Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama – serie
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49 produkter
49 produkter
Del 3 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
The Revisionist Stage
American Directors Reinvent the Classics
Häftad, Engelska, 2006
506 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
This book explores the vision and talents of a controversial group of artists who, depending on one's perspective, either revitalised or disfigured the standard dramatic repertoire by adapting canonical dramas for the contemporary American stage. First setting out comprehensive overviews of the medium from a variety of perspectives, Amy S. Green goes on to present a critical history that features the bold directorial ventures of JoAnne Akalaitis, Lee Breuer, Liviu Ciulei, Richard Foreman, Joseph Papp, Lucian Pintilie, Richard Schechner, Peter Sellars, Andrei Serban, Robert Woodruff and Garland Wright. Green's critique ranges from Greek and Roman plays to plays by Shakespeare and Molière, and the operas of Mozart and da Ponte; she discusses such landmark theatrical events as Serban's Fragments of a Trilogy, Breuer's The Gospel at Colonus and Lear, and Peter Sellars's trilogy of Mozart operas. It provides a more informed reading of the business of theatrical revision, conducing a full-scale investigation of this rich and controversial genre.
Del 5 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
American Drama
The Bastard Art
Häftad, Engelska, 2006
563 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
In this book, Susan Harris Smith looks at the many often conflicting cultural and academic reasons for the neglect and dismissal of American drama as a legitimate literary form. Covering a wide range of topics such as theatrical performance, the rise of nationalist feeling, the creation of academic disciplines, and the development of sociology, Smith's study is a contentious and revisionist historical inquiry into the troubled cultural and canonical status of American drama, both as a literary genre and as a mirror of American society.
Del 7 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
Theatre Culture in America, 1825-1860
Häftad, Engelska, 2007
824 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Theatre Culture in America, 1825-1860 examines how Americans staged their cultures in the decades before the Civil War, and advances the idea that cultures are performances which take place both inside and outside of playhouses. Americans imaginatively expanded conventional ideas of performance as an activity restricted to theatres in order to take up the staging of culture in other venues - in issues of class, race and gender, in parades and the visits of dignitaries, in rioting and the denomination of prostitutes, and in views of the town, the city and the frontier. Joining historical research with a firm and clear-headed grasp of contemporary critical theory, Theatre Culture in America offers an interesting approach to the complex intersections of American theatre and culture.
Del 6 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
The American Stage and the Great Depression
A Cultural History of the Grotesque
Häftad, Engelska, 2007
506 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
This book proposes a correlation between the divided 'mind' of America during the Depression and popular stage works of the era. Theatre works such as Jack Kirkland's comic-horrific adaptation of Tobacco Road, Olsen and Johnson's 'scream-lined revue', Hellzapoppin, and successful plays by Robert E. Sherwood, Clare Boothe Luce and S. N. Behrman are interpreted as theatrical reflections of Depression culture's sense of being trapped between a discredited past and a nightmarish future. The author analyses America of the 1930s as an era of the 'grotesque', in which the irreconcilable were forced into tense and dynamic coexistence, and by examining these works of theatre as products of particular historical circumstances, argues for a strong connection between cultural history and theatre history.
Del 4 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
The Theatre in America during the Revolution
Häftad, Engelska, 2007
506 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
This is a comprehensive attempt to assemble all that is known of theatre at the time of America's political birth. Because many plays performed during the Revolution were overrun with partisan politics, they were not always aesthetically enticing; yet this was one of the only historical eras in which the theatre was used by both sides to help achieve military and political objectives. Whether moralistic or satirical, the plays of the revolution offer unique insights into the sympathies and fears of both loyal and dissident parties, and so serve as a telling document of a socially turbulent age. Brown's extensive research coheres into an invaluable theatrical and historical chronicle which should prove a useful resource for those working in the field.
