MODERN AMERICAN DRAMA & PERFORMANCE

Modern American Drama and Performance in an era of cultural contestation.  What is united about the United States? How are the important claims of cultural difference related to the intercultural claims of shared community?  Is there a place for historical continuity in the modernist pursuit of change?  How have these issues been addressed in the emergence and development of modern drama and performance in America?  Questions such as these will be addressed in the context of theatrical exploration, performance history, and social change.  Canonical and experimental playwrights include Rachel Crothers, Susan Glaspell, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Eugene O’Neill, Clifford Odets, Thornton Wilder, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Lorraine Hansberry, Edward Albee, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sarah Ruhl, and Dominique Morisseau.