Theatre, Culture and Temperance Reform in Nineteenth-Century America

John Frick examines the role of temperance drama in the overall scheme of American nineteenth-century theatre, using examples from mainstream productions and amateur theatricals. Nineteenth-century America witnessed a major movement against alcohol consumption when the temperance cause became one of national concern. As part of the temperance movement, a new genre of theatrical literature and performance developed, professional as well as amateur, to help publicize its beliefs. Frick also compares the American genre to its British counterpart.
This book examines the role of temperance drama in American theatre and compares the American genre to its British counterpart.
John W. Frick is Associate Professor of Drama at the University of Virginia. He is author of New York's First Theatrical Center: The Rialto at Union Square, co-editor of The Directory of Historic American Theatres and Theatrical Directors: A Biographical Dictionary and is a contributing author to The Cambridge History of American Theatre (1999). He has published numerous articles and reviews in, among others, The Drama Review, Theatre Journal, The Journal of American Drama and Theatre and The New England Theatre Journal. He has worked Off-Off Broadway as a dramaturg and as a stage manager with theatre and dance companies in New York.
"Frick continues the incredible run of quality work emanating from the Cambridge series... Essential for all libraries specializing in the history of the American theater and popular culture." Choice