Famous American Plays of the 1940s * Henry Hewes (Editor)

Henry Hewes bypasses general entertainment fluff to deliver an exceptionally clean, script-first anthology grid. Published as a vital anchor title within Dell’s historic Laurel Drama Series, mid-century drama is treated not as safe, passive entertainment, but as an active step-by-step diagnostic campaign challenging national prejudice and global trauma.

The collection presents mid-century theater guiding drama students, theater history enthusiasts, and rare book curators through a grand timeline of stage innovation. Hewes' meticulously introduction maps five uncompromised works: 

• Thornton Wilder’s unconventional, world-war-baffling classic The Skin of Our Teeth.
• Arthur Laurents’ military homecoming post-trauma drama Home of the Brave.
• Arthur Miller’s devastating corporate guilt and family survival masterwork All My Sons.
• Maxwell Anderson’s sharp tracking of apartheid and institutional racism Lost in the Stars.
• Carson McCullers’ intimate coming-of-age ensemble triumph The Member of the Wedding. 

First Published 1960. This Edition 1965 by Dell/Laurel Drama