Earth matters: Ecology and American theatre (Ecocriticism)

The environmental crisis has precipitated new inquiries not only in the science of ecology, but in philosophy, theology, law, business ethics, cultural and literary studies, and a host of applied sciences. Yet, while gender, post-colonial and post-structural theories have become central to theatre scholarship, environmentalism on stage, and ecocriticism in theatre scholarship have been marginalized. This study explores the ways in which theatre has participated in they myth-making that has brought us to the present crisis, and consequently, how it might help us change in the future.; American ecological culture is grounded in certain deeply ingrained belief systems. Our stories are ecological forces, inscribed in the land around us and in our bodies. These grand cultural narratives are ubiquitous and maintain an ecological culture that can marvel at the rim of the Grand Canyon on Sunday and vaporize a South Pacific island on Monday. This is a study of the process of signification through which our myths are transmitted and ingrained. I explore key canonical dramas performed at turning points in Americans' relationship with the land: the closure of the frontier, the beginning of the conservation movement, the New Deal era, the rise of the post-war consumer culture, and the green revolution of the late twentieth century. These dramas, including, Augustin Daly's Horizon, William Cody's Wild West , David Belasco's Girl of the Golden West, William Vaughn Moody's The Great Divide, the Federal Theatre Project's Living Newspapers Power and Triple-A Plowed Under , Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, and Robert Schenkkan's The Kentucky Cycle are emblematic of deeply rooted "American" stories about the land. Driving questions include: How has theatre participated in propagating an ideology of the land? How have our constructions of "Nature" or "wilderness" constructed us? How has theatre influenced our changing perceptions of the natural world? How has our representation of the land impacted the land? Additionally, I explore how the frontier, the preservation of national parks, the big hydroelectric projects of the New Deal, the atom bomb, and maimed space flight functioned as cultural performatives informing Americans' relationship with the land.