35 Plays to Pick Up For LGBTQ+ Pride Month : PerformerStuff More Good Stuff

35 Plays to Pick Up For LGBTQ+ Pride Month

Written by Tiffany Wilkie

June 21, 2021

June was chosen as Pride Month in 2009 by former President Obama to commemorate the Stonewall Riots that occurred in 1969. Celebrating pride month helps promote diversity, equality, acceptance, and respect of the LGBTQ+ community. We’re proud to share a list of 35 non-musical plays that bring these issues to the stage, from 1934 to present day. Pick up one (or all of them) today!

The Captive Play by Édouard Bourdet (1934)

The Captive is a 1926 play by Édouard Bourdet. The three-act melodrama was among the first Broadway plays to deal with lesbianism and caused a scandal in New York City. The play was shut down after 160 performances and prompted the adoption of a state law dealing with obscenity.

Get the play here.

The Boys in the Band by Mart Crowley (1968)

“In his Upper East Side apartment, Michael is throwing a birthday party for Harold, a self-avowed “thirty-two-year-old, pockmarked, Jew fairy,” complete with surprise gift: “Cowboy,” a street hustler. As the evening wears on – fueled by drugs and alcohol – bitter, unresolved resentments among the guests come to light when a game of “Truth” goes terribly wrong. This groundbreaking play premiered Off-Broadway in 1968 and ran for 1,001 performances. […] In 2018, The Boys in the Band made its Broadway debut at the Booth Theatre in an unprecedented production featuring a cast of entirely out-and-proud gay actors. “ – Samuel French

Get the play here.

for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange (1975)

“This groundbreaking ‘choreopoem’ is a spellbinding collection of vivid prose and free verse narratives about and performed by Black women. Capturing the brutal, tender and dramatic lives of contemporary Black women, for colored girls… offers a transformative, riveting evening of provocative dance, music and poetry.” – Samuel French

Get the play here.

Torch Song Trilogy by Harvey Fierstein (1978)

“Torch Song Trilogy is constructed of three moving plays told over three acts: International Stud, Fugue in a Nursery, and Widows and Children First! The life of Arnold Beckoff, a torch song-singing, Jewish drag queen living in New York City is dramatized over the span of the late 1970s and 1980s, through Stonewall, the AIDS crisis, and other ground-breaking milestones for the LGBT community. Told with a likable, human voice, Arnold struggles through love, disease, and the challenges of child-rearing.” – Samuel French

Get the play here.

Bent by Martin Sherman (1979)

“In 1934 Berlin on the eve of the Nazi incursion, Max, a grifter and his lover Rudy are recovering from a night of debauchery with a SA trooper. Two soldiers burst into the apartment and slit their guest’s throat, beginning a nightmare odyssey through Nazi Germany. Ranked lower on the human scale than Jews, the men as avowed homosexuals, flee. Desperate and on the run, Max asks his own ‘discreetly’ homosexual Uncle Freddie for help as the older man offers little more than suggestions on how to live, as he does, practicing homosexuality on the side. Attempting their escape, Rudy is beaten to death as Horst, another homosexual prisoner, warns Max to deny his lover. Taken to a death camp at Dachau, Max and Horst branded with the ‘pink triangle’, hope to survive with each other for comfort and courage but it is not to be.” – Samuel French

Get the play here.

Another Country by Julian Mitchell (1982)

“Another Country is set in an English public school in the early 1930’s where future leaders are being prepared for their roles in the ruling class. Two of the central characters are outsiders: Guy Bennett is coming to terms with homosexuality and Tommy Judd is a committed Marxist. Judd wants to abolish the whole system of British life; Bennett wants a successful career within it. The school and the system have traditional ways of dealing with rebels.”- Samuel French

Get the play here.

The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer (1985)

“A searing drama about public and private indifference to the AIDS plague and one man’s lonely fight to awaken the world to the crisis. […] The Normal Heart follows Ned Weeks, a gay activist enraged at the indifference of public officials and the gay community. While trying to save the world from itself, he confronts the personal toll of AIDS when his lover dies of the disease.” – Samuel French

Get the play here.