Del 13 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
Performing the American Frontier, 1870-1906
Häftad, Engelska, 2006
589 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Performing the American Frontier, 1870-1906 examines how the American frontier was presented in theatrical productions during the critical period from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of cinema. In chronological fashion, the book explores the post-Civil War resurgence of interest in drama about the frontier, which led to a host of action-packed melodramas. From famous personalities such as Mark Twain and 'Buffalo Bill' Cody to lesser-known individuals such as native American playwright and actress Gowongo Mohawk, Hall examines the plays, the players, and the playwrights who helped to define the American westward migration in theatrical terms and covers the complete dramatic experience including scenery, performance and staging. The book demonstrates the extraordinary variety of subject matter and theatrical styles used to dramatize the frontier, and places frontier drama within the context of its society by framing the productions with the contemporary debates on national policies.
Del 19 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
Early American Theatre from the Revolution to Thomas Jefferson
Into the Hands of the People
Häftad, Engelska, 2007
561 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Theatre has often served as a touchstone for moments of political change or national definition and as a way of exploring cultural and ethnic identity. In this 2003 book, Heather Nathans examines the growth and influence of the theatre in the development of the young American Republic, from the Revolution through to the election of Thomas Jefferson in 1800. Unlike many works on the early American theatre, this book explores the lives and motives of the people working behind the scenes to establish a new national drama. Some of the most famous figures in American history, from George Washington to Sam Adams, from John Hancock to Alexander Hamilton, battled over the creation of the American theatre. The book traces their motives and strategies - suggesting that for many of these men, the question of whether or not Americans should go to the playhouse meant the difference between the success and failure of the Revolutionary mission.
Del 14 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
The New York Concert Saloon
The Devil's Own Nights
Häftad, Engelska, 2007
478 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
In this book Brooks McNamara explores the world of the concert saloon in New York from the Civil War to the early years of the twentieth century. A concert saloon is defined as an establishment offering various kinds of entertainment, including alcohol, with some also providing gambling and prostitution. All of these saloons employed 'waiter girls' to sell drinks and sit with male customers and all had bad reputations. McNamara focuses on the theatrical aspects of the concert saloon and examines the sources of saloon shows, the changes in direction during the century, the performing spaces and equipment, as well as the employees and patrons. McNamara paints a picture of a lively and theatrically fascinating environment and his work sheds light on our understanding of American popular theatre. The book contain informative illustrations and will be of interest to historians of theatre, popular culture and American social history.
Del 15 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
Theatre, Society and the Nation
Staging American Identities
Häftad, Engelska, 2008
561 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Theatre has often served as a touchstone for moments of political change or national definition and as a way of exploring cultural and ethnic identity. In this book Steve Wilmer selects key historical moments in American history and examines how the theatre, in formal and informal settings, responded to these events. The book moves from the Colonial fight for independence, through Native American struggles, the Socialist Worker play, the Civil Rights Movement, and up to works of the last decade, including Tony Kushner's Angels in America. In addition to examining theatrical events and play texts, Wilmer also considers audience reception and critical response.
Del 22 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
Drama, Theatre, and Identity in the American New Republic
Häftad, Engelska, 2008
769 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Drama, Theatre, and Identity in the American New Republic investigates the way in which theatre both reflects and shapes the question of identity in post-revolutionary American culture. In this 2005 book Richards examines a variety of phenomena connected to the stage, including closet Revolutionary political plays, British drama on American boards, American-authored stage plays, and poetry and fiction by early Republican writers. American theatre is viewed by Richards as a transatlantic hybrid in which British theatrical traditions in writing and acting provide material and templates by which Americans see and express themselves and their relationship to others. Through intensive analyses of plays both inside and outside of the early American 'canon', this book confronts matters of political, ethnic and cultural identity by moving from play text to theatrical context and from historical event to audience demography.
Del 17 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
Theatre, Culture and Temperance Reform in Nineteenth-Century America
Häftad, Engelska, 2008
478 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Nineteenth-century America witnessed a full-blown campaign against alcohol and, for most of the century, temperance reform was a national cause. As an integral part of the various temperance movements, a new form of theatrical literature and performance developed, both professional and amateur, to help spread the message. John Frick examines the role of temperance drama in the overall scheme of American nineteenth-century theatre, taking examples from both mainstream productions and amateur theatricals. Frick also compares the American genre to its British counterpart.
