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class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>The 19th century</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-The_19th_century-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle The 19th century subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-The_19th_century-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Prewar_theater" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Prewar_theater"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>Prewar theater</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Prewar_theater-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Postwar_theater" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Postwar_theater"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2</span> <span>Postwar theater</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Postwar_theater-sublist" 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<li id="toc-Drama" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Drama"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.2</span> <span>Drama</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Drama-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Activism_in_Theater" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Activism_in_Theater"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Activism in Theater</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Activism_in_Theater-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Contemporary_American_theater" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Contemporary_American_theater"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Contemporary American theater</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Contemporary_American_theater-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Further_reading" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Further_reading"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>Further reading</span> </div> </a> <ul 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0.4em;text-align:left;font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6em;font-size:105%}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-list-title-c{padding:0 0.4em;text-align:center;margin:0 3.3em}@media(max-width:640px){body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .sidebar{width:100%!important;clear:both;float:none!important;margin-left:0!important;margin-right:0!important}}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .sidebar a>img{max-width:none!important}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sidebar{display:none!important}}</style><table class="sidebar sidebar-collapse nomobile nowraplinks vcard hlist" style="width:22.0em; border:4px double #d69d36; background:#ffffff;"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-pretitle"><b><span style="color:#000000;">This article is part of a <a href="/wiki/Culture_of_the_United_States" title="Culture of the United States">US Culture</a> series on the</span></b></td></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-title-with-pretitle" style="background:#002868; background-clip:padding-box;"><a href="/wiki/Theater_of_the_United_States" class="mw-redirect" title="Theater of the United States"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><small>Theater of the </small><br />United States</span></a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-image"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Balcony_scene_West_Side_Story.JPG" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Balcony_scene_West_Side_Story.JPG/200px-Balcony_scene_West_Side_Story.JPG" decoding="async" width="200" height="280" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Balcony_scene_West_Side_Story.JPG/300px-Balcony_scene_West_Side_Story.JPG 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Balcony_scene_West_Side_Story.JPG/400px-Balcony_scene_West_Side_Story.JPG 2x" data-file-width="852" data-file-height="1192" /></a></span><div class="sidebar-caption">Scene from original 1957 production of <i><a href="/wiki/West_Side_Story" title="West Side Story">West Side Story</a></i></div></td></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="background:#bf0a30; background-clip:padding-box; color:#ffffff;"> Lists</th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_American_plays" title="List of American plays">Plays</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_American_playwrights" class="mw-redirect" title="List of American playwrights">Playwrights</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="background:#bf0a30; background-clip:padding-box; color:#ffffff;"> By State</th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Alaska&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Alaska (page does not exist)">AK</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Alabama&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Alabama (page does not exist)">AL</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Arkansas&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Arkansas (page does not exist)">AR</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_American_Samoa&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in American Samoa (page does not exist)">AS</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Arizona&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Arizona (page does not exist)">AZ</a> - <a href="/wiki/List_of_theatres_in_California" title="List of theatres in California">CA</a> - <a href="/wiki/List_of_theaters_in_Colorado" title="List of theaters in Colorado">CO</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Connecticut&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Connecticut (page does not exist)">CT</a> - <a href="/wiki/List_of_theaters_in_Washington,_D.C." title="List of theaters in Washington, D.C.">DC</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Delaware&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Delaware (page does not exist)">DE</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Florida&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Florida (page does not exist)">FL</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Georgia_(U.S._state)&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Georgia (U.S. state) (page does not exist)">GA</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Guam&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Guam (page does not exist)">GU</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Hawaii&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Hawaii (page does not exist)">HI</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Iowa&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Iowa (page does not exist)">IA</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Idaho&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Idaho (page does not exist)">ID</a> - <a href="/wiki/List_of_theaters_in_Illinois" title="List of theaters in Illinois">IL</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Indiana&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Indiana (page does not exist)">IN</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Kansas&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Kansas (page does not exist)">KS</a> - <a href="/wiki/List_of_theaters_in_Kentucky" title="List of theaters in Kentucky">KY</a> - <a href="/wiki/List_of_theaters_in_Louisiana" title="List of theaters in Louisiana">LA</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Massachusetts&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Massachusetts (page does not exist)">MA</a> - <a href="/wiki/List_of_theaters_in_Maryland" title="List of theaters in Maryland">MD</a> - <a href="/wiki/List_of_theaters_in_Maine" title="List of theaters in Maine">ME</a> - <a href="/wiki/List_of_theaters_in_Michigan" title="List of theaters in Michigan">MI</a> - <a href="/wiki/List_of_theaters_in_Minnesota" title="List of theaters in Minnesota">MN</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Missouri&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Missouri (page does not exist)">MO</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_the_Northern_Mariana_Islands&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in the Northern Mariana Islands (page does not exist)">MP</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Mississippi&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Mississippi (page does not exist)">MS</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Montana&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Montana (page does not exist)">MT</a> - <a href="/wiki/List_of_theaters_in_North_Carolina" title="List of theaters in North Carolina">NC</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_North_Dakota&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in North Dakota (page does not exist)">ND</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Nebraska&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Nebraska (page does not exist)">NE</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_New_Hampshire&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in New Hampshire (page does not exist)">NH</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_New_Mexico&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in New Mexico (page does not exist)">NM</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Nevada&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Nevada (page does not exist)">NV</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_New_Jersey&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in New Jersey (page does not exist)">NJ</a> - <a href="/wiki/List_of_theaters_in_New_York_(state)" title="List of theaters in New York (state)">NY</a> - <a href="/wiki/List_of_theaters_in_Ohio" title="List of theaters in Ohio">OH</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Oklahoma&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Oklahoma (page does not exist)">OK</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Oregon&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Oregon (page does not exist)">OR</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Pennsylvania&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Pennsylvania (page does not exist)">PA</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Puerto_Rico&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Puerto Rico (page does not exist)">PR</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Rhode_Island&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Rhode Island (page does not exist)">RI</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_South_Carolina&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in South Carolina (page does not exist)">SC</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_South_Dakota&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in South Dakota (page does not exist)">SD</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Tennessee&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Tennessee (page does not exist)">TN</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Texas&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Texas (page does not exist)">TX</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Utah&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Utah (page does not exist)">UT</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Virginia&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Virginia (page does not exist)">VA</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_the_Virgin_Islands&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in the Virgin Islands (page does not exist)">VI</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Vermont&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Vermont (page does not exist)">VT</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Washington_(state)&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Washington (state) (page does not exist)">WA</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Wisconsin&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Wisconsin (page does not exist)">WI</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_West_Virginia&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in West Virginia (page does not exist)">WV</a> - <a href="/w/index.php?title=List_of_theaters_in_Wyoming&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="List of theaters in Wyoming (page does not exist)">WY</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-below"> <span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_United_States_(19-10).svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Flag_of_the_United_States_%2819-10%29.svg/20px-Flag_of_the_United_States_%2819-10%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="20" height="11" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Flag_of_the_United_States_%2819-10%29.svg/30px-Flag_of_the_United_States_%2819-10%29.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Flag_of_the_United_States_%2819-10%29.svg/40px-Flag_of_the_United_States_%2819-10%29.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="950" data-file-height="500" /></a></span><br /><a href="/wiki/Portal:United_States" title="Portal:United States">United States portal</a></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:UStheater" title="Template:UStheater"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:UStheater" title="Template talk:UStheater"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:UStheater" title="Special:EditPage/Template:UStheater"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><b>Theater in the United States</b> is part of the old European theatrical tradition and has been heavily influenced by the <a href="/wiki/Theatre_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Theatre of the United Kingdom">British theater</a>. The central hub of the American theater scene is <a href="/wiki/Manhattan" title="Manhattan">Manhattan</a>, with its divisions of <a href="/wiki/Broadway_theatre" title="Broadway theatre">Broadway</a>, <a href="/wiki/Off-Broadway" title="Off-Broadway">Off-Broadway</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Off-Off-Broadway" class="mw-redirect" title="Off-Off-Broadway">Off-Off-Broadway</a>. Many movie and television stars have gotten their big break working in New York productions. Outside New York, many cities have professional <a href="/wiki/Regional_theater_in_the_United_States" title="Regional theater in the United States">regional or resident theater companies</a> that produce their own seasons, with some works being produced regionally with hopes of eventually moving to New York. U.S. theater also has an active <a href="/wiki/Community_theater" class="mw-redirect" title="Community theater">community theater</a> culture, which relies mainly on local volunteers who may not be actively pursuing a theatrical career.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Early_history">Early history</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Theater_in_the_United_States&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Early history"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Edwin_Forrest.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Edwin_Forrest.jpg/220px-Edwin_Forrest.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="316" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Edwin_Forrest.jpg/330px-Edwin_Forrest.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Edwin_Forrest.jpg/440px-Edwin_Forrest.jpg 2x" data-file-width="457" data-file-height="657" /></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/Edwin_Forrest" title="Edwin Forrest">Edwin Forrest</a>, a popular early American actor</figcaption></figure> <p>Before the first English colony was established in 1607, there were Spanish dramas and Native American tribes that performed theatrical events.<sup id="cite_ref-World_Encyclopedia_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-World_Encyclopedia-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Representations continued to be held in <a href="/wiki/New_Spain" title="New Spain">Spanish-held territories</a> in what later became the United States. For example, at the Presidio of <a href="/wiki/Los_Adaes" title="Los Adaes">Los Adaes</a> in the <a href="/wiki/New_Philippines" title="New Philippines">New Philippines</a> (now in <a href="/wiki/Louisiana" title="Louisiana">Louisiana</a>), several plays were presented on October 12, 1721.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Although a theater was built in <a href="/wiki/Williamsburg,_Virginia" title="Williamsburg, Virginia">Williamsburg, Virginia</a> in 1716, and the original <a href="/wiki/Dock_Street_Theatre" title="Dock Street Theatre">Dock Street Theatre</a> opened in <a href="/wiki/Charleston,_South_Carolina" title="Charleston, South Carolina">Charleston, South Carolina</a> in 1736, the birth of professional theater in the English colonies may have begun when <a href="/wiki/Lewis_Hallam" title="Lewis Hallam">Lewis Hallam</a> arrived with his theatrical company in Williamsburg in 1752.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Lewis and his brother <a href="/wiki/William_Hallam_(theatre_manager)" title="William Hallam (theatre manager)">William</a>, who arrived in 1754, were the first to organize a complete company of actors in Europe and bring them to the <a href="/wiki/Thirteen_Colonies" title="Thirteen Colonies">colonies</a>. They brought a repertoire of plays popular in London at the time, including <i><a href="/wiki/Hamlet" title="Hamlet">Hamlet</a></i>, <i><a href="/wiki/Othello" title="Othello">Othello</a></i>, <i><a href="/wiki/The_Recruiting_Officer" title="The Recruiting Officer">The Recruiting Officer</a></i>, and <i><a href="/wiki/Richard_III_(play)" title="Richard III (play)">Richard III</a></i>. <i><a href="/wiki/The_Merchant_of_Venice" title="The Merchant of Venice">The Merchant of Venice</a></i> was their first performance, shown initially on September 15, 1752.