Dead last
December 18, 2022 11:55 PM Subscribe
Looking for stageplays that end with a violent death, or portray one in the final act. Details within.
I'm on the hunt for stageplays that show a murder or similarly violent death toward the end of the story. The death should take place onstage, or at minimum involve a visible body. (In other words, I'm not looking for, "This telegram says your mother was murdered.")
The death should NOT be suicide in any form.
Multiple deaths are okay, but I'd prefer to avoid large battle scenes and the like.
Hamlet is an excellent example of what I need, but I'm hoping to find more contemporary pieces. I do still welcome older suggestions, provided it's not Shakespeare or the Greeks.
I'm on the hunt for stageplays that show a murder or similarly violent death toward the end of the story. The death should take place onstage, or at minimum involve a visible body. (In other words, I'm not looking for, "This telegram says your mother was murdered.")
The death should NOT be suicide in any form.
Multiple deaths are okay, but I'd prefer to avoid large battle scenes and the like.
Hamlet is an excellent example of what I need, but I'm hoping to find more contemporary pieces. I do still welcome older suggestions, provided it's not Shakespeare or the Greeks.
Machinal (1928) by Sophie Treadwell ends with an execution. There’s a murder earlier in the play, but I don’t think it happens on stage.
posted by Comet Bug at 12:29 AM on December 19, 2022
posted by Comet Bug at 12:29 AM on December 19, 2022
I just remembered:
Mojo by Jez Butterworth
I’m sure more will come to mind.
posted by miles1972 at 12:55 AM on December 19, 2022
Mojo by Jez Butterworth
I’m sure more will come to mind.
posted by miles1972 at 12:55 AM on December 19, 2022
The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? by Edward Albee
Phaedra's Love by Sarah Kane
posted by unicorn chaser at 3:43 AM on December 19, 2022
Phaedra's Love by Sarah Kane
posted by unicorn chaser at 3:43 AM on December 19, 2022
Danton's Death by Georg Büchner? A bit older than you might like, but one of my favorites.
posted by rjs at 5:19 AM on December 19, 2022
posted by rjs at 5:19 AM on December 19, 2022
Best answer: The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh.
Now I'm curious -- how many of Martin McDonagh's plays and screenplays don't end with a violent death?
posted by ourobouros at 5:34 AM on December 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
Now I'm curious -- how many of Martin McDonagh's plays and screenplays don't end with a violent death?
posted by ourobouros at 5:34 AM on December 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot
I'm not completely sure how the end of The Master Builder by Ibsen is staged, but it does end with a death. It's from a fall - so violent, but not murder.
I also thought of Danton's Death, but I didn't remember it well, and when I looked at the Wikipedia plot summary, the deaths seem to be off stage.
posted by FencingGal at 6:04 AM on December 19, 2022
I'm not completely sure how the end of The Master Builder by Ibsen is staged, but it does end with a death. It's from a fall - so violent, but not murder.
I also thought of Danton's Death, but I didn't remember it well, and when I looked at the Wikipedia plot summary, the deaths seem to be off stage.
posted by FencingGal at 6:04 AM on December 19, 2022
Tosca? There is Tosca's suicide, but as a response to Scarpia's execution just before.
Not only a stageplay, exactly, but cousin to it.
posted by citygirl at 7:26 AM on December 19, 2022
Not only a stageplay, exactly, but cousin to it.
posted by citygirl at 7:26 AM on December 19, 2022
how many of Martin McDonagh's plays and screenplays don't end with a violent death?
I was just coming here to add Hangmen.
posted by praemunire at 7:36 AM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
I was just coming here to add Hangmen.
posted by praemunire at 7:36 AM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
The death should NOT be suicide in any form.
Whoops, please disregard Phaedra's Love. There are lots of deaths in the last scene, and one of them is a suicide.
posted by unicorn chaser at 7:45 AM on December 19, 2022
Whoops, please disregard Phaedra's Love. There are lots of deaths in the last scene, and one of them is a suicide.
posted by unicorn chaser at 7:45 AM on December 19, 2022
Edward Bond's Lear
(FYI, I think this is the most horrifically violent play I've ever read.)
posted by FencingGal at 7:56 AM on December 19, 2022
(FYI, I think this is the most horrifically violent play I've ever read.)
posted by FencingGal at 7:56 AM on December 19, 2022
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (August Wilson)
posted by miles per flower at 8:26 AM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by miles per flower at 8:26 AM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Not just Ma Rainey, but also Gem of the Ocean, Seven Guitars and King Hedley II by August Wilson -- man liked his violent, cathartic deaths!
Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks
The House of Yes by Wendy MacLeod
posted by clair-de-lune at 8:44 AM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks
The House of Yes by Wendy MacLeod
posted by clair-de-lune at 8:44 AM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Edward Albee's Zoo Story
Amiri Baraka's Dutchman
posted by Ragged Richard at 8:55 AM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Amiri Baraka's Dutchman
posted by Ragged Richard at 8:55 AM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Another Martin McDonough: The Lieutenant of Inishmore, in which there are actual buckets of blood onstage.
Brilliant play.
posted by suelac at 10:28 AM on December 19, 2022
Brilliant play.
posted by suelac at 10:28 AM on December 19, 2022
Blood Brothers ends with a murder if I remember rightly
posted by an opinicus at 10:54 AM on December 19, 2022
posted by an opinicus at 10:54 AM on December 19, 2022
García Lorca, Bodas de sangre (Blood Wedding) and Yerma
Depending on how you play it, Tirso de Molina, El burlador de Sevilla
Lope de Vega, Fuenteovejuna
Basically, there's a ton of grist for this mill in the Spanish Golden Age and García Lorca.
posted by humbug at 11:10 AM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Depending on how you play it, Tirso de Molina, El burlador de Sevilla
Lope de Vega, Fuenteovejuna
Basically, there's a ton of grist for this mill in the Spanish Golden Age and García Lorca.
posted by humbug at 11:10 AM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Also came to say Yerma - there's an incredible National Theatre Live version with Billie Piper in, which you might be able to see online. Also recommend the NT Live A View from the Bridge, which I saw in the theatre and was incredible.
I think Crocodile Fever by Meghan Tyler might fit the bill though the end is a bit of a riot so I can't quite remember exactly who/what dies when. Wild, hilarious play, though.
It's odd, I saw dozens upon dozens of plays in pre-Covid years and I feel like loads of them must have had this but now I look through them, apparently not. I feel like at least something by Simon Stephens must end in violent death, or Sarah Kane, but not so for the ones I've seen, now I look back.
posted by penguin pie at 3:20 PM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
I think Crocodile Fever by Meghan Tyler might fit the bill though the end is a bit of a riot so I can't quite remember exactly who/what dies when. Wild, hilarious play, though.
It's odd, I saw dozens upon dozens of plays in pre-Covid years and I feel like loads of them must have had this but now I look through them, apparently not. I feel like at least something by Simon Stephens must end in violent death, or Sarah Kane, but not so for the ones I've seen, now I look back.
posted by penguin pie at 3:20 PM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Duerrenmatt's Der Besuch der alten Dame
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:06 PM on December 20, 2022
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:06 PM on December 20, 2022
Response by poster: Thanks all for posting! Best answers to those that happened to fit other criteria I had, but all were helpful. Truly saved me from a nightmare of poorly worded google searches and general mind-racking.
posted by desert outpost at 1:37 AM on January 23, 2023
posted by desert outpost at 1:37 AM on January 23, 2023
This thread is closed to new comments.
The Ferryman by Jez Butterworth
A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller
posted by miles1972 at 12:25 AM on December 19, 2022