Unrivalled in its coverage of recent work and writers, The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary American Playwrights surveys and analyses the breadth, vitality and development of theatrical work to emerge from America over the last fifty years. This authoritative guide leads you through the work of 25 major contemporary American playwrights, discussing more than 140 plays in detail. Written by a team of 25 eminent international scholars, each chapter provides: * a biographical introduction to the playwright's work; * a survey and concise analysis of the writer's most important plays; * a discussion of their style, dramaturgical concerns and critical reception; * a bibliography of published plays and a select list of critical works. Among the many Tony, Obie and Pulitzer prize-winning playwrights included are Sam Shepard, Tony Kushner, Suzan-Lori Parks, August Wilson, Paula Vogel and Neil LaBute. The abundance of work analysed enables fresh, illuminating conclusions to be drawn about the development of contemporary American playwriting.

This Student Edition of Sarah Kane's seminal play "Blasted" features expert and helpful annotation and is an accessible guide for anyone studying or performing the play. This includes a scene-by-scene summary, a detailed commentary on the dramatic, social and political context, and on the themes, characters, language and structure of the play, as well a list of suggested reading, questions for further study and a review of performance history.

In 1995 Sarah Kane's first full-length play "Blasted" sent shockwaves throughout the theatrical world. Making front-page headlines, the play outraged critics with its depiction of rape, torture and violence in civil war. At its debut "Blasted" was roundly condemned by theatre critics like the Daily Mail who decried it as a "disgusting feast of filth." Today, however, this play is considered a seminal work of European theatre and has defined an era of stage writing.

"Blasted'"s canonical status reflects the raw beauty and terror of Kane's writing. Probing the brutality people inflict upon one another, the suffering and violation, the play also looks at the role of love and the redemption it offers. Unafraid to delve into darkness, this is a provocative, fragmenting piece full of significance and power.

The weight of what is to come is unbearable. It is crushing me. The sound of the crying, it never ceases. I carry this inside and now tell only you. Charles, a disgraced New York Times journalist, arrives in Rwanda for an exclusive interview with two Hutu nuns. Charged with war crimes, the nuns must convince the world of their innocence during the 1994 genocide. When an unknown survivor contradicts the nuns' story, Charles must decide between saving his career or telling a murkier truth that might condemn the nuns to a life in prison. Ken Urban's award-winning Sense Of An Ending shines a light on journalistic truth and morality amid the atrocity of the Rwandan genocide. The play was produced and published during the twenty-first century anniversary of the genocide, and is a striking and compelling political thriller asking if forgiveness is possible in a world where truth is never simple. Sense Of An Ending was premiered at Theatre503, London, on 12 May 2015.