An essential introductory textbook that guides students through three hundred years of American plays, as well as their remarkable engagement with texts from across the Atlantic. Divided into seven historical periods, Jacqueline Foertsch offers unique overviews of 38 American plays and their reception, from Robert Hunter’s Androboros (c.1714) to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton (2015). Each historical section begins with an overseas play that proved influential to American playwrights in that period, demonstrating to students an astonishing dialogue taking place across the Atlantic.

This is an ideal core text for modules on American Drama – or a supplementary text for broader modules on American Literature – which may be offered at the upper levels of an undergraduate Literature, Drama, Theatre Studies or American Studies degree. In addition it is a crucial resource for students who may be studying American Drama as part of a taught postgraduate degree in Literature, Drama or American Studies.