The great playwrights of the British, American and European theatre - and the plays most constantly performed are represented in this unique collection. Playwrights include: Ayckbourn, Bond, Beckett, Berkoff, Brecht, Coward, Fugard, Genet, Ionesco, Jarry, Miller, O'Neill, Orton, Osborne, Sartre, Shaw, Stoppard and Tennessee Williams plus many more.

A fuller appreciation of each speech is enhanced by the editors' introductions and commentaries that set the plays and individual speeches in their dramatic and performance contexts.