Theatre has long been an art form of subterfuge and concealment. Working in the Wings: New Perspectives on Theatre History and Labor, edited by Elizabeth A. Osborne and Christine Woodworth, brings attention to what goes on behind the scenes, challenging, and revising our understanding of work, theatre, and history.

Essays consider a range of historic moments and geographic locations from African Americans performance of the cakewalk in Florida s resort hotels during the Gilded Age to the UAW Union Theatre and striking automobile workers in post World War II Detroit, to the...