Breaking the Code by Hugh Whitemore (1987)

“Eccentric genius Alan Turing played a major role in winning the World War II; he broke the complex German code called Enigma, enabling allied forces to foresee German maneuvers. Since his work was classified top secret for years after the war, no one knew how much was owed to him when he was put on trial for breaking another code the taboo against homosexuality. Turing, who was also the first to conceive of computers, was convicted of the criminal act of homosexuality and sentenced to undergo hormone treatments which left him physically and mentally debilitated. He died a suicide, forgotten and alone. This play is about who he was, what happened to him and why.”- Dramatists Play Service

Get the play here.

M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang (1988)

“Bored with his routine posting in Beijing, and awkward with women, Rene Gallimard, a French diplomat, is easy prey for the subtle, delicate charms of Song Liling, a Chinese opera star who personifies Gallimard’s fantasy vision of submissive, exotic oriental sexuality. He begins an affair with “her” that lasts for twenty years, during which time he passes along diplomatic secrets, an act that, eventually, brings on his downfall and imprisonment. […] The play reaches its astonishing climax when Song Liling, before our very eyes, strips off his female attire and assumes his true masculinity—a revelation that the deluded Gallimard can neither credit nor accept and which drives him finally—and fatally—deep within the fantasy with which, over the years, he has held the truth at bay.” – Dramatists Play Service

Get the play here.

Angels in America, Parts 1 and 2 by Tony Kushner (1992)

“In the first part of Tony Kushner’s epic, set in 1980’s New York City, a gay man is abandoned by his lover when he contracts the AIDS virus, and a closeted Mormon lawyer’s marriage to his pill-popping wife stalls. Other characters include the infamous McCarthy-ite lawyer Roy Cohn, Ethel Rosenberg, a former drag queen who works as a nurse, and an angel. In the second part, the plague of AIDS worsens, relationships fall apart as new ones form, and unexpected friendships take form.” – Broadway Play Publishing

Get the plays here.

And Baby Makes Seven by Paula Vogel (1993)

“Anna, Ruth and Peter await the arrival of their newborn child, but first they must rid the crowded apartment of their three imaginary children.” – Dramatists Play Service

Get the play here.

Stop Kiss by Diana Son (1998)

“Callie is holding down a job as a radio traffic reporter when she meets Sam, a Midwesterner who, against her parents’ wishes, has moved to the city to teach third-grade students in the Bronx. As they get to know each other, their shared experiences and sense of humor create a strong bond. The tragic consequences of their kiss – the center of this powerful drama – serve as both indictment of hatred and a moving study of the perils inherent in living life fully.” – Overlook Press

Get the play here.

The Judas Kiss by David Hare (1998)

“Liam Neeson starred on Broadway in this compelling depiction of Oscar Wilde just before and after his imprisonment. Act One captures him in 1895 on the eve of his arrest. He still has a chance to flee to the continent but chooses to let the train leave without him. In the second act, Wilde is in Naples more than two years later, after his release from Reading Gaol. In exile, he is drawn to a reunion with his unworthy lover and a final betrayal.” – Samuel French

Get the play here.

Boston Marriage by David Mamet (2000)

“Anna and Claire are two bantering, scheming “women of fashion” who have long lived together on the fringes of upper-class society. Anna has just become the mistress of a wealthy man, from whom she has received an enormous emerald and an income to match. Claire, meanwhile, is infatuated with a respectable young lady and wants to enlist the jealous Anna’s help for an assignation. As the two women exchange barbs and take turns taunting Anna’s hapless Scottish parlor maid, Claire’s young inamorata suddenly appears, setting off a crisis that puts both the valuable emerald and the women’s futures at risk. To this wickedly funny comedy, Mamet brings his trademark tart dialogue and impeccable plotting, spiced with Wildean wit.”– Dramatists Play Service

Get the play here.

The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman and the Members of Tectonic Theater Project (2001)

“In October 1998, a twenty-one-year-old student at the University of Wyoming was kidnapped, severely beaten, and left tied to a fence in the middle of the prairie outside Laramie, Wyoming. His bloody, bruised, and battered body was not discovered until the next day, and he died several days later in an area hospital. His name was Matthew Shepard, and he was the victim of this assault because he was gay. Moisés Kaufman and fellow members of the Tectonic Theater Project made six trips to Laramie over the course of a year and a half, in the aftermath of the beating and during the trial of the two young men accused of killing Shepard. They conducted more than 200 interviews with the people of the town.” – Dramatists Play Service

Get the play here.

