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Course & Subject Guides

University of Pittsburgh Stages 2023-2024 Season: Mainstage: Dramaturgy

Library resources relating to the productions of the University of Pittsburgh Stages 2023-2024 season

Appalachia

Appalachia refers to the socio-economic region located in the central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States.  The region stretches from the western Catskill Mountains in the east end of New York state and south into Pennsylvania, continuing south through northern Georgia.

The first inhabitants of the Appalachian region were Native Americans, such as the Powhatan, Saponi, Monacan, and Cherokee groups. The Scotch-Irish soon moved to the region, as well as freed African-Americans following the end of the Civil War. The population began to grow, with the largest number of individuals inhabiting the region being between 1870 and 1950. Population growth resulted from the expansion of coal mining, which attracted various immigrants.  Despite hopes of wealth, many lived in poverty. This was a result of miners being paid by the ton of coal produced rather than an hourly rate.

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy formed a federal-state commission, the President’s Appalachian Regional Commission (PARC), directing it to draw up a comprehensive program for the economic development of the Appalachian Region. The commission’s report, released in 1964, called on the federal government to make substantial investments in the Region and to provide infrastructure and other programs essential to aid the Region.  In the 60 years since the formation of the PARC, Appalachia has experienced significant progress, but still faces persistent challenges.

Guide Creator

Content for this page was contributed by Frederick D. Miller, John Proctor is the Villain dramaturg.

Dramaturgy

Arthur Miller and the Crucible

Arthur Miller was an American playwright, considered to be one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century.  Born on October 17th, 1915, to immigrant parents of Polish and Jewish descent, Miller was raised in Harlem, New York. His father, Isidore, owned a successful coat  manufacturing business, and his mother, Augusta, was an educator and avid reader of novels.  During the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the Miller family lost almost everything and moved from Manhattan to Flatbush, Brooklyn. After graduating high school, Miller attended the University of Michigan where he wrote for the school paper and completed his first play, No Villain. Following graduation, Miller returned East to begin his career as a playwright. 

Miller’s 1944 Broadway debut, The Man Who Had All the Luck, did not match its title in its success. The play closed after just 4 performances and less than satisfactory reviews. However, his next play, All My Sons, was a hit when it opened in 1947, running for almost a full year and earning Miller a Tony Award for Best Author.

Miller’s next play, the one that would earn him the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play, was Death of a Salesman (1949). The play, directed by Elia Kazan, cemented Miller’s place as a successful playwright. Miller’s next play, The Crucible (1953), dramatized the Salem witch trials of 1692 and was believed by many to be an allegory for McCarthyism.