Clifford Odets

Clifford Odets
Author: Margaret Brenman-Gibson
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Total Pages: 788
Release: 2002
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781557834577

(Applause Books). Clifford Odets through his plays, which include "Waiting for Lefty" and "Awake" and "Sing!", was the champion of the oppressed, avenger for the poor. He and his plays, as presented by the influential Group Theatre, were the conscience of America during the Depression. Author Margaret Brenman-Gibson, a respected psychoanalyst and close personal friend, penned what is considered the classic biography of Odets. Based on exhaustive research, including access to his personal papers, plus her own insights into the man and his career, it is at last back in prtin. The book is richly annotated, with a thorough bibliography, personal chronology, a list of Odets' works, published and unpublished, and a section of rare photographs.

Twenty-First Century American Playwrights

Twenty-First Century American Playwrights
Author: Christopher Bigsby
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2017-12-07
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1108321372

The early years of the twenty-first century saw several losses for the American theatre but also marked the emergence of a new generation of exciting playwrights. In this book, Christopher Bigsby explores the work of nine of these developing talents, and the importance of issues including race, gender and politics for their writing. Increasingly, these new figures are gaining their reputations not on Broadway but in small theatres and small towns or even abroad, bringing fresh and diverse perspectives to contemporary American drama. With a focus on female writers and on issues of personal and public identity in contemporary society, this volume investigates the styles and techniques these playwrights favour, the themes they raise, and their role in a changing America and a changing world.

100 Greatest American Plays

100 Greatest American Plays
Author: Thomas S. Hischak
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 409
Release: 2017-03-06
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1442256060

Theatre in America has had a rich history—from the first performance of the Lewis Hallam Troupe in September 1752 to the lively shows of modern Broadway. Over the past few centuries, significant works by American playwrights have been produced, including Abie’s Irish Rose, Long Day’s Journey into Night, A Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, A Raisin in the Sun, Fences, and Angels in America. In 100 Greatest American Plays, Thomas S. Hischak provides an engaging discussion of the best stage productions to come out of the United States. Each play is discussed in the context of its original presentation as well as its legacy. Arranged alphabetically, the entries for these plays include: plot details production history biography of the playwright literary aspects of the drama critical reaction to the play major awards the play’s influence cast lists of notable stage and film versions The plays have been selected not for their popularity but for their importance to American theatre and include works by Edward Albee, Harvey Fierstein, Lorraine Hansberry, Lillian Hellman, Tony Kushner, David Mamet, Arthur Miller, Eugene O’Neill, Sam Shepard, Neil Simon, Gore Vidal, Wendy Wasserstein, Thornton Wilder, Tennessee Williams, and August Wilson. This informative volume also includes complete lists of Pulitzer Prize winners for Drama, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for American Plays, and the Tony Award for Best Play. Providing critical information about the most important works produced since the eighteenth century, 100 Greatest American Plays will appeal to anyone interested in the cultural history of theatre.

Genesis of an American Playwright

Genesis of an American Playwright
Author: Horton Foote
Publisher: Baylor University Press
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2004
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0918954916

Besides To Kill A Mockingbird and The Trip To Bountiful, Foote has written a score of notable plays, teleplays, and films.

Stella Adler on America's Master Playwrights

Stella Adler on America's Master Playwrights
Author: Stella Adler
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 402
Release: 2013-09-10
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0679746994

Stella Adler was one of the most influential acting teachers of all time, a legendary force of nature whose generations of students include Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Anthony Quinn, Diana Ross, Robert De Niro, Warren Beatty, Annette Benning, and Mark Ruffalo. This long-awaited companion to her book on the master European playwrights brings to life America’s most revered playwrights, whom she knew, loved, and worked with. Brilliantly edited by Barry Paris, Adler’s lectures on the giants of twentieth-century theater feature her indispensable insights into such classic plays as “Long Day’s Journey into Night,” “The Skin of Our Teeth,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Come Back, Little Sheba,” “The Glass Menagerie,” and “Death of a Salesman,” while shedding new light on such lesser known gems as Tennessee Williams’s “The Lady of Larkspur Lotion” and Arthur Miller’s “After the Fall.” Illuminating, revelatory, inspiring—this is Stella Adler at her electrifying best.

Contemporary American Playwrights

Contemporary American Playwrights
Author: C. W. E. Bigsby
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 454
Release: 1999
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780521668071

A leading writer on American theatre explores the works and influences of ten contemporary American playwrights.

The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary American Playwrights

The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary American Playwrights
Author: Christopher Innes
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 480
Release: 2013-12-19
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1408134802

Unrivalled in its coverage of recent work and writers, The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary American Playwrights surveys and analyses the breadth, vitality and development of theatrical work to emerge from America over the last fifty years. This authoritative guide leads you through the work of 25 major contemporary American playwrights, discussing more than 140 plays in detail. Written by a team of 25 eminent international scholars, each chapter provides: · a biographical introduction to the playwright's work; · a survey and concise analysis of the writer's most important plays; · a discussion of their style, dramaturgical concerns and critical reception; · a bibliography of published plays and a select list of critical works. Among the many Tony, Obie and Pulitzer prize-winning playwrights included are Sam Shepard, Tony Kushner, Suzan-Lori Parks, August Wilson, Paula Vogel and Neil LaBute. The abundance of work analysed enables fresh, illuminating conclusions to be drawn about the development of contemporary American playwriting.