Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vi

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction 1

1 Politics, Existentialism, and American Drama, 1935–1945 4

2 Money is Life: American Drama, 1945–1959 27

3 Reality and Illusion: American Drama, 1960–1975 62

4 Mad as Hell: American Drama, 1976–1989 100

5 The Body in Pain: American Drama, 1990–2000 147

Notes 183

Selected Bibliography 192

Index 195 

About the Author

David Krasner teaches theatre, drama, and performance at Yale University. He is the author of Resistance, Parody and Double Consciousness in African American Theatre 1895-1910 (1997), and A Beautiful Pageant: African American Theatre, Drama and Performance in the Harlem Renaissance (2002). He is also the editor of A Companion to Twentieth-century American Drama (Blackwell, 2004), co-editor of Staging Philosophy: New Approaches to Theatre and Drama (2006), and co-editor (with Rebecca Schneider) of the University of Michigan Press’s series Theatre: Theory/Text/Performance.

Reviews

A Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2007
"This excellent, brief survey will pique the interest of readers enough to send them off to the plays themselves. It is a must for younger scholars and a good starting point for specialists ... Essential." Choice
“An astute and timely reminder of the sheer range and variety of American drama as it rose to international prominence, a drama that engaged national myths and realities, anxieties and hopes, as they were reflected in the lives of those who lived out what Henry Luce called ‘the American Century’.” Christopher Bigsby, University of East Anglia
“Strong and engaging … .A fine resource … that the reader can use as a guide to further historical and thematic thinking.” Text and Presentation