T.S. Eliot's Drama: A Research and Production Sourcebook

(Hardback)

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Though better known for his poetry, T.S. Eliot wrote seven important plays between 1926 and 1958, of which "Murder in the Cathedral" (1935) and "The Cocktail Party" (1949) may be most produced. Posthumously, he won Tony Awards in 1983 for the musical adaptation of his poetry in the Broadway production of "Cats". He was at the forefront of a mid-20th-century revival of the genre of verse drama and also wrote a considerable body of dramatic criticism. Notwithstanding the hundreds of critical sources annotated in this bibliography, the "Eliot industry" has neglected the plays in recent years, producing few important studies on par with those on the poetry. This new sourcebook surveys the entire dramaturgical and critical discourse surrounding Eliot's plays. A separate chapter for each play provides characters, synopsis, detailed production history, critical overview of both performance reviews and scholarly response, textual notes and influences, and publishing history. The bibliography is divided into sections for primary works, including Eliot's plays and essays on drama plus interviews and archival materials, and secondary sources, including scholarly and review criticism in general and of single plays. Also featured are a chronology of major career events, an introductory analysis, and an appendix of additional performance adaptations. Two other appendices offer chronological access to all secondary sources and succinct data on major productions and their credits. Fully cross-referenced and indexed, this compendium seeks to make information and resources immediately accessible to anyone doing research on Eliot or modern British and American drama.

Reviews

A unique reference on a the plays of a major twentieth-century writer. Recommended for academic and public libraries.-Reference Book Review
Currently writing a book on Eliot's plays, Malamud has evidently made further use of his research for this second volume of a new series. Included are a chronology; an account of Eliot's career as playwright; a section on each of the seven plays, giving a synopsis, an account of selected productions, summaries of performance reviews and scholarly critiques (as often as possible in the author's own words), and a publication history. Finally there are annotated bibliographies of Eliot's essays on drama, of reviews and popular discussions, of critical essays on single plays, and of general studies of Eliot's drama. Appendixes provide material on adaptations (including Cats) and selective productions and credits. Malamud's style is so scrupulously disinterested that one's appetite is whetted for his own book and what he himself will have to say about the plays and all of this material. A useful tool for controlled undergraduate research in literature and theater courses; a treat for those interested in the fortunes of Eliot's plays; and no doubt a trot--though many secondary sources are so annotated that students would have to consult them before using them. Recommended for all college libraries.-Choice
"A unique reference on a the plays of a major twentieth-century writer. Recommended for academic and public libraries."-Reference Book Review
"Currently writing a book on Eliot's plays, Malamud has evidently made further use of his research for this second volume of a new series. Included are a chronology; an account of Eliot's career as playwright; a section on each of the seven plays, giving a synopsis, an account of selected productions, summaries of performance reviews and scholarly critiques (as often as possible in the author's own words), and a publication history. Finally there are annotated bibliographies of Eliot's essays on drama, of reviews and popular discussions, of critical essays on single plays, and of general studies of Eliot's drama. Appendixes provide material on adaptations (including Cats) and selective productions and credits. Malamud's style is so scrupulously disinterested that one's appetite is whetted for his own book and what he himself will have to say about the plays and all of this material. A useful tool for controlled undergraduate research in literature and theater courses; a treat for those interested in the fortunes of Eliot's plays; and no doubt a trot--though many secondary sources are so annotated that students would have to consult them before using them. Recommended for all college libraries."-Choice

Author Bio

RANDY MALAMUD is Assistant Professor of English at Georgia State University, specializing in modern literature and modernism. He is the author of The Language of Modernism (1989) and numerous reference and journal articles on Eliot, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and others. He is at present completing a critical study of Eliot's drama and working on a study of modernism in literature and other arts.