I want to thank the Corporation of Yaddo for a fellowship that launched me into this book, and Smith College for the Elizabeth Drew Professorship, which gave me time to work on it while I was teaching. I owe thanks also to Joy Carlin for allowing me to watch her work as a director at the Aurora Theater in Berkeley; to David Auburn, playwright, who patiently and generously answered a list of tedious questions; and to Barbara Gaines, artistic director of the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, for her help and cherished friendship.