Face in the Window: American Plays and Players in Australia, 1850-1915

The subject of this book is the representation of America on the Australian stage. While Australia's roots are British, many of its historical and geographical realities more closely resembled those of the United States. This book examines the role American images played in the construction of Australian culture and what that implied about both Australia and America.The result is like looking at a landscape through a window and seeing one's own image reflected in the glass.

To support this analysis, the author looks closely at the performance of American plays by American actors in Australia during the period, including commercial success of and audience and critical response to the performances of a wide variety of actors. The dates these actors performed in Australia, as well as the the theaters where they performed and their repertories of plays, have been thoroughly researched and are presented in detail.