"The Contrast", which premiered at New York City's John Street Theater
in 1787, was the first American play performed in public by a
professional theater company. The play, written by New England-born,
Harvard-educated, Royall Tyler was timely, funny, and extremely popular.
When the play appeared in print in 1790, George Washington himself
appeared at the head of its list of hundreds of subscribers.
Reprinted here with annotated footnotes by historian Cynthia A. Kierner,
Tyler's play explores the debate over manners, morals, and cultural
authority in the decades following American Revolution. Did the American
colonists' rejection of monarchy in 1776 mean they should abolish all
European social traditions and hierarchies? What sorts of etiquette,
amusements, and fashions were appropriate and beneficial? Most
important, to be a nation, did Americans need to distinguish themselves
from Europeans--and, if so, how?
Tyler was not the only American pondering these questions, and Kierner
situates the play in its broader historical and cultural contexts. An
extensive introduction provides readers with a background on life and
politics in the United States in 1787, when Americans were in the midst
of nation-building. The book also features a section with selections
from contemporary letters, essays, novels, conduct books, and public
documents, which debate issues of the era.
