Includes bibliographical references and index.

The contrast (1787) by Royall Tyler -- Andre (1798) by William Dunlap -- The Indian Princess (1808) by James Nelson Barker -- Fashion; or, life in New York (1845) by Anna Cora Mowatt -- The octoroon; or, life in Louisiana (1859) by Dion Boucicault -- Margaret Fleming (1890) by James A. Herne -- Trifles (1916) by Susan Glaspell -- The children's hour (1934) by Lillian Hellman -- Our Town (1938) by Thornton Wilder -- A streetcar named desire (1947) by Tennessee Williams -- Death of a salesman (1949) by Arthur Miller -- Long day's journey into night (1956) by Eugene O'Neill -- A raisin in the sun (1959) by Lorraine Hansberry -- Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962) by Edward Albee -- Funnyhouse of a negro (1964) by Adrienne Kennedy -- Fences (1985) by August Wilson -- Angels in America : a gay fantasia on national themes (1993-94) by Tony Kushner -- Sisters Matsumoto (1998) by Philip Kan Gotanda -- Topdog/underdog (2002) by Suzan-Lori Parks -- Water by the spoonful (2012) by Quiara Alegria Hudes -- An octoroon (2014) by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.

"This volume provides an accessible and engaging guide to American drama. Designed to support students in reading, discussing, and writing about commonly assigned American plays, this text offers timely resources to think critically and originally about key moments on the American stage. Combining comprehensive coverage of the core plays from the post-Revolutionary era to the present, each chapter includes: historical and cultural context of each play and their distinctive literary features clear introductions to the ongoing critical debates they have provoked classroom-tested discussion questions for further student dialogue collaborative prompts for online discussion boards annotated bibliographies for further research With its accessible prose style and clear structure, this introduction spotlights specific plays while encouraging students to contemplate timely questions of American identity across its selected span of US theatrical history"--

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