Mention southern drama at a cocktail party or in an American literature survey, and you may hear cries for "Stella!" or laments for "gentleman callers." Yet southern drama depends on much more than a menagerie of highly strung spinsters and steel magnolias. Charles Watson explores this field from its eighteenth- and nineteenth-century roots through the southern Literary Renaissance and Tennessee Williams's triumphs to the plays of Horton Foote, winner of the 1994 Pulitzer Prize. Such well known modern figures as Lillian Hellman and DuBose Heyward earn fresh looks, as does Tennessee Williams's changing depiction of the South—from sensitive analysis to outraged indictment—in response to the Civil Rights Movement. Watson links the work of the early Charleston dramatists and of Espy Williams, first modern dramatist of the South, to later twentieth-century drama. Strong heroines in plays of the Confederacy foreshadow the spunk of Tennessee Williams's Amanda Wingfield. Claiming that Beth Henley matches the satirical brilliance of Eudora Welty and Flannery O'Connor, Watson connects her zany humor to 1840s New Orleans farces. With this work, Watson has at last answered the call for a single-volume, comprehensive history of the South's dramatic literature. With fascinating detail and seasoned perception, he reveals the rich heritage of southern drama.

Women played an integral role in the theater of the Antebellum and Civil War South. Yet their contributions have largely been overlooked by history. Southern actresses were important public figures who helped mold gender identity through their theatrical performances. Although cast in parts written by men, they subverted the norms of femininity in their public personas and in their personal lives. Educated and often wealthy but never accepted by the landed elite, women distinguished themselves by carving out an in-between class status, and many proved to be sophisticated entrepreneurs. Southern actresses also helped shape racial perceptions and regional politics as the South entered the Civil War.

In this survey of the development of the world of theatre up to the Baroque period, Margaret Berthold discusses such phenomena as the demon dance of a masked shaman, the tragedie classique of Corneille and Racine, the Egyptian Osiris festival ceremonies, and Italian commedia dell'arte improvizations. She looks at theatre in Islamic civilizations, Indonesia, India, China, Japan, Greece and Rome, in the Byzantine Empire and Europe of the Middle Ages."

Includes reports of the annual meetings.

With a focus on Western countries, the history of theater from 500 B.C. to the present is recounted, as are the contributions of different countries, specific plays, and theatrical techniques. Covers movements and issues such as African American, biblical, outdoor, and contemporary drama that addresses spiritual belief, gay theater, gender, and musical theater. Genres and styles are discussed, as well as theater in practice, with descriptions of directing, acting, voice coaching, dramaturgy, costume design, and stages.