PMA Professor J. Ellen Gainor is the co-editor of The Fourth Edition of The Norton Anthology of Drama. Gainor’s co-editors are Stanton B. Garner Jr. (University of Tennessee) and Martin Puchner (Harvard University). The anthology will be published on July 1, 2025 by W. W. Norton & Company.
This updated collection contains both newly added recent plays and foundational works from global traditions that have long defined the anthology. Instructors love The Norton Anthology of Drama because it contains an ideal balance of teachable classics and exciting contemporary plays. It provides a robust group of major plays instructors need to teach alongside new selections that reflect the dynamism and diversity of theater.
Gainor spoke with us about this project:
What can readers expect from this new edition of The Norton Anthology of Drama?
“Each new edition features plays we have not included before, as well as updated introductory essays and references for further study. For the 4th edition, we are excited to make the anthology available digitally, as well as in print. We have also transitioned to an expanded single volume only version. The new edition features an updated "short history of theatre" and many of the works from previous editions that our colleagues regularly teach, plus the plays we're including for the first time: Rabindranath Tagore’s Chitra, Luis Alfaro's Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles, Lynn Nottage's Sweat, and Larissa FastHorse's The Thanksgiving Play.”
How did you incorporate the feedback of instructors?
“With each new edition, we want to be responsive to the input we receive through surveys submitted by colleagues who are using the collection. We pay close attention to the kinds of plays and the specific playwrights they request, as well as the plays they are not teaching, so that we can make each edition as attractive as possible for students and teachers alike.”
What is your approach to editing and revising an anthology?
“We want the anthology to be useful—that is our primary goal. No anthology will be perfect for all potential adopters, but we endeavor to offer a collection of significant dramatic works, arranged chronologically, that represents a range of historical moments and geographical locations. We provide introductions that situate those works in historical and critical contexts that we hope will complement what instructors offer in the classroom or studio. And we provide helpful footnotes and glosses that will allow students to understand the scripts more easily. In choosing our contents for each edition, we seek to balance our focus on theatre traditions with exciting newer works that suggest current directions in stage artistry.”
Read more about The Norton Anthology of Drama.
