With the release of Wilder’s Collected Plays & Writings on Theater by the Library of America, Jeremy McCarter of The New York Times examines Thornton Wilder and his works in his article, The Genius of Grover’s Corners.
“Great reputations, we tend to think, should be held aloft by imposing columns of major works. But producing one magnum opus after another was never Wilder’s style. Much of his energy went into writing one-acts, the kind of little pieces that many playwrights treat as fodder for the next company that asks for help with a fund-raiser. For Wilder, who disdained kitchen-sink drama in favor of the absolutes — finding the universe in a grain of sand, then reversing the lens to view the whole cathedral of existence — the short plays were as likely to be masterpieces as the long.”
Visit The New York Times website to read the complete article.