Esslin, Martin.
The Theater of the Absurd
. New York: Anchor Books, 1969.
Esslin can make the absurd accessible to all. This book is excellent; it contains an overview of the movement and comments on individual authors.
Fergusson, Francis.
The Idea of
A
Theater
. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1949.
A formalistic overview of the theater, Fergusson’s book begins with
Oedipus
and ends with
Murder In The Cathedral
. Fergusson is not always easy to understand, but what he has to say is, upon reflection, exciting.
Fort, Alice B. and Herbert S. Kates.
Minute History of the Drama
. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1935.
A browsworthy tame full of pictures, historical information, and biographical information on authors. Xeroxes well.
Kitto, H.D.F.
Greek Tragedy
. London: Methuen & Co, 1939.
Norwood, Gilbert. Greek Tragedy. London: Methuen & Co., 1983.
Along with Kitto and Pickard-Cambridge, Norwood gives history and background on the origins of Greek drama and commentary on individual plays. There are anecdotes like this one on the death of Aeschylus: “The story tells how he was sitting on the hillside near the city of Gela when an eagle, flying with a tortoise in its claws in quest of a stone whereon to crush it, dropped its prey upon the bald head of the poet and killed him.” (p.11) It does not say whether his skull cracked the shell for the hungry eagle, but in spite of such omissions, it is a very readable history.
Pickard-Cambridge, Sir Arthur.
Dithyramb, Tragedy And Comedy
. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1962.
Rowe, Kenneth.
A Theater In Your Head
. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Co. 1960.
Rowe’s knowledge of theater is very broad. He addresses himself to the problems of interpretation. See especially Chapters Six and Eight on the meaning of a play, and on traditional modes of dramatic climaxes.
Shaw, George Bernard. The
Quintessence
of
Ibsenisn
. New York: Hill and Wang, 1913.
It is true: this man is a good writer. Shaw is opinionated and engaging. He is as good a companion as the subject of his book.