Playwrights have crafted some of the most enduring works of literature. They take a premise and turn it into an entire world within the stage, leaving the audience with profound memories of a live experience. Plays are often adapted into other art forms, like Broadway musicals, films, and television shows. Occasionally, these versions end up overshadowing the source material in terms of popularity.

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Numerous TV series and movies find tremendous success with viewers unaware of their origins. While theatre lovers will surely recognize these upcoming names, fans familiar only with the adaptations might be surprised to learn some of their favorite shows and films are based on plays.

Fleabag

Fleabag Bank manager

Fleabag is a British comedy-drama that grew out of creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge's award-winning monologue, which she originally performed in 2013. Waller-Bridge's character runs a café inspired by guinea pigs in London, and the rest of her life is something of a mess, from relationships to finances.

Emily Nussbaum called the critically acclaimed series "an original bad-girl comedy" but pointed out that Fleabag's world is more than the gritty exterior; she is grieving the death of her best friend throughout the series, too.

Star-Crossed

Star-Crossed the CW

Star-Crossed was a show on the CW that was inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The one-season series in 2014 followed the romance of a human girl named Emery (Aimee Teagarden) and an alien named Roman (Matt Lanter).

When Emery's and Roman's communities go to war against one another, the lovers must hold on to the strength of their passion. Over the course of its 13 episodes, Star-Crossed presents a unique take on a classic tale.

Driving Miss Daisy

Driving Miss Daisy

Driving Miss Daisy is a beloved 1989 comedy film, but some might not know that it was first a play, written by Alfred Uhry. Uhry characterizes the story as a family memoir which is based on his upbringing in Atlanta, Georgia.

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When an elderly Jewish woman (Jessica Tandy) must turn over her car keys, her new chauffeur is an African-American man named Hoke Colburn (Morgan Freeman). Alfred Uhry penned his 1987 play, then wrote the screenplay, before the story eventually went to Broadway.

My Fair Lady

Audrey Hepburn with a hat on in My Fair Lady

Two Hollywood legends are especially known for the role of Eliza Doolittle: Julie Andrews in the Broadway musical and Audrey Hepburn in the 1964 movie musical with Rex Harrison.

The musical is an institution in itself, but Eliza's journey to high society has its roots in Pygmalion, the 1913 play by George Bernard Shaw. A literary standard, Pygmalion had a film version of its own before My Fair Lady ever existed.

She's The Man

Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum in She's The Man (2006)

This 2006 Amanda Bynes movie is a clever take on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. The story has been interpreted more than once in Hollywood, with another popular 2000s teen example being the Disney Channel Original Movie Motocrossed.

In She's the Man, Bynes plays Viola Hastings, a teen whose brother, Sebastian, leaves his boarding in pursuit of a music career. Viola decides to masquerade as Sebastian, attending his school and manning his spot on the soccer team. Things go awry when Viola falls in love with Duke Orsino (Channing Tatum) while pretending to be Sebastian.

The Odd Couple

Felix and oscar close together in The Odd Couple

The Odd Couple is a famous 1970s sitcom starring Jack Klugman and Tony Randall. Randall plays Felix Unger while Klugman plays Oscar Madison, both of whom are recently divorced. As the men room together in a Manhattan apartment, they must learn to deal with each other's eccentricities, which provide much of the comedic flair of the show.

The series was based both on Neil Simon's 1965 stage play The Odd Couple and its 1968 film adaptation. The concept has been parodied in film and television time and time again.

Six Degrees Of Separation

Will Smith in Six Degrees of Separation

Six Degrees of Separation is a Tony-nominated and Pulitzer Prize-nominated 1990 John Guare play which was adapted into a dramatic film in 1993. For Will Smith, who played a refined-looking con artist named Paul, the movie was a somber antidote to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

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The play and movie both popularized the "six degrees of separation" theory measuring one's distance from various individuals.

A Streetcar Named Desire

A Streetcar Named Desire

Tennessee Williams is the playwright famous for A Streetcar Named Desire. The 1947 production became a movie in 1951, starring Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter, and Marlon Brando.

Leigh plays Blanche DuBois, a former schoolteacher who moves in with her sister (Hunter) and brother-in-law (Brando). The serious work became one of Hollywood's most famous films, drawing attention back to the play where it all started.

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

Elizabeth Taylor looks on while on a bed from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is another Tennessee Williams story. The play was first performed in 1955 and is renowned as a Pulitzer Prize winner and four-time Tony nominee. The story did not become a film until 1958, with Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, and Burl Ives in the central roles. Ives is Big Daddy Pollitt, Newman is his son, Brick, and Taylor is Brick's wife, Maggie.

The Southern drama is often characterized as tempestuous, although the movie removes some of Williams' original sexual content. The play has continued to find popularity in other film adaptations through the years.

Fences

Denzel and Viola davis sit on porch steps in Fences

Denzel Washington and Viola Davis star in the 2016 film adaptation of Fences, which was originally a 1985 play by August Wilson. The Pulitzer Prize-winning play is about a man named Troy (Washington), a sanitation worker in Pittsburgh in the 1950s. He lives with his wife, Rose (Davis), and son, Cory (Jovan Adepo).

Troy was a fine baseball player who never made it to the Major League. This complicates his feelings when his son's football talent progresses, and Troy struggles with the ability to come to terms with his own life.

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