Playwright As Thinker: A Study of Drama in Modern Times

by Eric Bentley

Here is Bentley's definitive original text, including his long-suppressed foreword. A major study by one of the leading modern dramatic critics. Introduction by Richard Gilman; new Afterword by the Author. Index.

Genres: Drama, Writing, Literary Criticism, Nonfiction, Theatre

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Eric Russell Bentley was a British-born American theater critic, playwright, singer, editor, and translator whose work shaped twentieth-century theatrical discourse. Educated at University College, Oxford, and Yale University, where he earned his doctorate, he later taught at Black Mountain College and Columbia University and served as theatre critic for The New Republic. Known for his incisive and uncompromising criticism, he became one of the foremost English-language authorities on Bertolt Brecht, translating, editing, and performing Brecht’s work and recording landmark albums of Brecht songs. Bentley was also an accomplished playwright, with Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been, drawn from Un-American Activities Committee hearings, becoming his most produced play. He appeared for decades as a cabaret performer and was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. An advocate for artistic and political freedom, he publicly opposed the Vietnam War and later spoke openly about his homosexuality and its influence on his work.

Reviews

[Julian Munds · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good piece of theatrical criticism. I particularly enjoyed the chapter comparing Wagner and Ibsen. There is wonderful insight here. However, his dislike of what he terms "Broadway" shows its age (as does his disregard for O'Neill as a dramatist of note.) I can understand the lack of depth he accuses the Broadway (or commercial) stage of being. This problem persists today. It is a shame a Bentley rep theatre never came to be.