American Drama 565 American Drama Resources Nichols Home Page II Drama Introduction II Reading Schedule II Art Gallery

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General

• History of American Theater: Early History and Contemporary--links to early and modern periods.
• The Playwright: Dramatic Structure and Character--basic information on drama terminology and history, and on the playwright's role.
• Drama in the United States--short history of American drama; good overview. (Alternate source here.)
• Other 18th and 19th Century Plays--complete texts
• An Outline History Of American Drama Colonial Theater and Drama
• Broadway 101: History of the Great White Way--excellent theatrical history. Click on the appropriate time period and on the arrows at the bottom of each page.

Mowatt, Anna Cora

• Fashion; or, Life in New York.  A Comedy, in Five Acts--complete text. (Another Fashion text.)
• Anna Cora Mowatt Site--good biography. Check "Author of Fashion" and "Career as Actress." Another biography.
• New York's Social Swim--NY Times article providing past and contemporary context for Mowatt's play.
• Fashion (or Life in New York)--short review on modern relevance and production.
• Always in Style: Fashion--short review (opposite viewpoint)
• The Women of Antebellum Richmond: Domestic Values and Public Ambitions--essay on "cult of domesticity" and three women (including Anna Cora Mowatt) who defied expectations.
• Comedy of Manners--definition.

Aiken, George (and Harriet Beecher Stowe)

• Aiken's Uncle Tom--complete text. (Alternate source: Aiken's Uncle Tom--complete text).
• Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture--wonderful site, primarily on Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, but with many links to related materials. See Uncle Tom's Cabin on Stage--browse the links. See in particular, Sentimental Culture; Reviewing Uncle Tom Onstage--see reviews of Aiken's Uncle Tom and other reviews; and Tom Shows--interesting article in Scribners Magazine, 1925. and Aunt Harriet Beecher Stowe--popular anti-Stowe (pro-slavery) song.
• Blackface Minstrelsy 1830-1852--several links. Review of Love and Theft, by Eric Lott--interesting comments on minstrelsy in Aiken's play. Minstrel Show--good encyclopedia description of the development of minstrel shows.
• Uncle Sam's Uncle Tom--short background on Stowe, Aiken, and slavery; Harriet Beecher Stowe--short biography of author of Uncle Tom's Cabin (novel).
• Abolitionism 1830-1850--see, in particular, the "Interpret" link at bottom of page (then click "Interpretive Exhibits")--all the essays, but "Topsy and Eva" in particular.
• Sympathetic Vibrations: The Politics of Antebellum Melodrama--Mark Mullen's interesting redefinition of melodrama. See especially Project Context and Chapter One.
• Characteristics of Melodrama:

  1. The virtuous hero/heroine is hounded by a villain and is rescued from a series of life threatening events.
  2. An episodic story unfolds rapidly after a short expository scene.
  3. Each scene ends with a climax.
  4. Important events occur onstage including elaborate spectacle.
  5. Plot devices like disguise, abduction, concealed identity and fortunate coincidence are used.
  6. Villains are always defeated and then brought to justice.
  7. Servants or lowly characters provide comic relief.
  8. Song and Dance is used to highlight and underscore the production.

Glaspell, Susan

• Trifles--complete text; Trifles--complete text with links, and other short essays; Trifles--complete text.
• Commentary: Trifles--the dramatic elements illustrated in Glaspell's play.
• Susan Glaspell (Scribbling Women site)--short biography; Literary Interpretation; Historical and Literary Contexts
• Three Study Questions; Classroom Issues and Strategies--study guide
• The Promise of Provincetown: Part I of II--background on modern theatre; see also Part II

• Problem Play/Well-Made Play; Naturalism/Realism; another  Realism and Naturalism--definitions

• Characteristics of a Well-made play:

  1. Extensive exposition and careful preparation (fore shadowing) early in the play.
  2. A tightly knit cause-and-effect arrangement of plot incidents.
  3. Each scene builds to a strong climax (or crisis).
  4. A secret known to the audience, but not to the play's characters.
  5. A "show down" or confrontational scene between the play's two major characters near the climax;
  6. A careful resolution of the action so there are no loose ends.

