Widely acclaimed as one of America's most distinguished female playwrights, Lillian Hellman made an entrance into a largely male-dominated field in 1934 with The Children's Hour, a drama that rocked the literary establishment with its frank treatment of lesbianism while calling attention to her writing talents. Written between 1934 and 1963, Hellman's dramatic canon includes eight original plays and four adaptations. Two of these, Watch on the Rhine (1941) and Toys in the Attic (1960), received Drama Critics' Circle Awards. In addition to her dramatic activities, she wrote three memoirs and a novella, contributed articles to national magazines, edited Chekov's letters and Dashiell Hammett's mysteries, and penned several screenplays. She is probably best known for The Little Foxes (1939), her drama about a family of predatory entrepreneurs who seek to build an industrial fortune on the ruins of the old South.
Both a quick reference guide and an exhaustive resource, this volume provides broad and thorough coverage of Hellman's dramatic career. It begins with a critical overview of her life, along with a chronology of her accomplishments. The bulk of the book, which treats her eight original plays and four adaptations, all written for the Broadway stage, provides detailed plot summaries, stage histories, and critical overviews. The next section offers an annotated bibliography of primary sources. This is followed by an annotated secondary bibliography, which is divided into sections on reviews, books, and articles. Entries in the bibliographies are first arranged chronologically and then alphabetically, so that the reader can gain a fuller sense of the development of Hellman's career and the response to her works over time. Detailed indexes conclude the volume and offer full alphabetical access to its contents.
Show moreWidely acclaimed as one of America's most distinguished female playwrights, Lillian Hellman made an entrance into a largely male-dominated field in 1934 with The Children's Hour, a drama that rocked the literary establishment with its frank treatment of lesbianism while calling attention to her writing talents. Written between 1934 and 1963, Hellman's dramatic canon includes eight original plays and four adaptations. Two of these, Watch on the Rhine (1941) and Toys in the Attic (1960), received Drama Critics' Circle Awards. In addition to her dramatic activities, she wrote three memoirs and a novella, contributed articles to national magazines, edited Chekov's letters and Dashiell Hammett's mysteries, and penned several screenplays. She is probably best known for The Little Foxes (1939), her drama about a family of predatory entrepreneurs who seek to build an industrial fortune on the ruins of the old South.
Both a quick reference guide and an exhaustive resource, this volume provides broad and thorough coverage of Hellman's dramatic career. It begins with a critical overview of her life, along with a chronology of her accomplishments. The bulk of the book, which treats her eight original plays and four adaptations, all written for the Broadway stage, provides detailed plot summaries, stage histories, and critical overviews. The next section offers an annotated bibliography of primary sources. This is followed by an annotated secondary bibliography, which is divided into sections on reviews, books, and articles. Entries in the bibliographies are first arranged chronologically and then alphabetically, so that the reader can gain a fuller sense of the development of Hellman's career and the response to her works over time. Detailed indexes conclude the volume and offer full alphabetical access to its contents.
Show moreIncludes a critical biography of Hellman; plot summaries, stage histories, and critical overviews of her plays; and extensive bibliographic information.
Preface
Chronology
Life and Career
The Plays: Summaries, Productions, and Critical Overviews
Primary Bibliography
Secondary Bibliography: Reviews
Secondary Bibliography: Books, Articles, Sections
Index
BARBARA LEE HORN is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Speech, Communication Sciences, and Theatre at St. John's University in New York. Her publications include The Age of Hair: Evolution and Impact of Broadway's First Rock Musical (1991), Joseph Papp: A Bio-Bibliography (1992), David Merrick: A Bio-Bibliography (1992), Colleen Dewhurst: A Bio-Bibliography (1993), Ellen Stewart and La Mama: A Bio-Bibliography (1993), and Maxwell Anderson: A Research and Production Sourcebook (1996), all available from Greenwood Press.
?[A] comprehensive listing of the considerable scholarship
available on Hellman.?-American Reference Books Annual
?Horn has put together a useful reference guide to the original and
adapted theatrical works of Lillian Hellman. Readers may be
surprised to discover the amount of material available on Hellman;
a great deal of it would be hard to find without access to this
volume. Theater scholars will find this a highly useful resource.
It is fully researched with no major or minor omissions. A worthy
addition to the Greenwood series, this volume is essential for all
undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional
libraries.?-Choice
"ÝA¨ comprehensive listing of the considerable scholarship
available on Hellman."-American Reference Books Annual
"[A] comprehensive listing of the considerable scholarship
available on Hellman."-American Reference Books Annual
"Horn has put together a useful reference guide to the original and
adapted theatrical works of Lillian Hellman. Readers may be
surprised to discover the amount of material available on Hellman;
a great deal of it would be hard to find without access to this
volume. Theater scholars will find this a highly useful resource.
It is fully researched with no major or minor omissions. A worthy
addition to the Greenwood series, this volume is essential for all
undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional
libraries."-Choice
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