The Cambridge History of American Theatre

by Don B. Wilmeth, Christopher Bigsby

Overview

Volume 3 of this authoritative and wide-ranging history of American theater examines the theater after World War II, through Broadway and beyond, as well as regional theater across the country. Contributors also analyze new directions in theater design, directing, and acting, as well as key plays and playwrights through the 1990s.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521472043
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/28/1998
Series:	Cambridge History of American Theatre
Pages:	543
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.33(h) x 1.54(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction Christopher Bigsby and Don B. Wilmeth; Timeline: beginnings to 1870 compiled by Don B. Wilmeth and Jonathan Curley; 1. American theatre in context from the beginning to 1870 Bruce McConachie; 2. Structure and management in the American theatre from the beginning to 1870 Douglas McDermott; 3. The plays and playwrights: plays and playwrights to 1800 Peter A. Davis; Plays and playwrights: 1800–1865 Gary A. Richardson; 4. The actors: European actors and the star system in the American theatre, 1752–1870 Simon Williams; The emergence of the American actor Joseph Roach; 5. Scenography, stagecraft, and architecture in the American theatre, beginnings to 1870 Mary C. Henderson; 6. Paratheatricals and popular stage entertainment Peter G. Buckley.

What People are Saying About This

Arthur Miller

....a work meticulously written to throw light upon theatre as an expression of its many different faces on this continent.

Editorial Reviews

Wilmeth and Bigsby's history is the finest written about the American theater in many years.

Choice

"Editors Wilmeth (Brown Univ.) and Bigsby (Univ. of East Anglia, UK) and other top scholars weave a tapestry of performance art and cultural history against a background of changing social and political history in well-written chapters....Wilmeth and Bigsby's history is the finest written about the American theater in many years....A must for all college and university libraries." Choice

"The book's form and content make it both accessible and challenging to scholars from the advanced undergraduate through the postgraduate levels. It sets a new standard for comprehensive histories of American theater." Kim Marra, The Journal of American History

"What is striking about this history is the new and old historiography that characterizes it. The Cambridge History of American Theatre, Vol.I will find a ready audience at all levels of theatre research." Theatre Journal

From the Publisher