Output details

American Theatre: History, Context, Form

Unlike previous accounts of American theatre, based on the colonial chronology of theatrical ‘fact’, Saxon’s exploration uses archival and ephemeral sources from cultural organisations of Native American and African non-print cultures, including performance histories not predicated on colonial record. Lisa Merrill notes: ‘Saxon's choice to draw upon a wide range of sources not generally available in theatre history texts and to highlight the early performance histories of Native Americans and African Americans is particularly noteworthy and commendable’. Saxon rejects the received evolutionary progress of American theatrical modes; rather, she proposes a productive and stimulating conscious or unconscious process of inter-referentiality.