The Compact Bedford Introduction to Drama presents a well-balanced selection of plays, commentaries, and casebooks in a concise, affordable format. Its 29 chronologically arranged plays represent every major period from classic times to the present. With in-depth treatment of William Shakespeare, a strong representation of plays by women and American multicultural plays, and an exciting contemporary section loaded with prize winners, The Compact Bedford Introduction to Drama has the plays you want to teach and features designed to help students think critically about all aspects of a play as a work of literature and as a performance. Giving students a rich understanding of the plays and the contexts from which they emerge, the anthology offers 33 commentaries, two casebooks, the most extensive collection of theater photographs available in a text of this kind, coverage of writing about drama, and a robust companion web site with help for students and instructors.
Preface for Instructors Introduction: Thinking about Drama What Is Drama? Drama and Ritual Drama: The Illusion of Reality Seeing a Play Onstage Theaters and Their Effect Reading a Play The Great Ages of Drama Greek Drama Roman Drama Medieval Drama Renaissance Drama Late Seventeenth-and Eighteenth-Century Drama Nineteenth-Century Drama through the Turn of the Twentieth Century Drama in the Early and Mid-Twentieth Century Contemporary Drama Genres of Drama Tragedy Comedy Tragicomedy Elements of Drama Plot Characterization Setting Dialogue Music Movement Theme Lady Gregory, The Rising of the Moon Greek Drama Origins of Greek Drama The Greeks and Their Gods The Greek Stage *The Greek Actor Genres of Greek Drama Tragedy Satyr Plays Comedy The Great Age of Greek Drama Greek Drama Timeline Sophocles, Oedipus Rex (Translated by Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald) Oedipus Rex in Performance Commentaries on Oedipus Rex Aristotle, Poetics: Comedy and Epic and Tragedy Sigmund Freud, The Oedipus Complex Claude Lévi-Strauss, From The Structural Study of Myth Aristophanes, Lysistrata (Translated by Dudley Fitts) Lysistrata in Performance Roman Drama Indigenous Sources The Greek Influence The Roman Stage *The Roman Actor Roman Drama Timeline Roman Dramatists Plautus, Excerpt from The Twin Menaechmi (Act III) Terence, Excerpt from The Brothers (Act V) Seneca, Excerpt from Thyestes (Act V, Scene ii) Medieval Drama The Role of the Church Miracle Plays Mystery Plays Morality Plays The Medieval Stage *The Medieval Actor Medieval Drama Timeline Hrosvitha, Dulcitius (Translated by K.M. Wilson) Dulcitius in Performance Commentary on Hrosvitha Sue-Ellen Case, Re-viewing Hrotsvit Anonymous, Everyman (Edited by A.C. Cawley) Everyman in Performance Renaissance Drama Italian Drama The Italian Theater Commedia dell’Arte Elizabethan Drama The Elizabethan Theater * The Elizabethan Actor The Elizabethan Audience Female Characters on the English Stage The Masque Spanish Drama Renaissance Drama Timeline William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Performance Commentaries on A Midsummer Night’s Dream Linda Bamber, On A Midsummer Night’s Dream Peter Brook, The Play is a Message… Clive Barnes, Review of A Midsummer Night’s Dream William Shakespeare, Othello Othello in Performance Commentaries on Othello Virginia Mason Vaughan, Macready’s Othello Margaret Webster, Shakespeare without Tears Ben Jonson, The Masque of Blackness The Masque of Blackness in Performance Commentary on Jonson Eldred Jones, Africa in English Masque and Pageantry Late Seventeenth-and-Eighteenth Century Drama The Restoration: Rebirth of Drama Theater on the Continent: Neoclassicism French Comedy: Moliere *Theater in England: The Restoration Restoration Comedy in England Eighteenth-Century Drama * The Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Actor Drama in Japan Late Seventeenth-and Eighteenth-Century Drama Timeline * Moliere, Tartuffe (Translated by Richard Wilbur) Tartuffe in Performance Commentary on Moliere * Mel Gussow, Review of ‘Tartuffe’ * Aphra Behn, The Rover; Or, The Banished Cavaliers The Rover; or, The Banished Cavaliers in Performance Commentaries on Behn * Elaine Hobby, Courtship and Marriage in The Rover Chikamatsu Monzaemon, The Love Suicides at Sonezaki The Love Suicides at Sonezaki in Performance Commentary on Chikamatsu Monzaemon Donald H. Shiveley, The Development of Theater Buildings Nineteenth-Century Drama through the Turn of the Twentieth Century The Nineteenth Century Theater * The Nineteenth-Century Actor Romantic Drama Melodrama The Well-Made Play The Rise of Realism Nineteenth-Century Drama Timeline Henrik Ibsen, A Doll House (Translated