The Theatre in America during the Revolution (Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama)

This is a comprehensive attempt to assemble all that is known of theatre at the time of America's political birth. Because many plays performed during the Revolution were overrun with partisan politics, they were not always aesthetically enticing; yet this was one of the only historical eras in which the theatre was used by both sides to help achieve military and political objectives. Whether moralistic or satirical, the plays of the revolution offer unique insights into the sympathies and fears of both loyal and dissident parties, and so serve as a telling document of a socially turbulent age. Brown's extensive research coheres into an invaluable theatrical and historical chronicle which should prove a useful resource for those working in the field.