Theatre and the American Dream

This module investigates the relationship between notions of American culture and identity and theatrical performance. It takes as its starting point the concepts of the American Dream and manifest destiny to look at the ways American theatre and performance traditions have developed and to examine the ways in which various playwrights and performance companies have produced, debated and troubled ideas of American national identity through their work. It looks at both mainstream and experimental work, interpreting material within the context of social, political and cultural histories of the US. It engages with questions of exclusion, identity and in particular, the negotiation of class, to examine how various individuals and groups have used the theatre to engage with, question, and critique differing notions of American culture.