This book provides English-speaking readers and theatre audiences with a comprehensive reference to modern world drama in one extensively indexed volume containing a single alphabetical listing of plays, playwrights, countries, and technical terms. The national entries are surveys that help to place authors in their native context, just as the playwright entries provide the context for the works that are treated separately. The play entries include, in addition to synopses, encyclopedic information on first publication and production dates, length and setting, as well as notes on philosophical perspectives, dramaturgy, background, and history. The purpose of the synopsis is to familiarize the reader with the plot and perhaps lead him to read or see the play itself, or to recall and revive its original impact if he has already read or seen it. - Preface.