Includes index.

A major figure in the world of theatre as critic, playwright, scholar, teacher, director, actor, and producer, Robert Brustein offers a unique perspective on the American stage and its artists. In this wise, witty, and wide-ranging collection of recent writings, Brustein examines crucial issues relating to theatre in the post-9/11 years, analyzing specific plays, emerging and established performers, and theatrical production throughout the world. Brustein relates our theatre to our society in a manner that reminds us why the performing arts matter. "Millennial Stages" records Brustein's thinking on the important issues 'roiling the national soul' at the start of the twenty-first century. His opening section explores the connections between theatre and society, theatre and politics, and theatre and religion, and it is followed by reviews of such landmark productions as "The Producers and Spamelot", "Long Day's Journey into Night" and "King Lear". In his final section, Brustein reflects on people and places of importance in the world of theatre today, including Marlon Brando and Arthur Miller and Australia and South Africa.