The history play is among the United States' oldest theatrical forms, and since its inception the genre has been used to represent and interrogate questions of identity and citizenship. Over the last quarter of the twentieth century until the present day, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of history plays that focus on questions of race and representation. “Race and Performative Historiography in American Theatre, 1991-2014” provides an explanation for this surge, revealing that theatre-makers (playwrights, directors, actors, and designers) drew on a long tradition of metatheatrical techniques on the American stage to make race central to their representation and creation of history. This dissertation scrutinizes some of these techniques, which I have termed Performative Historiography, as these techniques rewrite the way the audience understands our national and racial past. Combining extensive performance analysis, archival work, race theory, and American theatre history, "Race and Performative Historiography" expands the discipline's understanding of the role of the theater in representing America’s racial past, present, and future. Each chapter of “Race and Performative Historiography” describes one of these techniques: sedimented time, historical synecdoche, and revision and repetition. These techniques provide theater-makers new ways of making vivid the past, exposing embedded power structures and forms of prejudice, as well thinking through and against national myths and structures of thought. Not only do these chapters describe these techniques, but they trace how these playwrights and directors give new life to older American theatrical forms: elements from minstrelsy (such as black, white, and red face), melodrama, and Living Newspapers of the Federal Theatre Project. Tracing the afterlives of these forms, I reveal how the juxtaposition of these older traditions with contemporary models of representation creates new theatre forms, and shows that even the most daring of the new American playwrights draw on a long and storied tradition. The history play has always been a genre that American playwrights have turned to define who we are, and where we have been, as a nation. "Race and Performative Historiography" dissects the means by which they make those claims.

The author's inaugural dissertation, Munich. / "Das historische drama zur zeit Hebbels--repräsentiert durch die namen: Büchner, Grabbe, Mosen, Griepenkerl, Grillparzer, Hebbel, Hugo--bildet den gegenstand der folgenden vergleichenden untersuchungen."--Vorwort. "Literatur": p. [114]-115.

The point of departure for this study is the meeting-place between an author and his times. Both in his youth and in later years, August Strindberg was in bitter conflict with the Swedish Establishment. At the turn of the century, however, when the fifty-year-old author returned to Stockholm after many years of exile, he was able to be accepted by the cultural community in the country of his birth. This fact is studied here both from the point of view of a change in Strindberg's own attitudes, and of the changes that had taken place in Sweden during the author's exile. In the early 1880s, Strindberg had challenged accepted truths by writing a work of considerable proportions dealing with the history of the Swedish people, this in conscious opposition to the established view of history which was primarily concerned with the history of its monarchs, Strindberg was criticised both by the Press and by history scholars, and the reaction contributed to his decision to leave the country. By the turn of the century, considerable changes had taken place. Sweden had become an industrialized country, and the emerging middle class had made its mark on the philo­sophy of the time and also gained control of the organs of public opinion. Because Strindberg only wrote plays at this time, a considerable amount of attention is given in the dissertation to the development of the Stockholm theatre. Privately-owned theatres had now come to replace the earlier Royal theatre monopoly. On his return, Strindberg set about writing historical dramas. He was now willing to cater to the conservative views that he had fought against twenty years previously. He wrote of the Swedish monarchs and tried to satisfy the demands of an earlier period for dramas with historical facts that were completely correct. In the autumn of 1899 while he was busy writing "Gustaf Adolf " (Gustavus Adolphus), his recently-completed plays "Gustaf Vasa" and "Erik XIV" were being performed at the Svenska teatern in Stockholm. It now became apparent that the majority of critics regarded esthetic considerations as being more important than those of historical accuracy, and that they also prefered to see the monarchs portrayed as psychologically credible figures rather than as impersonal, glorified hero figures. Only the most conservative critics failed to hold this view. Despite the resounding success of both "Gustaf Vasa" and "Erik XIV", Strindberg tried in his new play to cater even to his few adversaries. He engaged in deep historical studies and peppered the play with historical details, resulting in a play that is inordi­nately long and very difficult to manage. However, concerning the main character, Strindberg was unable to pander to con­servative criticism. Fundemental artistic characteristics reemerged and transformed the 17th century monarch into a problematic individual who undergoes a personal develop­ment, laboriously seeking the right road. He has to battle with religious intolerance, his role as monarch, his understanding of the world, and his personal dreams of power. When "Gustaf Adolf" appeared in the bookshops in autumn 1900, the critics were unanimous in the belief that Strindberg had succeeded in his depiction of history. On the other hand, many felt that he had degraded the hero-king by giving him personal problems / digitalisering@umu

Thesis (LITT. D.)--Catholic University of America, 1915. / "Life": leaf at end. Bibliographies: p. 114-118.

The author's inaugural dissertation, Munich. / "Das historische drama zur zeit Hebbels--repräsentiert durch die namen: Büchner, Grabbe, Mosen, Griepenkerl, Grillparzer, Hebbel, Hugo--bildet den gegenstand der folgenden vergleichenden untersuchungen."--Vorwort. "Literatur": p. [114]-115.

Thesis (LITT. D.)--Catholic University of America, 1915. / "Life": leaf at end. Bibliographies: p. 114-118.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Catholic University of America. / "List of references": p. 142-158.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 199-221). Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the career of Francis Asbury during the critica1 years l77l to 1784 and to present an original historica1 drama based on this research. An introduction discusses Asbury's importance to the development or America, the place of the drama in understanding the past, and the nature of the creative process imolved in writing an historica1 play. The three act drama is composed of eight scenes. After each scene of the play there is an extensive section of notes showing how the events, speeches, and persons depicted have been based on the historical sources. Francis Asbury's career embraced a period of forty-five crucial years of American history, years when, under his guidance, Methodism grew from a small group of several hundred to an indigenous Church with over 214,000 members. It would be impossible te present all of his life in a single dramatic work and this play has been limited to the years l77l to 1784. An examination of Asbury's activity during these years shows that the major themes of his career were developed by 1784. These themes were his dedication to the system of Methodist itineracy, his understanding of the destiny of America, the democracy of the Gospel he preached, his autocratic methods of Church administration, and his willingness to suffer for his vocation [TRUNCATED]