Synopses & Reviews
Informative and economically written, this book is a useful tool for theatre and literary practitioners.
American Theater
This guide to the state of research on forty major American playwrights and the history of their productions is among the first of its kind. It is actually many books: a bibliography, a stage history, an assessment of scholarly works about each playwright, and an invaluable guide to the types of research studies--biographical, bibliographical and critical--that remain to be done on each playwright. The essays were written by leading experts in American drama and theatre and focus on playwrights whose works have in some way shaped and influenced the American stage. Each essay follows a standard format and provides information on the playwright's reputation and achievements; primary bibliography; production history of where, when, how often, and how well his or her works were performed; a rigorous identification and evaluation of secondary materials on bibliographies, biographies, influence studies, general works, and analyses of plays, and, most significantly, a detailed analysis of future research opportunities.
Review
Since scholars have long needed a comprehensive analytical-bibliographic study of American drama and theatre since the Second World War, it is a delight to announce that that need has at last been largely satisfied. Philip Kolin has succeeded, with the assistance of thirty-nine other experts, in providing us with 'the first scholary, in-depth study of the state of research on and history of performance of forty American playwrights whose work has won acclaim at home and (in many cases) abroad' American Playwrights Since 1945 comprises 'forty analytical bibliographic essays that assess the playwrights' reputrations, offer a production history of their works, and classify, survey, and evaluate scholarly and critical opinion' ...It is fortunate that Greenwood Press has given it not only attractive but sturdy packaging, for the volume will get much use and will long remain one of the handful of essential reference guides to American drama in the post-World War II era.Resources for American Literary Study
Review
In his preface to American Playwrights since 1945 Philip Kolin argues that some of the greatest triumphs and innovations of the American stage have occurred since 1945. In his reference guide to reputations, stage histories, critical and scholarly studies, and the state of research on forty American dramatists, Kolin has amassed a compendium of information on such luminaries as Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, David Mamet, and Sam Shepard; women playwrights such as Wendy Wasserstein, Beth Henley, and Marsha Norman; black playwrights such as Imamu Amiri Baraka, Ed Bullins, and Ntozake Shange; the ethnic writers Maria Irene Fornes and Israel Horowitz; and such socially conscious playwrights as Arthur Kopit, Lanford Wilson, and David Rabe. . . . Scholars, academics, librarians, and theater professionals will wonder how they have survived without it. The scope of the guide--specifically the inclusion of lesser-known writers--its inclusion of interviews in bibliographies, its evaluation of major criticism, and its suggestions for research opportunities will surely stimulate us for years to come.World Literature Today
Review
This outstanding scholarly overview of contemporary American playwrights has long been needed. Its 40 analytical bibliographic essays `assess the playwrights' reputations, offer a production history of their works, and classify, survey, and evaluate scholarly and critical opinion' (pref.). The expert contributors follow a structured six-part format; Kolin's editing achieves a seamless style. For each playwright there is an assessment of reputation and achievement as perceived through reviews and critical commentary; a primary bibliography that shows the extent and variety of the dramatist's canon; a history of where, how often, and how successfully the works have been performed, a survey of secondary sources including bibliographies, biographies, influences, general studies of the dramatist, and analyses of individual plays; a section in which `contributors alert readers to particular scholarly and critical problems that need to be solved or issues that need further investigation'; and a checklist of all sources cited parenthetically throughout the essays. A few popular, well-known playwrights, e.g., Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Arthur Miller, receive highly selective and focused commentaries, but most entries treat younger playwrights whose works generally appeared after 1960 and who unquestionably are shaping American theater now. Bullens, Gelber, Guare, Henley, Kopit, Mamet, McNally, Rabe, change, Terry, Wasserstein, A. Wilson, and L. Wilson are among those included. Highly recommended for all academic collections.Choice
Review
In his preface to American Playwrights since 1945 Philip Kolin argues that some of the greatest triumphs and innovations of the American stage have occurred since 1945. In his reference guide to reputations, stage histories, critical and scholarly studies, and the state of research on forty American dramatists, Kolin has amassed a compendium of information on such luminaries as Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, David Mamet, and Sam Shepard; women playwrights such as Wendy Wasserstein, Beth Henley, and Marsha Norman; black playwrights such as Imamu Amiri Baraka, Ed Bullins, and Ntozake Shange; the ethnic writers Maria Irene Fornes and Israel Horowitz; and such socially conscious playwrights as Arthur Kopit, Lanford Wilson, and David Rabe. . . . Scholars, academics, librarians, and theater professionals will wonder how they have survived without it. The scope of the guide--specifically the inclusion of lesser-known writers--its inclusion of interviews in bibliographies, its evaluation of major criticism, and its suggestions for research opportunities will surely stimulate us for years to come.World Literature Today
Synopsis
This guide to the state of research on forty major American playwrights and the history of their productions is among the first of its kind. It is actually many books: a bibliography, a stage history, an assessment of scholarly works about each playwright, and an invaluable guide to the types of research studies--biographical, bibliographical and critical--that remain to be done on each playwright. The essays were written by leading experts in American drama and theatre and focus on playwrights whose works have in some way shaped and influenced the American stage. Each essay follows a standard format and provides information on the playwright's reputation and achievements; primary bibliography; production history of where, when, how often, and how well his or her works were performed; a rigorous identification and evaluation of secondary materials on bibliographies, biographies, influence studies, general works, and analyses of plays; and, most significantly, a detailed analysis of future research opportunities.
Synopsis
"American Playwrights will be the starting point for work on these figures for many years to come." Library Journal "Informative and economically written, this book is a useful tool for theatre and literary practitioners." American Theatre
About the Author
PHILIP C. KOLIN is Professor of English at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Table of Contents
Edward Albee by Matthew C. Roudane
Robert Anderson by Thomas P. Adler
James Baldwin by David H. Roberts
Amiri Baraka by Thomas H. Bonner, Jr.
Ed Bullins by Leslie Sanders
Paddy Chayefsky by David H. Goff
Christopher Durang by William W. Demastes
Richard Foreman by David Savran
Marie Irene Fornes by Scott T. Cummings
Jack Gelber by Vincent Petronella
Charles Gordone by Susan Harris Smith
John Guare by Don B. Wilmeth
Lorraine Hansberry by Francis Dedmond
Beth Henley by Colby Haight Kullman and Miriam Neuringer
Israel Horovitz by Martin J. Jacobi
William Inge by Maarten Reilingh
Albert Innaurato by Linda E. McDaniel
Preston Jones by Charlotte S. McClure
Arthur Kopit by Laura H. Weaver
Romulus Linney by Don B. Wilmeth
Robert Lowell by Michael Stuprich
David Mamet by Jocelyn Trigg
Carson McCullers by Mary Ann Wilson
Terrence McNally by Geraldo U. de Sousa
Arthur Miller by Alvin Goldfarb
Marsh Norman by Irmgard Wolfe
David Rabe by Philip C. Kolin
Ronald Ribman by Philip J. Egan
Ntozake Shange by Kenneth Watson
Sam Shepard by William Kleb
Neil Simon by Laura P. Morrow
Stephen Sondheim by Kathleen Sullivan
Megan Terry by Lynda Hart
Jean-Claude van Itallie by Alexis Greene
Wendy Wasserstein by Patti P. Gillespie
Michael Weller by Richard Leeson
Tennessee Williams by Felicia Londre
August Wilson by Michael C. O'Neill
Lanford Wilson by C. Warren Robertson
Paul Zindel by Suzanne B. Dieckman
Bibliography
Index