Companion to Twentieth-Century American Drama

David Krasner is an instructor in Theatre Studies, English, and African American Studies at Yale University. He is the author of Resistance, Parody, and Double Consciousness in African American Theatre, 1895-1910 and A Beautiful Pageant: African American Theatre, Drama, and Performance in the Harlem Renaissance (2002). He has twice won the Errol Hill Award from the American Society for Theatre Research for the best book or essay on African American theatre history. He has also worked as a professional actor and director.

“This Companion provides an original and authoritative survey of twentieth-century American drama studies, written by some of the best scholars and critics in the field.”  (Stephen Baker Hot Fiction Books, 31 December 2012)“This volume includes more than 30 meticulously researched essays, some with illustrations, by the best-known contemporary experts on American drama and theater … Highly recommended. All collections; all levels.” Choice

• List of Illustrations xNotes on Contributors xiiForeword by Molly Smith xviiAcknowledgments xix1. Introduction: The Changing Perceptions of American Drama 1David Krasner2. American Drama, 1900–1915 3Mark Evans Bryan3. Ethnic Theatre in America 18Rachel Shteir4. Susan Glaspell and Sophie Treadwell: Staging Feminism and Modernism, 1915–1941 34J. Ellen Gainor and Jerry Dickey5. American Experimentalism, American Expressionism, and Early O’Neill 53Deanna M. Toten Beard6. Many-Faceted Mirror: Drama as Reflection of Uneasy Modernity in the 1920s 69Felicia Hardison Londré7. Playwrights and Plays of the Harlem Renaissance 91Annemarie Bean8. Reading Across the 1930s 106Anne Fletcher9. Famous Unknowns: The Dramas of Djuna Barnes and Gertrude Stein 127Sarah Bay-Cheng10. Eugene O’Neill: American Drama and American Modernism 142David Krasner11. Fissures Beneath the Surface: Drama in the 1940s and 1950s 159Thomas P. Adler12. Tennessee Williams 175Brenda A. Murphy13. Expressing and Exploring Faith: Religious Drama in America 192Peter Civetta14. The American Jewishness of Arthur Miller 209Murray Biggs15. Drama of the 1960s 229Christopher Olsen16. Fifteen-Love, Thirty-Love: Edward Albee 247Steven Price17. The Drama of the Black Arts Movement 263Mike Sell18. Sam Shepard and the American Sunset: Enchantment of the Mythic West 285Leslie A. Wade19. Staging the Binary: Asian American Theatre in the Late Twentieth Century 301Daphne Lei20. August Wilson 318Harry J. Elam, Jr.21. Native American Drama 334Ann Haugo22. John Guare and the Popular Culture Hype of Celebrity Status 352Gene A. Plunka23. Writing Beyond Borders: A Survey of US Latina/o Drama 370Tiffany Ana Lopez24. ‘‘Off the Porch and into the Scene’’: Southern Women Playwrights Beth Henley, Marsha Norman, Rebecca Gilman, and Jane Martin 388Linda Rohrer Paige25. David Mamet: America on the American Stage 406Janet V. Haedicke26. 1970–1990: Disillusionment, Identity, and Discovery 423Mark Fearnow27. Maria Irene Fornes: Acts of Translation 440Andrew Sofer28. From Eccentricity to Endurance: Jewish Comedy and the Art of Affirmation 456Julia Listengarten29. Repercussions and Remainders in the Plays of Paula Vogel: An Essay in Five Moments 473Ann Pellegrini30. Lesbian and Gay Drama 486Jill Dolan31. American Drama of the 1990s On and Off-Broadway 504June Schlueter32. Solo Performance Drama: The Self as Other? 519Stephen J. Bottoms33. Experimental Drama at the End of the Century 536Ehren FordyceIndex 552