The Oxford Handbook of American Drama

589 Pages·2014·5.88 MB·English

by  Jeffrey H. Richards

THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF
A M E R I C A N
D R A M A
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THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF
AMERICAN
DRAMA
Edited by
JEFFREY H. RICHARDS
with
HEATHER S. NATHANS
1
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3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Th e Oxford handbook of American drama / edited by Jeff rey H. Richards
with Heather S. Nathans.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–973149–7
1. American drama—History and criticism. 2. Th eater—United States—History.
I. Richards, Jeff rey H. editor of compilation. II. Nathans, Heather S. editor of compilation.
PS332.O94 2013
812.009—dc23
2013013571
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
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Contents

Preface ix
List of Contributors xi
Introduction 1
Jeffrey H. Richards
1. Theatre Companies before the Revolution 16
Odai Johnson
2. Revolutionary American Drama and Theatre 32
Jason Shaffer
3. Early Republican Drama 50
Jeffrey H. Richards
4. The Politics of Antebellum Melodrama 67
Scott C.   Martin
5. Minstrelsy and Uncle Tom 8 1
Sarah   Meer
6. Representing Ethnic Identity on the Antebellum Stage, 1825–61 9 7
Heather S. Nathans
7. Antebellum Plays by Women: Contexts and Themes 114
Amelia Howe Kritzer
8. Reform Drama 130
Mark   Mullen
9. Antebellum Frontier and Urban Plays, 1825–60 149
Rosemarie   Bank
1 0. Late Melodrama 159
Mark   Hodin
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vi CONTENTS
11. A New Realism 1 73
Mark Fearnow
12. American Musical Theatre, 1870–1945 189
Thomas S. Hischak
13. The New Woman, the Suffragist, and the Stage 203
Katherine E.   Kelly
14. The Rise of African American Drama, 1822–79 218
Marvin McAllister
15. The Provincetown Players in American Culture 234
Brenda   Murphy
16. Eugene O’Neill 248
Steven F.   Bloom
17. Naturalism and Expressionism in American Drama 264
Julia A.   Walker
18. American Political Drama, 1910–45 2 80
Christopher J.   Herr
19. The Federal Theatre Project 2 95
Barry B.   Witham
20. African American Drama, 1910–45 307
Kathy A. Perkins
21. Arthur Miller: A Radical Politics of the Soul 3 22
Jeffrey D.   Mason
22. Tennessee Williams and the Winemiller Inheritance 340
Stephen Bottoms
23. Experimental Theatre: Beyond Illusion 356
Theodore   Shank
24. Post–World War II African American Theatre 375
Harry J. Elam, Jr.
25. The Postwar Musical 392
Michelle Dvoskin
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CONTENTS vii
26. Postwar Protest Plays 408
S. E.   Wilmer
27. Feminist Drama 425
Dorothy Chansky
28. Postwar Drama and Technology 441
Roger Bechtel
29. Drama and the New Sexualities 455
Jordan Schildcrout
30. Political Drama 470
Stephen   Watt
31. Ethnicity and Postwar Drama 485
Jon D. Rossini
32. Running Lines: Narratives of Twenty-First-Century
American Theatre 500
Marc Robinson
Index 523
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Preface

Jeff Richards was the fi rst person to footnote my research. I was still in graduate school
at the time, and it is impossible to describe the thrill of having someone whose work
I so admired point to a piece that I had written as worthy of consideration. Over the
years that I had the pleasure of knowing him, Jeff remained as I found him from the
time of our fi rst encounter at an academic conference in 1998—kind, gracious, encour-
aging, and collegial. I appreciated the paths he paved for scholars of American theatre
and drama, and I was honored that as my work and career progressed, we were able to
collaborate on various projects.
Th e Oxford Handbook of American Drama realizes Jeff ’s vision to off er students of
American literature, drama, and culture a collection of essays that transcends the merely
factual or encyclopedic. Instead the collection presents a series of arguments, debates,
and new interpretations of some familiar histories. I hope the collection will be a testa-
ment to his vision and a work that ignites new conversations about the fi eld to which he
was so devoted.
It was my privilege to help bring the work through its fi nal stages aft er Jeff ’s passing.
I thank the authors, Oxford University Press, Jeff ’s family, and the two colleagues who
assisted me—Jessica Krenek and Michelle Granshaw—for their work, time, patience,
and commitment.
Heather S. Nathans
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