Thornton Wilder: Collected Plays and Writings on Theater (Library of America)

by Thornton Wilder

Other authors: J. D. McClatchy (Editor)

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This collection takes the measure of Wilder's extraordinary career as a dramatist by presenting the complete span of his achievement, beginning with his early expressionist experiments and daring one-act plays, ranging through the full flowering of maturity, and encompassing the intriguing dramatic projects of his later years, such as his adaptation of the ancient story of Alcestis (The Alcestiad) and plays written for dramatic cycles based on the Seven Deadly Sins and the varied ages of an individual's life. Complementing the selection of plays is an illuminating group of essays that captures Wilder's reflections on his plays and contains a revealing epistolary account of the film adaptation of Our Town, as well as evaluations of dramatists such as Sophocles, George Bernard Shaw, and the Austrian satirist Johann Nestroy (whose farce Einen Jux will er sich machen Wilder brilliantly transformed into The Matchmaker).--From publisher description.… (more)

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Very few had as much impact on the critique of theater besides Thomson & it is Thornton Wilder who wrote plays himself. In this volume, his early 1 act plays are included here along with his most well known play "Our Town". One screen write included "Shadow of a Doubt" a Hitchcock film though Wilder didn't like the rewriting of it. "The Emporium" remained unpublished & is included here. These inclusions are intended to show Wilder's wide range of realistic life presented on the stage & on film. (

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walterhistory | Dec 22, 2023 |

The working title of "The Skin of Our Teeth" was "The Ends of the Worlds." But, the end of Wilder's world is the threat of an ice age coming down from the chilly Canadian north (in act I). In fact, the entire play takes on a chronological time warp through Biblical, prehistoric and postwar environments. George and Maggie Antrobus, their children and house maid are the central characters of this play within a play. While the Antrobus characters remain constant, the house maid, Sabina does not. It is interesting to note that for the first and third acts she remains their maid and yet in the second act she is a femme fatale of sorts. Another inconsistent is the time line. Periods in history are jumbled together and stretched apart. Characters like Homer and Moses come to visit. A mammoth and dinosaur are the family pets. In the end the punchline is Mr. Antrobus, turning the fate of life over to us, the audience of this play within a play. (

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SeriousGrace | Apr 29, 2011 |

A "must" for classic theater shelves: The most comprehensive one-volume edition of dramatist Thornton Wilder's work published to date, Thornton Wilder Collected Plays & Writings on Theater is an 800 page compendium of plays Wilder wrote throughout his career, essays that reveal Wilder's reflections on his own plays, an epistolary account of the film adaptation of the classic play "Our Town", a chronology, notes, and much more. Of special interest to literati is material that has never before been published: scenes from "The Emporium", an ambitious yet unfinished play that evolved out of Wilder's involvement with existentialist philosophy in his postwar years, as well as the complete screenplay that Wilder wrote for Alfred Hitchcock's movie "Shadow of a Doubt" just prior to reporting for military service in 1942. Like all Library of America editions, Thornton Wilder Collected Plays & Writings on Theater features a sturdy hardcover binding, a compact, relatively lightweight design, and an inset ribbon bookmark. A "must" for classic theater shelves, and recommended for college and public library collections.

mugwump2 | Nov 29, 2008 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Thornton Wilder	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
McClatchy, J. D.	Editor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed

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Library of America (172)

Contains

Nascuntur Poetæ by Thornton Wilder

Proserpina and the Devil by Thornton Wilder

Fanny Otcott by Thornton Wilder

Brother Fire by Thornton Wilder

The Penny That Beauty Spent by Thornton Wilder

The Angel on the Ship by Thornton Wilder

(show 27 more)

The Message and Jehanne by Thornton Wilder

Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came by Thornton Wilder

Centaurs by Thornton Wilder

Leviathan by Thornton Wilder

And the Sea Shall Give Up Its Dead by Thornton Wilder

Now The Servant's Name Was Malchus by Thornton Wilder

Mozart and the Gray Steward by Thornton Wilder

Hast Thou Considered My Servant Job? by Thornton Wilder

The Flight into Egypt by Thornton Wilder

The Angel That Troubled the Waters by Thornton Wilder

The Long Christmas Dinner by Thornton Wilder

Queens of France by Thornton Wilder

Pullman Car Hiawatha by Thornton Wilder

Love, and How to Cure It by Thornton Wilder

Such Things Only Happen in Books by Thornton Wilder

The Happy Journey to Camden and Trenton by Thornton Wilder

Our Town by Thornton Wilder

The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder

The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder

The Alcestiad: or, A Life In the Sun by Thornton Wilder

The Drunken Sisters by Thornton Wilder

The Marriage We Deplore by Thornton Wilder

The Unerring Instinct by Thornton Wilder

Scenes from "The Emporium" by Thornton Wilder

The Wreck on the 5 25 by Thornton Wilder

Infancy: A Comedy in One Act by Thornton Wilder

Childhood: A Comedy in One Act by Thornton Wilder

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▾Book descriptions

This collection takes the measure of Wilder's extraordinary career as a dramatist by presenting the complete span of his achievement, beginning with his early expressionist experiments and daring one-act plays, ranging through the full flowering of maturity, and encompassing the intriguing dramatic projects of his later years, such as his adaptation of the ancient story of Alcestis (The Alcestiad) and plays written for dramatic cycles based on the Seven Deadly Sins and the varied ages of an individual's life. Complementing the selection of plays is an illuminating group of essays that captures Wilder's reflections on his plays and contains a revealing epistolary account of the film adaptation of Our Town, as well as evaluations of dramatists such as Sophocles, George Bernard Shaw, and the Austrian satirist Johann Nestroy (whose farce Einen Jux will er sich machen Wilder brilliantly transformed into The Matchmaker).--From publisher description.

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Contains: Nascuntur poetae --
Proserpina and the devil --
Fanny Otcott --
Brother fire --
The penny that beauty spent --
The angel on the ship --
The message and Jehanne --
Childe Roland to the dark tower came --
Centaurs --
Leviathan --
And the sea shall give up its dead --
Now the servant's name was Malchus --
Mozart and the Gray Steward --
Hast Thou considered my servant job? --
The flight into Egypt --
The angel that troubled the waters --
The long Christmas dinner --
Queens of France --
Pullman Car Hiawatha --
Love and how to cure it --
Such things only happen in books --
The happy journey to Trenton and Camden --
Our town --
The skin of our teeth --
The matchmaker --
The Alcestiad --
The drunken sisters --
The marriage we deplore --
The unerring instinct --
Scenes from The Emporium --
Bernice --
The wreck on the five-twenty-five --
A ringing of doorbells --
In Shakespeare and the Bible --
Someone from Assisi --
Cement hands --
Infancy --
Childhood --
Youth --
The rivers under the earth --
Foreword to The Angel That Troubled the Waters and Other Plays --
Notes for the producer : The Long Christmas Dinner --
Notes for the producer : The Happy Journey --
A preface for Our Town --
Our Town : story of the play --
Our Town : some suggestions for the director --
Our Town --
from stage to screen : a correspondence between Thornton Wilder and Sol Lesser --
Preface to Three Plays --
Notes on The Alcestiad --
Noting the nature of farce --
Some thoughts on playwriting --
Richard Beer-Hofmann's Jaakobs Traum --
Sophocles's Oedipus Rex --
Foreword to three comedies by Johann Nestroy --
George Bernard Shaw --
Shadow of a doubt.

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