Del 20 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
The Federal Theatre Project
A Case Study
Häftad, Engelska, 2009
478 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Drawing upon archival resources, official correspondence and personal interviews, this 2003 book provides a detailed examination of the operations of the US Federal Theatre Project in the decade of the 1930s. From the colourful bus tours through the Civilian Conservation Corps camps to the turbulent productions of the Living Newspapers, this book recreates the often chaotic but frequently exhilarating story of Uncle Sam as producer. Special attention is given to the controversial Negro unit, the prize-winning production of See How They Run and the mass spectacles that attempted to incorporate Hallie Flanagan's vision of a truly national project rooted in local culture. The Federal Theatre Project: A Case Study illuminates both the ambitions of the programme and the day-to-day details of making art from a new mode - a subsidised national theatre.
Del 24 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
Sisters in Sin
Brothel Drama in America, 1900-1920
Häftad, Engelska, 2009
478 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
The prostitute, and her sister in sin - the so-called 'fallen' woman - were veritable obsessions of American Progressive Era culture. Their cumulative presence, in scores of controversial theatrical productions, demonstrates the repeated obsession with the prostitute figure in both highbrow and lowbrow entertainments. As the first extended examination of such dramas during the Progressive Era, Sisters in Sin recovers a slice of theatre history in demonstrating that the prostitute was central to American realist theatre. Such plays about prostitutes were so popular that they constituted a forgotten genre - the brothel play. The brothel drama's stunning success reveals much about early twentieth-century American anxieties about sexuality, contagion, eugenics, women's rights and urbanization. Introducing previously unexamined archival documents and unpublished play scripts, this original study argues that the body of the prostitute was a corporeal site upon which modernist desires and cultural imperatives were mapped.
Del 16 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
Censorship of the American Theatre in the Twentieth Century
Häftad, Engelska, 2009
603 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
John Houchin explores the impact of censorship in twentieth-century American theatre, arguing that theatrical censorship coincided with significant challenges to religious, political and cultural systems. The study provides a summary of theatre censorship in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and analyses key episodes from 1900 to 2000. These include attempts to censure Olga Nethersole for her production of Sappho in 1901 and the theatre riots of 1913 that greeted the Abbey Theatre's production of Playboy of the Western World. Houchin explores the efforts to suppress plays in the 1920s that dealt with transgressive sexual material and investigates Congress' politically motivated assaults on plays and actors during the 1930s and 1940s. He investigates the impact of racial violence, political assassinations and the Vietnam War on the trajectory of theatre in the 1960s and concludes by examining the response to gay activist plays such as Angels in America.
Del 21 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
Expressionism and Modernism in the American Theatre
Bodies, Voices, Words
Häftad, Engelska, 2009
603 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Although often dismissed as a minor offshoot of the better-known German movement, expressionism on the American stage represents a critical phase in the development of American dramatic modernism. Situating expressionism within the context of early twentieth-century American culture, Walker demonstrates how playwrights who wrote in this mode were responding both to new communications technologies and to the perceived threat they posed to the embodied act of meaning. At a time when mute bodies gesticulated on the silver screen, ghostly voices emanated from tin horns, and inked words stamped out the personality of the hand that composed them, expressionist playwrights began to represent these new cultural experiences by disarticulating the theatrical languages of bodies, voices and words. In doing so, they not only innovated a new dramatic form, but redefined playwriting from a theatrical craft to a literary art form, heralding the birth of American dramatic modernism.
