Books in the Studies in Theatre History & Culture series

More than a chronicle, America in the Round is a critical history that reveals how far Washington D.C.'s Arena Stage could go with its budget and racially liberal politics, and how Arena both disputed and duplicated systems of power.

The American Progressive Era is generally regarded as a dynamic period of political reform and social activism. In this volume, editors bring together scholars in nineteenth- and twentieth-century theatre studies to examine the burst of diverse performance venues and styles of the time, revealing how they shaped national narratives surrounding immigration and urban life.

What does it mean, this book asks, to translate a Jazz Age blockbuster from book to film or stage? What adjustments are necessary and what is lost? Bethany Wood examines three well-known stories that debuted as women's magazine serials and traces how each of these narratives traveled across publishing, theatre, and film through adaptation.

Between the world wars, several labour colleges sprouted up across the US. These schools, funded by unions, sought to provide members with adult education while also indoctrinating them into the cause. As Mary McAvoy reveals, a big part of that learning experience centered on the schools' drama programs.

Traces the theatrical repertoire of a small group of white Anglo-American actresses as they reshaped the meanings of girlhood in Britain, North America, and the British West Indies during the first half of the nineteenth century.

Archives and analyses Black feminist stand-up comedy in the United States over the past sixty years. Looking closely at the work of Jackie 'Moms' Mabley, Mo'Nique, Wanda Sykes, Sasheer Zamata, Sam Jay, and others, this book shows how Black feminist comedy and the laughter it ignites are vital components of feminist, queer, and anti-racist protest.