In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the American theater emerged as a crucial cultural space for debates around gender stereotypes, gendered conduct, sexual desire, the politics of intimacy and domesticity, female authorship, as well as the complex intersections of gender and other markers of cultural difference, such as race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, age, or nation. This collection explores the role of gender in the formation of American theatrical culture in this period. It features essays on well-known early American dramatists such as Susanna Rowson or Judith Sargent Murray, but also sheds light on anonymous authors and more obscure theatrical practices.

Leopold Lippert (Dr. phil.) teaches American studies at the University of Münster, Germany. He specializes in transnational American studies, performance studies, gender and sexuality studies, as well as early American literature. Ralph J. Poole is an American-German researcher who teaches as professor of American studies at the University of Salzburg, Austria. Amongst his publications is a book-length study on the avant-garde tradition in American theater, a book on satirical and autoethnographical cannibal texts and an essay collection on dangerous masculinities. His main research interests are gender and queer studies, popular culture, and transnational American studies.