Stage Pages
Reading list · 19 plays

The Best of Henrik Ibsen

The Ibsen plays in our archive form, between them, the entry point to modern realist drama. The list below is the standard recommended order for first-time readers, with brief notes on what each play offers.

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  1. Rosmersholm

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Verse Drama

    Henrik Ibsen's Rosmersholm (first published 1906) is a script directors return to whenever they want a vehicle that combines language of real beauty with characters actors actually fight to play.

  2. Pillars of Society

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Verse Drama

    Henrik Ibsen's Pillars of Society (first published 1906) is a script directors return to whenever they want a vehicle that combines language of real beauty with characters actors actually fight to play.

  3. An Enemy of the People

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Verse Drama

    A defining work of Romantic Drama, An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen (first published 1906) continues to attract directors, dramaturgs, and student companies looking for material that rewards close reading and bold staging.

  4. Ghosts: A Domestic Tragedy in Three Acts

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Tragedy

    Ghosts: A Domestic Tragedy in Three Acts (first published 1906) is a stage play by Henrik Ibsen, a touchstone of the Romantic Drama repertoire that has been performed continuously for generations.

  5. A Doll's House : a play

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Verse Drama

    A Doll's House : a play (first published 1906) is a stage play by Henrik Ibsen, a touchstone of the Romantic Drama repertoire that has been performed continuously for generations.

  6. The Lady from the Sea

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Verse Drama

    Henrik Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea (first published 1906) is a script directors return to whenever they want a vehicle that combines language of real beauty with characters actors actually fight to play.

  7. The Master Builder

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Verse Drama

    The Master Builder (first published 1906) is a stage play by Henrik Ibsen, a touchstone of the Romantic Drama repertoire that has been performed continuously for generations.

  8. Hedda Gabler

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Verse Drama

    Written by Henrik Ibsen (first published 1906), Hedda Gabler stands as one of the durable works of Romantic Drama, regularly revived for its richly playable scenes and theatrically generous structure.

  9. When We Dead Awaken

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Drama

    Henrik Ibsen's When We Dead Awaken (first published 1906) is a script directors return to whenever they want a vehicle that combines language of real beauty with characters actors actually fight to play.

  10. Early Plays — Catiline, the Warrior's Barrow, Olaf Liljekrans

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Verse Drama

    Early Plays — Catiline, the Warrior's Barrow, Olaf Liljekrans (first published 1906) is a stage play by Henrik Ibsen, a touchstone of the Romantic Drama repertoire that has been performed continuously for generations.

  11. Little Eyolf

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Drama

    Henrik Ibsen's Little Eyolf (first published 1906) is a script directors return to whenever they want a vehicle that combines language of real beauty with characters actors actually fight to play.

  12. Ghosts

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Tragedy

    Ghosts (first published 1906) is a stage play by Henrik Ibsen, a touchstone of the Romantic Drama repertoire that has been performed continuously for generations.

  13. A Doll's House

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Verse Drama

    Written by Henrik Ibsen (first published 1906), A Doll's House stands as one of the durable works of Romantic Drama, regularly revived for its richly playable scenes and theatrically generous structure.

  14. The Feast at Solhoug

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Drama

    Henrik Ibsen's The Feast at Solhoug (first published 1906) is a script directors return to whenever they want a vehicle that combines language of real beauty with characters actors actually fight to play.

  15. Love's Comedy

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Comedy

    Love's Comedy (first published 1906) is a stage play by Henrik Ibsen, a touchstone of the Romantic Drama repertoire that has been performed continuously for generations.

  16. John Gabriel Borkman

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Verse Drama

    Written by Henrik Ibsen (first published 1906), John Gabriel Borkman stands as one of the durable works of Romantic Drama, regularly revived for its richly playable scenes and theatrically generous structure.

  17. Lady Inger of Ostrat: Henrik Ibsen's Prose Dramas Vol III

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Verse Drama

    Lady Inger of Ostrat: Henrik Ibsen's Prose Dramas Vol III (first published 1906) is a stage play by Henrik Ibsen, a touchstone of the Romantic Drama repertoire that has been performed continuously for generations.

  18. The Vikings of Helgeland

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Drama

    A defining work of Romantic Drama, The Vikings of Helgeland by Henrik Ibsen (first published 1906) continues to attract directors, dramaturgs, and student companies looking for material that rewards close reading and bold staging.

  19. The wild duck

    by Henrik Ibsen · 1906 · Verse Drama

    The wild duck (first published 1906) is a stage play by Henrik Ibsen, a touchstone of the Romantic Drama repertoire that has been performed continuously for generations.

How this list was put together

The selections above were drawn from the full Stage Pages archive of 520 public-domain stage plays. Where ranking is implied by the order, that ranking is editorial — defensible, but not unanimous. Where the list is alphabetical or chronological, we say so.

If you have a candidate we missed, the whole library is one click away from the main scripts index; we add titles to lists as the catalogue grows.