O'Neill, Eugene

• The Emperor Jones--complete text
• Eugene O'Neill--short biography
• Perspectives in American Literature (PAL): Eugene O'Neill--links to a biography and to study questions on several O'Neill plays.
• Study Questions--on Emperor Jones and Long Day's Journey.
• Eugene Gladstone O'Neill : Nobel Autobiography--short account of his life in his own words.
• Eugene O'Neill--short biography.
• Contour in Time: The Plays of Eugene O'Neill--table of contents for Bogard's book-length study of O'Neill's plays. See especially Amateur's End: The Emperor Jones--from Chapter III of the book; The Triumvirate Desire Under the Elms--from Chapter VI of the book; The Door and the Mirror: Long Day's Journey into Night--from Chapter X of the book.
• An Electronic Eugene O'Neill Archive--excellent site with many links. The "Production Archive" links to reviews of the early productions of his plays.
• Eugene O'Neill's First Stage: Provincetown--Chapter One from Provincetown as a Stage by Egan. O'Neill's early years at the Provincetown Theatre.
• James and Ella, 1845-1877--the actual lives of O'Neill's parents compared with the parents in Long Day's Journey into Night. Chapter One from Black's recent book-length study Eugene O'Neill: Beyond Mourning and Tragedy.
• The Expressionist Plays of Eugene O’Neill as Political Dramas (scroll down the page)--Rufolo-Horhager's long abstract for a conference paper contrasting O'Neill's expressionistic plays and his hyperrealistic Long Day's Journey into Night.
• Eugene O'Neill Newsletter--several issues available online.
• Strindberg and Our Theatre¹ (1923)--essay by O'Neill
• Expressionism--definition

Rice, Elmer

• Elmer Rice--short biography
• Review of a recent revival.
• Revival Production of the Year--scroll down to several reviews describing the productions and production photos.
• The Adding Machine Onstage--good student research project surveying the staging methods in recent productions.
• The Adding Machine: a Virtual Reality Project--description of an innovative KU electronic production; see also Production Notes and Art in Real Time--more commentary (plus an image) on the KU production.
• Set of photos. Another photo of a recent production. One more production photo. And another production photo.
• In the Black--another recent production.
• Puppetry: Styles and Messages--good student research project surveying another innovative way to produce Rice's play.
• Set Ideas: The Adding Machine--make sure you scroll all the way down each page.
• American Culture at the Beginning of the 1920's--good student research project introducing the social-cultural contexts for Rice's play.
• Expression of Expressionism--good student research project on expressionism in modern art and in Rice's Play. NOTE: The links to the paintings do not work. Instead view the paintings in the following link.
• Expressionist Art Gallery--the art resource for our American Drama class. Links at the end to essays on expressionism in all the arts.

Hellman, Lillian

• Lillian Hellman--biography; Lillian Hellman--short biography; Lillian Hellman--short biogrpahy 
• Study Questions for Children's Hour.
• Study Guide for Children's Hour (PDF file--awkward, but has good information).
• The Children's Hour (1961 film)--film review on the image of the lesbian in this film starring Shirley Maclaine and Audrey Hepburn.
• Review of film by lesbian reviewers.
• The Children's Hour--background and several movie versions. 
• "Blacklists and Other Economic Sanctions"from: Ellen Schrecker, THE AGE OF MCCARTHYISM--context for Children's Hour.
• The Red Scare: Anticommunism in America (A&E's "Dash and Lilly")--good timeline.
• 50 Years: SAG Remembers the Blacklist--detailed history of the blacklist era.
• Lillian Hellman's FBI file. 

Wilder, Thornton

• Thornton Wilder--short biography
• Wilder's Skin of our Teeth--audience response; historical context; analysis
• 5000 Years of Suburban Family Fortitude and More About . . . --helpful overview of cyclical time, archtetypes, and metatheatre in Wilder's play.
• A Thinking Family's Family Fare--review of contemporary production adapted to Y2K.
• Epic/Brechtian Theatre; another  Epic And Brechtian Theatre--short definitions

Miller, Arthur

• Arthur Miller--short biography; biography; another biography.
• Study Questions
• Study Considerations--good questions, some on Dustin Hoffman's movie version of the play.
• Study Questions
• Study Questions for Advanced Students
• Tragedy and the Common Man--Miller's famous essay. Another Tragedy and the Common Man, with study questions.
• Theme, Motifs, Structure, Character Analysis--helpful comments.
• Expressionistic Devices in Salesman--Lounsberry's excellent essay
• Broadway Review
• Review of and Second Thoughts on a recent expressionist production and re-interpretation of Miller's classic play.
• Slate Review ("Attention Must Not be Paid")--limitations of Miller's play.
• The System and the American Dream : Death of a Salesman--Garrison's essay critiquing Willy and family as failures, not tragic heroes. 
• Recent Miller Interview--comments on Salesman.
• Excerpt from Moss's Arthur Miller--surveys common approaches to Miller's plays and Miller's "dilemma."
• The Poet:  Chronicler of the Age--Bigby's essay on Miller and Salesman.

