Contemporary American Drama (Edinburgh Critical Guides to Literature)

This book explores the development of contemporary theatre in the UnitedStates in its historical, political and theoretical dimensions. Itfocuses on representative plays and performance texts that experimentwith form and content, discussing influential playwrights andperformance artists such as Tennessee Williams, Adrienne Kennedy, SamShepard, Tony Kushner, Charles Ludlum, Anna Deavere Smith, Karen Finleyand Will Power, alongside avant-garde theatre groups.Saddik traces the development of contemporary drama since 1945, anddiscusses the cross-cultural impact of postwar British and Europeaninnovations on American theatre from the 1950s to the present day inorder to examine the performance of American identity. She argues thatcontemporary American theatre is primarily a postmodern drama ofinclusion and diversity that destabilizes the notion of fixed identityand questions the nature of reality.