This is a social history of a recent American cultural phenomenon - the development since World War II of numerous nonprofit regional theatres which, as a group, have changed the complexion of the American theatre. It is the story of a revolution, now over, and a call for a new purpose to follow it. After a discussion of the background against which the regional theatre movement began, the author traces the histories of individual theatre companies. And yet the book is less about actors, directors, and productions than it is about the struggle to create and sustain new cultural forms, and the tension between regional and central phenomena. (Book jacket).

CONTENTS
Foreword by Alan Schneider.

  1. Defining a revolution.
  2. Antecedents: A world elsewhere.
  3. Margo Jones: Legacy and legend.
  4. Acorns: Theatres before 1960.
  5. Oak trees: The Guthrie theatre and what came after.
  6. Saplings: Small theatres of the 1960's.
  7. Stabs at a National Theatre.
  8. To save the world: The Actor's Workshop moves east.
  9. Up against the marble wall: the loss of the Actor's workshop.
10. The establishment theatre.
11. New plays and new ploys.
12. The regional dilemma.
13. Storming the citadel: The theatres go to New York.
14. A more suitable dream.

Notes.
Suggestions for additional reading [bibliography].
Index.

This is a social history of a recent American cultural phenomenon - the development since World War II of numerous nonprofit regional theatres which, as a group, have changed the complexion of the American theatre. It is the story of a revolution, now over, and a call for a new purpose to follow it. After a discussion of the background against which the regional theatre movement began, the author traces the histories of individual theatre companies.