--- description: Find out what made TIME’s list of the best theater of 2018, from 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' to 'My Fair Lady.' title: The 10 Best Plays and Musicals of 2018 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5773c5a66b4b035c/69893f1b86f68eab426eab6c/best-theatre.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Theater](/tag/theater/) ## Theater Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The 10 Best Plays and Musicals of 2018  by [Eben Shapiro](/author/eben-shapiro/)  ## Eben Shapiro Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Eben Shapiro is the former deputy editor of TIME Updated: Dec 12, 2023 4:27 PM CUTPublished: Nov 20, 2018 12:00 PM CUT  Angels in America; Fairview; My Fair Lady Angels in America; Fairview; My Fair LadyFairview: Julieta Cervantes  by [Eben Shapiro](/author/eben-shapiro/)  ## Eben Shapiro Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Eben Shapiro is the former deputy editor of TIME Updated: Dec 12, 2023 4:27 PM CUTPublished: Nov 20, 2018 12:00 PM CUT In 2018, the winds of change howled, blowing the dust off of shows that history had seemly rendered irrelevant. Superstar storytellers held audiences in thrall, and a wizard grew up and showed some new tricks. ## **10\.** **_Twelfth Night_** **: Shakespeare in the Park**  Public Works Musical Adaptation of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night: Shakespeare in the Park Joan Marcus If music be the food of love, play on. This new musical adaptation of _Twelfth Night_ is sheer bliss. A mixture of stellar pros and enthusiastic amateurs enliven the Public Theater’s Public Works Shakespeare in the Park production, with regular folk from all five boroughs joining in the celebration. Music by the splendid Shaina Taub, who is also one of the stars, makes it soar. ## **9\.** **_Harry Potter and the Cursed Child_**  Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Manuel Harlan It’s a best-selling book series, a [theme park](http://time.com/4282676/harry-potter-world-hollywood/ "undefined"), a blockbuster movie franchise and now a Broadway smash. And in classic _Potter_ high excess, one evening proves insufficient to probe the psyche of the adult Harry (Jamie Parker) and his troubled son Albus (Sam Clemmett). [_Cursed Child_](http://time.com/4768171/harry-potter-cursed-child-broadway-opening-night/ "undefined") is spread out over two nights, with a first-night cliffhanger for the ages. The true star of the show is the seamless stagecraft, which leaves the audience gasping in ­wonder — and ­terror — at the magic of it all. ## **8\.** **_Angels in America_**  Angels in America Brinkhoff Mogenburg Still electric after all these years. [Andrew Garfield](http://time.com/4557018/andrew-garfield-hacksaw-ridge-interview/ "undefined") is superb in the revival of Tony Kushner’s sprawling political epic about the AIDS ­crisis — and he won a fiercely earned Tony for his performance. Yet _Angels_ is made newly relevant by a sitting President who was tutored early on by the real-life lawyer Roy Cohn (diabolically played in this production by Nathan Lane). It’s a shattering, essential show. ## **7\.** **_On Beckett_**  On Beckett Carol Rosegg Bill Irwin’s erudite evening on the Irish playwright is like the most entertaining college lecture you ever attended, delivered by a clown. One of the many highlights is Irwin’s riff on the competing pronunciations of _Godot._ ## **6\.** **_Yerma_**  Yerma Stephanie Berger Billie Piper’s blistering performance as a woman who goes mad and destroys her perfect life because she can’t get pregnant dazzled London, then rocked New York City audiences to the core. Performed in a glass box at the Park Avenue Armory, which has become a home for some of New York’s most challenging theater, the harrowing adaptation of a 1934 play by Federico García Lorca leaves audiences speechless. ## **5\.** **_My Fair Lady_**  My Fair Lady Joan Marcus In this retooling of the classic play for the _#_MeToo era, director Bartlett Sher gives Eliza Doolittle (first Lauren Ambrose, now Laura Benanti) a newfound agency, making her the perfect foil for hapless patriarch Henry Higgins (Harry Hadden-Paton) — and a fully formed heroine for a more feminist moment. ## **4\.