Synopses & Reviews
This is the first one-volume survey of American drama, from 1945-1990, comprehensively covering the most exciting and prolific period in its history. Christopher Bigsby takes a fresh look at the major figures who have shaped postwar American drama, exploring the works of Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, David Mamet, and Sam Shepard. Bigsby also looks at Broadway and at the theatre which geared itself to the experiences of race and gender, examining the works of Lorraine Hansberry, August Wilson, and Marsha Norman, among others.
Review
'\"Bigsby has read the evolving American spirit through its theater. It is a work of enormous encyclopedic breadth, reaching out into the myriad byways of American theater, encompassing all its styles and approaches, but always with an eye to the central preoccupation of all serious theater, the nation\'s mysterious soul.\" Arthur Miller'
Synopsis
This is a fresh look at the major figures who have shaped post-war American theatre, from O'Neill through Tennessee Williams to Mamet and Shepard.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 342-354) and index.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements; 1. The absent voice: American drama and the critic; 2. Eugene O'Neill's endgame; 3. Tennessee Williams: the theatricalising self; 4. Arthur Miller: the moral imperative; 5. Edward Albee: journey to apocalypse; 6. A Broadway interlude; 7. Sam Shepard: imagining America; 8. David Mamet: all true stories; 9. The performing self; Index.