Del 23 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
The Provincetown Players and the Culture of Modernity
Häftad, Engelska, 2009
478 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
The Provincetown Players was a major cultural institution in Greenwich Village from 1916 to 1922, when American Modernism was conceived and developed. This study considers the group's vital role, and its wider significance in twentieth-century American culture. Describing the varied and often contentious response to modernity among the Players, Murphy reveals the central contribution of the group of poets around Alfred Kreymborg's Others magazine, including William Carlos Williams, Wallace Stevens, Mina Loy and Djuna Barnes, and such modernist artists as Marguerite and William Zorach, Charles Demuth and Bror Nordfeldt, to the Players' developing modernist aesthetics. The impact of their modernist art and ideas on such central Provincetown figures as Eugene O'Neill, Susan Glaspell, and Edna St Vincent Millay and a second generation of artists, such as e. e. cummings and Edmund Wilson, who wrote plays for the Provincetown Playhouse, is evident in Murphy's close analysis of over thirty plays.
Del 25 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
Remaking American Theater
Charles Mee, Anne Bogart and the SITI Company
Häftad, Engelska, 2010
589 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
An account of contemporary theater practice in its most collaborative and dynamic form, this 2006 book was the first book-length study of two of the most important American theater artists at the start of the twenty-first century. For twenty-five years, Mee and Bogart have pursued independent but sympathetic visions of theater rooted in the avant-garde of the 1960s, guided by a view of art and culture as a perpetual process of 'remaking'. Since 1992, the SITI Company has pioneered the unique combination of three training practices as the basis for collective creations that layer language, gesture, and image in a complex and often stunning fashion. This study provides both a general introduction to Mee's unorthodox playwriting, Bogart's innovative directing, and the ensemble work of the SITI Company and an in-depth case study of their work together on bobrauschenbergamerica, a piece inspired by the art of Robert Rauschenberg.
Del 1 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
African American Theatre
An Historical and Critical Analysis
Häftad, Engelska, 1994
686 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
The book traces the history of African American theatre from its beginnings to the present. It analyses the types of plays written for this theatre, identifies the perennial problems faced by theatre artists and producing companies, and makes bold, innovative proposals for the theatre's healthy survival. The book draws on a considerable body of information that is carefully assembled in a lively accessible language. Professor Hay suggests that this theatre has been not only the cultural repository for African American life and history but also the forum where important ideas and aspirations of a people have been advanced and argued. The book presents a coherent and detailed scrutiny of the major stages of the development of African American theatre.
Del 4 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
The Theatre in America during the Revolution
Inbunden, Engelska, 1995
894 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
This is a comprehensive attempt to assemble all that is known of theatre at the time of America's political birth. Because many plays performed during the Revolution were overrun with partisan politics, they were not always aesthetically enticing; yet this was one of the only historical eras in which the theatre was used by both sides to help achieve military and political objectives. Whether moralistic or satirical, the plays of the revolution offer unique insights into the sympathies and fears of both loyal and dissident parties, and so serve as a telling document of a socially turbulent age. Brown's extensive research coheres into an invaluable theatrical and historical chronicle which should prove a useful resource for those working in the field.
Del 8 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
Demons of Disorder
Early Blackface Minstrels and their World
Inbunden, Engelska, 1997
1 330 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Carnival, charivari, mumming plays, peasant festivals, and even early versions of the Santa Claus myth - all of these forms of entertainment influenced and shaped blackface minstrelsy in the first half of the nineteenth century. In his fascinating study Demons of Disorder, musicologist Dale Cockrell studies issues of race and class by analysing their cultural expressions, and investigates the roots of still remembered songs such as 'Jim Crow', 'Zip Coon', and 'Dan Tucker'. Also examined is the character George Washington Dixon, the man most deserving of the title 'father of blackface minstrelsy' and surely one of celebrity's all-time heavyweight eccentrics - a bonafide 'demon of disorder'. The first book on the blackface tradition written by a leading musicologist, Demons of Disorder is an important achievement in music history and culture.
