer Vieri Tosatti, after their opera Partita a Pugni
  • Don Giovanni, translator/librettist with W. H. Auden (1961), original libretto Lorenzo da Ponte, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  • Elegy for Young Lovers, librettist with W. H. Auden (1961), composer Hans Werner Henze
  • Love Propitiated, librettist (1963),
  • The Bassarids, librettist with W. H. Auden (1966), composer Hans Werner Henze, after Euripedes' The Bacchae
  • Love's Labour's Lost, librettist with W. H. Auden (1973), composer Nicholas Nabokov, based on the Shakespeare
  • The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, translator/librettist with W. H. Auden (1976), original libretto by Bertolt Brecht, composer Kurt Weill
  • Arcifanfano, King of Fools, translator/librettist with W. H. Auden (published 1992), original libretto by Carolo Goldini, composer Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf

Alfred Kreymborg (1883-1966)

A proponent of free verse as a new way into verse drama.  A friend of Ezra Pound.

Louis MacNeice (1907-1963)
  • The Agamemnon of Aeschylus (1936, translation)
  • Out of the Picture (1937)
  • Christopher Columbus (1944), radio drama
  • He Had a Date (1944), radio drama
  • The Dark Tower and other radio scripts (1947)
  • Goethe's Faust, translator (1949)
  • One for the Grave: a modern morality play (1958)
  • The Administrator (1961), radio drama
  • The Mad Islands (1962), radio drama
  • Persons from Porlock (1963) and other plays for radio (1969)
  • Selected Plays of Louis MacNeice, ed. Alan Heuser and Peter McDonald (1993)

MacNeice also wrote several plays which were never produced, and many for the BBC which were never published.

Dorothy Parker (1893-1967)
  • The Coast of Illyria: A Play in Three Acts (1949), with Ross Evans, inspired by the murder of Mary and Charles Lamb's mother by Mary.  A poetic drama.

Stephen Phillips (1864-1915)
  • Paolo and Francesca (1900), comissioned by Sir George Alexander, from Dante's Inferno
  • Herod: A Tragedy (1900)
  • Ulysses (1902)
  • The Sin of David (1904)
  • Nero (1906)

Other than Paolo and Francesca, which is modelled on Elizabethan verse drama, Phillips was interested in reviving the Greek drama.

Terrence Rattigan (1911-1977)
  • The Browning Version (1948) - wherein Robert Browning's translation of Aeschylus' Agamemnon is a central feature
  • Harlequinade (1948) - played alongside The Browning Version, and draws heavily on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Fascinating article on "Rattigan versus Shaw: The 'Drama of Ideas' Debate" by Susan Rusinko

Anne Ridler
(1912-2001)
  • Cain (1943)
  • Shadow Factory: A Nativity Play (1945)
  • Henry Bly and Other Plays (1950)
  • The Trial of Thomas Cranmer (1956)
  • The Jesse Tree: A Masque in Verse (1970)
  • The Lambton Worm (1978)

Montagu Slater (1902-1956)
  • Peter Grimes (1943), librettist; Ronald Duncan helped write last scene, based on the section "Peter Grimes", in George Crabbe's long narrative poem The Borough.  Composer Benjamin Britten. Slater published his original libretto in three acts, which was praised by Anthony Burgess as "the only libretto I know that can be read in its own right as a dramatic poem."
  • Yerma (1958), librettist, with revisions from the composer Denis ApIvor, based on the play by Federico Carcia Lorca

Stephen Spender (1909-1995)
  • Trial of a Judge: A Tragedy in Five Acts (1938)
  • Rasputin's End, librettist (1958), composer Nicolas Nabokov
  • The Oedipus Trilogy (1985)

Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)
  • The Doctor and the Devils and Other Scripts (1953)
  • Under Milk Wood (1954), radio play, "poetic drama"

Charles Williams
(1886-1945)
  • The Chapel of the Thorn (1912)
  • The Masques of Amen House: The Masque of the Manuscript (1927), The Masque of Perusal (1929), The Mask of the Termination of Copyright (1930)
  • A Myth of Shakespeare (1930)
  • A Myth of Francis Bacon (1930)
  • Three plays: The Rite of the Passion (1929), The Chaste Wanton (1930), The Witch (1931)
  • Thomas Cranmer of Canterbury (1936)
  • Seed of Adam (1937)
  • Judgement at Chelmsford (1939)
  • The Death of Good Fortune (1939)
  • Terror of Light (1940)
  • Grab and Grace (1941)
  • The Three Temptations (1942)
  • House of the Octopus (1945)

Colin Wilson (1931-2013)
  • Strindberg (1970)
  • Mozart's Journey to Prague (1992)
  • The Death of God' and other plays (edited by Colin Stanley) (2008)

See also:

  • 1909: The Birth of Arthur: A Choral Drama, libretto by Rutland Boughton and Reginald R. Buckley, music by Rutland Boughton
  • 1916: The Round Table, Rutland Boughton
  • 1918: Lancelot, Algernon Charles Swinburne
  • 1924: The Famous Tragedy of The Queen of Cornwall, Rutland Boughton (inspired by Hardy)
  • 1934: The Lily Maid, Rutland Boughton
  • 1944: Galahad, Rutland Boughton
  • 1945: Avalon, Rutland Boughton
  • 1949: Thor, with Angels, Christopher Fry
  • 1981: The Marvels of Merlin, Tim Porter