<sup id="cite_ref-theatrehistory.com_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-theatrehistory.com-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Encountering opposition from religious organizations, Hallam and his company left for <a href="/wiki/Jamaica" title="Jamaica">Jamaica</a> in 1754 or 1755.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="date: September 14, 2008 (September 2008)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> Soon after, <a href="/wiki/Lewis_Hallam,_Jr." class="mw-redirect" title="Lewis Hallam, Jr.">Lewis Hallam, Jr.</a>, founded the American Company, opened a theater in New York, and presented the first professionally mounted American play—<i><a href="/wiki/The_Prince_of_Parthia" title="The Prince of Parthia">The Prince of Parthia</a></i>, by <a href="/wiki/Thomas_Godfrey_(writer)" title="Thomas Godfrey (writer)">Thomas Godfrey</a>—in 1767.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In the 18th century, laws forbidding the performance of plays were passed in <a href="/wiki/Massachusetts" title="Massachusetts">Massachusetts</a> in 1750, in <a href="/wiki/Pennsylvania" title="Pennsylvania">Pennsylvania</a> in 1759, and in <a href="/wiki/Rhode_Island" title="Rhode Island">Rhode Island</a> in 1761, and plays were banned in most states during the <a href="/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War" title="American Revolutionary War">American Revolutionary War</a> at the urging of the <a href="/wiki/Continental_Congress" title="Continental Congress">Continental Congress</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-theatrehistory.com_5-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-theatrehistory.com-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In 1794, president of <a href="/wiki/Yale_College" title="Yale College">Yale College</a>, <a href="/wiki/Timothy_Dwight_IV" title="Timothy Dwight IV">Timothy Dwight IV</a>, in his "Essay on the Stage", declared that "to indulge a taste for playgoing means nothing more or less than the loss of that most valuable treasure: the immortal soul."<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (September 2008)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p><p>In spite of such laws, a few writers tried their hand at playwriting. Most likely, the first plays written in America were by European-born authors—we know of original plays being written by Spaniards, Frenchmen and Englishmen dating back as early as 1567—although no plays were printed in America until <a href="/wiki/Robert_Hunter_(governor)" class="mw-redirect" title="Robert Hunter (governor)">Robert Hunter's</a> <i><a href="/wiki/Androboros" title="Androboros">Androboros</a></i> in 1714. Still, in the early years, most of the plays produced came from Europe; only with Godfrey's <i>The Prince of Parthia</i> in 1767 do we get a professionally produced play written by an American, although it was a last-minute substitute for Thomas Forrest's comic opera <i><a href="/wiki/The_Disappointment" title="The Disappointment">The Disappointment; or, The Force of Credulity</a></i>, and although the first play to treat American themes seriously, <i>Ponteach; or, the Savages of America</i> by <a href="/wiki/Robert_Rogers_(soldier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Robert Rogers (soldier)">Robert Rogers</a>, had been published in London a year earlier.<sup id="cite_ref-Meserve_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Meserve-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 'Cato', a play about revolution, was performed for George Washington and his troops at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777–1778. </p><p>The <a href="/wiki/American_Revolution" title="American Revolution">Revolutionary period</a> was a boost for dramatists, for whom the political debates were fertile ground for both satire, as seen in the works of <a href="/wiki/Mercy_Otis_Warren" title="Mercy Otis Warren">Mercy Otis Warren</a> and Colonel Robert Munford, and for plays about heroism, as in the works of <a href="/wiki/Hugh_Henry_Brackenridge" title="Hugh Henry Brackenridge">Hugh Henry Brackenridge</a>. The postwar period saw the birth of American social comedy in <a href="/wiki/Royall_Tyler" title="Royall Tyler">Royall Tyler</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/The_Contrast_(play)" title="The Contrast (play)">The Contrast</a></i>, which established a much-imitated version of the "Yankee" character, here named "Jonathan". But there were no professional dramatists until <a href="/wiki/William_Dunlap" title="William Dunlap">William Dunlap</a>, whose work as playwright, translator, manager and theater historian has earned him the title of "Father of American Drama"; in addition to translating the plays of <a href="/wiki/August_von_Kotzebue" title="August von Kotzebue">August von Kotzebue</a> and French melodramas, Dunlap wrote plays in a variety of styles, of which <i><a href="/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_(play)" title="André (play)">André</a></i> and <i><a href="/wiki/The_Father_(Dunlap_play)" title="The Father (Dunlap play)">The Father; or, American Shandyism</a></i> are his best.<sup id="cite_ref-Meserve_7-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Meserve-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="The_19th_century">The 19th century</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Theater_in_the_United_States&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: The 19th century"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Prewar_theater">Prewar theater</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Theater_in_the_United_States&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Prewar theater"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>At 825 Walnut Street in <a href="/wiki/Philadelphia" title="Philadelphia">Philadelphia</a>, Pennsylvania, is the <a href="/wiki/Walnut_Street_Theatre" title="Walnut Street Theatre">Walnut Street Theatre</a>, or, "The Walnut". Founded in 1809 by the <a href="/wiki/Circus_of_Pepin_and_Breschard" title="Circus of Pepin and Breschard">Circus of Pepin and Breschard</a>, "The Walnut" is the oldest theater in America. The Walnut's first theatrical production, <i>The Rivals</i>, was staged in 1812. In attendance were President <a href="/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson" title="Thomas Jefferson">Thomas Jefferson</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Marquis_de_Lafayette" class="mw-redirect" title="Marquis de Lafayette">Marquis de Lafayette</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Provincial theaters frequently lacked heat and minimal <a href="/wiki/Theatrical_property" class="mw-redirect" title="Theatrical property">theatrical property</a> ("props") and <a href="/wiki/Theatrical_scenery" title="Theatrical scenery">scenery</a>. Apace with the country's <a href="/wiki/Westward_expansion" class="mw-redirect" title="Westward expansion">westward expansion</a>, some entrepreneurs operated floating theaters on <a href="/wiki/Barge" title="Barge">barges</a> or <a href="/wiki/Riverboat" title="Riverboat">riverboats</a> that would travel from town to town. A large town could afford a long "run"—or period of time during which a touring company would stage consecutive multiple performances—of a production, and in 1841, a single play was shown in New York City for an unprecedented three weeks.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (September 2008)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:John_Drew_as_Petruchio.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/John_Drew_as_Petruchio.jpg/220px-John_Drew_as_Petruchio.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="306" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/John_Drew_as_Petruchio.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="250" data-file-height="348" /></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/John_Drew,_Jr." class="mw-redirect" title="John Drew, Jr.">John Drew</a>, a famous American actor, playing the part of Petruchio from <i><a href="/wiki/The_Taming_of_the_Shrew" title="The Taming of the Shrew">The Taming of the Shrew</a></i></figcaption></figure> <p><a href="/wiki/William_Shakespeare" title="William Shakespeare">William Shakespeare</a>'s works were commonly performed. American plays of the period were mostly <a href="/wiki/Melodrama" title="Melodrama">melodramas</a>, a famous example of which was <i><a href="/wiki/Uncle_Tom%27s_Cabin" title="Uncle Tom's Cabin">Uncle Tom's Cabin</a></i>, adapted by <a href="/wiki/George_Aiken_(playwright)" title="George Aiken (playwright)">George Aiken</a>, from the novel of the same name by <a href="/wiki/Harriet_Beecher_Stowe" title="Harriet Beecher Stowe">Harriet Beecher Stowe</a>. </p><p>In 1821, William Henry Brown established the <a href="/wiki/African_Grove" title="African Grove">African Grove Theatre</a> in New York City. It was the third attempt to have an African-American theater, but this was the most successful of them all. The company put on not only Shakespeare, but also staged the first play written by an African-American, <i><a href="/wiki/The_Drama_of_King_Shotaway" title="The Drama of King Shotaway">The Drama of King Shotaway</a></i>. The theater was shut down in 1823.<sup id="cite_ref-World_Encyclopedia,_p._402_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-World_Encyclopedia,_p._402-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> African-American theater was relatively dormant, except for the 1858 play <i>The Escape; or, A Leap for Freedom</i> by <a href="/wiki/William_Wells_Brown" title="William Wells Brown">William Wells Brown</a>, who was an ex-slave. African-American works would not be regarded again until the 1920s <a href="/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance" title="Harlem Renaissance">Harlem Renaissance</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-World_Encyclopedia,_p._402_9-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-World_Encyclopedia,_p._402-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>A popular form of theater during this time was the <a href="/wiki/Minstrel_show" title="Minstrel show">minstrel show</a>, which featured white (and sometimes, especially after the Civil War, <a href="/wiki/Black_people" title="Black people">black</a>) actors dressed in "<a href="/wiki/Blackface" title="Blackface">blackface</a> (painting one's face, etc. with dark makeup to imitate the coloring of an <a href="/wiki/Ethnic_groups_of_Africa" class="mw-redirect" title="Ethnic groups of Africa">African</a> or African American)." The players entertained the audience using comic skits, parodies of popular plays and musicals, and general buffoonery and slapstick comedy, all with heavy utilization of <a href="/wiki/Racial_stereotype" class="mw-redirect" title="Racial stereotype">racial stereotyping</a> and <a href="/wiki/Racism" title="Racism">racist</a> themes.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (September 2008)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p><p>Throughout the 19th century, theater culture was associated with <a href="/wiki/Hedonism" title="Hedonism">hedonism</a> and even violence; actors (especially women) were looked upon as little better than prostitutes. <a href="/wiki/Jessie_Bond" title="Jessie Bond">Jessie Bond</a> wrote that by the middle of the 19th century, "The stage was at a low ebb, Elizabethan glories and Georgian artificialities had alike faded into the past, stilted tragedy and vulgar farce were all the would-be playgoer had to choose from, and the theater had become a place of evil repute".<sup id="cite_ref-Bond_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Bond-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> On April 15, 1865, less than a week after the end of the <a href="/wiki/United_States_Civil_War" class="mw-redirect" title="United States Civil War">United States Civil War</a>, <a href="/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln" title="Abraham Lincoln">Abraham Lincoln</a>, while watching <a href="/wiki/Our_American_Cousin" title="Our American Cousin">a play</a> at <a href="/wiki/Ford%27s_Theater" class="mw-redirect" title="Ford's Theater">Ford's Theater</a> in Washington, D.C., <a href="/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln#Assassination" title="Abraham Lincoln">was assassinated</a> by a nationally popular stage-actor of the period, <a href="/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth" title="John Wilkes Booth">John Wilkes Booth</a>. </p><p><a href="/wiki/Victorian_burlesque" title="Victorian burlesque">Victorian burlesque</a>, a form of bawdy comic theater mocking high art and culture, was imported from England about 1860 and in America became a form of <a href="/wiki/Farce" title="Farce">farce</a> in which females in male roles mocked the politics and culture of the day. Criticized for its sexuality and outspokenness, this form of entertainment was hounded off the "legitimate stage" and found itself relegated to saloons and <a href="/wiki/Bar_(establishment)" title="Bar (establishment)">barrooms</a>.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="date: September 14, 2008 (September 2008)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> The female producers, such as <a href="/wiki/Lydia_Thompson" title="Lydia Thompson">Lydia Thompson</a> were replaced by their male counterparts, who toned down the politics and played up the sexuality, until the <a href="/wiki/American_burlesque" title="American burlesque">burlesque shows</a> eventually became little more than pretty girls in skimpy clothing singing songs, while male comedians told raunchy jokes. </p><p>The drama of the prewar period tended to be a derivative in form, imitating European melodramas and romantic tragedies, but native in content, appealing to popular nationalism by dramatizing current events and portraying American heroism. But playwrights were limited by a set of factors, including the need for plays to be profitable, the middle-brow tastes of American theater-goers, and the lack of copyright protection and compensation for playwrights. During this time, the best strategy for a dramatist was to become an actor and/or a manager, after the model of <a href="/wiki/John_Howard_Payne" title="John Howard Payne">John Howard Payne</a>, <a href="/wiki/Dion_Boucicault" title="Dion Boucicault">Dion Boucicault</a> and <a href="/wiki/John_Brougham" title="John Brougham">John Brougham</a>. This period saw the popularity of certain native character types, especially the "Yankee", the "Negro" and the "Indian", exemplified by the characters of <a href="/wiki/Brother_Jonathan" title="Brother Jonathan">Jonathan</a>, <a href="/wiki/Sambo_(racial_term)" title="Sambo (racial term)">Sambo</a> and <a href="/wiki/Metamora;_or,_The_Last_of_the_Wampanoags" title="Metamora; or, The Last of the Wampanoags">Metamora</a>. Meanwhile, increased immigration brought a number of plays about the Irish and Germans, which often dovetailed with concerns over temperance and Roman Catholic. This period also saw plays about American expansion to the West (including plays about Mormonism) and about women's rights. Among the best plays of the period are <a href="/wiki/James_Nelson_Barker" title="James Nelson Barker">James Nelson Barker</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Superstition_(play)" title="Superstition (play)">Superstition; or, the Fanatic Father</a></i>, <a href="/wiki/Anna_Cora_Mowatt" title="Anna Cora Mowatt">Anna Cora Mowatt</a>'s <i>Fashion; or, Life in New York</i>, <a href="/wiki/Nathaniel_Bannister" title="Nathaniel Bannister">Nathaniel Bannister</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Putnam,_the_Iron_Son_of_%2776" title="Putnam, the Iron Son of '76">Putnam, the Iron Son of '76</a></i>, <a href="/wiki/Dion_Boucicault" title="Dion Boucicault">Dion Boucicault</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/The_Octoroon" title="The Octoroon">The Octoroon; or, Life in Louisiana</a></i>, and <a href="/wiki/Cornelius_Mathews" title="Cornelius Mathews">Cornelius Mathews</a>'s <i>Witchcraft; or, the Martyrs of Salem</i>. At the same time, America had created new dramatic forms in the <a href="/wiki/Tom_Shows" class="mw-redirect" title="Tom Shows">Tom Shows</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Showboat" title="Showboat">showboat theater</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Minstrel_show" title="Minstrel show">minstrel show</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Meserve_7-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Meserve-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Postwar_theater">Postwar theater</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Theater_in_the_United_States&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Postwar theater"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Howard_and_Griffin_wench.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Howard_and_Griffin_wench.jpg/175px-Howard_and_Griffin_wench.jpg" decoding="async" width="175" height="213" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Howard_and_Griffin_wench.jpg/263px-Howard_and_Griffin_wench.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Howard_and_Griffin_wench.jpg/350px-Howard_and_Griffin_wench.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1231" data-file-height="1500" /></a><figcaption>Minstrel show performers Rollin Howard (in female costume) and George Griffin, c. 1855.</figcaption></figure> <p>During <a href="/wiki/Reconstruction_era_of_the_United_States" class="mw-redirect" title="Reconstruction era of the United States">postbellum</a> North, theater flourished as a postwar boom allowed longer and more-frequent productions. The advent of American rail transport allowed production companies, actors, and large, elaborate sets to travel easily between towns, which made permanent theaters in small towns feasible. The invention and practical application of <a href="/wiki/Electric_light" title="Electric light">electric lighting</a> also led to changes to and improvements of scenery styles as well as changes in the design of theater interiors and seating areas. </p><p>In 1896, <a href="/wiki/Charles_Frohman" title="Charles Frohman">Charles Frohman</a>, <a href="/wiki/Al_Hayman" title="Al Hayman">Al Hayman</a>, <a href="/wiki/Abe_Erlanger" class="mw-redirect" title="Abe Erlanger">Abe Erlanger</a>, <a href="/wiki/Marcus_Klaw" class="mw-redirect" title="Marcus Klaw">Mark Klaw</a>, Samuel F. Flenderson, and <a href="/wiki/J._Fred_Zimmerman,_Sr." class="mw-redirect" title="J. Fred Zimmerman, Sr.">J. Fred Zimmerman, Sr.