Samuel Beckett

Samuel Beckett is considered one of, if not the most important playwright of the Twentieth Century. His Waiting for Godot (the name is properly pronounced "GOD-oh", not "Go-DOH") is his most famous. But when it was first performed, sophisticated audiences rioted, walked out, and said it stunk until the critics told them it was great. On the other hand, prisoners at San Quentin enjoyed the play without being told to and had no problem in finding meaning in the apparently plotless two acts.

The problem really isn't the play. If it's performed well, with rapid fire dialog between Estragon and Vladmir (and of course, with Pozzo and to a lesser extent, Lucky), the play can hold almost any audience. If played poorly, it's the greatest cure for insomnia ever devised.