Capturing America: Mark Lawson's History of Modern American Literature - The Crucible of Capitalism

Mark Lawson explores how American writing became the literary superpower of the 20th century, telling the nation's stories of money, power, sex, religion and war. Mark considers how America's post-war playwrights - from Tennessee Williams to David Mamet - have challenged political rhetoric about the triumph of capitalism in the USA. Edward Albee, author of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? reveals his candidate for 'the best American play'. Other interviewees include Tony Kushner, author of Angels in America, and the late August Wilson, whose sequence of ten plays about the African-American experience is typical of the structural ambition and political questioning found in so many of the major post-war American plays. Through the theatres of Broadway, the programme also explores the commercial pressures in America's largely-unsubsidised theatre culture, which have led to several of the nation's greatest playwrights - including Albee, Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams - facing long periods of neglect.