</a> formed the <a href="/wiki/Theatrical_Syndicate" title="Theatrical Syndicate">Theatrical Syndicate</a>, which established systemized <a href="/wiki/Talent_agent" title="Talent agent">booking</a> networks throughout the United States, and created a management monopoly that controlled every aspect of contracts and bookings until the turn of the 20th century, when the <a href="/wiki/Shubert_brothers" class="mw-redirect" title="Shubert brothers">Shubert brothers</a> founded rival agency, <a href="/wiki/The_Shubert_Organization" title="The Shubert Organization">The Shubert Organization</a>. </p><p>For playwrights, the period after the War brought more financial reward and aesthetic respect (including professional criticism) than was available earlier. In terms of form, spectacles, melodramas and farces remained popular, but poetic drama and romanticism almost died out completely due to the new emphasis upon realism, which was adopted by serious drama, melodrama and comedy alike. This realism was not quite the European realism of <a href="/wiki/Henrik_Ibsen" title="Henrik Ibsen">Ibsen</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Ghosts_(play)" title="Ghosts (play)">Ghosts</a></i>, but a combination of scenic realism (e.g., the "<a href="/wiki/David_Belasco" title="David Belasco">Belasco</a> Method") with a less romantic view of life that accompanied the cultural turmoil of the period. The most ambitious effort towards realism during this period came from <a href="/wiki/James_Herne" class="mw-redirect" title="James Herne">James Herne</a>, who was influenced by the ideas of Ibsen, <a href="/wiki/Thomas_Hardy" title="Thomas Hardy">Hardy</a> and <a href="/wiki/%C3%89mile_Zola" title="Émile Zola">Zola</a> regarding realism, truth, and literary quality; his most important achievement, <i><a href="/wiki/Margaret_Fleming_(play)" title="Margaret Fleming (play)">Margaret Fleming</a></i>, enacts the principles he expounded in his essay "Art for Truth's Sake in the Drama". Although <i>Fleming</i> did not appeal to audiences—critics and audiences felt it dwelt too much on unseemly topics and included improper scenes, such as Margaret nursing her husband's bastard child onstage—other forms of dramatic realism were becoming more popular in melodrama (e.g., <a href="/wiki/Augustin_Daly" title="Augustin Daly">Augustin Daly</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Under_the_Gaslight" title="Under the Gaslight">Under the Gaslight</a></i>) and in <a href="/wiki/American_literary_regionalism" title="American literary regionalism">local color</a> plays (<a href="/wiki/Bronson_Howard" title="Bronson Howard">Bronson Howard</a>'s <i>Shenandoah</i>). Other key dramatists during this period are <a href="/wiki/David_Belasco" title="David Belasco">David Belasco</a>, <a href="/wiki/Steele_MacKaye" title="Steele MacKaye">Steele MacKaye</a>, <a href="/wiki/William_Dean_Howells" title="William Dean Howells">William Dean Howells</a>, <a href="/wiki/Dion_Boucicault" title="Dion Boucicault">Dion Boucicault</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Clyde_Fitch" title="Clyde Fitch">Clyde Fitch</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Meserve_7-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Meserve-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="The_20th_century">The 20th century</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Theater_in_the_United_States&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: The 20th century"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1251242444">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .ambox{display:none!important}}</style><table class="box-Unreferenced plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Unreferenced" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="39" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/75px-Question_book-new.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/100px-Question_book-new.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="399" /></a></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section <b>does not <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources">cite</a> any <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">sources</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help <a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Theater_in_the_United_States" title="Special:EditPage/Theater in the United States">improve this section</a> by <a href="/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">adding citations to reliable sources</a>. Unsourced material may be challenged and <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Burden_of_evidence" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">removed</a>.<br /><small><span class="plainlinks"><i>Find sources:</i> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?as_eq=wikipedia&q=%22Theater+in+the+United+States%22">"Theater in the United States"</a> – <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbm=nws&q=%22Theater+in+the+United+States%22+-wikipedia&tbs=ar:1">news</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?&q=%22Theater+in+the+United+States%22&tbs=bkt:s&tbm=bks">newspapers</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbs=bks:1&q=%22Theater+in+the+United+States%22+-wikipedia">books</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22Theater+in+the+United+States%22">scholar</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=%22Theater+in+the+United+States%22&acc=on&wc=on">JSTOR</a></span></small></span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">October 2023</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><a href="/wiki/Vaudeville" title="Vaudeville">Vaudeville</a> was common in the late 19th and early 20th century, and is notable for heavily influencing early film, radio, and television productions in the country. (This was born from an earlier American practice of having singers and novelty acts perform between acts in a standard play.) <a href="/wiki/George_Burns" title="George Burns">George Burns</a> was a very long-lived American comedian who started out in the vaudeville community, but went on to enjoy a career running until the 1990s. </p><p>Some vaudeville theaters built between about 1900 and <a href="/wiki/American_Theatre_in_the_1920s" title="American Theatre in the 1920s">1920</a> managed to survive as well, though many went through periods of alternate use, most often as movie theaters until the second half of the century saw many urban populations decline and <a href="/wiki/Movie_theater" title="Movie theater">multiplexes</a> built in the suburbs. Since that time, a number have been restored to original or nearly-original condition and attract new audiences nearly one hundred years later. </p> <figure class="mw-halign-right noresize" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><span><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3d/JudgeMagazine21Feb1925.jpg/300px-JudgeMagazine21Feb1925.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="410" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3d/JudgeMagazine21Feb1925.jpg/450px-JudgeMagazine21Feb1925.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3d/JudgeMagazine21Feb1925.jpg/600px-JudgeMagazine21Feb1925.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1607" data-file-height="2198" usemap="#ImageMap_4496b42b5094abc6" resource="/wiki/File:JudgeMagazine21Feb1925.jpg" /></span><map name="ImageMap_4496b42b5094abc6"><area href="/wiki/Ina_Claire" shape="poly" coords="59,56,26,60,26,116,74,117" alt="Ina Claire" title="Ina Claire" /><area href="/wiki/Paul_McCullough" shape="poly" coords="103,125,155,126,143,69,103,70" alt="Paul McCullough" title="Paul McCullough" /><area href="/wiki/Bobby_Clark_(comedy_actor)" shape="poly" coords="157,125,211,126,208,56,176,55" alt="Bobby Clark" title="Bobby Clark" /><area href="/wiki/George_M._Cohan" shape="poly" coords="231,58,282,65,290,131,238,118" alt="George M. Cohan" title="George M. Cohan" /><area href="/wiki/Ann_Pennington_(actress)" shape="poly" coords="20,189,87,187,64,126,19,124" alt="Ann Pennington" title="Ann Pennington" /><area href="/wiki/Hassard_Short" shape="poly" coords="100,128,143,129,145,186,106,182" alt="Hassard Short" title="Hassard Short" /><area href="/wiki/Richard_Bennett_(actor)" shape="poly" coords="207,189,207,127,157,127,153,189" alt="Richard Bennett" title="Richard Bennett" /><area href="/wiki/Marilyn_Miller" shape="poly" coords="229,127,219,188,271,188,267,128" alt="Marilyn Miller" title="Marilyn Miller" /><area href="/wiki/W._C._Fields" shape="poly" coords="11,250,27,191,66,191,62,249" alt="W. C. Fields" title="W. C. Fields" /><area href="/wiki/Madge_Kennedy" shape="poly" coords="88,187,85,251,129,251,127,187" alt="Madge Kennedy" title="Madge Kennedy" /><area href="/wiki/Fanny_Brice" shape="poly" coords="150,251,144,194,210,193,211,253" alt="Fanny Brice" title="Fanny Brice" /><area href="/wiki/Raymond_Hitchcock_(actor)" shape="poly" coords="223,253,233,202,273,198,273,251" alt="Raymond Hitchcock" title="Raymond Hitchcock" /><area href="/wiki/Billie_Burke" shape="poly" coords="28,261,17,314,81,315,62,262" alt="Billie Burke" title="Billie Burke" /><area href="/wiki/Florenz_Ziegfeld_Jr." shape="poly" coords="142,316,92,312,88,260,128,258" alt="Florenz Ziegfeld Jr." title="Florenz Ziegfeld Jr." /><area href="/wiki/Groucho_Marx" shape="poly" coords="153,316,163,255,202,256,208,314" alt="Groucho Marx" title="Groucho Marx" /><area href="/wiki/Harpo_Marx" shape="poly" coords="216,315,226,255,271,254,269,313" alt="Harpo Marx" title="Harpo Marx" /><area href="/wiki/Lenore_Ulric" shape="poly" coords="63,396,18,395,19,315,60,316,68,375" alt="Lenore Ulric" title="Lenore Ulric" /><area href="/wiki/Ed_Wynn" shape="poly" coords="86,380,90,319,133,319,136,380" alt="Ed Wynn" title="Ed Wynn" /><area href="/wiki/Eddie_Cantor" shape="poly" coords="156,381,155,319,204,318,202,378" alt="Eddie Cantor" title="Eddie Cantor" /><area href="/wiki/Al_Jolson" shape="poly" coords="280,380,273,321,216,322,218,382" alt="Al Jolson" title="Al Jolson" /><area href="/wiki/Ralph_Barton" shape="rect" coords="207,396,224,386" alt="Ralph Barton" title="Ralph Barton" /></map><figcaption>This February 21, 1925 <i><a href="/wiki/Judge_(magazine)" title="Judge (magazine)">Judge</a></i> magazine cover by <a href="/wiki/Ralph_Barton" title="Ralph Barton">Ralph Barton</a> features caricatures of various movie and theater personalities from the 1920s; click on a caricature to be taken to the corresponding person's Wikipedia article.</figcaption></figure> <p><br /> By the beginning of the 20th century, legitimate 1752 (non-vaudeville) theater had become decidedly more sophisticated in the United States, as it had in Europe. The stars of this era, such as <a href="/wiki/Ethel_Barrymore" title="Ethel Barrymore">Ethel Barrymore</a> and <a href="/wiki/John_Barrymore" title="John Barrymore">John Barrymore</a>, were often seen as even more important than the show itself. The advance of motion pictures also led to many changes in theater. The popularity of musicals may have been due in part to the fact the <a href="/wiki/Silent_film" title="Silent film">early films</a> had no sound, and could thus not compete, until <i><a href="/wiki/The_Jazz_Singer" title="The Jazz Singer">The Jazz Singer</a></i> of 1927, which combined both talking and music in a moving picture. More complex and sophisticated dramas bloomed in this time period, and acting styles became more subdued. Even by 1915, actors were being lured away from theater and to the <a href="/wiki/Silver_screen" title="Silver screen">silver screen</a>, and vaudeville was beginning to face stiff competition. </p><p>While <a href="/wiki/Revue" title="Revue">revues</a> consisting of mostly unconnected songs, sketches, comedy routines, and dancing girls (<a href="/wiki/Ziegfeld_girl" title="Ziegfeld girl">Ziegfeld girls</a>) dominated for the first 20 years of the 20th century, musical theater would eventually develop beyond this. One of the first major steps was <i><a href="/wiki/Show_Boat" title="Show Boat">Show Boat</a></i>, with music by <a href="/wiki/Jerome_Kern" title="Jerome Kern">Jerome Kern</a> and lyrics by <a href="/wiki/Oscar_Hammerstein_II" title="Oscar Hammerstein II">Oscar Hammerstein</a>. It featured songs and non-musical scenes which were integrated to develop the show's plot. The next great step forward was <i><a href="/wiki/Oklahoma!" title="Oklahoma!">Oklahoma!</a></i>, with lyrics by Hammerstein and music by <a href="/wiki/Richard_Rodgers" title="Richard Rodgers">Richard Rodgers</a>. Its "dream ballets" used dance to carry forward the plot and develop the characters. </p><p>Amateur performing groups have always had a place alongside professional acting companies. The Amateur Comedy Club, Inc. was founded in New York City on April 18, 1884. It was organized by seven gentlemen who broke away from the Madison Square Dramatic Organization, a socially prominent company presided over by Mrs. James Brown Potter and <a href="/wiki/David_Belasco" title="David Belasco">David Belasco</a>. The ACC staged its first performance on February 13, 1885. It has performed continuously ever since, making it the oldest, continuously performing theatrical society in the United States. Prominent New Yorkers who have been members of the ACC include Theodore, Frederick and John Steinway of the piano manufacturing family; Gordon Grant, the marine artist; Christopher La Farge, the architect; Van H. Cartmell, the publisher; <a href="/wiki/Albert_Sterner" title="Albert Sterner">Albert Sterner</a>, the painter; and Edward Fales Coward, the theater critic and playwright. <a href="/wiki/Elsie_De_Wolfe" class="mw-redirect" title="Elsie De Wolfe">Elsie De Wolfe</a>, Lady Mendl, later famous as the world's first professional interior decorator, acted in Club productions in the early years of the 20th Century, as did <a href="/wiki/Hope_Williams" class="mw-redirect" title="Hope Williams">Hope Williams</a>, and Julie Harris in the 1940s. </p><p>Early 20th century theater was dominated by the Barrymores—<a href="/wiki/Ethel_Barrymore" title="Ethel Barrymore">Ethel Barrymore</a>, <a href="/wiki/John_Barrymore" title="John Barrymore">John Barrymore</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Lionel_Barrymore" title="Lionel Barrymore">Lionel Barrymore</a>. Other greats included <a href="/wiki/Laurette_Taylor" title="Laurette Taylor">Laurette Taylor</a>, <a href="/wiki/Jeanne_Eagels" title="Jeanne Eagels">Jeanne Eagels</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Eva_Le_Gallienne" title="Eva Le Gallienne">Eva Le Gallienne</a>. The massive social change that went on during the <a href="/wiki/Great_Depression" title="Great Depression">Great Depression</a> also had an effect on theater in the United States. Plays took on social roles, identifying with immigrants and the unemployed. The <a href="/wiki/Federal_Theatre_Project" title="Federal Theatre Project">Federal Theatre Project</a>, a <a href="/wiki/New_Deal" title="New Deal">New Deal</a> program set up by <a href="/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt" title="Franklin D. Roosevelt">Franklin D. Roosevelt</a>, helped to promote theater and provide jobs for actors. The program staged many elaborate and controversial plays such as <i><a href="/wiki/It_Can%27t_Happen_Here" title="It Can't Happen Here">It Can't Happen Here</a></i> by <a href="/wiki/Sinclair_Lewis" title="Sinclair Lewis">Sinclair Lewis</a> and <i><a href="/wiki/The_Cradle_Will_Rock" title="The Cradle Will Rock">The Cradle Will Rock</a></i> by <a href="/wiki/Marc_Blitzstein" title="Marc Blitzstein">Marc Blitzstein</a>. By contrast, the legendary producer <a href="/wiki/Brock_Pemberton" title="Brock Pemberton">Brock Pemberton</a> (founder of the <a href="/wiki/Tony_Awards" title="Tony Awards">Tony Awards</a>) was among those who felt that it was more than ever a time for comic entertainment, in order to provide an escape from the prevailing harsh social conditions: typical of his productions was <a href="/wiki/Lawrence_Riley" title="Lawrence Riley">Lawrence Riley</a>'s comedy <i><a href="/wiki/Personal_Appearance_(play)" title="Personal Appearance (play)">Personal Appearance</a></i> (1934), whose success on Broadway (501 performances) vindicated Pemberton. </p><p>The years between the World Wars were years of extremes. <a href="/wiki/Eugene_O%27Neill" title="Eugene O'Neill">Eugene O'Neill</a>'s plays were the high point for serious dramatic plays leading up to the outbreak of war in Europe. <i><a href="/wiki/Beyond_the_Horizon_(play)" title="Beyond the Horizon (play)">Beyond the Horizon</a></i> (1920), for which he won his first Pulitzer Prize; he later won Pulitzers for <i><a href="/wiki/Anna_Christie" title="Anna Christie">Anna Christie</a></i> (1922) and <i><a href="/wiki/Strange_Interlude" title="Strange Interlude">Strange Interlude</a></i> (1928) as well as the <a href="/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Literature" title="Nobel Prize in Literature">Nobel Prize in Literature</a>. <a href="/wiki/Alfred_Lunt" title="Alfred Lunt">Alfred Lunt</a> and <a href="/wiki/Lynn_Fontanne" title="Lynn Fontanne">Lynn Fontanne</a> remained a popular acting couple in the 1930s. </p><p>1940 proved to be a pivotal year for African-American theater. <a href="/wiki/Frederick_O%27Neal" title="Frederick O'Neal">Frederick O'Neal</a> and Abram Hill founded ANT, or the <a href="/wiki/American_Negro_Theater" class="mw-redirect" title="American Negro Theater">American Negro Theater</a>, the most renowned African-American theater group of the 1940s. Their stage was small and located in the basement of a library in Harlem, and most of the shows were attended and written by African-Americans. Some shows include Theodore Browne's <i>Natural Man</i> (1941), Abram Hill's <i>Walk Hard</i> (1944), and <a href="/wiki/Owen_Dodson" title="Owen Dodson">Owen Dodson</a>'s <i>Garden of Time</i> (1945). Many famous actors received their training at ANT, including <a href="/wiki/Harry_Belafonte" title="Harry Belafonte">Harry Belafonte</a>, <a href="/wiki/Sidney_Poitier" title="Sidney Poitier">Sidney Poitier</a>, <a href="/wiki/Alice_Childress" title="Alice Childress">Alice</a> and <a href="/wiki/Alvin_Childress" title="Alvin Childress">Alvin Childress</a>, Osceola Archer, <a href="/wiki/Ruby_Dee" title="Ruby Dee">Ruby Dee</a>, <a href="/wiki/Earle_Hyman" title="Earle Hyman">Earle Hyman</a>, <a href="/wiki/Hilda_Simms" title="Hilda Simms">Hilda Simms</a>, among many others.