by Rolf Fjelde) A Doll House in Performance Commentaries on A Doll House Henrik Ibsen, Notes for the Modern Tragedy Muriel C. Bradbrook, A Doll’s House: Ibsen the Moralist August Strindberg, Miss Julie (Translated by Harry G. Carlson) Miss Julie in Performance Commentary on Strindberg August Strindberg, From the Preface to Miss Julie * A STYLISTIC CASEBOOK American Melodrama Anna Cora Mowatt, Fashion (Act V) George L. Aiken, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Act VI) Bronson Howard, Shenandoah (Act III) Dion Boucicault, Notes on Acting Gary A. Richardson, Melodrama as National History Michael R. Booth, A Defense of Nineteenth-Century Drama Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People The Importance of Being Earnest in Performance Commentary on Wilde * Joseph Donohue, Interview with Sir Peter Hall, director of The Importance of Being Earnest Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard The Cherry Orchard in Performance Commentaries on Chekhov Anton Chekhov, From Letters of Anton Chekhov Peter Brook, On Chekhov Drama in the Early and Mid-Twentieth Century The Heritage of Realism Realism and Myth Myth and Culture Poetic Realism Social Realism Realism and Expressionism Antirealism Epic Theater Absurdist Drama * The Early and Mid-Twentieth Century Stage * The Early and Mid-Twentieth Century Actor Early and Mid-Twentieth Century Drama Timeline Luigi Pirandello, Six Characters in Search of an Author (Translated by Edward Storer) Six Characters in Search of an Author in Performance Eugene O’Neill, Desire Under the Elms Desire Under the Elms in Performance Commentary on O’Neill* Louise Kennedy, "‘He knows that it's OK not to know’: Director János Szász approaches ‘Desire’ with an open mind" Bertolt Brecht, Mother Courage and Her Children: A Chronicle of the Thirty Years’ War (Translated by John Willett) Mother Courage in Performance Commentaries on Brecht Bertolt Brecht, The Alienation Effect Bertolt Brecht, Notes for Mother Courage, Scene 12 Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie The Glass Menagerie in Performance Commentaries on The Glass Menagerie Lewis Nichols, Review of The Glass Menagerie Donald Spoto, Laurette Taylor in The Glass Menagerie Benjamin Nelson, Problems in The Glass Menagerie Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman: Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem Death of a Salesman in Performance Commentaries on Miller Arthur Miller, In Memoriam Arthur Miller, Tragedy and the Common Man *A PRODUCTION CASEBOOK Death of a Salesman Jo Mielziner, Designing a Play: Death of a Salesman Brenda Murphy, Death of a Salesman: The Design Process Brenda Murphy, Racial Consciousness in Casting Death of a Salesman Elia Kazan, Directing Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller, Casting Death of a Salesman June Schlueter and James K. Flanagan, Memorable Willy Catherine Diamond, Death of a Salesman in Taipei * Samuel Beckett, Krapp’s Last Tape Krapp’s Last Tape in Performance Commentaries on Beckett * Martin Esslin, The Theater of the Absurd * Ruby Cohn, Beckett Directing Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun A Raisin in the Sun in Performance Contemporary Drama Experimentation Theater of Cruelty Environmental Theater "Poor Theater" Theater of Images Gay and Lesbian Theater and Other • Ensembles Experiments with Theater Space Experimentation within the Tradition * The Contemporary Theater * The Contemporary Actor Contemporary Drama Timeline Athol Fugard, "Master Harold" … and the boys Master Harold …and the boys in Performance Commentaries on Fugard Heinrich von Staden, Interview with Athol Fugard Athol Fugard, From Notebooks 1960-1977 August Wilson, Fences Fences in Performance Commentary on Fences * Joan Herrington, The Development of Fences * Tony Kushner, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches Angels in America: Millennium Approaches in Performance Commentary on Kushner *Andrea Bernstein, Interview with Tony Kushner *Caryl Churchill, Far Away Far Away in Performance * Sarah Ruhl, The Clean House The Clean House in Performance * Suzan-Lori Parks, selections from 365 Days/365 Plays 365 Days in Performance Appendices Writing about Drama Why Write about Drama? Conventions in Writing Criticism about Drama Approaches to Criticism Reader Response Close Reading From Prewriting to Final Draft: A Sample Essay on The Rising of the Moon How to Write a Review What Is the Purpose of a Review? What You Need to Write a Good Review Preparing to Review a Classic Play Preparing to Review a New Play Guidelines for Writing Reviews Sample Review Glossary of Dramatic Terms * new to this edition