A guide to Tyler Perry plays

Tyler Perry's plays, movies and stage shows have made him an extremely popular writer and performer. He is best known for his portrayal of Madea, an imposing black matriarch who dominates many of his plays. Madea is a character who can always find somebody who needs her advice. She is also willing to welcome family members who have fallen upon hard times into her own home. Below is a guide to Tyler Perry plays.

Other plays featuring Madea

I Can Do Bad All By Myself (2000) It deals with a dysfunctional and sometimes violent family. Madea's Family Reunion (2002) A family attends a funeral and a wedding on the same weekend. Madea is left with the chore of creating order from the inevitable chaos. Madea's Class Reunion (2003) again reveals a degenerating family. This story introduces us to Willie Leroy Jones who has Dissociative Identity Disorder, his head being home to twenty-seven different personalities. Meet The Browns (2005) This play centers around a funeral which serves as an arena to expose the infidelity, hatred, and jealousy that riddles the family. Despite the dark theme, the play is extremely funny. Madea Goes To Jail (2006) Play-goers witness Madea's anger management issues and her attempts to rectify them. Madea's Big Happy Family (2010) This is another play about a dysfunctional family. The central character is based on Tyler Perry's mother. A Madea Christmas (2011) Madea is stranded with an affluent but defective family for Christmas. Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2001) This title refers to a film which exposes the decay in a seemingly perfect marriage, and the couple's attempts to turn their life around.

Tyler Perry plays not featuring Madea

Why Did I Get Married? (2004) Eight friends consisting of four married couples, attend a week-long annual retreat to ask themselves the question: "Why did I get married?". What's Done in the Dark (2007) The play is set in a hospital emergency room. The main characters are two nurses and Mister Brown, a lovable eccentric who is revealed to be a hypochondriac.
The Marriage Counselor (2008) This acts in this play feature the efforts of a couple who wish to repair their broken marriage. Laugh to Keep from Crying (2009) This centres on a group of people who survive in an African American neighbourhood.
The background of the plays Tyler Perry's plays bring to his audiences the predicaments that Black Americans find themselves in and the solutions provided by adopting a Christian outlook on life. His first play, I Know I've Been Changed, a musical featuring the themes of rape and child abuse, was a failure at first. However, Perry rewrote it many times over a period of six years, until finally, the audiences began to appreciate his work.