Realism, Naturalism, Modern American drama and modern American dramatic criticism -- Global futurism, Divine comedy, Greek tragedy ... and The hairy ape -- The Front page, farce, and American comedy -- On the road to tragedy: mice, land, and candy in Of mice and men -- Whose town is it, and whither goes it?: an historico-aesthetic, comparative-influential inquiry into Our town -- The unbearable light-ness of being: Gertrude Stein's Doctor Faustus lights the lights in the light of the twentieth century -- The blue rose of St. Louis: Laura, Romanticism, and The glass menagerie -- Death of a salesman, life of a Jew: ethnicity, business, and the character of Willy Loman -- Sam Shepard and the "buried" domestic drama of Buried child -- American drama/American film: the cases of Way down East, The little foxes, and Edmond -- David Mamet, Glengarry Glen Ross, and selling in American drama -- Theater chronicle: the real thing -- Richard Gilman, American theater critic: an appreciation -- On criticism: an exchange with Eric Bentley -- Homage to Stark Young, 1881-1963 -- Theater (criticism) in America: an interview with Stanley Kauffmann -- American dramaturgy: a re-appraisal -- Performance art vs. Performed drama: experimental playwriting and production in the United States
Includes bibliographical references (p. [235]-248) and index
"American Drama/Critics: Writings and Readings" is a collection of essays on acknowledged classics of American drama such as "Death of a Salesman," "The Glass Menagerie," and "Our Town," and on newer but no less esteemed works like David Mamet's "Glengar