I. GREEK DRAMA AND THEATER.
Aeschylus: Agamemnon. Sophocles: Oedipus Rex. Euripides: Medea. Aristophanes: Lysistrata. Contexts and Commentaries. Aristotle: from
The Poetics. Oliver Taplin: from
Emotion and Meaning in Greek Tragedy. Brooks Otis: from
The Guilt of Agamemnon. Bernard Knox:
The Freedom of Oedipus. Margaret Visser: from
Medea: Daughter, Sister, Wife and Mother. Natal Family versus Conjugal Family in Greek and Roman Myths about Women.
Performance Reviews. Agamemnon in Performance by Melanie Kirkpatrick. Agamemnon in Performance by Robert Brustein. Oedipus in Performance by Sheridan Morley. Oedipus in Performance by Kate Bassett. Medea in Performance by Richard Watts, Jr. Medea in Performance by Ward Morehouse. Lysistrata in Performance by Michael Billington. Lysistrata in Performance by Benedict Nightingale.
II. MEDIEVAL DRAMA AND THE THEATER IN ENGLAND.
The Wakefield Master: The Second Shepherd's Play. Anonymous: Everyman. Context and Commentaries. David Mills: from
Approaches to Medieval Drama. Robert A. Potter: from
The English Morality Play: Origins, History, and Influence of a Dramatic Tradition. Victor W. Turner: from
From Ritual to Theatre: The Human Seriousness of Play. Performance Reviews. The Wakefield Plays in Performance by Bamber Gascoigne. Everyman in Performance by Robert Potter.
III. RENAISSANCE DRAMA AND THEATER IN ENGLAND.
Christopher Marlowe: Dr. Faustus. William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. William Shakespeare: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ben Jonson: Volpone. Context and Commentaries. Sir Philip Sidney: from
An Apology for Poetry. Ben Jonson:
Epistle to Volpone. Jonathan Dollimore: from
Radical Tragedy, Dr. Faustus (c. 1589-92): Subversion Through Transgression. Northrop Frye: from
The Mythos of Spring: Comedy. A.C. Bradley: from Shakespearean Tragedy. T.S. Eliot:
Hamlet.Ernest Jones: from Hamlet and Oedipus. Elaine Showalter: from
Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism. Performance Reviews. Doctor Faustus in Performance by Nicholas de Jongh. A Midsummer Night's Dream in Performance by Robert Speaight. Hamlet in Performance by Russell Jackson. Volpone in Performance by John Gross.
IV. FRENCH NEOCLASSICAL AND ENGLISH RESTORATION DRAMA AND THEATER.
Moliere: The Misanthrope. Jean Racine: Phaedra. William Congreve: The Way of the World. Context and Commentaries. William Congreve: from
Concerning Humor in Comedy. Madame de Stael: from
Literature Considered in Relation to Social Institutions. Henri Bergson: from
Laughter. Roland Barthes: from On Racine.
Performance Reviews. The Misanthrope in Performance by Michael Billington.
Phaedra in Performance by Benedict Nightingale.
The Way of the World in Performance by Michael Billington.
V. MODERN EUROPEAN DRAMA AND THEATER: BACKGROUNDS AND BEGINNINGS.
Henrik Ibsen: Hedda Gabler. August Strindberg: Miss Julie. Anton Chekhov: The Cherry Orchard. George Bernard Shaw: Major Barbara. Oscar Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest. John Millington Synge: Riders to the Sea. Contexts and Commentaries. Emile Zola: from
Naturalism in the Theatre. Henrik Ibsen: from Notes for Hedda Gabler. Raymond Williams: from
Modern Tragedy: The Making of Liberal Tragedy, to Ibsen and Miller. Performance Reviews. Hedda Gabler in Performance by John Gross.
Miss Julie in Performance by Charles Spencer.
The Cherry Orchard in Performance by Benedict Nightingale.
Major Barbara in Performance by Benedict Nightingale.
The Importance of Being Earnest in Performance by Nicholas de Jongh.
Riders to the Sea in Performance by Lyn Gardner.
VI. MODERN EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN DRAMA AND THEATER: REACTIONS AND MODIFICATIONS.
Eugene O'Neill: Desire Under the Elms. Luigi Pirandell: Six Characters in Search of an Author. Bertolt Brecht: Mother Courage and Her Children: A Chronicle of the Thirty Years' War. Arthur Miller: The Crucible. Tennessee Williams: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Samuel Beckett: Endgame. Lorraine Hansberry: A Raisin in the Sun. Comments and Commentaries. Bertolt Brecht: from
The Modern Theater Is the Epic Theater. Bertolt Brecht: from
Theater for Pleasure or Theater for Instruction. Eric Bentley:
Who Is Mother Courage? Antonin Artaud: from
The Theater and Its Double. Arthur Miller:
Tragedy and the Common Man. Martin Esslin: from
The Theatre of the Absurd. Performance Reviews. Desire Under the Elms in Performance by Brooks Atkinson.
Six Characters in Search of an Author in Performance by Malcolm Rutherford.
Mother Courage and Her Children in Performance by Richard Watts, Jr.
The Crucible in Performance by Walter F. Kerr.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in Performance by Walter F. Kerr.
Endgame in Performance by Harold Clurman.
A Raisin in the Sun in Performance by Richard Watts, Jr.
VII. CONTEMPORARY DRAMA AND THEATER.
Harold Pinter: The Dumb Waiter. Wole Soyinka: The Strong Breed. Tom Stoppard: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Clare Boothe Luce: Slam the Door Softly. Sam Shepard: True West. Marsha Norman: 'night Mother. Tina Howe: Painting Churches. Manuel Puig: Kiss of the Spider Woman. August Wilson: The Piano Lesson. David Mamet: Oleanna. Edward Albee: Three Tall Women. Howard Barker: Hated Nightfall. Context and Commentaries. Eldred Durosimi Jones:
The Strong Breed. Joan Fishman: from
Romare Bearden, August Wilson, and the Traditions of African Performance. David Mamet:
Realism. Howard Barker:
The Consolations of Catastrophe. The Humanist Theatre. The Catastrophic Theatre. Saintliness, Death and the Perfect Family. Performance Reviews. The Dumb Waiter in Performance by Alan Pryce-Jones.
The Strong Breed in Performance by Dan Sullivan.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in Performance by Clive Barnes.
Slam the Door Softly in Performance.
True West in Performance by Frank Rich.
'night Mother in Performance by Frank Rich.
Painting Churches in Performance by T.E. Kalem.
The Piano Lesson in Performance by Clive Barnes.
The Piano Lesson in Performance by Michael Arditti.
Oleanna in Performance by Michael Billington.
Oleanna in Performance by Jane Edwards.
Oleanna in Performance by Jack Tinker.
Three Tall Women in Performance by Ben Brantley. Three Tall Women in Performance by Linda Winer.
Hated Nightfall in Performance by Jeffrey Wainright.
Hated Nightfall in Performance by Patrick Marmion.
Appendix 1: Writing About Drama and Theater. Appendix 2: Glossary. Appendix 3: Suggestions for Further Reading. Appendix 4: Selected List of Film and Video Productions. Credits. Index. 