Focusing on language, gesture, imagery, and stagecraft (theatrical means employed here by a wide range of Western playwrights), the author of Understanding Drama displays an amazing critical acumen as he pinpoints the devices whereby effective drama achieves its aim: of developing themes that motivate an audience to re-think its settled opinions and assumptions.' r. w. desai, former Professor of English, University of Delhi, INDIA 'R. J. Cardullo’s writing in Understanding Drama: A Student Companion indicates a clear knowledge of historical context, and his prose style is lucid, engaging, and jargon-free. The plays he writes about include some old chestnuts, but the geographical and cultural diversity of the rest of the list is impressive. This is the kind of book I could well use in my own classes.' john basourakos, Professor of English, Fu Jen Catholic University, TAIWAN 'Understanding Drama: A Student Companion gives multiple examples of script-based analyses. This feature alone would make the book valuable as a required or recommended resource in upper division and graduate courses. No competing volume presents multiple examples of essays like those in Understanding Drama—something that truly sets Cardullo’s work apart.' norman bert, Professor of Theatre & Dance, Texas Tech University, USA Understanding Drama contains 70 short essays that analyse a number of geographically diverse, historically significant plays—among them Oedipus Tyrannos, King Lear, Tartuffe, Long Day’s Journey into Night, Hedda Gabler, Androcles and the Lion, Our Town, A Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, Riders to the Sea, Old Times, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Glengarry Glen Ross, Buried Child, The Threepenny Opera, and Edward II. Supplementing these model essays are a Step-by-Step Approach to Play Analysis, a Glossary of Dramatic Terms, Study Guides, Topics for Writing and Discussion, Bibliographical Resources, and a comprehensive Index. Written with students in mind, these critical essays cover many important plays included in most dramatic literature courses and will provide students with practical models to help them improve their own writing and analytical skills.