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The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama

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Known through four editions as the boldest and most distinguished introduction to drama, William Worthen's pace-setting text continues to provide exciting plays usefully situated within their historical and cultural contexts. In its fifth edition, THE WADSWORTH ANTHOLOGY OF DRAMA broadens its scope to offer even more plays than ever before.

1651 pages, Paperback

First published January 13, 2003

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About the author

W.B. Worthen

25 books6 followers
William B. Worthen has a Ph.D., English literature from the Princeton University and a B.A., summa cum laude, English literature from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
He has published a number of works with focus on: Drama and performance studies, Modern drama and performance, Shakespeare.
He has received numerous awards and grants.

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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Profile Image for Greg Kerestan.
1,287 reviews19 followers
May 10, 2016
It seems like an oxymoron to love a textbook, but this is a damn fine textbook. Nearly two thousand pages of essential plays in every genre, from every culture, with essays about acting, writing, directing and producing. Every student of theatre, whether academic or just casual, should pick up this phone-book-sized volume and pore over it like I did.
Profile Image for Susan.
283 reviews12 followers
March 7, 2011
A clear and concise history of theatre. This was actually the text book for my University degree in theatre so obviously holds a lot of information in it.

I think in terms of history of theatre I think you could read any history of theatre and get basically the same information, however this one gives clear examples and also holds full lec=ngth plays in it's pages to read and refer back to. Which is VERY handy.
Profile Image for Jessica López-Barkl.
312 reviews17 followers
August 11, 2009
For anyone interested in an introductory course of the genre of playwrighting, this is a fabulous beginning. It covers all of the major Western/Eastern seminal works and also has many multi-cultural/revisionist history offerings. I adored teaching with it, and I can't recommend it enough.
Profile Image for Ricky German.
20 reviews1 follower
October 15, 2012
I haven't read a ton of drama anthologies. However, I will say that I like this one for two reasons: A) It is a nice collection of important plays from each era in history, B) It gives good context for the shows. Plus, you get lots of good plays. I've definitely referenced this over and over.
Profile Image for Asho.
1,864 reviews12 followers
September 3, 2010
A nice anthology for use in an introduction to Western theatre class. It's possible to teach almost an entire fairly well-rounded course from this book with just a few additions.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews

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