Dr. Sarah Berry’s new book, Staging the Lyric: Modern and Contemporary Experiments With Verse Drama, explores the return to verse drama, which is the use of poetry to enhance dialogue and dramatic effect, by playwrights from T.S. Eliot to Sylvia Plath. This powerful form of theater can be both conservative and experimental, compatible with a wide range of political, philosophical, theological and aesthetic aims — often within the same play. Berry brings these plays to life in her classroom through archival photos and in-class performances, helping students see the stage as a site of ongoing literary experimentation.
“It is wonderful to see students gain a better understanding and appreciation for a genre that might otherwise seem boring or hard to follow.”
DR. SARAH BERRY
