TDRU4555

At the dawn of the 20th Century, a bold new drama gradually replaced melodrama, America's reigning theatrical form in the latter half of the 19th Century. This "modern" drama was shaped by the Industrial revolution, the birth of psychoanalysis, the new Eurpoean "stagecraft", and the independent theatre movement, represented in America by the Provicetown Players. We will analyze the substatial achievment of the ensuing century, focusing on the masterworks of selected playwrights, ranging from the avante garde to poetic realism to postmodernism, including their political contexts. A thematic arrangement of presentation replaces a chronological sequencing, since these plays continue to enjoy many lives in revival.