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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not quite good enough, November 10, 2003
The Bedford Introduction To Drama, in its Fourth edition, has a number of virtues. Much of the selection is good, the illustrations are good and often helpful, and the introductions to each period and to individual plays are often very good. Of course, some of them are predictable: it would be nice to see some exciting Strindberg for a change; Miss Julie is really getting weary. However, it is when when we reach the second half of the Twentieth century that the quality breaks down. We find the same tired list of plays chosen for their political correctness: something on race, something for feminists, etc, etc, with very litte convincing attention paid to what has actually happened in the theatre, viewed either from the point of view of box officee appeal (which was a good enough criterion for Shakespeare), or what is likely to be historically influential. A major exception is Mamet's OLEANNA, guaranteed to stir disagreement and excitement in the classroom as it does in the theatre. Each reader will find other exceptions, but the predictability and tedium of the modern selection is disappointing. This text is widely used in classrooms, incuding my own, because there is no satisfactory alternative, but as a text for modern theatre it's a failure, and it's VERY expensive for a student's budget.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I used this book for 3 classes..., January 16, 2009
I don't know how much this book goes for anymore but while in college I've shelled out up to $150 for a book i used once. I used this book for several different theatre classes. 3 of the classes I used this book for most of the plays we had to study. for a couple others i was able to use it to fill in the blanks for other books.
Only drawback is this thing is the size of a phone book.
If you have to pick this book up for a class do not sell afterwards, chances are you will be able to use in another.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Collection Of 48 Important Plays, January 9, 2005
This book remains first and foremost the most comprehensive anthology available: a collection of 48 important plays that have shaped dramatic literature from the time of the early Greek dramatists to the present.
The book covers the great ages of drama, the genres of drama and elements of drama. The great ages of drama include: Greek drama, Roman drama, Medieval drama, Renaissance drama, late seventeenth & eighteenth century drama, nineteenth century drama through the turn of the century, drama in the early and mid-twentieth century and contemporary drama.
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