Modern American Drama: Playwriting in the 1960s: Voices, Documents, New Interpretations

Description

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documents such as interviews with the playwrights and with directors, drafts of play scenes, and other previously unpublished material.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: - Edward Albee: The American Dream (1960), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962), A Delicate Balance (1966) and Tiny Alice (1964); - Amiri Baraka: Dutchman (1964), The Slave (1964) and Slaveship (1967); - Adrienne Kennedy: Funnyhouse of a Negro (1964), Cities in Bezique (The Owl Answers and A Beast s Story, 1969), and A Rat's Mass (1967); - Jean-Claude van Itallie: American Hurrah (1966), The Serpent (1968) and War (1963). Acknowledgements Biographical Note and Notes on Contributors General Preface: Brenda Murphy and Julia Listengarten 1. Introduction: Living in the 1960s by Mike Sell, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA 2. American theatre in the 1960s by Mike Sell, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA 3. Edward Albee by Helen Shaw by Mike Sell, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA 4. Amiri Baraka by Susan Stone-Lawrence, Texas Tech University, USA 5. Adrienne Kennedy by Leonora Inez Brown 6. Jean-Claude Van Itallie by Timothy Youker, University of Toronto, Canada Documents Notes Bibliography Index