Below is a list of theater books to read in 2020, most of which were  published in 2019*.  Click on the titles to find more information and to purchase these books, grouped under four categories: 1. Scripts, including all the plays that are scheduled to be produced on Broadway in Spring, 2020. 2. Memoir/Biography.  3. History/Criticism.  4. For Fans, For Fiction lovers, For Kids

There’s nothing requiring you to read new books in 2020. Check out: The 50 Best Plays of The Past 100 Years (all available to read) and 15 Great Books About The Theater

1. Scripts

The following are the scripts of plays and musical coming to Broadway in Spring, 2020, listed alphabetically…or,  if no scripts are publicly available, the book that served as the main source…or, if there’s no published source, a different published script by the same playwright.

American Buffalo by David Mamet

A Soldier’s Play: A Play  by Charles Fuller

Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle
Noah Haidle: Three Plays

Caroline, or Change by Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori

Company by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth

Grand Horizons by Bess Wohl
Small Mouth Sounds by Bess Wohl

Hangmen by Martin McDonagh

How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel

The Lehman Trilogy the novel by Stefano Massini

Mrs. Doubtfire the movie

My Name Is Lucy Barton: A Novel by Elizabeth Strout

Plaza Suite; a Comedy in Three Acts by Neil Simon

Take Me Out: A Play

West Side Story with Romeo and Juliet

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

New and Notable scripts:

Fairview

The Inheritance

Ironbound and Other Plays

What the Constitution Means to Me

White Noise

2. Memoir/Biography

Getting Off: Lee Breuer on Performance

Ray Bolger: More than a Scarecrow

They Made Us Happy: Betty Comden and Adolph Green’s Movies and Musicals

Big Deal: Bob Fosse and Dance in the American Musical (Broadway Legacies),

Ian McKellen: A Biography

Life isn’t everything: Mike Nichols, as remembered by 150 of his closest friends.

Too Much Is Not Enough: A Memoir of Fumbling Toward Adulthood

Sam Wanamaker: A Global Performer

It’s Always Loud in the Balcony by Richard Wesley

Joanne Woodward: Her Life and Career

3. History/Criticism

Broadway and the Blacklist

Ensemble: An Oral History of Chicago Theater

Mitchell and Trask’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch

The Oxford Handbook of Musical Theatre Screen Adaptations

4. For Fans, For Fiction-lovers, For Kids

Come From Away: Welcome to the Rock: An Inside Look at the Hit Musical

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: The Journey: Behind the Scenes of the Award-Winning Stage Production

The Prom: A Novel Based on the Hit Broadway Musical

City of Girls: A Novel by Elizabeth Gilbert (“Eat.Pray.Love”)

Leading Men: A novel about one of the great love stories of the 20th century

How Does the Show Go On The Frozen Edition: An Introduction to the Theater (A Disney Theatrical Souvenir Book)

A is for Audra: Broadway’s Leading Ladies from A to Z

Feed Your Mind: A Story of August Wilson

*Some of the books have publication dates in 2020.