Del 6 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
The American Stage and the Great Depression
A Cultural History of the Grotesque
Inbunden, Engelska, 1997
1 323 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
This book proposes a correlation between the divided 'mind' of America during the Depression and popular stage works of the era. Theatre works such as Jack Kirkland's comic-horrific adaptation of Tobacco Road, Olsen and Johnson's 'scream-lined revue', Hellzapoppin, and successful plays by Robert E. Sherwood, Clare Boothe Luce and S. N. Behrman are interpreted as theatrical reflections of Depression culture's sense of being trapped between a discredited past and a nightmarish future. The author analyses America of the 1930s as an era of the 'grotesque', in which the irreconcilable were forced into tense and dynamic coexistence, and by examining these works of theatre as products of particular historical circumstances, argues for a strong connection between cultural history and theatre history.
Del 7 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
Theatre Culture in America, 1825-1860
Inbunden, Engelska, 1997
1 586 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Theatre Culture in America, 1825-1860 examines how Americans staged their cultures in the decades before the Civil War, and advances the idea that cultures are performances which take place both inside and outside of playhouses. Americans imaginatively expanded conventional ideas of performance as an activity restricted to theatres in order to take up the staging of culture in other venues - in issues of class, race and gender, in parades and the visits of dignitaries, in rioting and the denomination of prostitutes, and in views of the town, the city and the frontier. Joining historical research with a firm and clear-headed grasp of contemporary critical theory, Theatre Culture in America offers an interesting approach to the complex intersections of American theatre and culture.
Del 8 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
Demons of Disorder
Early Blackface Minstrels and their World
Häftad, Engelska, 1997
478 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Carnival, charivari, mumming plays, peasant festivals, and even early versions of the Santa Claus myth - all of these forms of entertainment influenced and shaped blackface minstrelsy in the first half of the nineteenth century. In his fascinating study Demons of Disorder, musicologist Dale Cockrell studies issues of race and class by analysing their cultural expressions, and investigates the roots of still remembered songs such as 'Jim Crow', 'Zip Coon', and 'Dan Tucker'. Also examined is the character George Washington Dixon, the man most deserving of the title 'father of blackface minstrelsy' and surely one of celebrity's all-time heavyweight eccentrics - a bonafide 'demon of disorder'. The first book on the blackface tradition written by a leading musicologist, Demons of Disorder is an important achievement in music history and culture.
Del 9 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
The Theatre of Sam Shepard
States of Crisis
Häftad, Engelska, 1998
603 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
This comprehensive analysis traces Sam Shepard's career from his experimental one-act plays of the 1960s to the 1994 play Simpatico. Curse of the Starving Class, Buried Child, True West, Fool for Love and A Lie of the Mind are all examined in depth. Concentrating on his playwriting, this book charts Shepard's various developments and shifts of direction, and the changing contexts in which his work appeared. Engaging, informative, and insightful, The Theatre of Sam Shepard is the definitive source on the works of this innovative and original writer.
Del 10 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
John Barrymore, Shakespearean Actor
Inbunden, Engelska, 1997
1 531 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
John Barrymore's Richard III and Hamlet, first seen in New York during the 1919-20 and 1922-3 seasons, stand as high-water marks of twentieth-century Shakespearean interpretation. Many of the conventions of modern practice can be traced to Barrymore's performances: he was the first actor to bring the vocal and physical manner of a post-War gentleman to Shakespeare's tragic protagonists; he was the first to reinterpret time-honored roles in light of modern psychological theory. Michael Morrison reconstructs these historic performances through analysis of the production preparation, audience response, reviews, and memoirs. Tracing the Victorian and Edwardian antecedents of Shakespearean performance, this book, first published in 1997, situates Barrymore's distinctive contribution in light of past and ensuing tradition. It also provides a biographical sketch of one of the most revered and tragic actors of the twentieth century.
