Books by William E. Gruber

A study of character and its representations on the modern stage. Within broad literary contexts, William E. Gruber addresses specific questions about the dramatis personae of the playwrights Gordon Craig, Bertolt Brecht, Samuel Beckett, Thomas Berhard, and Maria Fornes.

Gruber draws dramatic criticism beyond its traditional emphasis on the play's text toward a theory of theater that incorporates performance. The bare text is clothed in the cultural norms of both actor and audience in performance; in the conversion of words into action; in the actor's creation of his role; and in the audience's involvement.