Wilder in an Hour

In 1920, when 23-year-old Thornton Wilder set off for Rome to study archaeology, he couldn't know the profound affect the trip would have on him as a playwright. In Rome, Wilder attended the 1921 premiere of Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author. The theatricality of the play, its fracturing of time and space, the suspension of reality and dreamy spirit excited Wilder's muse. He would later recreate some of those themes in his greatest masterpieces like The Skin of...
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In 1920, when 23-year-old Thornton Wilder set off for Rome to study archaeology, he couldn't know the profound affect the trip would have on him as a playwright. In Rome, Wilder attended the 1921 premiere of Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author. The theatricality of the play, its fracturing of time and space, the suspension of reality and dreamy spirit excited Wilder's muse. He would later recreate some of those themes in his greatest masterpieces like The Skin of Our Teeth, The Matchmaker, and of course, the legendary Our Town. Setting the playwright in context to his personal life, social, historical and political events, other writers of influence, and more, you will quickly gain a deep understanding of Wilder and the plays he wrote. Read Wilder in an Hour and experience his plays like never before. Know the playwright, love the play! The book features: - Wilder in an Hour, the main essay of the book - Wilder In a Minute, a snapshot chronology - A complete listing of Wilder¿s work - A list of Wilder¿s contemporaries in all fields - Excerpts from Wilder¿s significant works - An extensive bibliography grouped according to type of reader - An index of the main essay. Playwrights in an Hour is a series devoted to the most produced and studied playwrights in the English language, from the Greek masters to contemporary writers, and written by leading authorities in the field. Each short book places the playwright and his or her work in historical, social, and literary context. James Fisher, professor of theatre and head of the Department of Theatre at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, has authored several books, including Understanding Tony Kushner, The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater: Modernism (co-authored with Felicia Hardison Londré), The Theater of Tony Kushner. Living Past Hope, Eddie Cantor: A Bio-Bibliography, Spencer Tracy: A Bio-Bibliography, Al Jolson: A Bio-Bibliography, and The Theatre of Yesterday and Tomorrow: Commedia dell¿Arte on the Modern Stage. He has edited ¿We Will Be Citizens¿: New Essays on Gay and Lesbian Theater, six volumes of The Puppetry Yearbook, and Tony Kushner: New Essays on the Art and Politics of the Plays. He is also a director and actor, author of two plays (The Bogus Bride and The Braggart Soldier, freely adapted from Plautus¿s Miles Gloriosus ), and served as book review editor for both the Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism and Broadside, the publication of the Theatre Library Association. Fisher was McLain-McTurnan-Arnold Research Scholar at Wabash College in 1987¿1988 and 1999¿2000, where he taught for twenty-nine years, and was named ¿Theatre Person of the Year¿ by the Indiana Theatre Association in 1997. In 2007, Fisher received the Betty Jean Jones Award for Excellence in the Teaching of American Theatre from the American Theatre and Drama Society.