A History of Modern Drama, Volume I

A History of Modern Drama, Volume I is the first of a two-part comprehensive examination of the plays, dramatists, and movements that comprise modern world drama. Drawing on the essential issues from dramaturgical and theatrical debate, David Krasner considers the influence of modernism in art, music, literature, architecture, society and politics and the impact these factors played in the formation of modern dramatic literature between 1879 and 1959.

Covering non-English works and traditions to create a global view of modern drama, the author takes an interpretative and analytical approach to modern dramatic texts consideringa range of dramatists, from Ibsen to Shaw, Zola to Brecht, Artaund to Maughan, and Beckett to Lorca. This volume highlights the transitional moments in the development of modern drama and understands drama as a literary document enriched by theoretical underpinnings, and as a blueprint for the stage.