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Mid-20th century theater saw a wealth of Great Leading Ladies, including <a href="/wiki/Helen_Hayes" title="Helen Hayes">Helen Hayes</a>, <a href="/wiki/Katherine_Cornell" class="mw-redirect" title="Katherine Cornell">Katherine Cornell</a>, <a href="/wiki/Tallulah_Bankhead" title="Tallulah Bankhead">Tallulah Bankhead</a>, <a href="/wiki/Judith_Anderson" title="Judith Anderson">Judith Anderson</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Ruth_Gordon" title="Ruth Gordon">Ruth Gordon</a>. Musical theater saw stars such as <a href="/wiki/Ethel_Merman" title="Ethel Merman">Ethel Merman</a>, <a href="/wiki/Beatrice_Lillie" title="Beatrice Lillie">Beatrice Lillie</a>, <a href="/wiki/Mary_Martin" title="Mary Martin">Mary Martin</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Gertrude_Lawrence" title="Gertrude Lawrence">Gertrude Lawrence</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Post_World_War_II_theater">Post World War II theater</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Theater_in_the_United_States&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Post World War II theater"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Eugene_ONeill_stamp.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Eugene_ONeill_stamp.png" decoding="async" width="143" height="163" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="143" data-file-height="163" /></a><figcaption>O'Neill stamp issued in 1967</figcaption></figure> <p>After World War II, American theater came into its own. Several American playwrights, such as <a href="/wiki/Arthur_Miller" title="Arthur Miller">Arthur Miller</a> and <a href="/wiki/Tennessee_Williams" title="Tennessee Williams">Tennessee Williams</a>, became world-renowned. </p><p>In the 1950s and 1960s, experimentation in the Arts spread into theater as well, with plays such as <i><a href="/wiki/Hair_(musical)" title="Hair (musical)">Hair</a></i> including <a href="/wiki/Nudity" title="Nudity">nudity</a> and drug culture references. Musicals remained popular as well, and musicals such as <i><a href="/wiki/West_Side_Story_(musical)" class="mw-redirect" title="West Side Story (musical)">West Side Story</a></i> and <i><a href="/wiki/A_Chorus_Line" title="A Chorus Line">A Chorus Line</a></i> broke previous records. At the same time, shows like <a href="/wiki/Stephen_Sondheim" title="Stephen Sondheim">Stephen Sondheim</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Company_(musical)" title="Company (musical)">Company</a></i> began to deconstruct the musical form as it had been practiced through the mid-century, moving away from traditional plot and realistic external settings to explore the central character's inner state; his <i><a href="/wiki/Follies" title="Follies">Follies</a></i> relied on pastiches of the <a href="/wiki/Ziegfeld_Follies" title="Ziegfeld Follies">Ziegfeld Follies</a>-styled revue; his <i><a href="/wiki/Pacific_Overtures" title="Pacific Overtures">Pacific Overtures</a></i> used Japanese <a href="/wiki/Kabuki" title="Kabuki">kabuki</a> theatrical practices; and <i><a href="/wiki/Merrily_We_Roll_Along_(musical)" title="Merrily We Roll Along (musical)">Merrily We Roll Along</a></i> told its story backwards. Similarly, <a href="/wiki/Bob_Fosse" title="Bob Fosse">Bob Fosse</a>'s production of <a href="/wiki/Chicago_(musical)" title="Chicago (musical)">Chicago</a> returned the musical to its vaudeville origins. </p><p><b>Facts and figures of the postwar theater</b> </p><p>The postwar American theater audiences and box offices diminished, due to the undeclared "offensive" of television and radio upon the classical, <a href="/wiki/Legitimate_theater" class="mw-redirect" title="Legitimate theater">legitimate theater</a>. According to James F. Reilly, executive director of the <a href="/wiki/League_of_New_York_Theatres" class="mw-redirect" title="League of New York Theatres">League of New York Theatres</a>, between 1930 and 1951 the number of legitimate theaters in New York City dwindled from 68 to 30. Besides that, the admissions tax has been a burden on the theater since 1918. It was never relaxed, and was doubled in 1943.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Total seating capacity of the thirty most renowned legitimate theaters amounted to 35,697 seats in 1951. Since 1937 in New York City alone, 14 former legitimate theaters with a normal seating capacity of 16,955, have been taken over for either <a href="/wiki/Radio_broadcasts" class="mw-redirect" title="Radio broadcasts">radio broadcasts</a> or <a href="/wiki/Live_television" title="Live television">television performances</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In the late 1990s and 2000s, American theater began to borrow from cinema and operas. For instance, <a href="/wiki/Julie_Taymor" title="Julie Taymor">Julie Taymor</a>, director of <i><a href="/wiki/The_Lion_King_(musical)" title="The Lion King (musical)">The Lion King</a></i> directed <i><a href="/wiki/Die_Zauberfl%C3%B6te" class="mw-redirect" title="Die Zauberflöte">Die Zauberflöte</a></i> at the <a href="/wiki/Metropolitan_Opera" title="Metropolitan Opera">Metropolitan Opera</a>. Also, Broadway musicals were developed around Disney's <i><a href="/wiki/Mary_Poppins_(musical)" title="Mary Poppins (musical)">Mary Poppins</a></i>, <i><a href="/wiki/Tarzan_(musical)" title="Tarzan (musical)">Tarzan</a></i>, <i><a href="/wiki/The_Little_Mermaid_(musical)" title="The Little Mermaid (musical)">The Little Mermaid</a></i>, and the one that started it all, <i><a href="/wiki/Beauty_and_the_Beast_(musical)" title="Beauty and the Beast (musical)">Beauty and the Beast</a></i>, which may have contributed to <a href="/wiki/Times_Square" title="Times Square">Times Square</a>'s revitalization in the 1990s. Also, <a href="/wiki/Mel_Brooks" title="Mel Brooks">Mel Brooks</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/The_Producers_(musical)" title="The Producers (musical)">The Producers</a></i> and <i><a href="/wiki/Young_Frankenstein_(musical)" title="Young Frankenstein (musical)">Young Frankenstein</a></i> are based on his hit films. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Drama">Drama</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Theater_in_the_United_States&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Drama"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1251242444"><table class="box-Expand_section plainlinks metadata ambox mbox-small-left ambox-content" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="[icon]" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg/20px-Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg.png" decoding="async" width="20" height="14" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg/30px-Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg/40px-Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="44" data-file-height="31" /></a></span></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section <b>needs expansion</b> with: coverage of the late 1990s and more information about the mid-century periods. You can help by <a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theater_in_the_United_States&action=edit&section=">adding to it</a>. <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">July 2010</span>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:MusicalTheater3.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/MusicalTheater3.jpg/300px-MusicalTheater3.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="415" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/MusicalTheater3.jpg/450px-MusicalTheater3.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/MusicalTheater3.jpg/600px-MusicalTheater3.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1013" data-file-height="1402" /></a><figcaption>Program from Mark Hellinger Theatre of <i><a href="/wiki/My_Fair_Lady" title="My Fair Lady">My Fair Lady</a></i> (1913)</figcaption></figure> <p>The early years of the 20th century, before World War I, continued to see realism as the main development in drama. But starting around 1900, there was a revival of poetic drama in the States, corresponding to a similar revival in Europe (e.g. <a href="/wiki/William_Butler_Yeats" class="mw-redirect" title="William Butler Yeats">Yeats</a>, <a href="/wiki/Maurice_Maeterlinck" title="Maurice Maeterlinck">Maeterlinck</a> and <a href="/wiki/Gerhart_Hauptmann" title="Gerhart Hauptmann">Hauptmann</a>). The most notable example of this trend was the "Biblical trilogy" of <a href="/wiki/William_Vaughn_Moody" title="William Vaughn Moody">William Vaughn Moody</a>, which also illustrate the rise of religious-themed drama during the same years, as seen in the 1899 production of <i><a href="/wiki/Ben-Hur_(play)" title="Ben-Hur (play)">Ben-Hur</a></i> and two 1901 adaptations of <i><a href="/wiki/Quo_Vadis_(novel)" title="Quo Vadis (novel)">Quo Vadis</a></i>. Moody, however, is best known for two prose plays, <i>The Great Divide</i> (1906, later <a href="/wiki/The_Great_Divide_(1925_film)" title="The Great Divide (1925 film)">adapted into three film versions</a>) and <i>The Faith Healer</i> (1909), which together point the way to modern American drama in their emphasis on the emotional conflicts that lie at the heart of contemporary social conflicts. Other key playwrights from this period (in addition to continued work by Howells and Fitch) include <a href="/wiki/Edward_Sheldon" title="Edward Sheldon">Edward Sheldon</a>, <a href="/wiki/Charles_Rann_Kennedy_(playwright)" title="Charles Rann Kennedy (playwright)">Charles Rann Kennedy</a> and one of the most successful women playwrights in American drama, <a href="/wiki/Rachel_Crothers" title="Rachel Crothers">Rachel Crothers</a>, whose interest in women's issues can be seen in such plays as <i>He and She</i> (1911).<sup id="cite_ref-Meserve_7-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Meserve-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Jessica_Tandy_with_Kim_Hunter_and_Marlon_Brando._cph.3b23243.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Jessica_Tandy_with_Kim_Hunter_and_Marlon_Brando._cph.3b23243.jpg/220px-Jessica_Tandy_with_Kim_Hunter_and_Marlon_Brando._cph.3b23243.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="275" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Jessica_Tandy_with_Kim_Hunter_and_Marlon_Brando._cph.3b23243.jpg/330px-Jessica_Tandy_with_Kim_Hunter_and_Marlon_Brando._cph.3b23243.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Jessica_Tandy_with_Kim_Hunter_and_Marlon_Brando._cph.3b23243.jpg/440px-Jessica_Tandy_with_Kim_Hunter_and_Marlon_Brando._cph.3b23243.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1194" data-file-height="1495" /></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/Jessica_Tandy" title="Jessica Tandy">Jessica Tandy</a>, <a href="/wiki/Kim_Hunter" title="Kim Hunter">Kim Hunter</a> and <a href="/wiki/Marlon_Brando" title="Marlon Brando">Marlon Brando</a> in the original Broadway production of <i><a href="/wiki/A_Streetcar_Named_Desire" title="A Streetcar Named Desire">A Streetcar Named Desire</a></i> (1947)</figcaption></figure> <p>During the period between the World Wars, American drama came to maturity, thanks in large part to the works of <a href="/wiki/Eugene_O%27Neill" title="Eugene O'Neill">Eugene O'Neill</a> and of the <a href="/wiki/Provincetown_Players" title="Provincetown Players">Provincetown Players</a>. O'Neill's experiments with theatrical form and his combination of <a href="/wiki/Naturalism_(theatre)" title="Naturalism (theatre)">Naturalist</a> and <a href="/wiki/Expressionism_(theatre)" title="Expressionism (theatre)">Expressionist</a> techniques inspired other playwrights to use greater freedom in their works, whether expanding the techniques of <a href="/wiki/Realism_(arts)" title="Realism (arts)">Realism</a>, as in <a href="/wiki/Susan_Glaspell" title="Susan Glaspell">Susan Glaspell</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Trifles" class="mw-redirect" title="Trifles">Trifles</a></i>, or borrowing more heavily from German Expressionism (e.g., <a href="/wiki/Elmer_Rice" title="Elmer Rice">Elmer Rice</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/The_Adding_Machine" title="The Adding Machine">The Adding Machine</a></i>), Other distinct movements during this period include folk-drama/regionalism (<a href="/wiki/Paul_Green_(playwright)" title="Paul Green (playwright)">Paul Green</a>'s Pulitzer-winning <i><a href="/wiki/In_Abraham%27s_Bosom" title="In Abraham's Bosom">In Abraham's Bosom</a></i>), "pageant" drama (Green's <i><a href="/wiki/Lost_Colony_(play)" class="mw-redirect" title="Lost Colony (play)">The Lost Colony</a></i>, about the mysterious <a href="/wiki/Roanoke_Colony" title="Roanoke Colony">Roanoke Colony</a>), and even a return to poetic drama (<a href="/wiki/Maxwell_Anderson" title="Maxwell Anderson">Maxwell Anderson</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Winterset_(play)" title="Winterset (play)">Winterset</a></i>). At the same time, the economic crisis of the <a href="/wiki/Great_Depression" title="Great Depression">Great Depression</a> led to the growth of protest drama, as seen in the <a href="/wiki/Federal_Theater_Project" class="mw-redirect" title="Federal Theater Project">Federal Theater Project</a>'s <a href="/wiki/Living_Newspaper" title="Living Newspaper">Living Newspaper</a> productions and in the works of <a href="/wiki/Clifford_Odets" title="Clifford Odets">Clifford Odets</a> (e.g., <i><a href="/wiki/Waiting_for_Lefty" title="Waiting for Lefty">Waiting for Lefty</a></i>), as well as moralist drama, as in <a href="/wiki/Lillian_Hellman" title="Lillian Hellman">Lillian Hellman</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/The_Little_Foxes" title="The Little Foxes">The Little Foxes</a></i> and <i><a href="/wiki/The_Children%27s_Hour_(play)" title="The Children's Hour (play)">The Children's Hour</a></i>. Other key figures of this era include <a href="/wiki/George_S._Kaufman" title="George S. Kaufman">George S. Kaufman</a>, <a href="/wiki/George_Kelly_(playwright)" title="George Kelly (playwright)">George Kelly</a>, <a href="/wiki/Langston_Hughes" title="Langston Hughes">Langston Hughes</a>, <a href="/wiki/S._N._Behrman" title="S. N. Behrman">S. N. Behrman</a>, <a href="/wiki/Sidney_Howard" title="Sidney Howard">Sidney Howard</a>, <a href="/wiki/Robert_E._Sherwood" title="Robert E. Sherwood">Robert E. Sherwood</a>, and a set of playwrights who followed O'Neill's path of philosophical searching, <a href="/wiki/Philip_Barry" title="Philip Barry">Philip Barry</a>, <a href="/wiki/Thornton_Wilder" title="Thornton Wilder">Thornton Wilder</a> (<i><a href="/wiki/Our_Town" title="Our Town">Our Town</a></i>) and <a href="/wiki/William_Saroyan" title="William Saroyan">William Saroyan</a> (<i><a href="/wiki/The_Time_of_Your_Life" title="The Time of Your Life">The Time of Your Life</a></i>). Theater criticism kept pace with the drama, such as in the work of <a href="/wiki/George_Jean_Nathan" title="George Jean Nathan">George Jean Nathan</a> and in the numerous books and journals on American theater that were published during this time.<sup id="cite_ref-Meserve_7-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Meserve-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Happy_Talk.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="A crouching man in military uniform watches a young woman and a middle-aged one make hand gestures to him" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/Happy_Talk.jpg/220px-Happy_Talk.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="202" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/Happy_Talk.jpg/330px-Happy_Talk.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/Happy_Talk.jpg/440px-Happy_Talk.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2245" data-file-height="2066" /></a><figcaption>In <a href="/wiki/South_Pacific_(musical)" title="South Pacific (musical)"><i>South Pacific</i></a> (1949) "<a href="/wiki/Happy_Talk_(song)" title="Happy Talk (song)">Happy Talk</a>": Cable (<a href="/wiki/William_Tabbert" title="William Tabbert">William Tabbert</a>) watches Liat (<a href="/wiki/Betta_St._John" title="Betta St. John">Betta St. John</a>) and Bloody Mary (<a href="/wiki/Juanita_Hall" title="Juanita Hall">Hall</a>).