Best Plays, The

Best Plays, The. A series begun in 1920 by Burns Mantle, the full title of the first volume was The Best Plays of 1919–20 and the Year Book of the Drama in America. Each year a new edition contained extended excerpts from ten selected plays, plus a general review of the season and vital statistics on all of the season's productions, including casts and brief synopses of plots. After Mantle's death the editorship was assumed by such noted critics as John Chapman, Louis Kronenberger, Henry Hewes, and Otis L. Guernsey Jr. The publication of these volumes, coupled with George Odell's Annals of the New York Stage, meant that a complete record was in print of every major theatrical production mounted in New York City. The two sets are invaluable to both theatre‐lovers and scholars. The series began to disintegrate in the 1980s, eventually reducing the synopses of the ten “best” to only award winners. In 2001 the synopses completely disappeared, and the book's usefulness was diminished to only statistics and cast lists.