Crisis

Theatre has long been expected to hold a mirror up to the upheavals of its era. This book asks how well the stage has met that expectation during times of crisis, looking at the work of dozens of playwrights from four continents over the past hundred years. Their plays take on urgent subjects, including World War II, communism, apartheid, the AIDS epidemic, anti-gay hate crimes, urban race riots, conflict in the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan, systemic racism, immigrant identity, the refugee crisis, authoritarianism, failing schools, environmental danger, and, most recently, the pandemic.

The book shows how these writers, and the theatres that support them, have taken considerable risks to draw attention to the pressing concerns of their times. It considers the new dramatic forms they have developed, the determination and courage they have brought to their work, and the changes their productions have set off, a process that is still going on.

The discussion covers a wide range of works, including Disgraced; Grounded; Mother Courage and Her Children; 'Honor Bound to Defend Freedom.'; The Niceties; Black Watch; An Ordinary Muslim; A Number; Blue Heart; Cloud Nine; Escaped Alone; Far Away; American Moor; Ain't No Mo; Fairview; Death of England and Death of Delroy; Blood Knot and Other Plays; Three Port Elizabeth Plays; 'Master Harold'... and the boys; Eclipsed; Beat the Devil: A Covid Monologue; Stuff Happens; Slave Play; 1984 by George Orwell; An Octoroon; The Laramie Project and The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later; Mosquitos; The Children; Angels in America; Death of a Salesman; The Revolution; In the Heights; Pipeline; The Jungle; The Guys; The Apple; A Pandemic Trilogy; Ruined; Pass Over; Father Comes Home from the Wars, Parts 1, 2, & 3; The America Play and Other Works; Topdog/Underdog; White Noise; Rockets and Blue Lights; The Lehman Trilogy; Notes from the Field; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; and others.