</figcaption></figure> <p>The stature that American drama had achieved between the Wars was cemented during the post-World War II generation, with the final works of O'Neill and his generation being joined by such towering figures as <a href="/wiki/Tennessee_Williams" title="Tennessee Williams">Tennessee Williams</a> and <a href="/wiki/Arthur_Miller" title="Arthur Miller">Arthur Miller</a>, as well as by the maturation of the musical theater form. Other key dramatists include <a href="/wiki/William_Inge" title="William Inge">William Inge</a>, <a href="/wiki/Arthur_Laurents" title="Arthur Laurents">Arthur Laurents</a> and <a href="/wiki/Paddy_Chayefsky" title="Paddy Chayefsky">Paddy Chayefsky</a> in the 1950s, the <i>avant garde</i> movement of Jack Richardson, <a href="/wiki/Arthur_Kopit" title="Arthur Kopit">Arthur Kopit</a>, <a href="/wiki/Jack_Gelber" title="Jack Gelber">Jack Gelber</a> and <a href="/wiki/Edward_Albee" title="Edward Albee">Edward Albee</a> the 1960s, and the maturation of black drama through <a href="/wiki/Lorraine_Hansberry" title="Lorraine Hansberry">Lorraine Hansberry</a>, <a href="/wiki/James_Baldwin_(writer)" class="mw-redirect" title="James Baldwin (writer)">James Baldwin</a> and <a href="/wiki/Amiri_Baraka" title="Amiri Baraka">Amiri Baraka</a>. In the musical theater, important figures include <a href="/wiki/Rodgers_and_Hammerstein" title="Rodgers and Hammerstein">Rodgers and Hammerstein</a>, <a href="/wiki/Lerner_and_Loewe" title="Lerner and Loewe">Lerner and Loewe</a>, <a href="/wiki/Betty_Comden" title="Betty Comden">Betty Comden</a> and <a href="/wiki/Adolph_Green" title="Adolph Green">Adolph Green</a>, <a href="/wiki/Richard_Adler" title="Richard Adler">Richard Adler</a> and <a href="/wiki/Jerry_Ross_(composer)" title="Jerry Ross (composer)">Jerry Ross</a>, <a href="/wiki/Frank_Loesser" title="Frank Loesser">Frank Loesser</a>, <a href="/wiki/Jule_Styne" title="Jule Styne">Jule Styne</a>, <a href="/wiki/Jerry_Bock" title="Jerry Bock">Jerry Bock</a>, <a href="/wiki/Meredith_Willson" title="Meredith Willson">Meredith Willson</a> and <a href="/wiki/Stephen_Sondheim" title="Stephen Sondheim">Stephen Sondheim</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Meserve_7-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Meserve-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The period beginning in the mid-1960s, with the passing of Civil Rights legislation and its repercussions, came the rise of an "agenda" theater comparable to that of the 1930s. Many of the major midcentury playwrights continued to produce new works, but were joined by names like <a href="/wiki/Sam_Shepard" title="Sam Shepard">Sam Shepard</a>, <a href="/wiki/Neil_Simon" title="Neil Simon">Neil Simon</a>, <a href="/wiki/Romulus_Linney_(playwright)" title="Romulus Linney (playwright)">Romulus Linney</a>, <a href="/wiki/David_Rabe" title="David Rabe">David Rabe</a>, <a href="/wiki/Lanford_Wilson" title="Lanford Wilson">Lanford Wilson</a>, <a href="/wiki/David_Mamet" title="David Mamet">David Mamet</a>, and <a href="/wiki/John_Guare" title="John Guare">John Guare</a>. Many important dramatists were women, including <a href="/wiki/Beth_Henley" title="Beth Henley">Beth Henley</a>, <a href="/wiki/Marsha_Norman" title="Marsha Norman">Marsha Norman</a>, <a href="/wiki/Wendy_Wasserstein" title="Wendy Wasserstein">Wendy Wasserstein</a>, <a href="/wiki/Megan_Terry" title="Megan Terry">Megan Terry</a>, <a href="/wiki/Paula_Vogel" title="Paula Vogel">Paula Vogel</a> and <a href="/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Irene_Forn%C3%A9s" title="María Irene Fornés">María Irene Fornés</a>. The growth of ethnic pride movements led to more success by dramatists from racial minorities, such as black playwrights <a href="/wiki/Douglas_Turner_Ward" title="Douglas Turner Ward">Douglas Turner Ward</a>, <a href="/wiki/Adrienne_Kennedy" title="Adrienne Kennedy">Adrienne Kennedy</a>, <a href="/wiki/Ed_Bullins" title="Ed Bullins">Ed Bullins</a>, <a href="/wiki/Charles_Fuller" title="Charles Fuller">Charles Fuller</a>, <a href="/wiki/Suzan-Lori_Parks" title="Suzan-Lori Parks">Suzan-Lori Parks</a>, <a href="/wiki/Ntozake_Shange" title="Ntozake Shange">Ntozake Shange</a>, <a href="/wiki/George_C._Wolfe" title="George C. Wolfe">George C. Wolfe</a> and <a href="/wiki/August_Wilson" title="August Wilson">August Wilson</a>, who created a dramatic history of United States with his cycle of plays, <i>The Pittsburgh Cycle</i>, one for each decade of the 20th century. Asian American theater is represented in the early 1970s by <a href="/wiki/Frank_Chin" title="Frank Chin">Frank Chin</a> and achieved international success with <a href="/wiki/David_Henry_Hwang" title="David Henry Hwang">David Henry Hwang</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/M._Butterfly" title="M. Butterfly">M. Butterfly</a></i>. Latino theater grew from the local activist performances of <a href="/wiki/Luis_Valdez" title="Luis Valdez">Luis Valdez</a>'s Chicano-focused <i><a href="/wiki/Teatro_Campesino" class="mw-redirect" title="Teatro Campesino">Teatro Campesino</a></i> to his more formal plays, such as <i><a href="/wiki/Zoot_Suit_(play)" title="Zoot Suit (play)">Zoot Suit</a></i>, and later to the award-winning work of Cuban Americans Fornés (multiple Obies) and her student <a href="/wiki/Nilo_Cruz" title="Nilo Cruz">Nilo Cruz</a> (Pulitzer), to Puerto Rican playwrights <a href="/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Rivera_(playwright)" title="José Rivera (playwright)">José Rivera</a> and <a href="/wiki/Miguel_Pi%C3%B1ero" title="Miguel Piñero">Miguel Piñero</a>, and to the Tony Award-winning musical about Dominicans in New York City, <i><a href="/wiki/In_the_Heights" title="In the Heights">In the Heights</a></i>. Finally, the rise of the gay rights movement and of the AIDS crisis led to a number of important gay and lesbian dramatists, including <a href="/wiki/Christopher_Durang" title="Christopher Durang">Christopher Durang</a>, <a href="/wiki/Holly_Hughes_(performance_artist)" title="Holly Hughes (performance artist)">Holly Hughes</a>, <a href="/wiki/Karen_Malpede" title="Karen Malpede">Karen Malpede</a>, <a href="/wiki/Terrence_McNally" title="Terrence McNally">Terrence McNally</a>, <a href="/wiki/Larry_Kramer" title="Larry Kramer">Larry Kramer</a>, <a href="/wiki/Tony_Kushner" title="Tony Kushner">Tony Kushner</a>, whose <i><a href="/wiki/Angels_in_America" title="Angels in America">Angels in America</a></i> won the Tony Award two years in a row, and composer-playwright <a href="/wiki/Jonathan_Larson" title="Jonathan Larson">Jonathan Larson</a>, whose musical <i><a href="/wiki/Rent_(musical)" title="Rent (musical)">Rent</a></i> ran for over twelve years.<sup id="cite_ref-Meserve_7-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Meserve-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Activism_in_Theater">Activism in Theater</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Theater_in_the_United_States&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Activism in Theater"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Another major piece of American theater includes the activism in it, including works created by <a href="/wiki/Lorraine_Hansberry" title="Lorraine Hansberry">Lorraine Hansberry</a>, such as <i><a href="/wiki/A_Raisin_in_the_Sun" title="A Raisin in the Sun">A Raisin in the Sun</a></i>. Her works push for representation for African Americans, as well as equality. Another activist in American theater is <a href="/wiki/William_Finn" title="William Finn">William Finn</a>, who created the work <i><a href="/wiki/A_New_Brain" title="A New Brain">A New Brain</a></i>, about representation of LGBTQ+ individuals in entertainment. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Contemporary_American_theater">Contemporary American theater</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Theater_in_the_United_States&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Contemporary American theater"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:New_York_City_December,_2010_(5297194003).jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/New_York_City_December%2C_2010_%285297194003%29.jpg/220px-New_York_City_December%2C_2010_%285297194003%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="165" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/New_York_City_December%2C_2010_%285297194003%29.jpg/330px-New_York_City_December%2C_2010_%285297194003%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/New_York_City_December%2C_2010_%285297194003%29.jpg/440px-New_York_City_December%2C_2010_%285297194003%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3648" data-file-height="2736" /></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/Chicago_(musical)" title="Chicago (musical)"><i>Chicago</i></a> seen at night in 2010 at the <a href="/wiki/Ambassador_Theatre_(New_York_City)" title="Ambassador Theatre (New York City)">Ambassador Theatre</a>.</figcaption></figure> <p>Although earlier styles of theater such as <a href="/wiki/Minstrel_show" title="Minstrel show">minstrel shows</a> and <a href="/wiki/Vaudeville" title="Vaudeville">Vaudeville</a> acts have disappeared from the landscape,<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> theater still remains a popular contemporary American art form. Broadway productions still entertain millions of theatergoers even as productions have become more elaborate and expensive.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> At the same time, theater has also served as a platform for expression,<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and as a venue for identity exploration for underrepresented, minority communities, who have formed their own companies and created their own genres of works, including those created by <a href="/wiki/August_Wilson" title="August Wilson">August Wilson</a>, <a href="/wiki/Tony_Kushner" title="Tony Kushner">Tony Kushner</a>, <a href="/wiki/David_Henry_Hwang" title="David Henry Hwang">David Henry Hwang</a>, <a href="/wiki/John_Guare" title="John Guare">John Guare</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Wendy_Wasserstein" title="Wendy Wasserstein">Wendy Wasserstein</a>. Smaller urban theaters have stayed a source of innovation, and regional theaters remain an important part of theater life. Drama is also taught in high schools and colleges, which was not done in previous eras, and many become interested in theater through this genre. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Theater_in_the_United_States&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_playwrights_from_the_United_States" title="List of playwrights from the United States">List of playwrights from the United States</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_American_plays" title="List of American plays">List of American plays</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dance_in_the_United_States" title="Dance in the United States">Dance in the United States</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Theater_in_the_United_States&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Stephen Watt, and Gary A. Richardson, <i>American Drama: Colonial to Contemporary</i> (1994).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-World_Encyclopedia-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-World_Encyclopedia_2-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFRubinSolórzano2000" class="citation book cs1">Rubin, Don; <a href="/wiki/Carlos_Sol%C3%B3rzano" title="Carlos Solórzano">Solórzano, Carlos</a>, eds. (2000). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/worldencyclopedi0002unse_j6c2/page/394"><i>The World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre: The Americas</i></a>. New York City: Routledge. p. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/worldencyclopedi0002unse_j6c2/page/394">394</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-415-05929-1" title="Special:BookSources/0-415-05929-1"><bdi>0-415-05929-1</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+World+Encyclopedia+of+Contemporary+Theatre%3A+The+Americas&rft.place=New+York+City&rft.pages=394&rft.pub=Routledge&rft.date=2000&rft.isbn=0-415-05929-1&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fworldencyclopedi0002unse_j6c2%2Fpage%2F394&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ATheater+in+the+United+States" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFJames_L._McCorkle,_Jr.1981" class="citation journal cs1">James L. McCorkle, Jr. (Fall 1981). "Los Adaes: Outpost of New Spain". <i>North Louisiana Historical Association Journal</i>. <b>12</b> (4): 119–120. <q>October 12 [1721 ...] more strange and significant still was the presentation of several plays. The virgin forest of East Texas became the stage for the first dramatic representation on Texas soil</q></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=North+Louisiana+Historical+Association+Journal&rft.atitle=Los+Adaes%3A+Outpost+of+New+Spain&rft.ssn=fall&rft.volume=12&rft.issue=4&rft.pages=119-120&rft.date=1981&rft.au=James+L.+McCorkle%2C+Jr.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ATheater+in+the+United+States" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFArthur_Hornblow1919" class="citation web cs1">Arthur Hornblow (1919). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.theatrehistory.com/american/hornblow03.html">"The Coming of the Hallams"</a>. <i>Theatrehistory.com</i>. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company. pp. 66–87<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">December 15,</span> 2016</span>. <q>A History of the Theatre in America, Vol. 1</q></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Theatrehistory.com&rft.atitle=The+Coming+of+the+Hallams&rft.pages=66-87&rft.date=1919&rft.au=Arthur+Hornblow&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatrehistory.com%2Famerican%2Fhornblow03.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ATheater+in+the+United+States" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-theatrehistory.com-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-theatrehistory.com_5-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-theatrehistory.com_5-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.theatrehistory.com/american/hornblow01.html">"The First American Theatre"</a>. <i>Theatrehistory.com</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">October 4,</span> 2017</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Theatrehistory.com&rft.atitle=The+First+American+Theatre&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatrehistory.com%2Famerican%2Fhornblow01.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ATheater+in+the+United+States" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>The Prince of Parthia: A Tragedy</i> By Thomas Godfrey, reprinted 1917 by Little, Brown.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Meserve-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Meserve_7-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Meserve_7-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Meserve_7-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Meserve_7-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Meserve_7-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Meserve_7-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Meserve_7-6"><sup><i><b>g</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Meserve_7-7"><sup><i><b>h</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Meserve, Walter J. <i>An Outline History of American Drama,</i> New York: Feedback/Prospero, 1994.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.walnutstreettheatre.org">"Walnut Street Theatre – Philadelphia, PA – Official Website"</a>. <i>Walnutstreettheatre.org</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">October 4,</span> 2017</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Walnutstreettheatre.org&rft.atitle=Walnut+Street+Theatre+%E2%80%93+Philadelphia%2C+PA+%E2%80%93+Official+Website&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walnutstreettheatre.org&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ATheater+in+the+United+States" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-World_Encyclopedia,_p._402-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-World_Encyclopedia,_p._402_9-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-World_Encyclopedia,_p._402_9-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">World Encyclopedia, p. 402</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Bond-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Bond_10-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120421204843/https://www.gsarchive.net/books/bond/intro.html">"The Life and Reminiscences of Jessie Bond – Introduction"</a>. <i>math.boisestate.edu</i>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.gsarchive.net/books/bond/intro.html">the original</a> on April 21, 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">October 4,</span> 2017</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=math.boisestate.edu&rft.atitle=The+Life+and+Reminiscences+of+Jessie+Bond+%E2%80%93+Introduction&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gsarchive.net%2Fbooks%2Fbond%2Fintro.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ATheater+in+the+United+States" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">World Encyclopedia, p. 403</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ien.35559007406253;view=1up;seq=848">Statement of James F. Reilly, executive director of the League of New York Theatres, New York, N.Y.</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180928234918/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ien.35559007406253;view=1up;seq=848">Archived</a> September 28, 2018, at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>. Revenue Revision of 1951, hearings, 82nd Congress, p. 2362.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ien.35559007406253;view=1up;seq=849">Seating capacity of present/former legitimate theaters</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180928234609/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ien.35559007406253;view=1up;seq=849">Archived</a> September 28, 2018, at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>. Revenue Revision of 1951, hearings, 82nd Congress, p. 2363.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/art/minstrel-show">"Minstrel show | Description, History, & Facts | Britannica"</a>. <i>www.britannica.com</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">May 23,</span> 2022</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=www.britannica.com&rft.atitle=Minstrel+show+%26%23124%3B+Description%2C+History%2C+%26+Facts+%26%23124%3B+Britannica&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.britannica.com%2Fart%2Fminstrel-show&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ATheater+in+the+United+States" class="Z3988"></span><sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources"><span title="Please supply either "|first=" and the actual title of the cited work, or use "|title=[untitled]" for intentional omission. (July 2022)">title missing</span></a></i>]</sup></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.broadwayleague.com/press/press-releases/2018-2019-broadway-end-of-season-statistics/">"2018 – 2019 Broadway End-of-Season Statistics"</a>. <i>www.broadwayleague.com</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">May 23,</span> 2022</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=www.broadwayleague.com&rft.atitle=2018+%E2%80%93+2019+Broadway+End-of-Season+Statistics&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.broadwayleague.com%2Fpress%2Fpress-releases%2F2018-2019-broadway-end-of-season-statistics%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ATheater+in+the+United+States" class="Z3988"></span><sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources"><span title="Please supply either "|first=" and the actual title of the cited work, or use "|title=[untitled]" for intentional omission. (July 2022)">title missing</span></a></i>]</sup></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFPestanaValenzuelaCodina2020" class="citation journal cs1">Pestana, José Vicente; Valenzuela, Rafael; Codina, Nuria (2020). