The American Play: 1787-2000 - Hardcover

Marc Robinson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300116497 ISBN 13: 9780300116496

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2009

Synopsis

In this brilliant study, Marc Robinson explores more than two hundred years of plays, styles, and stagings of American theater. Mapping the changing cultural landscape from the late eighteenth century to the start of the twenty-first, he explores how theater has and has not changed and offers close readings of plays by O’Neill, Stein, Wilder, Miller, and Albee, as well as by important but perhaps lesser known dramatists such as Wallace Stevens, Jean Toomer, Djuna Barnes, and many others. Robinson reads each work in an ambitiously interdisciplinary context, linking advances in theater to developments in American literature, dance, and visual art.

 

The author is particularly attentive to the continuities in American drama, and expertly teases out recurring themes, such as the significance of visuality. He avoids neatly categorizing nineteenth- and twentieth-century plays and depicts a theater more restive and mercurial than has been recognized before. Robinson proves both a fascinating and thought-provoking critic and a spirited guide to the history of American drama.

About this title

About the Author

Marc Robinson is professor of theater studies, English, and American studies at Yale University and adjunct professor of dramaturgy and dramatic criticism at the Yale School of Drama. He is the author of The Other American Drama and a frequent contributor to theater journals. He lives in Guilford, CT.

Review

Chosen as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2009 by Choice Magazine (Choice 2010-01-01)

"[An] inspired reassessment of this nation's theatrical history." —Dramatics (Dramatics Magazine 2009-10-01)

Winner of the 2009 George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism organized and directed by the English departments of Cornell, Princeton, and Yale Universities. (George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism English departments of Cornell, Princeton, and Yale Universities 2009-11-18)

"Rarely has such a good writer on drama undertaken such a project, and even more rarely executed it with such panache."—Don B. Wilmeth, Editor, Cambridge Guide to American Theatre
(Don B. Wilmeth)

“Marc Robinson is one of the most astute and sensitive critics of American drama, and The American Play is his major work to date . . . powerful and persuasive . . . essential reading for any serious student of US drama.”--Stephen Bottoms, New Theatre Quarterly
(Stephen Bottoms New Theatre Quarterly)

“Revelatory . . . Robinson's essays fulfill the lofty goal of giving close, interdisciplinary readings that liberally dip into new developments in American literature, dance, and visual art.”--Randy Gener, American Theatre
(Randy Gener American Theatre)

“Evocative and compelling . . . a worthy achievement.”--George Hunka, Performing Arts Journal
 

(George Hunka Performing Arts Journal)

Honorable mention, Association for Theater in Higher Education Outstanding Book Award for 2010 (Outstanding Research in Theater History book prize, honorable mention Association for Theater in Higher Education 2010-04-01)

 "The American Play—as the starkness and boldness of its title implies—is decisively remaking the canon of American drama. What makes this book a rare and exhilarating experience is the subtlety, imagination, erudition, and analytical power of Marc Robinson's critical voice."—Ross Posnock, Columbia University (Ross Posnock)

Winner of the 2010 George Freedley Special Jury Prize, given by the Theatre Library Association (George Freedley Special Jury Prize Theatre Library Association 2010-07-12)

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0300116497
• ISBN 13: 9780300116496
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416