Studies in American Drama, 1945-present
Author:
Publisher:
Published: 1993
Total Pages: 248
ISBN-13:
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The Facts on File Companion to American Drama
Author: Jackson R. Bryer
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
Published: 2010
Total Pages: 657
ISBN-13: 1438129661
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFeatures 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.
The History of Southern Drama
Author: Charles S. Watson
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Published: 2021-12-14
Total Pages: 393
ISBN-13: 081318889X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKMention southern drama at a cocktail party or in an American literature survey, and you may hear cries for "Stella!" or laments for "gentleman callers." Yet southern drama depends on much more than a menagerie of highly strung spinsters and steel magnolias. Charles Watson explores this field from its eighteenth- and nineteenth-century roots through the southern Literary Renaissance and Tennessee Williams's triumphs to the plays of Horton Foote, winner of the 1994 Pulitzer Prize. Such well known modern figures as Lillian Hellman and DuBose Heyward earn fresh looks, as does Tennessee Williams's changing depiction of the South—from sensitive analysis to outraged indictment—in response to the Civil Rights Movement. Watson links the work of the early Charleston dramatists and of Espy Williams, first modern dramatist of the South, to later twentieth-century drama. Strong heroines in plays of the Confederacy foreshadow the spunk of Tennessee Williams's Amanda Wingfield. Claiming that Beth Henley matches the satirical brilliance of Eudora Welty and Flannery O'Connor, Watson connects her zany humor to 1840s New Orleans farces. With this work, Watson has at last answered the call for a single-volume, comprehensive history of the South's dramatic literature. With fascinating detail and seasoned perception, he reveals the rich heritage of southern drama.
Hollywood on Stage
Author: Kimball King
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-07-04
Total Pages: 222
ISBN-13: 113652567X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKPlaywrights have been depicting Hollywood as a cultural desert and an industry of profit-driven philistines ever since the early days of the movies. This collection of original essays covers the period from the 1920s to the present but concentrates on such contempory playwrights as David Mamet, Sam Shepard, David Rabe, Arthur Kopit, and Adrienne Kennedy. A substantial proportion of the volume is devoted to a discussion of the way in which these authors deconstruct Hollywood myths to reveal painful social and psychological issues in American life, providing a deeper and darker picture than the simple satires of movie-making in the 1920s and 1930s or Odets's comparison of the commercially debased Hollywood with the higher, purer art of the theatre. To complete and further complicate the picture, the volume concludes with essays on the African American experience, gay writers, and feminist writing as seen through the lens of Marlane Myer's ETTA JENKS. It is obvious that the legitimate stage remains a watchdog and constant critic of what is possibly the world's most powerful cultural phenomenon This book will be eargerly read by all students of film, theatre, and 20th century literature.
Performing Drama/dramatizing Performance
Author: Michael Vanden Heuvel
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Published: 1993
Total Pages: 282
ISBN-13: 9780472082483
DOWNLOAD EBOOKExamines how the intertwining paths of avant-garde theater and mainstream drama work to produce provocative new forms
Marsha Norman
Author: Linda Ginter-Brown
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2014-04-08
Total Pages: 267
ISBN-13: 1135548382
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis collection of ten original (and one reprinted) essays provides an in-depth examination of one of America's foremost contemporary playwrights. Established critics as well as younger scholars examine well-known works such as Getting Out, 'night, Mother, The Laundromat, and the adaptation of The Secret Garden. Lesser known plays such as The Holdup, Sarah and Abraham, Traveler in the Dark, and Loving Daniel Boone are also discussed. This casebook includes an interview with Norman commenting on her work and her place in American theater as well as a review of 'night, Mother by drama critic Robert Brustein. The essays analyze Norman's works in comparison to the works of other playwrights and examine the mother/daughter relationships of the characters as well as Norman's sense of a woman's place within a patriarchal culture.