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7338769">"Theatrical Performance as Leisure Experience: Its Role in the Development of the Self"</a>. <i>Frontiers in Psychology</i>. <b>11</b>: 1439. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<span class="id-lock-free" title="Freely accessible"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffpsyg.2020.01439">10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01439</a></span>. <a href="/wiki/PMC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="PMC (identifier)">PMC</a> <span class="id-lock-free" title="Freely accessible"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7338769">7338769</a></span>. <a href="/wiki/PMID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="PMID (identifier)">PMID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32695052">32695052</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Frontiers+in+Psychology&rft.atitle=Theatrical+Performance+as+Leisure+Experience%3A+Its+Role+in+the+Development+of+the+Self&rft.volume=11&rft.pages=1439&rft.date=2020&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fpmc%2Farticles%2FPMC7338769%23id-name%3DPMC&rft_id=info%3Apmid%2F32695052&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.3389%2Ffpsyg.2020.01439&rft.aulast=Pestana&rft.aufirst=Jos%C3%A9+Vicente&rft.au=Valenzuela%2C+Rafael&rft.au=Codina%2C+Nuria&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fpmc%2Farticles%2FPMC7338769&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ATheater+in+the+United+States" class="Z3988"></span><sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources"><span title="Please supply either "|first=" and the actual title of the cited work, or use "|title=[untitled]" for intentional omission. (July 2022)">title missing</span></a></i>]</sup></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_reading">Further reading</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Theater_in_the_United_States&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Further reading"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Botto, Louis. <i>At this theatre : 100 years of Broadway shows, stories and stars</i> (2002) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/atthistheatre10000bott">online</a></li> <li>Brockett, Oscar G., and Robert R. Findlay. "Century of Innovation: A History of European and American Theatre and Drama Since 1870." (1973). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED073461">online</a></li> <li>Brown, Gene. <i>Show time: a chronology of Broadway and the theatre from its beginnings to the present</i> (1997) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/showtimechronolo0000brow">online</a></li> <li>Burke, Sally. <i>American Feminist Playwrights</i> (1996) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/americanfeminist0000burk_n4m7">online</a></li> <li>Fisher, James. ed. <i>Historical Dictionary of Contemporary American Theater: 1930-2010</i> (2 vol. 2011)</li> <li>Krasner, David. <i>American Drama 1945 – 2000: An Introduction</i> (2006)</li> <li>Krasner, David. <i>A beautiful pageant : African American theatre, drama, and performance in the Harlem Renaissance, 1910-1927</i> (2002) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/beautifulpageant0000kras">online</a></li> <li>Krutch, Joseph Wood. <i>The American drama since 1918 : an informal history</i> (1939) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/americandramasin0000krut">online</a></li> <li>McGovern, Dennis. <i>Sing out, Louise! : 150 stars of the musical theatre remember 50 years on Broadway</i> (1993) based on interviews. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/singoutlouise1500000mcgo">online</a></li> <li>Mathews, Jane DeHart. <i>Federal Theatre, 1935-1939: Plays, Relief, and Politics</i> (Princeton UP 1967) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt13x1bqq">online</a></li> <li>Miller, Jordan Yale and Winifred L. Frazer. <i>American Drama between the Wars</i> (1991) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/americandramabet0000mill">online</a></li> <li>Palmer, David, ed. <i>Visions of Tragedy in Modern American Drama</i> (Bloomsbury, 2018).</li> <li>Richardson, Gary A. <i>American Drama through World War I</i> (1997) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/americandramafro0000rich_i5b3">online</a></li> <li>Roudane, Matthew C. <i>American Drama Since 1960: A Critical History</i> (1996) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/americandramasin00roud">online</a></li> <li>Shiach, Don. <i>American Drama 1900–1990</i> (2000)</li> <li>Vacha, John. <i>From Broadway to Cleveland : a history of the Hanna Theatre</i> (2007) in Cleveland. Ohio <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/frombroadwaytocl0000vach">online</a></li> <li>Watt, Stephen, and Gary A. Richardson. <i>American Drama: Colonial to Contemporary</i> (1994)</li> <li>Weales, Gerald Clifford. <i>American drama since World War II</i> (1962)</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Theater_in_the_United_States&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/the-pageant-of-america-collection?&keywords=&sort=sortString+asc&root=eebd1e70-c615-012f-ce49-58d385a7bc34#/?roots=13:b91a53d0-c618-012f-406f-58d385a7bc34&tab=navigation">538 photographs of American theater people, buildings, and scenes; these are pre-1923 and out of copyright.</a></li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" 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style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;">By period</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_(1776%E2%80%931789)" title="History of the United States (1776–1789)">1776–1789</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_(1789%E2%80%931815)" title="History of the United States (1789–1815)">1789–1815</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_(1815%E2%80%931849)" title="History of the United States (1815–1849)">1815–1849</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_(1849%E2%80%931865)" title="History of the United States (1849–1865)">1849–1865</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_(1865%E2%80%931917)" title="History of the United States (1865–1917)">1865–1917</a></li> <li><a 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Islands">minor outlying islands</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lists_of_populated_places_in_the_United_States" title="Lists of populated places in the United States">populated places</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/U.S._state" title="U.S. state">states</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_the_United_States" title="List of earthquakes in the United States">Earthquakes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_extreme_points_of_the_United_States" title="List of extreme points of the United States">Extreme points</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_islands_of_the_United_States" title="List of islands of the United States">Islands</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_mountains_of_the_United_States" title="List of mountains of the United States">Mountains</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_mountain_peaks_of_the_United_States" title="List of mountain peaks of the United States">peaks</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_mountain_ranges#United_States" title="List of mountain ranges">ranges</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Appalachian_Mountains" title="Appalachian Mountains">Appalachian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rocky_Mountains" title="Rocky Mountains">Rocky</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sierra_Nevada" title="Sierra Nevada">Sierra Nevada</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/National_Park_Service" title="National Park Service">National Park Service</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_areas_in_the_United_States_National_Park_System" title="List of areas in the United States National Park System">National Parks</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_regions_of_the_United_States" title="List of regions of the United States">Regions</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/East_Coast_of_the_United_States" title="East Coast of the United States">East Coast</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/West_Coast_of_the_United_States" title="West Coast of the United States">West Coast</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Great_Plains" title="Great Plains">Great Plains</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gulf_Coast_of_the_United_States" title="Gulf Coast of the United States">Gulf</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_(United_States)" title="Mid-Atlantic (United States)">Mid-Atlantic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Midwestern_United_States" title="Midwestern United States">Midwestern</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/New_England" title="New England">New England</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/West_Coast_of_the_United_States" title="West Coast of the United States">Pacific</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Central_United_States" title="Central United States">Central</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eastern_United_States" title="Eastern United States">Eastern</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Northern_United_States" title="Northern United States">Northern</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Northeastern_United_States" title="Northeastern United States">Northeastern</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Northwestern_United_States" title="Northwestern United States">Northwestern</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Southern_United_States" title="Southern United States">Southern</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Southeastern_United_States" title="Southeastern United States">Southeastern</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Southwestern_United_States" title="Southwestern United States">Southwestern</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Western_United_States" title="Western United States">Western</a></li></ul></li> <li>Longest <a href="/wiki/List_of_rivers_of_the_United_States" title="List of rivers of the United States">rivers</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Arkansas_River" title="Arkansas River">Arkansas</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Colorado_River" title="Colorado River">Colorado</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Columbia_River" title="Columbia River">Columbia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mississippi_River" title="Mississippi River">Mississippi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Missouri_River" title="Missouri River">Missouri</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Red_River_of_the_South" title="Red River of the South">Red (South)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rio_Grande" title="Rio Grande">Rio Grande</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yukon_River" title="Yukon River">Yukon</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Time_in_the_United_States" title="Time in the United States">Time</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_the_United_States" title="Water supply and sanitation in the United States">Water supply and sanitation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_World_Heritage_Sites_in_the_United_States" title="List of World Heritage Sites in the United States">World Heritage Sites</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="text-align:center;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_the_United_States" title="Politics of the United States">Politics</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Federal_government_of_the_United_States" title="Federal government of the United States">Federal</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;">Executive</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/President_of_the_United_States" title="President of the United States">President of the United States</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Powers_of_the_president_of_the_United_States" title="Powers of the president of the United States">powers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Executive_Office_of_the_President_of_the_United_States" title="Executive Office of the President of the United States">Executive Office</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vice_President_of_the_United_States" title="Vice President of the United States">Vice President</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cabinet_of_the_United_States" title="Cabinet of the United States">Cabinet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_federal_executive_departments" title="United States federal executive departments">Executive departments</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Independent_agencies_of_the_United_States_government" title="Independent agencies of the United States government">Independent agencies</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Intelligence_Community" title="United States Intelligence Community">Intelligence Community</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Director_of_National_Intelligence" title="Director of National Intelligence">Director of National Intelligence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Central_Intelligence_Agency" title="Central Intelligence Agency">Central Intelligence Agency</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/National_Security_Agency" title="National Security Agency">National Security Agency</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/National_Reconnaissance_Office" title="National Reconnaissance Office">National Reconnaissance Office</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Federal_law_enforcement_in_the_United_States" title="Federal law enforcement in the United States">Law enforcement</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Bureau_of_Alcohol,_Tobacco,_Firearms_and_Explosives" title="Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives">ATF</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/U.S._Customs_and_Border_Protection" title="U.S. Customs and Border Protection">CBP</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bureau_of_Diplomatic_Security" title="Bureau of Diplomatic Security">Diplomatic Security</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Drug_Enforcement_Administration" title="Drug Enforcement Administration">DEA</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation" title="Federal Bureau of Investigation">FBI</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/U.S._Immigration_and_Customs_Enforcement" title="U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement">ICE</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Marshals_Service" title="United States Marshals Service">Marshals</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Secret_Service" title="United States Secret Service">Secret Service</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transportation_Security_Administration" title="Transportation Security Administration">TSA</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Office_of_Inspector_General_(United_States)" title="Office of Inspector General (United States)">Inspector generals</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_federal_civil_service" title="United States federal civil service">Civil service</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Public_policy_of_the_United_States" title="Public policy of the United States">Public policy</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/United_States_Congress" title="United States Congress">Legislative</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="United States House of Representatives">House of Representatives</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_current_members_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="List of current members of the United States House of Representatives">current members</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Speaker_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="Speaker of the United States House of Representatives">Speaker</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Senate" title="United States Senate">Senate</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_current_United_States_senators" title="List of current United States senators">current members</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/President_pro_tempore_of_the_United_States_Senate" title="President pro tempore of the United States Senate">President pro tempore</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vice_President_of_the_United_States#President_of_the_United_States_Senate" title="Vice President of the United States">President</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Capitol_Police" title="United States Capitol Police">Capitol Police</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Library_of_Congress" title="Library of Congress">Library of Congress</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Congressional_Budget_Office" title="Congressional Budget Office">Congressional Budget Office</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Government_Accountability_Office" title="Government Accountability Office">Government Accountability