American Melodrama

These plays show a fascinating side of the American melodramatic imagination as it was nurtured in the social world of the nineteenth century, and later grew to be a dominant genre in the theatre, film, and television of today. Includes: The Poor of New York by Dion Boucicault, Uncle Tom's Cabin by George Aiken/Harriet Beecher Stowe, Under the Gaslight by Augustin Daly, The Girl of the Golden West by David Belasco.


About the Author
Lucille Lortel Distinguished Professor of Theatre and Comparative Literature at the Graduate Center, City University of New York; Executive Director, Martin E. Segal Theatre Center; editor, Slavic and East European Performance; editor, Routledge Harwood Polish and East European Theatre Archive; author of Witkacy, Guillotine: Its Legend and Lore, Theatre/Theory/Theatre, and translations of Polish and Russian drama.