Kategoria BISAC: Drama >> American - General

An aging rock star in a world in which entertainment and street warfare go hand in hand, Hoss must defend himself against Crow, a newcomer who battles him for fame. Combining musical styles and intense dialogue in an unconventional musical-fantasy, Tooth of Crime riffs brilliantly on rising stars and fading...

Here is a fascinating account of the struggle to create a viable American theatre and dramatic tradition in a society that, while eager for culture and entertainment, provided an environment hostile to their development. Meserve begins by describing the potential for dramatic writing that existed in America in 1829 and the obstacles faced by the many talented dramatists who emerged during the period. The author describes the work of playwrights in American popular theatre--their dramatization of current events and social issues and their attempts to adapt popular fiction and foreign plays....

A wonderfully helpful survey of the drama of Sam Shepard. It is bound to find many eager readers among those who are either intrigued or baffled--or both--by the plays of this still-young playwright whom many think contemporary America's finest. "Choice"

America's most highly acclaimed contemporary playwright continues to puzzle critics, even as his reputation grows and his imagination seeks new creative channels. Finding the dramatist difficult to classify, critics and scholars continue to search for the central direction of Shepard's creative development. Lynda Hart's study, which...

This study succinctly views some works of nine black women playwrights, who flourished between 1916 and 1935, and explores--in some detail--some characteristics of selected plays of Alice Childress, Lorraine Hansberry, and Ntozake Shange. . . . This is a well-conceived, well-researched, well-written study. Especially useful are Brown-Guillory's careful definition of terms and her clearly pointing out the directions in which she is heading. "American Literature"

Brown-Guillory's study is a reference work important to anyone studying black women playwrights, or black drama. Her ideas and...

Demastes, in his interesting study of the work of David Rabe, David Mamet, Sam Shepard, Charles Fuller, Beth Henley, and Marsha Norman, examines how these playwrights utilize the realist format to redirect perception of human life, how they cope with the consciously taken 'task of challenging old systems of thought from a base of new perspective.' The analyses of individual plays are preceded by a brief review of some earlier dramatic theories of realism revealing the roots and antecedents of the new forms. . . . Beyond Naturalism is a very useful and valuable contribution to drama...

Peterson has done a great service to students of African-American theater. . . . Peterson's scholarship is impressive; the book's format is inviting . . . an indispensable reference book for academic libraries. "Choice"

This reference volume addresses an often overlooked area in the history of the American theatre, the contributions of early black playwrights and dramatic writers. At a time when they were denied full participation in many aspects of American life, including the mainstream of the theatre itself, black artists were compiling an impressive record of achievement on the...

Fifteen distinguished scholars contribute original essays that analyze A Streetcar Named Desire, one of the most significant plays in modern theatre, from various critical or cultural stances, methods, or modalities. Represented as individual points of view or touched upon in the analysis are the theories of Lacan and Foucault and the tenets of Marxism; the approaches of Feminism, Reader Response Criticism, Deconstructionism, Chaos and Anti-Chaos Theory, Translation Theory, Formalism, Mythology, Perception Theory, and Gender Theory; and the perceptions of Popular Culture, Film...

This collection commemorating the centennial of American playwright Eugene O'Neill's birth presents a spectrum of critical views unusual for its variety and breadth of scholarship. Contributors from such diverse fields as Psychology, English Literature, Germanic Studies, Philosophy, the Classics, and Theatre Arts offer fresh perspectives on and penetrating interpretations of America's one indisputable world dramatist. Following editor Richard F. Moorton, Jr.'s introduction, which considers critical problems in O'Neill scholarship, the work is organized into three sections devoted to the...

Co-founder of the Provincetown Players and one of its leading writers, Susan Glaspell won the Pulitzer Prize for "Alison's House" (1930) and was also successful as an actress, producer, and novelist. Her plays were compared, often favorably, with O'Neill's. After a period of eclipse, Glaspell's concern with woman's desire for selfhood brought her plays to the attention of feminist scholarship beginning in the 1970s. Mary Papke argues in this work for a reassessment of Glaspell as a major American playwright. This sourcebook begins with a bio-critical survey and includes plot summaries for...

As one of the most outstanding and innovative playwrights of the 20th century, Elmer Rice made and sustained his reputation with a series of hit plays and provocative experimental work which, next to the output of Eugene O'Neill, remains the most varied canon of theatrical writing produced by an American dramatist. This reference book overviews his life and career and provides plot synopses and critical commentaries for his plays. The volume also provides cast and credit lists for major productions and an exhaustive bibliography of primary and secondary materials.

When critics of the...

Extolled and maligned, Eugene O'Neill was unquestionably the first American playwright of international stature, and his major plays, such as The Iceman Cometh and Long Day's Journey Into Night, remain giants of the American stage. Acres of print have been devoted to O'Neill by theatre critics and literary scholars. This new collection assesses the full range of critical response, considered historically through the entire oeuvre and covering major themes and critical stances. It culls from opening night reviews of premieres and revivals as well as scholarly essays from...

Rachel Crothers had a fascinating and influential career as a woman playwright and director. She was a major part of Broadway history during the first half of the 20th century, when she wrote for leading actresses such as Tallulah Bankhead, Katharine Cornell, and Gertrude Lawrence. While she is primarily known for her plays, she also worked for a time in Hollywood, and many of her plays were filmed--some more than once.

This volume presents a biographical and critical overview of Crothers's life and career, along with synopses of her plays, descriptions of the critics' responses to each...

American documentary theatre records the social issues that continue to shape the United States at the close of the twentieth century. This book provides an historical and critical survey of documentary theatre in the United States since John Reed's "The Pageant of the Paterson Strike" (1913). It defines documentary theatre as a dramatic representation of societal forces using a close reexamination of events, individuals, or situations. While documentary theatre reinvents itself from time to time, this study demonstrates that its constituent parts remain roughly the same. Because...

This critical introduction to Arthur Miller provides an indispensable aid for students and general readers to understand the depth and complexity of some of America's most important dramatic works. Beginning with a discussion of his life, this work traces not only Miller's theatrical career, but his formulative experiences with the Great Depression, the Holocaust, and the House Un-American Activities Committee. Detailed discussions of eight important plays are organized around the social and moral themes Miller derived from such events; these themes are evident in such works as Death of...