Part of the publisher's Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts, these volumes complement Historical Dictionary of American Theater: Modernism (2007). This particular set is focused on live American stage, not delving into musicals, television, and film. The dictionary provides information about the who, what, why, when, and how of American theater during the period 1930-2010. The author has more than 30 years of teaching theater and leading a theater department in higher education and has written two plays in addition to numerous articles, papers, and more. The dictionary is organized into three major sections: introductory information (acronyms and abbreviations and a chronology as well as an overview broken down by historical events or decades), the dictionary entries, and a bibliography. Entries are arranged alphabetically and include boldface words cross-referencing other entries in the dictionary. Ranging in length from a few paragraphs to several pages, the entries are written in a manner that does not assume a lot of prior knowledge about American theater. Major plays, playwrights, performers, theater companies and producing organizations, movements, and themes are among the topics that are covered.

In the categorized bibliography, a table of contents assists the researcher in finding sources. Recommended for academic and public libraries.