The Cambridge Companion to American Theatre since 1945
The Cambridge Companion to American Theatre since 1945
The Cambridge Companion to American Theatre since 1945 provides an overview and analysis of developments in the organization and practices of American theatre. It examines key demographic and geographical shifts American theatre after 1945 experienced in spectatorship, and addresses the economic, social, and political challenges theatre artists have faced across cultural climates and geographical locations. Specifically, it explores artistic communities, collaborative practices, and theatre methodologies across mainstream, regional, and experimental theatre practices, forms, and expressions. As American theatre has embraced diversity in practice and representation, the volume examines the various creative voices, communities, and perspectives that prior to the 1940s was mostly excluded from the theatrical landscape. This diversity has led to changing dramaturgical and theatrical languages that take us in to the twenty-first century. These shifting perspectives and evolving forms of theatrical expressions paved the ground for contemporary American theatrical innovation.
- Traces contemporary American theatre practice back to historical practices
- Identifies and explores collaborative models and how they have evolved
- Contextualizes American theatre practice within economic markets
Reviews & endorsements
‘For an up-to-date chronicle of American theater history from 1945 to the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, which shuttered theaters nationwide in March 2020, there is no better choice than this companion … Each essay includes extensive notes and a select bibliography to direct readers to deeper studies … Highly recommended.’ M. S. LoMonaco, Choice Connect
Product details
September 2021Paperback
9781108727211
300 pages
229 × 150 × 17 mm
0.45kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Introduction Julia Listengarten and Stephen Di Benedetto
- Part I. Commercial and Mainstream Theatre:
- 1. Broadway post-1945 to 1960: shifting perspectives Susan C. W. Abbotson
- 2. Bridging the gap: Broadway and the experimental from the 1960s to 2020 Cindy Rosenthal
- 3. What's inside? Collaborative relationships at the heart of the American musical Laura MacDonald
- 4. Shaping Broadway and off-Broadway plays through collaborations: playwrights, directors, designers, and companies Jessica Silsby Brater
- Part II. Regional Theatre Movement:
- 5. Money matters: dismantling the narrative of the rise of regional theatre Elizabeth A. Osborne
- 6. When and where they enter: black and brown voices in American theatre Faedra Chatard Carpenter
- 7. El jardÃn mágico: commissions, collaboration, and new play development in American regional theatre David A. Crespy
- Part III. Experimental Theatre and Other Forms of Entertainment:
- 9. Post-avant-garde theatre Arnold Aronson
- 10. Populist provocations and commercial cavalcades: popular entertainments and the rise of mass mediated performance Chase Bringardner.
