Kirsten E. Shepherd-Barr
The story of modern drama is a tale of extremes, testing both audiences and actors to their limits through hostility and contrarianism. Spanning 1880 to the present, Kirsten E. Shepherd-Barr shows how truly international a phenomenon modern drama has become, and how vibrant and diverse in both
text and performance.
ThisVery Short Introduction explores the major developments of modern drama, covering two decades per chapter, from early modernist theatre through post-war developments to more recent and contemporary theatre. Shepherd-Barr tracks the emergence of new theories
from the likes of Brecht and Beckett alongside groundbreaking productions to illuminate the fascinating evolution of modern drama.
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TheVery Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These
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1. 1880-1900: Realism, Naturalism and Symbolism
2. 1900-1920: Sex, Suffrage, and Scandal
3. 1920-1940: Metatheatre and Modernity
4. 1940-1960: Salesmen, Southerners, Anger, and Ennui
5. 1960-1980: Absurdism, Protest and Commitment
6. 1980-2000: Bearing Witness
7.
2000-present: Contemporary Theatre
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Kirsten E. Shepherd-Barr is Professor of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St Catherine's College. She is the author of Theatre and Evolution from Ibsen to Beckett (Columbia University Press, 2015), Science on Stage: From Doctor Faustus to Copenhagen
(Princeton University Press, 2006), and Ibsen and Early Modernist Theatre, 1890-1900 (Greenwood Press, 1997) as well as numerous articles on modern drama.
