Anglo-American Interplay in Recent Drama

The provocative notion of a contemporary cross-cultural exchange within the medium of theatre is here imposed upon a dozen contemporary Anglo-American dramatists: Alan Ayckbourn and Neil Simon, Edward Bond and Sam Shepard, David Mamet and Harold Pinter, Caryl Churchill and Maria Irene Fornès, David Hare and David Rabe, Christopher Hampton and Richard Nelson. In each pairing, Ruby Cohn unites a British with an American playwright, exploring similarities both apparent and embedded – similarities which serve as a springboard for the exposure of a more profound, culturally based difference. A certain transatlantic double focus thus illuminates both the composition and the interpretation of dramatic works in an increasingly globally-minded age.