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Rating: 
Summary: A unique and necessary anthology
Review: If you're curious about the path of American drama in the past thirty years -- that is, American drama other than what Broadway had to offer -- then this is the anthology to get. It's huge, diverse, and full of surprises. If you haven't been paying close attention to off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, and nowhere-near-Broadway theatre, then there are likely to be unfamiliar names here. That's okay; the editors are knowledgeable and have made their choices carefully (Mac Wellman is himself an excellent playwright). Yes, you'll discover some familiar names, since many of the major American playwrights of the past few decades are included here -- Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Tony Kushner, etc. However, the excitement in this anthology is how much you will discover: there's Maria Irene Fornes, perhaps the greatest of the avant-garde playwrights to emerge in the '60s; and Len Jenkin, whose plays tend to be a cross between all the good parts of Philosophy 101 and the X-Files; and Suzan-Lori Parks, who is, simply, a genius. It's certainly not all easy reading, for these are plays by playwrights who love to explore the boundaries of language, of imagery, of theatrical imagination, but if you're adventurous and willing to have your conceptions of the theatre's possibilities be expanded, then this book will be a treasure-trove for you. The only anthology to rival this one is Michael Feingold's Grove New American Theatre, which includes six wonderful scripts. From the Other Side of the Century includes over thirty. Get both if you can, but if you can only have one, then this is the anthology to buy.
Rating:
Summary: A unique and necessary anthology
Review: If you're curious about the path of American drama in the past thirty years -- that is, American drama other than what Broadway had to offer -- then this is the anthology to get. It's huge, diverse, and full of surprises. If you haven't been paying close attention to off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, and nowhere-near-Broadway theatre, then there are likely to be unfamiliar names here. That's okay; the editors are knowledgeable and have made their choices carefully (Mac Wellman is himself an excellent playwright). Yes, you'll discover some familiar names, since many of the major American playwrights of the past few decades are included here -- Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Tony Kushner, etc. However, the excitement in this anthology is how much you will discover: there's Maria Irene Fornes, perhaps the greatest of the avant-garde playwrights to emerge in the '60s; and Len Jenkin, whose plays tend to be a cross between all the good parts of Philosophy 101 and the X-Files; and Suzan-Lori Parks, who is, simply, a genius. It's certainly not all easy reading, for these are plays by playwrights who love to explore the boundaries of language, of imagery, of theatrical imagination, but if you're adventurous and willing to have your conceptions of the theatre's possibilities be expanded, then this book will be a treasure-trove for you. The only anthology to rival this one is Michael Feingold's Grove New American Theatre, which includes six wonderful scripts. From the Other Side of the Century includes over thirty. Get both if you can, but if you can only have one, then this is the anthology to buy.
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