Plays Onstage: An Anthology - Softcover

Wainscott, Ronald J.; Fletcher, Kathy J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0205405746 ISBN 13: 9780205405749

Publisher: Pearson, 2005

Synopsis

Plays Onstage features a diverse range of plays ranging from the Classical Greeks to the present, including many important plays rarely seen in anthologies.  This new anthology includes twenty-one  plays from a diverse group of playwrights. Both female and male playwrights are well-represented as well as plays from African-American, Hispanic, and Asian writers. An introduction to each play provides contextual analysis and background information for each play.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Plays Onstage: An Anthology, 1st Edition

Ronald Wainscott, Indiana University

Kathy Fletcher, Indiana University

Plays Onstage: An Anthology features a diverse range of plays ranging from the Classical Greeks to the present, including many important plays rarely seen in anthologies.

This new anthology includes twenty-one plays from a diverse group of playwrights. Female and male playwrights are represented, as are African-American, Hispanic, and Asian writers. An introduction to each play provides contextual analysis and background information.

Features

Begins with a general introduction that explains the purpose of the anthology and provides guidelines on how to read and experience a play, giving students a background for understanding how plays work and what to look for when reading a play for the first time.

Includes introductions to each play that provide significant information on the playwright, genre, structure and style, important elements of content, recommendations for further reading, and historical and cultural context, providing students with a framework to interpret the play.

Can be used along with the authors’ text Theatre: Collaborative Acts , allowing students to read the original plays discussed in that text, but works equally well with other textbooks or alone.

Praise for Plays Onstage: An Anthology

Without question, the format of introductions for each play is excellent! This feature makes the anthology very attractive. . . . I would assign this as required reading for each play, something I rarely do with my existing anthology. The information is clear and concise, and pulls the reader in.

–Matt Andrews, Marist College

The overall strength of this manuscript lies in its ability to concisely and coherently educate the reader through the fluid intertextuality of play, playwright, and context. I found the “Introduction” to be one of the most clear and enjoyable introductions I have ever encountered in this type of collection. It provides a “drive-able road map” for not only the text(s) but also the reader who is about to embark on a rich, imaginative journey. . . . This is the type of anthology I wished I had worked from as an undergraduate.

–Scott R. Irelan, Southern Illinois University—Carbondale

I think this theatre anthology will be an invaluable companion to the Theatre: Collaborative Acts text. The anthology is broad but functional. The collection of plays has the necessary variety and scope to be an effective tool in the introductory class. The introductions are informative and lay important groundwork for the reading and enjoying of the plays.

–Andrew M. Hayes, DePauw University

I appreciate that this anthology–while not seeking to be exhaustive–is representative of many periods, cultures, styles, and genres; the collection offers a great variety of plays and shows the great breadth of dramatic writing.

–DeAnna Toten Beard, Baylor University

About this edition

• Publisher: Pearson
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0205405746
• ISBN 13: 9780205405749
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 640