Speaking on Stage

Interviews with twenty-seven of America’s leading playwrights whose work has shaped the American stage since 1945
 
Organized into four main periods, the collection includes in-depth conversations with a variety of playwrights whose work has contributed substantially to Broadway, Off Broadway, Off-Off Broadway, and regional drama.
 
Each interview was conducted by a scholar who is an expert on the playwright's life and works. A full introduction to each interview records the playwright's main awards and achievements, assesses his or her major themes and dramatic strategies, and identifies the playwright’s special contribution to the American and world stage. The interviews are lucid, witty, and insightful, offering fascinating reading. Individually, the interviews shed light on the lives and works of America's leading dramatists. Collectively, the interviews provide a syncretic history of the American stage, showing where our dramatic roots lie and suggesting where our theatrical experiments will take us.