Del 28 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
David Mamet and American Macho
Inbunden, Engelska, 2012
1 539 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Why did Americans reject the British gentleman as their dominant model of masculinity? Why is a boy's relationship to his mother a crucial factor in shaping his masculinity? What and how do boys learn about what it means to be a man? Holmberg demonstrates how David Mamet's plays provide insights into these questions, and into the masculine malaise. Through the gangsters, businessmen, soldiers, sailors, athletes, frontiersmen and thugs he created, Mamet celebrates and criticizes American macho. The book provides close readings of Mamet's well-known plays as well as plays which have not previously received the critical attention they deserve, and includes discussions of recent films and unpublished film scripts that shed light on Mamet's attitudes to American macho. Holmberg also presents detailed analysis of Mamet as director of his own plays, which gives fascinating insights into the playwright's intentions through his instructions to actors on how to play a part.
Del 18 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
A History of African American Theatre
Häftad, Engelska, 2005
791 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
This is the first definitive history of African-American theatre. The text embraces a wide geography investigating companies from coast to coast as well as the anglophone Caribbean and African-American companies touring Europe, Australia, and Africa. This history represents a catholicity of styles - from African ritual born out of slavery to European forms, from amateur to professional. It covers nearly two and a half centuries of black performance and production with issues of gender, class, and race ever in attendance. The volume encompasses aspects of performance such as minstrel, vaudeville, cabaret acts, musicals and opera. Shows by white playwrights that used black casts, particularly in music and dance, are included, as are productions of western classics and a host of Shakespeare plays. The breadth and vitality of black theatre history, from the individual performance to large-scale company productions, from political nationalism to integration, is conveyed in this volume.
Del 10 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
John Barrymore, Shakespearean Actor
Häftad, Engelska, 1999
561 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
John Barrymore's Richard III and Hamlet, first seen in New York during the 1919-20 and 1922-3 seasons, stand as high-water marks of twentieth-century Shakespearean interpretation. Many of the conventions of modern practice can be traced to Barrymore's performances: he was the first actor to bring the vocal and physical manner of a post-War gentleman to Shakespeare's tragic protagonists; he was the first to reinterpret time-honored roles in light of modern psychological theory. Michael Morrison reconstructs these historic performances through analysis of the production preparation, audience response, reviews, and memoirs. Tracing the Victorian and Edwardian antecedents of Shakespearean performance, this book, first published in 1997, situates Barrymore's distinctive contribution in light of past and ensuing tradition. It also provides a biographical sketch of one of the most revered and tragic actors of the twentieth century.
Del 11 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
Congressional Theatre
Dramatizing McCarthyism on Stage, Film, and Television
Inbunden, Engelska, 1999
1 503 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Congressional Theatre is the first book to identify and examine the significant body of plays, films, and teleplays that responded to the actions of the House Committee on Un-American Activities during the 'show business hearings' it held between 1947 and 1960. Brenda Murphy discusses the dramatization in the works of HUAC's effects on American life and the political, social, and moral issues that its actions raised for American citizens. Among the writers discussed are Arthur Miller, Bertolt Brecht, Lillian Hellman, Maxwell Anderson, Elia Kazan, Barrie Stavis, Herman Wouk, Eric Bentley, Saul Levitt, Budd Schulberg, Carl Foreman, Abraham Polonsky, and Walter Bernstein.
Del 12 - Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama
Chicano Drama
Performance, Society and Myth
Inbunden, Engelska, 2000
1 617 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
This book, first published in 2000, was the first since Jorge Huerta's earlier study Chicano Theater: Themes and Forms to explore the diversity and energy of Chicano theatre. Huerta takes as his starting point 1979, the year Luis Valdez's play, Zoot Suit, was produced on Broadway. Huerta looks at plays by and about Chicana and Chicanos, as they explore, through performance, the community and its identity caught between the United States and Mexico. Through informative biographies of each playwright and analyses of their plays, Huerta offers an accessible introduction to this important aspect of American theatre and culture. Overall, Huerta establishes a pattern of theatrical activity that is closely linked with both Western European traditions of realism and an indigenous philosophy seen in contemporary Chicano culture. The book contains photographs from key productions and will be invaluable to students, scholars and general theatregoers.