Cindy Rosenthal

The Decades of Modern American Drama series provides a comprehensive survey and study of the theatre produced in each decade from the 1930s to 2009 in eight volumes. Each volume equips readers with a detailed understanding of the context from which work emerged: an introduction considers life in the decade with a focus on domestic life and conditions, social changes, culture, media, technology, industry and political events; while a chapter on the theatre of the decade offers a wide-ranging and thorough survey of theatres, companies, dramatists, new movements and developments in response to the economic and political conditions of the day. The work of the four most prominent playwrights from the decade receives in-depth analysis and re-evaluation by a team of experts, together with commentary on their subsequent work and legacy. A final section brings together original documents such as interviews with the playwrights and with directors, drafts of play scenes, and other previously unpublished material.The major playwrights and their plays to receive in-depth coverage in this volume include:* Theresa Rebeck: Omnium Gatherum (2003), Mauritius (2007), and The Understudy (2008);* Sarah Ruhl: Eurydice (2003), Clean House (2004), and In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play) (2009);* Lynn Nottage: Intimate Apparel (2003), Fabulation or Re-Education of Undine (2004), and Ruined (2008);* Charles Mee: Big Love (2000), Wintertime (2005), and Hotel Cassiopeia (2006).

Ellen Stewart (1919–2011) was the single most important figure in the history of American avant-garde theater and performance art. Founder of La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Stewart was responsible for a staggering array of productions and for fostering the early work of directors, playwrights, actors, composers, and performance artists. Active until her death at age 91, Stewart also established a highly regarded workshop for directors and playwrights in Umbria, after receiving the prestigious MacArthur grant in 1985. Although she was a vital force in American theater for decades, Stewart resisted attempts to have the story of La MaMa written until five years before her death. Following Stewart’s vision for this book, theater scholar Cindy Rosenthal relates the history of La MaMa through its performance posters, capturing the irreverence and the aesthetic of La MaMa over five decades. Richly illustrated, including posters and photographs of early productions and other rarely-seen photos, and featuring interviews with a wide range of now-famous La MaMa alums, Ellen Stewart Presents is a book for theater aficionados and anyone interested in the history of Off-Off-Broadway, the cultural history of New York City, or visual culture from the ‘60s to the present.