Williams, Tennessee

• Tennessee Williams--short biography; Tennessee Williams--short biography; includes helpful quotes by Williams.
• Study Questions.
• Streetcar Named Desire: Leading Questions--excellent study questions, plus other interesting information related to the play.
• Discussion Questions--excellent questions; some could be developed into paper topics.
• Assessment--helpful comments on Streetcar.
• Main Themes in Streetcar--links to other approaches to the play.
• The Gender Struggle in A Streetcar Named Desire--helpful essay.  (Another The Gender Struggle in A Streetcar Named Desire.)
• Scene Design Photos--KU production.
• Madness in the Plays of Tennessee Williams--short review of significant theme in Williams' plays. How does it apply to Streetcar Named Desire?
• Last Stop: Blanche's Breakdown--essay by drama instructor.
• The Smashed Mirror: Representations of Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire--Harringtin's abstract for conference paper about the sexual politics motivating Stanley and Mitch (scroll way down the page).
• The kindness of strangers: Tennessee Williams and A Streetcar Named Desire--some autobiographical parallels.
• Sexual Outcasts in A Streetcar Named Desire--Chapter two of Haley's dissertation on Williams.
• Love and Death in Tennessee Williams--Fritscher's published 6-chapter dissertation on Williams.

Hansberry, Lorraine

• Lorraine Hansberry--biography.
• Study Questions.
• Teacher's Guide to Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun--Random House guide with commentary and many study questions.
• Annotated Langston Hughes' poem "Dream Deferred"--links to comments on Hansberry's play.
• Hierarchy of Needs Theory and the Younger Family--Maslow's theory, study questions, paper topics.
• Dreams Deferred in Raisin--short essay on competing vs shared dreams.

Albee, Edward

• The Zoo Story--complete text.
• Biography; another biography.
• Edward Albee--Zoo Story--biography and general comments on the play.
• A Voice of his Own: Albee's Epiphany at 30--background on how Albee came to write the play and get it produced.
• Allegory in Albee's American Dream--scholarly essay
• Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf--background and comments on several Albee plays.
• "I am the Earth Mother: Pagan Elements in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf."
• Many links on Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf--study guides, plot summaries, helpful analyses of characters, themes, etc.
• When Love Hurts--well-written student essay on Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.
• Verdi--Messa da Requiem--translation of George's Latin passages. More Latin lyrics.
• Theatre of the Absurd--short definition

Shepard, Sam

• Sam Shepard Web Site
• Fool for Love Home Page--temporarily down
• The Times--actors analyze their roles in Fool for Love.
• Study Questions--for True West
• Sam Shepard: Stalking Himself/True West--PBS site with links
• Sam Shepard--commentary on themes in Buried Child and True West.
• Sam Shepard and the Anxiety of Identity--M.A. thesis.
• Masculinity and Performance--essay on gender as masquerade and performance; several other related essays also.
• Drama Today (Post-modernism)--short definition.

Shange, Ntozake

• Ntozake Shange--biography
• The Minstrel Mask and The American Minstrel--good background for Spell #7.
• Bamboozled:  Trying on Blackface--review of minstrelsy satire by Spike Lee.
• Elam, Harry J., ed. Colored Contraditions: An Anthology of Contemporary African-American Plays,  Plume 1996.  --introduction to Elam's collection; contemporary black plays revising the Uncle Tom and minstrelsy tradition.

Parks, Suzan-Lori

• Biography--Suzan-lori Parks.
• Re-Creating Her Story: Suzan-Lori Parks’s Venus (scroll down the page)--Gago's abstract for conference paper on Parks's challenge to black female stereotypes.
• Teaching Justice: The Idea of Justice in the Structure of Drama--Parks's Venus and other comedies.
• Venus Production Photos; another production photo and 19th Century-styled theatrical flyer.
• Sublime ‘Venus’ unsettles with tale of freak show--drama review.
• The Critical Condition of Suzan-Lori Parks's Venus--drama review.
• The Hottentot Venus--many links to the 19th century "Venus" and the current controversy over her remains, as well as to contemporary art, documentaries, and theatre on the subject.

Hwang, David Henry