Description: The Theatre of Tennessee Williams provides a stimulating analysis of the work of this giant of twentieth century American theatre whose work remains central to curriculums and theatre repertoires. It combines an analysis of all of his work by American scholar Brenda Murphy with interviews and a number of criticial essays.
Brief description: Brenda Murphy is Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Connecticut, where she has taught since 1989, following fourteen years as a faculty member and administrator at St Lawrence University. She is the author of many articles, books, and reviews on drama and American literature.
Review Quotes:
"[Murphy] brings together ... useful information from Williams' work, writings and correspondence to make this a valuable academic work for anyone studying the playwright or American theatre ... A useful and well-written work" --David Chadderton, British Theatre Guide
"Brenda Murphy's The Theatre of Tennessee Williams is a thoroughly enjoyable read. The book describes the genesis and major themes of all of Williams's best-known plays and many of those that are less familiar; it provides, as well, an illuminating account of the plays' first productions and the ways in which they were inflected by their cultural contexts. Murphy writes with lucidity and an eye for the engaging detail, the telling quotation that will appeal to a broad audience. Her book serves as both a useful guide to Williams's work and an important contribution to the ongoing re-evaluation of that work" --Verna A. Foster, Loyola University, Modern Drama