author
Bronson Howard
1842–1908
A pioneering American playwright, he helped bring everyday American life onto the stage in comedies and dramas that were hugely popular in the late 1800s. He is also remembered for helping professionalize playwriting in the United States.
2 Audiobooks
Shenandoah : A Military Comedy Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911
by Bronson Howard
The Autobiography of a Play Papers on Play-Making, II
by Bronson Howard
About the author
Born in Detroit on October 7, 1842, Bronson Howard became one of the most prominent American dramatists of the nineteenth century. He first worked as a journalist in New York, then turned to the theater after the success of Saratoga in 1870.
Howard went on to write a string of successful comedies and dramas, including Young Mrs. Winthrop, The Henrietta, and Shenandoah. His plays were known for treating American settings and manners seriously at a time when much of the stage still leaned heavily on European models.
Beyond his own writing, he played an important role in the status of playwrights in the United States. He was a founder and president of the American Dramatists Club, and later generations often remembered him as an important early advocate for American drama as a distinct national art.