Robert Brustein's new book is more than a collection of his writings on theatre. It also functions as a precise barometer of contemporary society, measuring the pressures of our present-day
cultural climate.
Never one to shy away from controversy, Mr. Brustein includes in this new volume accounts of his celebrated Town Hall debate with August Wilson over the issue of segregated casting; his
spirited defense of the National Endowment for the Arts against its enemies on the political right; his eloquent response to the impact of political correctness on the theatre and the
university; and his forthright criticism of what he calls "coercive philanthropy" - the tendency of funding agencies and foundations to impose their own political and social agendas on artistic
institutions.
At the heart of Cultural Calisthenics are Mr. Brustein's appraisals of the theatre at work - on and off Broadway, in London and Moscow, and in American regional playhouses - over the past five
years.
