19th Century American

Drama
19th Century American
Drama
• Early drama had been considered
sinful
• College of William and Mary - the
site of perhaps the first accepted
play in 1702
• 1716 – 1st playhouse built in
Williamsburg, Virginia
• 1778 – Continental Congress
denounced stage shows because
they “diverted the minds of people
from . . . the defense of the country.”
• 1st play worthy of consideration The
Contrast by Royal Tyler (1787)
• 19th Century –
theatre blossomed with
showboats in major cities
– known as “Mississippi Playhouses”
• “The Road” became a lucrative
business
• Touring companies successful for
over 50 years until radio and movies
Three Major Types of
American Theatre

1. Minstrel Shows – done in black face and

featuring African American songs
2. Vaudeville – Variety show – clean for whole
family
3. Melodrama – over-sentimentalism
– plight of the poor heroine in the clutches
of the villain
• Eugene O”Neil
(1888-1953)

• Leading American dramatist of the 1st

part of the 20th century
• Plays were realistic and expressionistic
and dealt with psychological truths
• Emperor Jones
• Another major contribution of
American Theatre – Musical Comedy
• Fredrick Lowe
• My Fair Lady
Theatre Around
the World
Avant-garde theatre:
“Theatre of the Absurd”

• Samuel Becket
• Waiting for Godot

• Today’s drama expresses diversity

and blending of culture through a
redefining of past conventions