Staging Modern American Life: Popular Culture In The Experimental Theatre Of Millay, Cummings, And Dos Passos (what Is Theatre?)

Thomas Fahy examines the integration of and challenges to popular culture found in the theatrical works of Millay, Cummings, and Dos Passos, which have largely been marginalized in discussions of theatre history and literary studies, despite offering a hybrid theatre that integrates popular with formal, and mainstream with experimental Cover 1 Half-Title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 7 List of Figures 8 Acknowledgments 9 Introduction 10 1. “I Cannot Live without a Macaroon!”: Food, Hunger, and the Dangers of Modern American Culture in Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Aria da Capo and Other Plays 30 2. “Damn Everything But the Circus!”: The Ambiguous Place of Popular Culture in E. E. Cummings’ Him 61 3. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: Technology and the Suburban Nightmare in the Plays of John Dos Passos 93 Conclusion 140 Notes 144 Bibliography 171 Index 181 Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction....Pages 1-20 “I Cannot Live without a Macaroon!”: Food, Hunger, and the Dangers of Modern American Culture in Edna St. Vincent Millay’S Aria Da Capo and Other Plays....Pages 21-51 “Damn Everything But the Circus!”: The Ambiguous Place of Popular Culture in E. E. Cummings’ Him....Pages 53-84 Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: Technology and the Suburban Nightmare in the Plays of John Dos Passos....Pages 85-131 Conclusion....Pages 133-136 Back Matter....Pages 137-183 "The theatrical works of Millay, Cummings, and Dos Passos, which have largely been marginalized in discussions of theater history and literary scholarship, offer a hybrid theater that integrates the popular with the formal, the mainstream with the experimental. Fahy examines the integration of and challenges to popular culture found in their works and offers new readings with an eye to American cultural studies and the impact of mass entertainment on modern life"-- Provided by publisher The theatrical works of Millay, Cummings, and Dos Passos, which have largely been marginalized in discussions of theatre history and literary scholarship, offer a hybrid theatre that integrates the popular with the formal, the mainstream with the experimental. Fahy examines the integration of and challenges to popular culture found in their works and offers new readings with an eye to American cultural studies