"This new and updated Guide, with over 2,700 cross-referenced entries, covers all aspects of the American theatre from its earliest history to the present. Entries include people, venues and companies scattered through the U.S., plays and musicals, and theatrical phenomena. Additionally, there are some 100 topical entries covering theatre in major U.S. cities and such disparate subjects as Asian American theatre, Chicano theatre, censorship, Filipino American theatre, one-person performances, performance art, and puppetry. Highly illustrated, the Guide is supplemented with a historical survey as introduction, a bibliography of major sources published since the first edition, and a biographical index covering over 3,200 individuals mentioned in the text."--BOOK JACKET.

The Cambridge History of American Theatre is an authoritative and wide-ranging history of American theatre in all its dimensions, from theatre building to play writing, directors, performers, and designers. Engaging the theatre as a performance art, a cultural institution, and a fact of American social and political life, the History recognizes changing styles of presentation and performance and addresses the economic context that conditions the drama presented. The History approaches its subject with a full awareness of relevant developments in literary criticism, cultural analysis, and performance theory. At the same time, it is designed to be an accessible, challenging narrative. Volume One deals with the colonial inceptions of American theatre through the post-Civil War period: the European antecedents, the New World influences of the French and Spanish colonists, and the development of uniquely American traditions in tandem with the emergence of national identity.

Cultural expressions of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have a rich tradition, communal narratives, and spiritual connectivity. This tapestry, distinct from the secular drama prevalent in Western cultures, is a unique blend of indigenous traditions and Western influences. This book introduces the rich and diverse theatrical practices developed and matured in the region from the nineteenth to twenty-first centuries. The introduction of Western-style theatre in the nineteenth century marked a shift from traditional entertainment forms. In the twentieth century, subjects of colonialism, nationalism, independence, and Islamic ideology have often dominated the theatrical discourse, reflecting the region’s socio-political realities. The book’s final section looks at theatre from a twenty-first global perspective, including the crucial role of the diaspora. This book shows how colonialism, Islamic ideology, politics, war, refugee crisis, and nationalism have permeated MENA’s theatre in the past and have continued to shape it in the present.