American Theatre ─ History, Context, Form

This book provides a brief yet informative evaluation of the variety and complexity of theatrical endeavours in the United States. It embraces all epochs of theatre history, from pre-colonial Native American performance rituals and the endeavours of early colonisers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, to the end of the twentieth century, situating American theatre as a lively, dynamic and diverse arena.

Implications of political manoeuvrings, economics – state-funding and commercial enterprises – race and gender, as well as material factors such as technology, riot and fire, are examined as major forces in determining the structure of America’s playhouses and productions.

The volume investigates critical understandings of the term ‘theatre,’ and assesses ways in which the various values of commerce, entertainment, education and dramatic production have informed the definition of theatre throughout America’s history. [Columbia/Edinburgh University Press]

Theresa Saxon is Senior Lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire.