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The
Decades of Modern American Drama series provides a comprehensive survey and study of the theatre produced in each decade from the 1930s to 2009 in eight volumes. Each volume equips readers with a detailed understanding of the context from which work emerged: an introduction considers life in the decade with a focus on domestic life and conditions, social changes, culture, media, technology, industry and political events; while a chapter on the theatre of the decade offers a wide-ranging and thorough survey of theatres, companies, dramatists, new movements and developments in response to the economic and political conditions of the day. The work of the four most prominent playwrights from the decade receives in-depth analysis and re-evaluation by a team of experts, together with commentary on their subsequent work and legacy. A final section brings together original documents such as interviews with the playwrights and with directors, drafts of play scenes, and other previously unpublished material.
The major playwrights and their plays to receive in-depth coverage in this volume include:
* Theresa Rebeck:
Omnium Gatherum (2003),
Mauritius (2007), and
The Understudy (2008);
* Sarah Ruhl:
Eurydice (2003),
Clean House (2004), and
In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play) (2009);
* Lynn Nottage:
Intimate Apparel (2003),
Fabulation or Re-Education of Undine (2004), and
Ruined (2008);
* Charles Mee:
Big Love (2000),
Wintertime (2005), and
Hotel Cassiopeia (2006).
List of contents
List of Tables and Boxes
Acknowledgements
Biographical Note and Notes on Contributors
General Preface: Brenda Murphy and Julia Listengarten
1. Introduction: Living in the 2000s by Julia Listengarten, University of Central Florida, USA.
2. Theatre in the 2000s by Julia Listengarten, University of Central Florida, USA.
3. Charles Mee by Scott T. Cummings, Boston College, USA.
4. Lynn Nottage by by Cindy Rosenthal, Hofstra University, USA.
5. Theresa Rebeck by by Dorothy Chansky, Texas Tech University, USA.
6. Sarah Ruhl by Wendy Arons, Carnegie Mellon University, USA.
Afterword by by Julia Listengarten, University of Central Florida, USA.
Documents
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Julia Listengarten is Professor of Theatre and Coordinator of Graduate Studies at the University of Central Florida, USA. She is a scholar, theatre director, dramaturg, and translator. She is the author of
Russian Tragifarce: Its Cultural and Political Roots (2000) and co-editor of
Theater of the Avant-Garde: 1950-2000 (2011) and
Playing with Theory in Theatre Practice (2012).
Cindy Rosenthal is Professor of Drama and Dance at Hofstra University, New York, USA. She is co-editor of
Restaging the Sixties: Radical Theatres and their Legacies (2006),
Living on the Street: Plays of the Living Theatre 1989-92 (2008) and
The Rise of Performance Studies: Re-thinking Richard Schechner's Broad Spectrum (2011).
Dorothy Chansky is Associate Professor at Texas Tech University, USA.
Wendy Arons is Associate Professor at Carnegie Melon University, USA.
Scott Cummings is Department Chair and Associate Professor at Boston College, USA.
Summary
The Decades of Modern American Drama series provides a comprehensive survey and study of the theatre produced in each decade from the 1930s to 2009 in eight volumes. Each volume equips readers with a detailed understanding of the context from which work emerged: an introduction considers life in the decade with a focus on domestic life and conditions, social changes, culture, media, technology, industry and political events; while a chapter on the theatre of the decade offers a wide-ranging and thorough survey of theatres, companies, dramatists, new movements and developments in response to the economic and political conditions of the day. The work of the four most prominent playwrights from the decade receives in-depth analysis and re-evaluation by a team of experts, together with commentary on their subsequent work and legacy. A final section brings together original documents such as interviews with the playwrights and with directors, drafts of play scenes, and other previously unpublished material.
The major playwrights and their plays to receive in-depth coverage in this volume include:
* Theresa Rebeck: Omnium Gatherum (2003), Mauritius (2007), and The Understudy (2008);
* Sarah Ruhl: Eurydice (2003), Clean House (2004), and In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play) (2009);
* Lynn Nottage: Intimate Apparel (2003), Fabulation or Re-Education of Undine (2004), and Ruined (2008);
* Charles Mee: Big Love (2000), Wintertime (2005), and Hotel Cassiopeia (2006).
Foreword
This volume offers a detailed account of the cultural, social, political and economic context for the theatre produced in the first decade of the 21st century in America, and offers an indepth study of the work of four of the decade's major playwrights.