God of Vengeance by Donald Margulies (2003)

“Jack Chapman runs a brothel on the first floor of his tenement, but wants a respectable marriage for his daughter. But when his daughter falls in love with one of the prostitutes, the marriage – and with it, Jack’s dream of redemption – looks very doubtful indeed. […] The original English-language version of God of Vengeance first appeared on Broadway in 1923, but was closed down and the cast arrested for its portrayal of a lesbian love affair on stage.” – Nick Hern Books

Get the play here.

The Pride by Alexi Kaye Campbell (2008)

“Alternating between 1958 and 2008, The Pride examines changing attitudes to sexuality and the perennial themes of love, lust and betrayal. In 1958 Philip is married to Sylvia but finds himself falling in love with another man. His refusal to acknowledge his true nature leads both him and the people he loves to a devastating conclusion. In 2008, Oliver is addicted to anonymous sexual encounters. Forced to make a choice between promiscuity and monogamy, he has to ask himself fundamental questions on the nature of intimacy and identity. Three characters exist in two different time periods and come to learn that even though social conventions may change the pursuit of self-knowledge and true happiness remains as challenging as ever.” – Dramatists Play Service

Get the play here.

Wig Out by Tarell Alvin McCraney (2008)

“In this gossamer-laced reality, there is never a moment to be without your face, to not be together. One false move and you’ll get chopped. One night can leave you legendary or a subsidiary. Enter the House of Light, a hyper-glamorous, uber-competitive drag queen refuge where a daughter who was once a son can find a family. While the House are primping and preening for a catwalk showdown, drag queen Nina is wooing the delectable Eric as Wilson. How can Nina/Wilson strut the thorny divide between opposite genders and differing worlds?” New York Times

Get the play here.

Body Awareness by Annie Baker (2009)

“It’s Body Awareness Week on a Vermont college campus and Phyllis, the organizer, and her partner, Joyce, are hosting one of the guest artists in their home: Frank, a photographer famous for his female nude portraits. Both his presence in the home and his chosen subject instigate tension from the start. Phyllis is furious at his depictions, but Joyce is actually rather intrigued by the whole thing, even going so far as to contemplate posing for him. As Joyce and Phyllis bicker, Joyce’s adult son, who may or may not have Asperger syndrome, struggles to express himself physically – with heartbreaking results.” – Samuel French

Get the play here.

Act a Lady by Jordan Harrison (2009)

“When the men of a small Prohibition-era town decide to put on a play dressed in “fancy-type, women-type clothes,” the whole community is affected: gender lines blur, eyebrows raise, identities explode, and life and art are forever entangled. A thoughtful and exuberant Midwestern fable about the woman in every man, the man in every woman and the power of theatre to uncover both.” – Playscripts, Inc.

Get the play here.

The Temperamentals by Jon Marans (2009)

“‘Temperamental’ was code for ‘homosexual’ in the early 1950s, part of a created language of secret words that gay men used to communicate. The Temperamentals tells the story of two men—the communist Harry Hay and the Viennese refugee and designer Rudi Gernreich—as they fall in love while building the first gay rights organization in the pre-Stonewall United States.” – Dramatists Play Service

Get the play here.

Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them by A. Rey Pamatmat (2012)

“Three kids — Kenny, his sister Edith, and their friend Benji — are all but abandoned on a farm in remotest Middle America. With little adult supervision, they feed and care for each other, making up the rules as they go. But when Kenny’s and Benji’s relationship becomes more than friendship, and Edith shoots something she really shouldn’t shoot, the formerly indifferent outside world comes barging in whether they want it to or not.” – Samuel French

Get the play here.

The Nance by Douglas Carter Beane (2013)

“In the 1930s, burlesque impresarios welcomed the hilarious comics and musical parodies of vaudeville to their decidedly lowbrow niche. A headliner called “the nance”—usually played by a straight man—was a stereotypically camp homosexual and master of comic double entendre. The Nance recreates the naughty, raucous world of burlesque’s heyday and tells the backstage story of Chauncey Miles and his fellow performers. At a time when it was easy to play gay and dangerous to be gay, Chauncey’s uproarious antics on the stage stand out in marked contrast to his offstage life.” – Dramatists Play Service

Get the play here.

Bootycandy by Robert O’Hara (2014)

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5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche by Evan Linder and Andrew Hobgood (2014)

“It’s 1956 and the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein are having their annual quiche breakfast. Will they be able to keep their cool when Communists threaten their idyllic town?” – Samuel French

Get the play here.

