By Siobhan Clarke
Here are 7 significant musicals and plays of the 20th century that prove why theatre is still relevant in our political landscape today.
Please be advised that this article discusses sensitive topics that may upset some audiences.
No.7: Rent
In 1996 the musical Rent hit the Broadway stage featuring a heavy rock soundtrack and embraced the social-political landscape, discussing LGBTQ identity and the impact of the HIV/AIDs epidemic that was devasting the community. Writer Jonathan Larson loosely based the musical around the opera La bohème by Giacomo Puccini. The song La Vie Boheme became an anthem to many minority communities, and the subject matter remains relevant today.
No.6: The Laramie Project
The Laramie Project could be considered a piece of journalism with the creator, Moisés Kaufman of the Tectonic Theater Project, going to the town of Laramie, Wyoming, and collecting verbatim accounts of individuals in the wake of a tragedy. It documents the murder of Matthew Shepard and the impact it had on the community, religious leaders, and legislation.
No.5: Hair
In 1967, the first true rock musical was released, initially as a concept album before the musical was staged. Highly controversial at the time, it featured a plethora of profanities, strong drug use, sexuality, and nudity. The most striking feature of the show is the anti-war, hippie sentiment, highly relevant at the time as it was written during the American involvement of the Vietnam war and the 1960s counterculture movement.
No.4: Norm and Ahmed
Australian writer Alex Buzo wrote this play to capture the changing Australian social and cultural landscape of the 1960s following the abolishing of the White Australia Policy. It is described as revolutionary due to its one-scene structure, following a conversation of two drastically different characters, Norm, a middle-aged white male who fought during an unspecified war, and Ahmed, a young Pakistani student. It remains relevant due to the racial tensions in Australian society, with many adapting the play over the years to change certain details of the characters.
No.3: Spring Awakening
Originally a German play, Frühlings Erwachen, written in 1891 it was transformed into a musical by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater in 2006. It follows the devastating consequences of censorship and radicalisation for adolescents while combatting sexuality in a conservative society. While targeting mature subject matter, it uses powerful rock anthems and soft ballads to resonate with the youth demographic.
No.2: Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes
It is arguable that Tony Kushner’s play had one of the most significant impacts on American theatre landscape at the turn of the century. It targeted the conservative Reaganism movement while also documenting the classism impact of HIV. It includes characterised versions of real-life people such as Roy Cohn and Ethel Rosenberg which exposed the inner workings of American politics.
No.1: Cabaret
Cabaret takes place in early 1930s Berlin at the Kit Kat Klub and documents the rise of the Nazi Party. It targets the danger of denial and ignorance in the face of fascism but also acts as a metaphor for escapism with the club being a symbol for liberation and the exterior as a slowly conforming Nazi society. The Emcee often challenges the audience with continuously changing emotions from flamboyance to apathy, ending the show on a devastating tone, highlighting total moral decay of society.
Featured image: The 2025 production of Rent at the Sydney Opera House. Photo: Siobhan Clarke
