This anthology acts as an introduction to theatre; it includes a selection of classic and contemporary plays. It provides comprehensive coverage of world theatre, American theatre, modern European theatre and classical Japanese theatre. It situates plays within their geographical, cultural and historical context helping introductory students make sense of drama in a variety of ways. An engaging backstage glimpse into the lives of plays and how they are made is also provided, it gives an examination of: actors, directors, playwrights and designers.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Drama, Theater, and Culture. Reading Drama and Seeing Theater. Drama and Theater in History. Dramatic Genres. Dramatic Form. The Stage in Critical Practice. *Reading the Material Theatre. 1. CLASSICAL ATHENS. Aside: Roman Drama and Theater. *Reading the Material Theater: Pronomos Painter. Aeschylus, Agamemnon. Sophocles, Oedipus the King. Euripides, Medea. Aristophanes, Lysistrata. Critical Contexts: Aristotle, from The Poetics. Performance in History. Sue-Ellen Case, from Classic Drag: the Greek Creation of Female Parts. Niall W. Slater, from The Idea of the Actor. *An Actor's Perspective: Interview with Fiona Shaw on Medea. A Performance Review: Michael Billington, review of The Oresteia. Royal National Theatre, 1981. 2. CLASSICAL JAPAN. Aside: Sanskrit Drama and Theater. *Reading the Material Theater: A Portrait of Seki Sanjuro II. Kan'ami Kiyotsugu, Matsukaze. Nakamura Matagoro II and James R. Brandon, adaptors, Chushingura: The Forty-Seven Samurai. Critical Contexts: Zeami Motokiyo, from A Mirror Held to the Flower. *Performance in History: Graham Ley, Aristotle's Poetics, Bharatamuni's Natyasastra, and Zeami's Treatises: Theory as Discourse. A Playwright's Perspective: Zeami Motokiyo, from Teachings on Style and the Flower. A Performance Review: Sandra Schlanger, review of Chushingura: The Forty-Seven Samurai University of Hawaii (1979). 3. MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE ENGLAND. Aside: The Jacobean Court Masque. *Reading the Material Theater: Titus Andronicus title page. Anonymous, The Wakefield Second Shepherds' Pageant. Anonymous, Everyman. Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus. William Shakespeare, Hamlet. William Shakespeare, The Tempest. Critical Contexts: Sir Philip Sidney, from Apology for Poetry. *Performance in History: Phyllis Rackin, Misogyny is Everywhere. An Actor's Perspective: Michael Pennington, Hamlet, from Players of Shakespeare. A Performance Review: Mel Gussow, review of Hamlet, Royal Shakespeare Company (1980). 4. EARLY MODERN EUROPE. Aside: Commedia Dell' Arte. Reading the Material Theater: Betterton's acting style. Pedro Calderon de la Barca, Life Is a Dream. Moliere, Tartuffe. Jean Racine, Phaedra. Aphra Behn, The Rover. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Loa to The Divine Narcissus. Critical Contexts: John Dryden, Preface to Troilus and Cressida, Containing the Grounds of Criticism in Tragedy. Performance in History: Katharine Eisaman Maus, from 'Playhouse Flesh and Blood': Sexual Ideology and the Restoration Actress. *An Actress's Perspective: Hippolyte Clairon, from Memoirs. A Performance Review: Frank Rich, review of The Rover Williamstown Theatre (1987). 5. MODERN EUROPE. Aside: Melodrama. *Reading the Material Theater: Ibsen's Notes for the Modern Tragedy. Henrik Ibsen, A Doll's House. August Strindberg, The Father. Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard. *Elizabeth Robins, Votes for Women! Bernard Shaw, Major Barbara. Luigi Pirandello, Six Characters In Search of an Author. Bertolt Brecht, Mother Courage and Her Children. Samuel Beckett, Endgame. Harold Pinter, The Homecoming. *Marguerite Duras, India Song. Heiner Muller, Hamletmachine. Caryl Churchill, Cloud Nine. *David Edgar, Pentecost. Critical Contexts: Friedrich Nietzsche, from The Birth of Tragedy. Emile Zola, from Naturalism in the Theatre. Martin Esslin, from The Theatre of the Absurd. Fredric Jameson, from "Postmodernism and Consumer Society". Performance in History: Constantin. Stanislavski, from "Direction and Acting". Bertolt Brecht, "Theatre for Pleasure or Theatre for Instruction". Antonin Artaud, from The Theater and Its Double. *Una Chaudhuri, from Staging Place: The Geography of Modern Drama. *A Director's Perspective: A Director's approach--Interview with Peter Hall on The Homecoming. Performance Reviews: Bernard Shaw, review of A Doll's House Globe Theatre (1897). Ben Brantley, review of A Doll's House Belasco Theater (1997). 6. THE UNITED STATES. Aside: The Federal Theater Project. Aside: Performance Art. *Reading the Material Theater: Grimke's Rachel--The Play of the Month, The Reason and Synopsis by the Author. *Dion Boucicault, The Octoroon. Susan Glaspell, Trifles. *Angelina Weld Grimke, Rachel. Eugene O'Neill, The Hairy Ape. Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie. *Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman. Amiri Baraka/LeRoi Jones, Dutchman. *Maria Irene Fornes, Fefu and Her Friends. Sam Shepard, True West. August Wilson, Fences. David Henry Hwang, M. Butterfly. Tony Kushner, Angels in America, Part 1: Milennium Approaches. Anna Deavere Smith, Fires In the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and Other Identities. *Naomi Iizuka, 36 Views. *Suzan-Lori Parks, Topdog/Underdog. Critical Contexts: Arthur Miller, Tragedy and the Common Man. Amiri Baraka/LeRoi Jones, "The Revolutionary Theatre". Performance in History: *August Wilson, The Ground on Which I Stand. *Robert Brustein, Subsidized Separatism. A Designer's Perspective: Arnold Aronson, Design for Angels in America: Envisioning the Millennium. A Performance Review: Ben Brantley, review of Topdog / Underdog Joseph Papp Public Theater (2001). 7. WORLD STAGES. Aside: Intercultural Performance. *Reading the Material Theater: Program Notes for Translations. Satoh Makoto, My Beatles. Aime Cesaire, A Tempest. Griselda Gambaro, Information for Foreigners. *Athol Fugard, John Kani, Winston Ntshona, The Island. Wole Soyinka, Death and the King's Horseman. Brian Friel, Translations. Maishe Maponya, Gangsters. Jack Davis, No Sugar. *Gao Xingjian, The Other Shore. Tomson Highway, Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing. *Judith Thompson, Lion in the Streets. *Manjula Padmanabhan, Harvest. Critical Contexts: Frantz Fanon, from "The Fact of Blackness". Homi K. Bhabha, "Of Mimicry and Man: The Ambivalence of Colonial Discourse". Performance in History: Helen Gilbert and Joanne Tompkins, from Post-Colonial Drama. *A Playwright's Perspective: Athol Fugard, selections from Notebooks. *A Performance Review: John Bemrose, Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing. Royal Alexandria Theatre (1991). Appendix: Writing About Drama and Theater. Glossary. Bibliography. Video, Film, And Sound Recordings of Plays. List of Illustrations and Photographs. Index.