Office</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Government_Publishing_Office" title="United States Government Publishing Office">Government Publishing Office</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Federal_judiciary_of_the_United_States" title="Federal judiciary of the United States">Judicial</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States" title="Supreme Court of the United States">Supreme Court</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chief_Justice_of_the_United_States" title="Chief Justice of the United States">Chief Justice</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Associate_Justice_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States" title="Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States">Associate Justices</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_justices_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States" title="List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States">list</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_courts_of_appeals" title="United States courts of appeals">Courts of appeals</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_current_United_States_circuit_judges" title="List of current United States circuit judges">list of judges</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_district_court" title="United States district court">District courts</a>/<a href="/wiki/United_States_territorial_court" title="United States territorial court">Territorial courts</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_United_States_district_and_territorial_courts" title="List of United States district and territorial courts">list of courts</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_current_United_States_district_judges" title="List of current United States district judges">list of judges</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Federal_tribunals_in_the_United_States" title="Federal tribunals in the United States">Other tribunals</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Attorney" title="United States Attorney">U.S. attorney</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_United_States" title="Law of the United States">Law</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights" title="United States Bill of Rights">Bill of Rights</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Civil_liberties_in_the_United_States" title="Civil liberties in the United States">civil liberties</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Code_of_Federal_Regulations" title="Code of Federal Regulations">Code of Federal Regulations</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_States" title="Constitution of the United States">Constitution</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Federalism_in_the_United_States" title="Federalism in the United States">federalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Federal_preemption" title="Federal preemption">preemption</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Separation_of_powers_under_the_United_States_Constitution" title="Separation of powers under the United States Constitution">separation of powers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Civil_rights_movement" title="Civil rights movement">civil rights</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Code" title="United States Code">United States Code</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Uniformed_services_of_the_United_States" title="Uniformed services of the United States">Uniformed</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Armed_Forces" title="United States Armed Forces">Armed Forces</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Army" title="United States Army">Army</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Marine_Corps" title="United States Marine Corps">Marine Corps</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Navy" title="United States Navy">Navy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Air_Force" title="United States Air Force">Air Force</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Space_Force" title="United States Space Force">Space Force</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Coast_Guard" title="United States Coast Guard">Coast Guard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/National_Guard_(United_States)" title="National Guard (United States)">National Guard</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/NOAA_Commissioned_Officer_Corps" title="NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps">NOAA Corps</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Public_Health_Service_Commissioned_Corps" title="United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps">Public Health Service Corps</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/State_governments_of_the_United_States" title="State governments of the United States">State</a>,<br /><a href="/wiki/Government_of_the_District_of_Columbia" title="Government of the District of Columbia">Federal District</a>,<br />and <a href="/wiki/Territories_of_the_United_States" title="Territories of the United States">Territorial</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/State_constitutional_officer" title="State constitutional officer">Executive</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Governor_(United_States)" title="Governor (United States)">Governor</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_current_United_States_governors" title="List of current United States governors">list</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lieutenant_governor_(United_States)" title="Lieutenant governor (United States)">Lieutenant governor</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_current_United_States_lieutenant_governors" title="List of current United States lieutenant governors">list</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Secretary_of_state_(U.S._state_government)" title="Secretary of state (U.S. state government)">Secretary of state</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/State_attorney_general" title="State attorney general">Attorney general</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/State_treasurer" title="State treasurer">Treasurer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/State_auditor" title="State auditor">Auditor/Comptroller</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Agriculture_commissioner" title="Agriculture commissioner">Agriculture commissioner</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Insurance_commissioner" title="Insurance commissioner">Insurance commissioner</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Public_utilities_commission" title="Public utilities commission">Public utilities commission</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/State_police_(United_States)" title="State police (United States)">State police</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_United_States_state_and_local_law_enforcement_agencies" title="List of United States state and local law enforcement agencies">list</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/State_legislature_(United_States)" title="State legislature (United States)">Legislative</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_United_States_state_legislatures" title="List of United States state legislatures">List of legislatures</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_legislators" title="List of U.S. state legislators">List of legislators</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/State_court_(United_States)" title="State court (United States)">Judicial</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/State_supreme_court" title="State supreme court">Supreme courts</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_state_chief_justices" title="List of state chief justices">Chief justices</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/District_attorney" title="District attorney">District attorney</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_district_attorneys_by_county" class="mw-redirect" title="List of district attorneys by county">list</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/State_law_(United_States)" title="State law (United States)">Law</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/State_constitutions_in_the_United_States" title="State constitutions in the United States">State constitutions</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_statutory_codes" title="List of U.S. state statutory codes">Statutory codes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Uniform_act" title="Uniform act">Uniform act</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Comparison_of_U.S._state_and_territory_governments" title="Comparison of U.S. state and territory governments">Comparison of governments</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Tribe_(Native_American)" title="Tribe (Native American)">Tribal</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Tribal_sovereignty_in_the_United_States" title="Tribal sovereignty in the United States">Tribal sovereignty</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Native_American_recognition_in_the_United_States" title="Native American recognition in the United States">Native American recognition in the United States</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_federally_recognized_tribes_in_the_contiguous_United_States" title="List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States">Federally recognized tribes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_Alaska_Native_tribal_entities" title="List of Alaska Native tribal entities">Federally recognized Alaska Native tribes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/State-recognized_tribes_in_the_United_States" title="State-recognized tribes in the United States">State-recognized tribes</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Indian_reservation" title="Indian reservation">Indian reservation</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_Indian_reservations_in_the_United_States" title="List of Indian reservations in the United States">list</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hawaiian_home_land" title="Hawaiian home land">Hawaiian home land</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Local_government_in_the_United_States" title="Local government in the United States">Local</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/County_(United_States)" title="County (United States)">County</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_United_States_counties_and_county_equivalents" title="List of United States counties and county equivalents">List of counties and county equivalents</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/County_executive" title="County executive">County executive</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sheriffs_in_the_United_States" title="Sheriffs in the United States">Sheriff</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Municipal_clerk" title="Municipal clerk">Clerk</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;">Cities</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Consolidated_city-county" title="Consolidated city-county">Consolidated city-county</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Independent_city_(United_States)" title="Independent city (United States)">Independent city</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Coterminous_municipality" title="Coterminous municipality">Coterminous municipality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Municipal_charter#United_States" title="Municipal charter">Charter</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mayor%E2%80%93council_government" title="Mayor–council government">Mayor–council government</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Council%E2%80%93manager_government" title="Council–manager government">Council–manager government</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/City_commission_government" title="City commission government">City commission government</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mayoralty_in_the_United_States" title="Mayoralty in the United States">Mayor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/City_manager" title="City manager">City manager</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Municipal_council#United_States" title="Municipal council">City council</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Minor_civil_division" title="Minor civil division">Minor divisions</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Civil_township" title="Civil township">Township</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Town_meeting" title="Town meeting">Town meeting</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Special_district_(United_States)" title="Special district (United States)">Special district</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/School_district" title="School district">School district</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Lists_of_school_districts_in_the_United_States" title="Lists of school districts in the United States">list</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Corruption_in_the_United_States" title="Corruption in the United States">Corruption</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Elections_in_the_United_States" title="Elections in the United States">Elections</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Electoral_College" title="United States Electoral College">Electoral College</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Red_states_and_blue_states" title="Red states and blue states">Red states and blue states</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_the_United_States" title="Foreign relations of the United States">Foreign relations</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Foreign_policy_of_the_United_States" title="Foreign policy of the United States">foreign policy</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Imperial_presidency" title="Imperial presidency">Imperial presidency</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Political_ideologies_in_the_United_States" title="Political ideologies in the United States">Ideologies</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Anti-Americanism" title="Anti-Americanism">Anti-Americanism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_exceptionalism" title="American exceptionalism">exceptionalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_nationalism" title="American nationalism">nationalism</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Political_parties_in_the_United_States" title="Political parties in the United States">Parties</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Democratic_Party_(United_States)" title="Democratic Party (United States)">Democratic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)" title="Republican Party (United States)">Republican</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Third_party_(U.S._politics)" title="Third party (U.S. politics)">Third parties</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_federal_political_scandals_in_the_United_States" title="List of federal political scandals in the United States">Scandals</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="text-align:center;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States" title="Economy of the United States">Economy</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States_by_sector" title="Economy of the United States by sector">By sector</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Agriculture_in_the_United_States" title="Agriculture in the United States">Agriculture</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Banking_in_the_United_States" title="Banking in the United States">Banking</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Communications_in_the_United_States" title="Communications in the United States">Communications</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_companies_of_the_United_States_by_state" title="List of companies of the United States by state">Companies</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Energy_in_the_United_States" title="Energy in the United States">Energy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Insurance_in_the_United_States" title="Insurance in the United States">Insurance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Manufacturing_in_the_United_States" title="Manufacturing in the United States">Manufacturing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mining_in_the_United_States" title="Mining in the United States">Mining</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Science_and_technology_in_the_United_States" title="Science and technology in the United States">Science and technology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tourism_in_the_United_States" title="Tourism in the United States">Tourism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Foreign_trade_of_the_United_States" title="Foreign trade of the United States">Trade</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_companies_of_the_United_States_by_state" title="List of companies of the United States by state">by state</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_dollar" title="United States dollar">Currency</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_exports_of_the_United_States" title="List of exports of the United States">Exports</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_federal_budget" title="United States federal budget">Federal budget</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Greenhouse_gas_emissions_by_the_United_States" title="Greenhouse gas emissions by the United States">Greenhouse gas emissions by the United States</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Federal_Reserve" title="Federal Reserve">Federal Reserve System</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Financial_position_of_the_United_States" title="Financial position of the United States">Financial