Plays About Domestic Violence or Abuse
These plays about domestic violence or abuse all include some form of abuse in the home. For other plays with violence or an assault, see:
Plays About Domestic Violence or Abuse
Getting Out by Marsha Norman (2 Acts)
Arlene is granted parole after serving eight years for the murder of a cab driver. She moves into a dingy Kentucky apartment. Bennie, a guard at her facility, drives her there and lugs her trunk up the stairs. He asks her about her preferences for the place, but she doesn’t care. Interspersed with the present action are scenes of Arlene (Arlie) when she was younger. We see some of her life before and during her prison sentence.
Some of the first act can be read in the preview of Marsha Norman Collected Plays. (11% in)
Poof! by Lynn Nottage
Samuel threatens his wife, Loureen. When she responds by cursing her husband, a remarkable thing happens—there’s a bright flash followed by a smoking mound of ash on the kitchen floor with Samuel’s glasses on top. Confused and shocked, she calls her friend Florence for help. They try to decide what to do.
Doubt by John Patrick Shanley (9 Acts)
Sister Aloysius is the principal of St. Nicholas School. She has a meeting with Sister James, an eight grade teacher, and asks her to be alert when it comes to Father Flynn and his time alone with the boys.
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (11 Scenes)
Stanley and Stella Kowalski live in a low-end district of New Orleans. They are visited by Stella’s sister Blanche, who has more genteel tastes. She is a widow, and has lost the family property, Belle Reve. She and Stanley clash. Stanley decides to look into Blanche’s past.
I’ll keep adding plays about domestic violence or abuse as I find more.
