Although our puzzle makers are a literary lot with many such references included in their work, there are not too many "often-used" words and names in the field.  There seems to be a reluctance to their giving too many repeat performances in the category of plays and playwrights.  We do have a few, however.
 

 SHAW, George Bernard...You are likely to find him clued as either "'Pygmalion' playwright" or "'Major Barbara' playwright", and with the arrival of a musical version of 'Pygmalion' we  came to see clues like "'My Fair Lady' original originator".  There have even been some puzzles which have indicated that "literary monogram" stands for GBS rather than the usual poet TSE, or perhaps they'll try to be more specific and tell us that "Irish playwright's initials" are GBS.  Quite often you'll come across "George Bernard _ _ _ _" as the clue, also.  The point to be taken is that we do come across playwright SHAW in many a crossword puzzle, and his popularity never seems to wane.  As usual, you can click on the picture to take you to a short biography of the man, and on his high-lighted name at the beginning of the paragraph for additional links to more information about Shaw and his plays.  The best biography of him I have found on the internet is the one included at the BBC site, but access has been rather sporadic.   However, I'm including a link for anyone who cares to give it a try.  Just click on the high-lighted BBC above for the biography.
 

 INGE, William...  This is the U.S. midwestern playwright referred to by cluemeisters as the "'Bus Stop' playwright" or the "'Picnic' Playwright" as well as "1953 Pulitzer playwright" (for "Picnic"). The non-stop popularity of these along with several other of his plays seems to assure that he will continue to find his way into crosswords well into the next century.  Click on the picture to go to the St. Louis Walk of Fame site which includes a short biography of him.  The high-lighted INGE at the top of this paragraph leads to another site with additional informative links.
 

ODETS, Clifford... The "social-protest playwright of the 1930s" is also clued as the "'Waiting for Lefty' playwright" and the "'Awake and Sing' playwright".  It hardly seems possible that puzzle solvers today would be familiar with his plays, but he continues to appear (though recently with less frequency) in many a crossword.  There are even clue writers today who expect us to be sufficiently knowledgeable to answer to a mere "playwright Clifford".  His early plays of the 1930s continue to be of interest at colleges and universities as you will discover by clicking on the picture or on his high-lighted name above.
 

I'm going to have to go with the short list of playwrights above in order to stick to my "frequently used words and names" rule for the column.  As for plays, we only have a handful of these as well...all of them musicals.
 

Peter PAN..."Peter _ _ _" is the most used designation for PAN, and it turns up often enough to be included here.  Of course, PAN may also be clued as a "shallow container" or a "wide sweeping movie shot".  I think I also remember it being called a "Greek god with goat's legs" at one time or another.  It doesn't happen often, but I have also seen "Peter Pan's friend" and even "Peter Pan's girl friend" for WENDY.  A click on the high-lighted title or Peter Pan logo takes us to a history of James M. Barrie's 1904 play which over the years has continued to charm youngsters as a play, a musical play, a television special program and a Disney animated movie.   Longevity of this kind suggests that we will probably continue to see it as a favorite of the cluemeisters.
 

CATS...I first included CATS nearly two years ago in my column on Crossword Dogs and Cats, and the clues then are just as applicable today.  I suppose we could say that "long running Broadway musical" is now "longest running Broadway musical" since on June 19, 1997 it became the longest running show in the history of Broadway.  It also remains the "musical with 'Memories'", a reference to one of its songs which has since become a popular standard.  It is, of course, still the "musical based on T. S. Eliot poems".  Since it continues to be immensely successful, playing simultaneously in as many as 250 cities around the world, it may be some time before clue writers return to "manx and Abyssinian" as their clue for CATS.
 

RENT...It's not that it hasn't always been a popular word in crosswords.  It seems only a few years ago that we would see clues such as "let" or "lease" or "rip" for this word, and I can even remember that someone once advised me that it was an "Avis payment".  All of that changed just a few short years ago.  Suddenly I found myself responding to "1996 Pulitzer Prize musical" or "1996 Tony Award musical".  The cluemeisters even got more specific with "'La Boheme', 1990s version".  As with CATS in the 1980s, the crossword composers had found a whole new meaning for this very usable word, and they reacted accordingly.  RENT may not have the staying power of CATS, but it should remain enough of a world-wide hit to be included in puzzles for a few more years.  Click on the RENT sign to learn everything you've ever wanted to know about this hit musical.
 

As might be expected, our crossword designers are as interested in awards as the theatre world itself.  The major awards of Broadway and Off-Broadway command their full attention and turn up quite frequently.
 

TONY...Everything from "Broadway's theatre award" to "Broadway yearly play award" and "Broadway acting award" turn up for TONY.  I had hoped to use a picture of the TONY as illustration for this paragraph, but the official TONY website seems to have disappeared.  Hopefully it will reappear sometime in the future allowing me to include it here.  Happily we have the extremely informative "on-Broadway" site for complete listings from the 1947 beginnings of the award.  Just click on the high-lighted TONY above to take you there.
 

OBIE...This "off-Broadway award" has been an "award since 1956" and it was interesting to discover that it gets even more action from clue writers than the Tony Award.  Click on the high-lighted OBIE or on its logo in this paragraph to be transported to the Village Voice database which provides full information on these awards dating back to its 1956 start.
 

I've checked and rechecked my files, and I don't find any additional plays or playwrights which I could claim are in "frequent use" in crosswords.  There are, however, several words relating to the theater which do turn up quite often.

ACT..."part of a play", "perform" and "take steps" are just a few of its clues.  I am also partial to "play opening" for ACTI.

CUE...Here's another word which gets a lot of the action with clues such as "prompt", "signal" and "hint".

ROLE...They really zero in on this one with indicators like "part" or "part to play" or "actor's quest".  There are also clues which really nail it down such as "Loman or Kowalski, e.g." and "Bottom or Ariel".

OLIO...Once listed in theater programs as the entertainment provided between acts of a play, it was usually a "medley of musical numbers".  Ever inventive cluemeisters have defined OLIO as "melange", "pastiche", "medley" and "miscellany".  Even though theater presentation customs have changed (with less of a necessity to keep the audience entertained during the act breaks), puzzle composers seem reluctant to ignore a word which fits so easily into a crossword.
 
 

If you are into online crosswords, and have a Java-powered browser, try Timothy Parker's Universal Crossword.  Just click on the logo below.

Copyright 1999 C. Schnebel
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