The House of Blue Leaves did win the Obie for best play. It also received the most votes on the first ballot of the Drama Circle Award voting for best play, getting six votes to four for Home, which ended up winning on the third (weighted) ballot, so Blue Leaves ended up winning best American play, whereas under the rules before 1965-1966 Blue Leaves would have won best play.
I would especially add Landscape of the Body, a play that was largely underappreciated when first produced in New York, except by members of the Dramatists Guild (it won the Hull-Warriner award), but has since deservedly come to be regarded as something of a classic. Some of his best plays received mixed reviews, leaning negative (at least from the most widely read publications). But I guess I would also add the original versions of Bosoms and Neglect, Lydie Breeze and Gardenia. And while not on the same level, Four Baboons Adoring the Sun, A Few Stout Individuals, Lake Hollywood, A Free Man of Color, Rich and Famous, all fascinating plays. The original version of Marco Polo Sings a Solo was perhaps his strangest play, and I think more interesting than the simplified version seen in New York and published.
I do wish he had not revised some of his plays for later productions. I think he has generally lessened them when he has done so. |
