Violence in American Drama : Essays on Its Staging, Meanings and Effects

by Ceballos Munoz, Alfonso; Espejo Romero, Ramon; Munoz Martinez, Bernardo

• ISBN13: 9780786463930
• ISBN10: 0786463937
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-08-29
• Publisher: McFarland & Co Inc Pub

Summary

This interdisciplinary collection of 19 essays addresses violence on the American stage. Topics include the revolutionary period and the role of violence in establishing national identity, violence by and against ethnic groups, and females as perpetrators and victims, as well as state and psychological violence and violence within the family. The book works to assess whether representing violence may cause its cessation, or whether it generates further destruction. Featured playwrights include Susan Glaspell, Sophie Treadwell, Tennessee Williams, William Inge, Amiri Baraka, Luis Valdes, Cherrie Moraga, Sam Shepard, Tony Kushner, Neil LaBute, John Guare, Rebecca Gilman, and Heather MacDonald.

Author Biography

Alfonso Ceballos Muoz is an assistant professor of English at the University of Cdiz, Spain, where he teaches American literature. Ramn Espejo Romero is an associate professor of English at the University of Sevilla, Spain, where his teaching primarily focuses on colonial and 19th century American literature, as well as modern American drama. Bernardo Muoz Martinez is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Sevilla, Spain, and his research concerns contemporary American fiction and reception studies.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 1
Revolution and After: Heroism and Violence in Early National Plays about the American Revolution	p. 15
Violence Averted Only to Return: Visiting the Archive of "Pocahontas Plays"	p. 28
The Thrust for Freedom from Systems of Oppression: A Century of Suicide, Prolicide and Viricide in Plays by American Women	p. 44
Sane Enough to Kill: On Women, Madness and the Theatricality of Violence in Susan GlaspellÆs The Verge	p. 59
New Critical Approaches to Machinal: Sophie Tread-well's Response to Structural Violence	p. 72
Working Women and Violence in Jazz Era American Drama	p. 85
The Guns Sing in Harmony: Johnny Johnson and the Musical War	p. 99
The Violence at the Top of the Stairs: Domestic Dystopia in Inge's Heartland	p. 112
Psychodrama Strategies That Protect Tennessee Williams' Late-Play Characters from a Violent World	p. 128
"Actual Explosions and Actual Brutality": Baraka, Violence and the Black Arts Stage	p. 143
Invisibility's Contusions: Violence in Cherrie Moraga's Heroes and Saints and The Hungry Woman and Luis Valdez's Zoot Suit	p. 157
Threats, Bad Language and Imperatives: Verbal Violence in Politically (In) Correct Institutional Speech in American Drama at the End of the Millennium	p. 172
"Arms in Women's Hands": The Subversion of the Victim Role of Women in Heather McDonald's Dream of a Common Language	p. 186
Rebecca Gilman's Exploration of Gender Conditioning as a Factor in Violence Against Women	p. 200
Neil LaBute, Vigilante of Violence: An Examination of His Trilogy The Shape of Things, Fat Pig and Reasons to Be Pretty	p. 212
Challenging the American Dream: U.S. Theater and the Continuum of State Violence	p. 224
Terrorist Violence and Its (Dis) Figurations in Three American Post-9/11 Plays	p. 239
The Cancer Body (Politic) of American Violence: John Guare's A Few Stout Individuals	p. 250
Affecting the Audience: Gina Gionfriddo's After Ashley	p. 267
About the Contributors	p. 279
Index	p. 283
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