American Theatre

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

• Acknowledgements; Introduction: Critical Heritage; 1. Defining American 'Drama'; 2. European Forms; 3. Performance and Strife in Eighteenth-Century Theatre; 4. Politics and Plays in the Nineteenth Century; 5. 'Modern' American Theatre and the Twentieth Century; Notes; Works Cited/Consulted; Index.

‘In the title of this review I called Saxon’s book a "multipurpose theatre history" because besides reviewing over 2000 years of performance history in the Americas––an awe-inspiring accomplishment in itself––it challenges received views of that history and highlights histories of diverse regions, focalizing political changes that affected theatre and drama over these centuries. Saxon’s history is remarkable not simply for its scope and systematically maintained focus, but also because it insists on demonstrating that theatre has not simply been responding to social change through its long history but has also actively served as a "platform" (1) to examine shifting gender, racial, class, and ethnic identities. It is also a special merit of American Theatre that it consistently foregrounds the story and contribution of marginalized and minority groups to theatre and ritual as well as the overall cultural landscape of the Americas. The book certainly is multifunctional as an ideal source of criticism of American drama and theatre, a superb guidebook for central events in American theatre and drama history, and a review of forgotten facts and figures in that narrative.’- Gabriella Varró, University of Debrecen, Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies