Encyclopedia of American Drama

Encyclopedia of American Drama
Author: Jackson R. Bryer
Publisher: Infobase Learning
Total Pages: 2466
Release: 2015-04-22
Genre: American drama
ISBN: 1438140762

Provides a comprehensive guide to American dramatic literature, from its origins in the early days of the nation to American classics such as Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman and Thornton Wilder's Our Town to the groundbreaking works of today's best writers.

The Facts on File Companion to American Drama

The Facts on File Companion to American Drama
Author: Jackson R. Bryer
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
Total Pages: 657
Release: 2010
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1438129661

Features a comprehensive guide to American dramatic literature, from its origins in the early days of the nation to the groundbreaking works of today's best writers.

Tennessee Williams in Sweden and France, 1945–1965

Tennessee Williams in Sweden and France, 1945–1965
Author: Dirk Gindt
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2019-01-24
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 135002208X

The immediate post-war period marks a pivotal moment in the internationalization of American theatre when Tennessee Williams' plays became some of Broadway's most critically acclaimed and financially lucrative exports. Dirk Gindt offers a detailed study of the production and reception of Williams' work on Swedish and French stages at the height of his popularity between 1945 and 1965. Analysing the national openings of seminal plays, including The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Orpheus Descending and Suddenly Last Summer, Gindt provides rich and nuanced insights into Williams' transnational impact. In the process, he charts a network of fascinating and influential directors, actors, designers, producers and critics, all of whom left distinctive marks on mid-twentieth-century European theatre and culture. Gindt further demonstrates how Williams' work foregrounded cultural apprehensions, racial fantasies and sexual anxieties, which resulted in heated debates in the critical and popular media.

American Playwrights Since 1945

American Playwrights Since 1945
Author: Philip Kolin
Publisher: Greenwood
Total Pages: 630
Release: 1989-01-23
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

This is a study of the state of research on and history of performances of 40 American playwrights, including major mainstream, ethnic, and regional playwrights. The essays list their published and unpublished plays, as well as their other works; document the performances; identify bibliographies, biographies, critical studies, and analyses of the plays; and discuss the critical reception. The volume deals with production histories, covering critics, actors, directors, and theater companies that have contributed as much to theater as the playwrights themselves. It also discusses original screenplays and identifies writing on younger playwrights on whom research has just begun. ISBN 0-313-25543-1: $66.00 (For use only in the library).

American Drama

American Drama
Author: Jacqueline Foertsch
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2017-09-16
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1137605294

An essential introductory textbook that guides students through 300 years of American plays, as well as their remarkable engagement with texts from across the Atlantic. Divided into seven historical periods, Jacqueline Foertsch offers unique overviews of 38 American plays and their reception, from Robert Hunter's Androboros (c.1714) to Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton (2015). Each historical section begins with an overseas play that proved influential to American playwrights in that period, demonstrating to students an astonishing dialogue taking place across the Atlantic. This is an ideal core text for modules on American Drama – or a supplementary text for broader modules on American Literature – which may be offered at the upper levels of an undergraduate literature, drama, theatre studies or American studies degree. In addition it is a crucial resource for students who may be studying American drama as part of a taught postgraduate degree in literature, drama or American studies.

Arthur Miller’s Century

Arthur Miller’s Century
Author: Stephen Marino
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2017-06-20
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1443896152

Arthur Miller was one of the major American dramatists of the twentieth century, clearly ranking with other truly great American playwrights, including Eugene O’Neill, Tennessee Williams, and Edward Albee. The centennial of Miller’s birth in New York City on October 17, 1915 was celebrated around the world with a panoply of staged productions, theatrical events, media documentaries, and academic conferences. Miller earned his reputation during a career of more than seventy years, in which he achieved critical success in the 1940s and 1950s with the dramas All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, The Crucible and A View from the Bridge. He was also notable for his refusal to “name names at his appearance before the House Un-American Activities Committee”, his marriage to the film actress Marilyn Monroe, and his spell as president of the literary organization, International P.E.N. Arthur Miller was not only a literary giant, but also one of the more significant political, cultural, and social figures of his time. He was a man of conviction and integrity who frequently took stands, popular and unpopular, on the ethical issues that engaged societies throughout the world. This collection includes eclectic essays from Miller scholars who provide detailed discussions of text and performance, of Miller as a political and cultural figure, and of his connection to other playwrights. The contributions explore the trajectory of Miller’s career, his most famous and frequently produced works, such as Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, the dramas of his later career, and his fiction. The collection appeals to a broad American and international audience and a cross-section of readers, including undergraduates, graduates, emerging scholars, drama and theatre specialists, as well as theatre-goers who flock to revivals of Miller’s plays.