‘South Carolina Onstage’ published by Academica Press
Academica Press recently published South Carolina Onstage, a collection of seven plays by South Carolina authors spanning 200 years.
South Carolina Onstage is the second book from author Jon W. Tuttle, distinguished professor at Francis Marion University in Florence.
The introduction offers a history of the theater in the Palmetto State from the first productions in colonial Charleston, through the rise of opera houses and community theaters across the state, to the dynamic, professional dramatic culture South Carolina today enjoys. Each of the plays included illuminates a different moment in South Carolina’s history and is prefaced by an introductory essay placing it in its social context. Collectively, these plays reveal the rich diversity of South Carolina’s dramatic heritage.
The seven plays are:
- William Ioor’s The Battle of The Eutaw Springs and Evacuation of Charleston (1807).
- John Blake White’s Modern Honor (1812).
- Sarah Pogson’s Young Carolinians, or Americans in Algiers (1818).
- William Gilmore Simms’ Michael Bonham, or The Fall of Bexar (1855).
- Rebecca Dial’s Sand (1920).
- Alice Childress’ Wedding Band, a Love/Hate Story in Black and White (1966).
- Sarah Hammond’s Kudzu (2003).
Tuttle is distinguished professor of English at Francis Marion University, specializing in modern and American drama. He is also director of University Honors, the Nellie Cooke Sparrow writer-in-residence, and an FMU Trustees research scholar. He has received the South Carolina Governor’s Award in the Humanities and both the Founders Award and Lifetime Service Award from South Carolina Theater Association. He has served on the boards of the South Carolina Academy of Authors, the Florence Regional Arts Alliance, and the Jasper Project. For over a decade, he was playwright-in-residence and literary manager at Trustus Theater in Columbia. He is the editor of David Kranes: Selected Plays.
His previous book, The Trustus Collection, includes all six of his plays produced at Trustus.