** **_Springsteen on Broadway_**  Springsteen On Broadway Robert DeMartin For anyone who has attended one of Bruce Springsteen’s three-hour-plus stadium shows, his [intimate one-man show on Broadway](http://time.com/money/4915602/bruce-springsteen-broadway-tickets-music-concert/ "undefined") is a revelation. Drawing heavily from his best-selling memoir, _Born to Run,_ Springsteen illuminates how he transforms the stuff of ordinary life into art without a shred of pretension. The show opened in 2017 and closes on Dec. 15, when Netflix will premiere a filmed version of the show — so fans can see it without paying $800-plus per ticket for front-row seats. ## **3\.** **_Fairview_**  Fairview Julieta Cervantes Jackie Sibblies Drury’s _Fairview_ is theater as a punch in the ­stomach — it’s surely one of the most intense, innovative dramas of the year. Told in three identical (sort of) acts, the play subverts and mocks the audience’s racial stereotypes as each act gets weirder and ­weirder — until white audience members are called onstage to switch places with the mostly black cast. It’s a vital production that literally forces viewers to confront the space they take up in society. It should be widely performed. ## **2\.** **_The Ferryman_**  The Ferryman Joan Marcus Jez Butterworth is one of the most gifted playwrights of our time: his 2009 play _Jerusalem_ was a marvel, a singular waterfall of dialogue. _The Ferryman_ has the same intoxicating torrent of ­language — it’s borderline Shakespearean. This show has it all: meaty themes, a first-rate cast, biting humor, Irish jigs and a jaw-­dropping ending. ## **1\.** **_Oklahoma_**  Oklahoma Paula Court Edgy, dark and sexy aren’t the qualities you typically associate with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1943 musical about life on the prairie. Yet Daniel Fish’s provocative take jolts new life into this oft-musty staple. The painfully relevant production lands at the exact right moment in a country where demonization of immigrants and outsiders is on the rise and mass shootings are an everyday occurrence. (Racks of guns ominously cover an entire wall of the set.) Damon Daunno’s Curly is rock-star sultry, delivering a smoldering rendition of “The Surrey With the Fringe on Top.” Plus, chili and corn bread are served at intermission. ## Honorable Mentions **Mlima’s Tale** Two-time Pulitzer winner Lynn Nottage turns her journalistic eye to the horrors of the global ivory trade with this story of a legendary bull elephant — played by the remarkable Sahr Ngaujah. **Pale Sister** In staged readings in New York and the U.K., the stellar Beckett actor Lisa Dwan collaborated with the great Colm Tóibín for this fierce reimagining of _Antigone_ **_._** Long live the resistance. **Sugar in Our Wounds** This heart-wrenching staging of Donja R. Love’s slavery drama featured a magnificent tree that dominated the ­proceedings — and provided more than just shelter for this gentle queer love story. **Correction, Nov. 24:** _The original version of this story misstated the origin of the play_ Yerma. _It_ _is an adaptation of a 1934 play by Federico García Lorca, it is not an adaptation of a poem._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5455141/best-plays-musicals-2018/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5455141/best-plays-musicals-2018/"},"headline":"The 10 Best Plays and Musicals of 2018","datePublished":"2018-11-20T12:00:19.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T16:27:52.000Z","description":"From 'The Ferryman' to 'Oklahoma'","url":"https://time.com/5455141/best-plays-musicals-2018/","keywords":["Theater","onetime","Best of Everything 2018"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5773c5a66b4b035c/69893f1b86f68eab426eab6c/best-theatre.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eben Shapiro","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eben-shapiro/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5773c5a66b4b035c/69893f1b86f68eab426eab6c/best-theatre.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Top 10 Best Theatre","caption":"Angels in America; Fairview; My Fair Lady","creditText":"Fairview: Julieta Cervantes","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/theater/","name":"Theater"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5455141/best-plays-musicals-2018/","name":"The 10 Best Plays and Musicals of 2018"}}]}] ```