The phrase "a dead playwright" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to refer to a playwright who has passed away, often in discussions about their works or contributions to literature.
Example: "Shakespeare is often regarded as the most influential dead playwright in history, with his works still performed today."
Alternatives: "a deceased playwright" or "an expired playwright".
A dead playwright can be very much alive.
"He said to us, 'Treat me like a dead playwright,' which means that you cannot complain".
I can understand that it's so much better for an actor to work with a dead playwright".
"If I picture being a dead playwright, like, 100 years from now," she added, "the idea that there would be all these productions of different translations, that's what you want.
This year our artistic director, Daniel Evans, decided we'd do a dead playwright – it's 20 years since Blasted, Sarah Kane's first play, so we're doing a season of her work to mark the anniversary.
Many scholars believe this was cooked up by a rival writer who wished to make the dead playwright appear a fool, who was killed in a silly and vaguely comical manner.
Still, the rapid transformation of downtown Brooklyn has caused tensions in the neighborhood, and not everyone is enthusiastic about the arrival of a theater dedicated primarily to the oeuvre of a dead white playwright.
But he is an old hand at interpreting his favorite dead playwright, Chekhov.
However, textual evidence from the late plays indicates that Shakespeare's collaborators were not always aware of what Shakespeare had done in a previous scene, and that they were following a rough outline rather than working from an unfinished script left by a long-dead playwright.
"In my view, it's six dead actors and one dead playwright working out all of the elements of their time on earth," replied Mr. Lucas.
Make a piece set in the past by a long-dead playwright seem as if it were only just written?
