In Staging Whiteness, Mary Brewer offers close textual readings of plays by American and British 20th century playwrights--both canonical and some that fall outside the mainstream--looking at how whiteness as an identity is created onstage, and how this has changed historically. With clarity and persuasion, Brewer argues that configurations of whiteness are dispersed and reflected through discourses that range from theory to literature and common social language, and that discursive performances of whiteness are a crucial feature of everyday social interactions.

Includes discussions of:...

With a shrewd grasp of theory and a comprehensive knowledge of British and American plays, Mary Brewer homes in on controversial issues among women pornography, rape, mothering, domesticity and work, and debates about the butch/fem model and gender-bending among lesbians. From the Foreword by Alan Sinfield, Professor of Literature, University of Sussex"

This collection of essays focuses on one of Harold Pinter's most popular and challenging plays, The Dumb Waiter, while addressing also a range of significant issues current in Pinter studies and which are applicable beyond this play. The interesting and provocative dialogues between established and emerging scholars featured here provide close readings of The Dumb Waiter, within relevant cultural and historical contexts and from a range of theoretical perspectives. The essays range over issues of autobiography and theater, genre studies, and the impact of Pinter's political activism on his...