2 Contemporary Literature, 1970 to Present
David J. DeRose, “The Speed of Darkness and ‘Crazed Vets on the Doorstep’ Drama,”
Viet Nam Generation Journal & Newsletter, 3 (November 1991) http://www2.
iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Texts/Reviews/DeRose_Crazed_Vets.
html [accessed 15 March 2010].
Discusses thematically related plays by Steve Tesich, Stephen Metcalfe, and others.
DeRose, “States of Shock,” Vietnam Generation Journal, 4 (November 1992) http://
www2.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Texts/Reviews/DeRose_States_
Shock.html [accessed 15 March 2010].
Lengthy analysis of Sam Shepard’s play States of Shock, which condemns both
America’s military invasion of Iraq in 1991 and the American public’s complacent
reaction to it.
Lynda Hart, ed., Making a Spectacle: Feminist Essays on Contemporary Women’s
Theatre (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1984).
Includes discussions of playwrights such as María Irene Fornés, Ntozake Shange,
Tina Howe, Marsha Norman, and Beth Henley.
Errol G. Hill and James V. Hatch, A History of African American Theatre (Cam-
bridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2006).
Definitive study of its subject, discussing such topics as African American writers,
performers, theatrical genres, and acting companies.
Thomas Hischak, The Oxford Companion to the American Musical: Theatre, Film,
and Television (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008).
First authoritative volume on this broad topic, with biographies of performers, writ-
ers, composers, and lyricists; plots; production histories; and guides to recordings.
Internet Broadway Database <www.ibdb.com>.
Allows searches by the categories Shows, People, Theatres, Characters, Awards,
Songs, and Media.
Lortel Archives—The Internet Off-Broadway Database <www.lortel.
org/LLA_archives>.
Allows searches by the categories Show Title, Theatre, People, Awards, Company
Name, and All.
Carol P. Marsh-Lockett, ed., Black Women Playwrights: Visions on the American
Stage (New York: Routledge, 1998).
Critical essays on themes and issues in plays from the later nineteenth century
into the 1990s.
Brenda Murphy, ed., The Cambridge Companion to American Women Playwrights
(Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1999).
Includes discussions of contemporary dramatists in later chapters.
Frank Rich, Hot Seat: Theater Criticism for The New York Times, 1980–1993
(New York: Random House, 1998).
Collection of more than three hundred reviews and essays by the former Broad-
way critic.