Little Theater and American Avant Garde: Crash Course Theater #40

In the early 20th century United States, big melodramatic productions were on Broadway, and everywhere across the country. Which inevitably led to an Avant-Garde backlash. An interesting part of the backlash was Little Theater, a movement that embraced smaller, more emotional, and less profitable forms of drama. One of Little Theater's most notable practitioners, Eugene O'Neill changed the theatrical landscape with groundbreaking plays like The Iceman Cometh and Long Day's Journey into Night. Crash Course is on Patreon! You can support us directly by signing up at Thanks to the following Patrons for their generous monthly contributions that help keep Crash Course free for everyone forever: Sam Buck, Mark Brouwer, Jennifer French Lee, Brandon Westmoreland, dorsey, Indika Siriwardena, James Hughes, Kenneth F Penttinen, Trevin Beattie, Satya Ridhima Parvathaneni, Erika & Alexa Saur, Glenn Elliott, Justin Zingsheim, Jessica Wode, Eric Pre