Indecent by Paula Vogel (2015)

If you’re interested in God of Vengeance above, you’ll love Indecent. “When Sholem Asch wrote God of Vengeance in 1907, he didn’t imagine the height of controversy the play would eventually reach. Performing at first in Yiddish and German, the play’s subject matter wasn’t deemed contentious until it was produced in English, when the American audiences were scandalized by the onstage depiction of an amorous affair between two women. Paula Vogel’s newest work traces the trajectory of the show’s success through its tour in Europe to its abrupt and explosive demise on Broadway in 1923—including the arrest of the entire production’s cast and crew.” – Theatre Communications Group.

Get the play here.

Perfect Arrangement by Topher Payne (2016)

“It’s 1950, and new colors are being added to the Red Scare. Two U.S. State Department employees, Bob and Norma, have been tasked with identifying sexual deviants within their ranks. There’s just one problem: Both Bob and Norma are gay, and have married each other’s partners as a carefully constructed cover. Inspired by the true story of the earliest stirrings of the American gay rights movement, madcap classic sitcom-style laughs give way to provocative drama as two “All-American” couples are forced to stare down the closet door.” – Samuel French

Get the play here.

Tipping the Velvet by Laura Wade and Sarah Waters (2016)

“It’s 1887 and Nancy Astley sits in the audience at her local music hall: she doesn’t know it yet, but the next act on the bill will change her life. Tonight is the night she’ll fall in love . . . with the thrill of the stage and with Kitty Butler, a girl who wears trousers.” – Samuel French

Get the play here.

Street Children by Pia Scala-Zankel (2016)

“Set in NYC in the late 80’s, Street Children explores the repression, romantic idealism and high cost of living experienced by the transgender and queer community of the lower Hudson piers. The story follows the intertwining journeys of three young characters who are reeling in the aftermath of their beloved street mother’s cruel murder. Ultimately, they must choose between the thrills and camaraderie of life as they know it, and the safety and stability of a quieter existence—albeit one potentially defined by isolation and ostracism..” – Vertigo Theater Company

Get the play here.

Cardboard Piano by Hansol Jung (2017)

“Northern Uganda on the eve of the millennium: The daughter of American missionaries and a local teenage girl steal into a darkened church to seal their love in a secret, makeshift wedding ceremony. But when the surrounding war zone encroaches on their fragile union, they cannot escape its reach. Confronting the religious and cultural roots of intolerance, Cardboard Piano explores violence and its aftermath, as well as the human capacity for hatred, forgiveness, and love.” – Samuel French

Get the play here.

Adam by Frances Poet (2017)

“If you are born in a country where being yourself can get you killed, exile is your only choice.

Frances Poet’s play Adam is the remarkable true story of a young trans man having to make that choice and begin his journey. It charts Adam’s progress from Egypt to Scotland, across borders and genders, in his search for a place to call home.” – Nick Hern Books

Get the play here.

Slave Play a by Jeremy O. Harris (2018)

Slave Play is a three-act play by Jeremy O. Harris. The play is about race, sex, power relations, trauma, and interracial relationships. It follows three interracial couples undergoing “Antebellum Sexual Performance Therapy” because the black partners no longer feel sexual attraction to their white partners.

Get the play here.

Choir Boy by Tarell Alvin McCraney (2018)

The Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys is dedicated to the creation of strong, ethical black men. Pharus wants nothing more than to take his rightful place as leader of the school’s legendary gospel choir. Can he find his way inside the hallowed halls of this institution if he sings in his own key? – DPS

Get the play here.

The Inheritance by Matthew Lopez (2019)

” Decades after the AIDS epidemic, three generations of gay men grapple with the tragedy of their past and what it means for their future. Eric is a New York City lawyer trying to keep his family’s apartment; his husband, Toby, is a successful but abrasive writer, living in a state of denial. And their marriage is hanging by a thread. From there, a web of hilarious and heartbreaking stories unfolds, remembering the dead and calling on the living to keep looking forward. Inspired by E.M. Forster’s Howards End, THE INHERITANCE is an epic examination of survival, healing, class divide, and what it means to call a place home.” – Dramatist Play Service

Get the play here.

The Hot Wing King by Katori Hall (2021)

“A funny, deeply felt consideration of Black masculinity and how it is perceived, filtered through the experiences of a loving gay couple and their extended family as they prepare for a culinary competition.” – Pulitzer Prize

At the time of this article’s publishing, the play is not available. Visit here for more information.