Susan Glaspell and Sophie Treadwell

by Barbara Ozieblo, Jerry Dickey

Overview

Susan Glaspell and Sophie Treadwell presents critical introductions to two of the most significant American dramatists of the early twentieth century. Glaspell and Treadwell led American Theatre from outdated melodrama to the experimentation of great European playwrights like Ibsen, Strindberg and Shaw.

This is the first book to deal with Glaspell and Treadwell’s plays from a theatrical, rather than literary, perspective, and presents a comprehensive overview of their work from lesser known plays to seminal productions of Trifles and Machinal.

Although each woman pursued her own themes, subjects and manner of stage production, this shared volume underscores the theatrical and cultural conditions influencing female playwrights in modern America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781134136742
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	03/03/2008
Series:	Routledge Modern and Contemporary Dramatists
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Barbara Ozieblo teaches American Literature at the University of Málaga, Spain. She is the author of Susan Glaspell: A Critical Biography, editor of The Provincetown Players: A Choice of the Shorter Plays and co-editor of Disclosing Intertextualities: The Stories, Plays, and Novels of Susan Glaspell. She is co-founder and President of the Susan Glaspell Society.

Jerry Dickey is Associate Professor of Theatre Arts at the University of Arizona. He is the author of Sophie Treadwell: a Research and Production Sourcebook and co-editor of Broadway’s Bravest Woman: Selected Writings of Sophie Treadwell. His essays on Treadwell have appeared in A Companion to Twentieth-Century American Drama and the Cambridge Companion to American Women Playwrights.

Table of Contents

Introduction Part 1: Susan Glaspell Life and Politics Key Plays I: The shorter plays – genesis and criticism Key Plays II: The full-length plays – genesis and criticism Key Plays III: The Feminist Appropriation of Trifles Key Plays in Production: The Verge Part 2: Sophie Treadwell Life and Politics Key Plays I: The early plays – genesis and criticism Key Plays II: Broadway plays – genesis and criticism Key Plays in Production I: Machinal – stagings and critical response Key Plays in Production II: Intimations for Saxophone Chronology Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

'A dense, wellconsidered, and valuable starting point for interested scholars, directors, or instructors unfamiliar with the existing body of scholarship on Treadwell and Glaspell.' –Theatre Survey

'a useful handbook, covering the lives, careers, works, production histories, and existing criticism of these two women. The resulting work is a dense, well-considered, and valuable starting point for interested scholars, directors, or instructors unfamiliar with the existing body of scholarship on Treadwell and Glaspell.' – Theatre Survey

'succinctness here is characteristic of the book as a whole, and is one of its strengths' – Theatre Survey

'a concise introduction to the lives, works, and criticism of these important American dramatists' – Theatre Survey

From the Publisher