The Essential Theatre Author:Oscar G. Brockett This introductory text acquaints students with the theatreùits artistic and social functions, its development, and howeach of the theatre arts functions as a unit. In the thirty-five years since it was first published, THE ESSENTIAL THEATRE has established a reputation as one of the most comprehensive, authoritative surveys of the theatre in aca... more »demia. THE ESSENTIAL THEATRE works in tandem with its companion anthology, PLAYS FOR THE THEATRE (7/e), edited by Oscar G. Brockett with Robert Ball. The scripts in PLAYS serve as the foundation for discussion of the various types of theatrical experience explored in THE ESSENTIAL THEATRE.« less