position</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Labor_unions_in_the_United_States" title="Labor unions in the United States">Labor unions</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States" title="National debt of the United States">Public debt</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_programs_in_the_United_States" title="Social programs in the United States">Social welfare programs</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taxation_in_the_United_States" title="Taxation in the United States">Taxation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Unemployment_in_the_United_States" title="Unemployment in the United States">Unemployment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wall_Street" title="Wall Street">Wall Street</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="text-align:center;;width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Transport_in_the_United_States" class="mw-redirect" title="Transport in the United States">Transport</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Aviation_in_the_United_States" title="Aviation in the United States">Aviation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Driving_in_the_United_States" title="Driving in the United States">Driving</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Public_transportation_in_the_United_States" title="Public transportation in the United States">Public transportation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rail_transportation_in_the_United_States" title="Rail transportation in the United States">Rail transportation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transportation_policy_of_the_United_States" title="Transportation policy of the United States">Transportation policy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transportation_safety_in_the_United_States" title="Transportation safety in the United States">Transportation safety</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trucking_industry_in_the_United_States" title="Trucking industry in the United States">Trucking industry</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="text-align:center;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Category:Society_of_the_United_States" title="Category:Society of the United States">Society</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Culture_of_the_United_States" title="Culture of the United States">Culture</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Americana_(culture)" title="Americana (culture)">Americana</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Architecture_in_the_United_States" title="Architecture in the United States">Architecture</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cinema_of_the_United_States" title="Cinema of the United States">Cinema</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_States" title="Crime in the United States">Crime</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_cuisine" title="American cuisine">Cuisine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dance_in_the_United_States" title="Dance in the United States">Dance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States" title="Demographics of the United States">Demographics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States" title="Economy of the United States">Economic issues</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Affluence_in_the_United_States" title="Affluence in the United States">affluence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eviction_in_the_United_States" title="Eviction in the United States">eviction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Homeownership_in_the_United_States" title="Homeownership in the United States">homeownership</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States" title="Household income in the United States">household income</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United_States" title="Income inequality in the United States">income inequality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_middle_class" title="American middle class">middle class</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States" title="Personal income in the United States">personal income</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States" title="Poverty in the United States">poverty</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Standard_of_living_in_the_United_States" title="Standard of living in the United States">standard of living</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Affluence_in_the_United_States" title="Affluence in the United States">wealth</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Working_class_in_the_United_States" title="Working class in the United States">working class</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Education_in_the_United_States" title="Education in the United States">Education</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Educational_attainment_in_the_United_States" title="Educational attainment in the United States">attainment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Literacy_in_the_United_States" title="Literacy in the United States">literacy</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Family_in_the_United_States" title="Family in the United States">Family</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fashion_in_the_United_States" title="Fashion in the United States">Fashion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Flag_of_the_United_States" title="Flag of the United States">Flag</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_flags_of_the_United_States" title="List of flags of the United States">list</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Folklore_of_the_United_States" title="Folklore of the United States">Folklore</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Public_holidays_in_the_United_States" title="Public holidays in the United States">Holidays</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Federal_holidays_in_the_United_States" title="Federal holidays in the United States">Federal holidays</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Homelessness_in_the_United_States" title="Homelessness in the United States">Homelessness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Housing_in_the_United_States" title="Housing in the United States">Housing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_United_States" title="Human rights in the United States">Human rights</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Languages_of_the_United_States" title="Languages of the United States">Languages</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/American_English" title="American English">American English</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Indigenous_languages_of_the_Americas" title="Indigenous languages of the Americas">Indigenous languages</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_Sign_Language" title="American Sign Language">ASL</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_literature" title="American literature">Literature</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mass_media_in_the_United_States" title="Mass media in the United States">Media</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/History_of_American_journalism" title="History of American journalism">journalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Internet_in_the_United_States" title="Internet in the United States">internet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_American_newspapers" title="History of American newspapers">newspapers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Radio_in_the_United_States" title="Radio in the United States">radio</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Television_in_the_United_States" title="Television in the United States">television</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Music_of_the_United_States" title="Music of the United States">Music</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Naming_in_the_United_States" title="Naming in the United States">Names</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner" title="The Star-Spangled Banner">National anthem</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/National_symbols_of_the_United_States" title="National symbols of the United States">National symbols</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Columbia_(personification)" title="Columbia (personification)">Columbia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mount_Rushmore" title="Mount Rushmore">Mount Rushmore</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty" title="Statue of Liberty">Statue of Liberty</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Uncle_Sam" title="Uncle Sam">Uncle Sam</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Americans" title="Americans">People</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_philosophy" title="American philosophy">Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Political_ideologies_in_the_United_States" title="Political ideologies in the United States">Political ideologies</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Race_and_ethnicity_in_the_United_States" title="Race and ethnicity in the United States">Race</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States" title="Religion in the United States">Religion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sexuality_in_the_United_States" title="Sexuality in the United States">Sexuality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_the_United_States" title="Social class in the United States">Social class</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Society_of_the_United_States" title="Society of the United States">Society</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sports_in_the_United_States" title="Sports in the United States">Sports</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Theater</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transportation_in_the_United_States" title="Transportation in the United States">Transportation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Video_games_in_the_United_States" title="Video games in the United States">Video games</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Visual_art_of_the_United_States" title="Visual art of the United States">Visual art</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_the_United_States" title="Social class in the United States">Social class</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Affluence_in_the_United_States" title="Affluence in the United States">Affluence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_Dream" title="American Dream">American Dream</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Educational_attainment_in_the_United_States" title="Educational attainment in the United States">Educational attainment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Homelessness_in_the_United_States" title="Homelessness in the United States">Homelessness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Homeownership_in_the_United_States" title="Homeownership in the United States">Homeownership</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States" title="Household income in the United States">Household income</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United_States" title="Income inequality in the United States">Income inequality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_middle_class" title="American middle class">Middle class</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States" title="Personal income in the United States">Personal income</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States" title="Poverty in the United States">Poverty</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Standard_of_living_in_the_United_States" title="Standard of living in the United States">Standard of living</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Health_in_the_United_States" title="Health in the United States">Health</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Aging_of_the_United_States" title="Aging of the United States">Aging</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Healthcare_in_the_United_States" title="Healthcare in the United States">Healthcare</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Abortion_in_the_United_States" title="Abortion in the United States">Abortion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Birth_control_in_the_United_States" title="Birth control in the United States">Birth control</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Prenatal_care_in_the_United_States" title="Prenatal care in the United States">Prenatal care</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hospice_care_in_the_United_States" title="Hospice care in the United States">Hospice care</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Immigrant_health_care_in_the_United_States" title="Immigrant health care in the United States">Immigrant health care</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Healthcare_rationing_in_the_United_States" title="Healthcare rationing in the United States">Rationing</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Health_care_finance_in_the_United_States" title="Health care finance in the United States">Health care finance</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Health_insurance_costs_in_the_United_States" title="Health insurance costs in the United States">Health insurance costs</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Health_care_prices_in_the_United_States" title="Health care prices in the United States">Health care prices</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Prescription_drug_prices_in_the_United_States" title="Prescription drug prices in the United States">Prescription drug prices</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Disability_in_the_United_States" title="Disability in the United States">Disability</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Health_insurance_in_the_United_States" title="Health insurance in the United States">Health insurance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Food_safety_in_the_United_States" title="Food safety in the United States">Food safety</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Physician_shortage_in_the_United_States" title="Physician shortage in the United States">Physician shortage</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Poverty_and_health_in_the_United_States" title="Poverty and health in the United States">Poverty and health</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Race_and_health_in_the_United_States" title="Race and health in the United States">Race and health</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Obesity_in_the_United_States" title="Obesity in the United States">Obesity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Medical_deserts_in_the_United_States" title="Medical deserts in the United States">Medical deserts</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Women%27s_reproductive_health_in_the_United_States" title="Women's reproductive health in the United States">Women's reproductive health</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_life_expectancy" title="List of U.S. states and territories by life expectancy">Life expectancy</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;font-weight:normal;">Issues</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_States" title="Capital punishment in the United States">Capital punishment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_States" title="Crime in the United States">Crime</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States" title="Incarceration in the United States">incarceration</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Criticism_of_the_United_States_government" title="Criticism of the United States government">Criticism of government</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Discrimination_in_the_United_States" title="Discrimination in the United States">Discrimination</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Affirmative_action_in_the_United_States" title="Affirmative action in the United States">affirmative action</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Antisemitism_in_the_United_States" title="Antisemitism in the United States">antisemitism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Intersex_rights_in_the_United_States" title="Intersex rights in the United States">intersex rights</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Islamophobia_in_the_United_States" title="Islamophobia in the United States">Islamophobia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_United_States" class="mw-redirect" title="LGBT rights in the United States">LGBT rights</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Racism_in_the_United_States" title="Racism in the United States">racism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Racism_against_Native_Americans_in_the_United_States" title="Racism against Native Americans in the United States">Native American</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Racism_against_African_Americans" title="Racism against African Americans">African American</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Energy_policy_of_the_United_States" title="Energy policy of the United States">Energy policy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Environmental_issues_in_the_United_States" title="Environmental issues in the United States">Environmental issues</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Environmental_movement_in_the_United_States" title="Environmental movement in the United States">Environmental movement</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Climate_change_in_the_United_States" title="Climate change in the United States">Climate change</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gun_politics_in_the_United_States" title="Gun politics in the United States">Gun politics</a></li> <li><a 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