Cambridge University Press Theatre, Society and the Nation: Staging American Identities (Cambridge Studies in American Theatre & Drama): 15 (Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama, Series Number 15)

Theatre has often served as a touchstone for moments of political change or national definition and as a way of exploring cultural and ethnic identity. In this book Steve Wilmer selects key historical moments in American history and examines how the theatre, in formal and informal settings, responded to these events. The book moves from the Colonial fight for independence, through Native American struggles, the Socialist Worker play, the Civil Rights Movement, and up to works of the last decade, including Tony Kushner's Angels in America. In addition to examining theatrical events and play texts, Wilmer also considers audience reception and critical response. Review '… useful and impressive book … both fluent and scholarly … It is a welcome contribution to the study of American theatre … its conclusions are so engaging that its arguments will become well known by a generation or more of Shakespeareans. … Erne's book is marvelously researched, meticulously annotated, sensitively illustrated, and delivered in clear, refulgent prose … every reader will be stimulated and provoked.' New Theatre Quarterly Book Description Selects key moments in American history and examines how the theatre responded to these events. About the Author S. E. Wilmner is a Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and formerly Director of the School of Drama. He has been a Visiting Professor at Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley, and a member of the faculty of the International Centre for Advanced Theatre Studies, in Finland. Steven Wilmer is editor of Portraits of Courage: Plays by Finish Women (Helsinki University Press, 1997) and of Beckett in Dublin (Lilliput, 1992), among other works. He is also a playwright, with his works performed at the Manhattan Theatre Club and Lincoln Center.