{"product_id":"four-contemporary-american-playwrights-9781350538801","title":"Four Contemporary American Playwrights: Exploring Identity","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe fourth in a series of books exploring the careers of 28 contemporary American playwrights, this book covers the work of four male writers, Lucas Hnath, Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins, Stephen Karam and Tarell Alvin McCraney.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe dramatic strategies of these award-winning playwrights range widely in styles and approach. Christopher Bigsby interweaves critical analysis of their work with biographical information, contemporary responses and the writers’ own comments, drawn from interviews.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e At a time when the question of identity is central in America, at both a personal and national level, how far do these playwrights see this as central or incidental to their work? Bigsby argues that Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins’ work often asks to what extent race is a construct, in work including \u003ci\u003eneighbors\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e An Octoroon \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eAppropriate\u003c\/i\u003e, while stepping away from race in \u003ci\u003eEverybody. \u003c\/i\u003eTarell Alvin McCraney, conscious that being labelled as gay or black can influence the reception of his work, nonetheless embraces both in \u003ci\u003eThe Brothers Size, Choir Boy\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWig Out \u003c\/i\u003eand his Oscar-winning film \u003ci\u003eMoonlight\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf Stephen Karam, from a Lebanese-American family, engages with gay characters in \u003ci\u003eSpeech and Debate \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Humans\u003c\/i\u003e, this book posits that he is also interested in suffering, something of which he has personal experience. Finally, Lucas Hnath approaches identity in another way, appropriating the lives of real characters, historical and contemporary, inhabiting and deconstructing them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication date:\u003c\/strong\u003e 13 November 2025\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePage count:\u003c\/strong\u003e 208\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e Height 238 mm; Width 154 mm; Thickness 18 mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e Bloomsbury Publishing PLC\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hardback\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9781350538801\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Christopher Bigsby","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":50128176709882,"sku":"9781350538801","price":90.27,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0522\/4297\/2845\/files\/9781350538801.jpg?v=1787053584","url":"https:\/\/shulphink.com\/products\/four-contemporary-american-playwrights-9781350538801","provider":"Shulph Ink","version":"1.0","type":"link"}