Tennessee Williams
Author: Philip Kolin
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Published: 1998-10-28
Total Pages: 297
ISBN-13: 0313007721
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe plays of Tennessee Williams are some of the greatest triumphs of the American theatre. If Williams is not the most important American playwright, he surely is one of the two or three most celebrated, rivaled only by Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller. In a career that spanned almost five decades, he created an extensive canon of more than 70 plays. His contributions to the American theatre are inestimable and revolutionary. The Glass Menagerie (1945) introduced poetic realism to the American stage; A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) explored sexual and psychological issues that had never before been portrayed in American culture; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) dared to challenge the political and sexual mores of the Eisenhower era; and his plays of the 1970s are among the most innovative works produced on the American stage. But Williams was far more than a gifted and prolific playwright. He created two collections of poetry, two novels, four collections of stories, memoirs, and scores of essays. Because of his towering presence in American drama, Williams has attracted the attention of some of the most insightful scholars and critics of the twentieth century. The 1990s in particular ushered in a renaissance of Williams research, including a definitive biography, a descriptive bibliography, and numerous books and scholarly articles. This reference book synthesizes the vast body of research on Tennessee Williams and offers a performance history of his works. Under the guidance of one of the leading authorities on Williams, expert contributors have written chapters on each of Williams' works or clusters of works. Each chapter includes a discussion of the biographical context of a work or group of writings; a survey of the bibliographic history; an analysis of major critical approaches, which looks at themes, characters, symbols, and plots; a consideration of the major critical problems posed by the work; an overview of chief productions and film and television versions; a concluding interpretation; and a bibliography of secondary sources. The volume concludes with a selected, general bibliography and a comprehensive index.
The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre
Author: Don B. Wilmeth
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1996-06-13
Total Pages: 448
ISBN-13: 9780521564441
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"This new and updated Guide, with over 2,700 cross-referenced entries, covers all aspects of the American theatre from its earliest history to the present. Entries include people, venues and companies scattered through the U.S., plays and musicals, and theatrical phenomena. Additionally, there are some 100 topical entries covering theatre in major U.S. cities and such disparate subjects as Asian American theatre, Chicano theatre, censorship, Filipino American theatre, one-person performances, performance art, and puppetry. Highly illustrated, the Guide is supplemented with a historical survey as introduction, a bibliography of major sources published since the first edition, and a biographical index covering over 3,200 individuals mentioned in the text."--BOOK JACKET.
Contemporary African American Female Playwrights
Author: Dana A. Williams
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Published: 1998-06-30
Total Pages: 148
ISBN-13: 0313064954
DOWNLOAD EBOOKLorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (1959) was a major dramatic success and brought to the world's attention the potential talent of African American women playwrights. But in spite of Hansberry's landmark contribution, both the theater and the literary world have often failed to include contemporary African American female playwrights within the circle of production, publication, and criticism. In African American drama anthologies, female playwrights are seldom given the degree of attention that is accorded their male counterparts. And because of space constraints, anthologies of works by women playwrights are forced to exclude numerous female dramatists, including African Americans. Meanwhile, some scholars have argued that the works of African American female playwrights are seldom produced in the mainstream theater because these plays frequently challenge the views of white America. But as A Raisin in the Sun demonstrates, plays by African American women dramatists can have a powerful message and are worthy of attention. A comprehensive research tool, this annotated bibliography sheds light on the often neglected works of contemporary African American female playwrights. Included within its scope are those dramatists who have had at least one work published since 1959, the year of Hansberry's monumental achievement. The first section provides a listing of anthologies that include one or more plays written by an African American female dramatist. The second gives entries for reference works and for scholarly and critical studies of the dramatists and their plays. The third presents a listing of published plays by individual dramatists, along with a summary of each drama; the works of each playwright that are related to drama; and secondary sources that treat the dramatists and their plays. Entries are accompanied by concise but informative annotations, and the volume closes with a list of periodicals that frequently publish criticism of African American female playwrights, a section of brief biographical sketches of the dramatists, and extensive indexes.
American Drama of the Twentieth Century
Author: Gerald M. Berkowitz
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2014-07-15
Total Pages: 299
ISBN-13: 131790172X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn this book Professor Berkowitz studies the diversity of American drama from the stylistic, experimental plays of O'Neill, through verse, tragedy and community theatre, to the theatre of the 1990s. The discussions range through dramatists, plays, genres and themes, with full supporting appendix material. It also examines major dramatists such as Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller, Sam Shephard, Tennessee Williams and August Wilson and covers not only the Broadway scene but also off Broadway movements and fringe theatres and such subjects as women's and African-American drama.
