The Early Drama Criticism of William Dunlap

A MERICAN DRAMA CRITICISM had its beginnings in the pages of the tAx literary periodicals of the post-revolutionary period. In the 1790's several magazines appeared which carried articles oni the American theater and the development of drama generally. Probably the most important of these was the New York Magazine, which ran a series of reviews of the New York stage from November, 1794, to April, I796. These appeared under the heading Theatrical Register, and although the magazine's policy of anonymity makes it impossible for us definitely to know their author, the available evidence suggests they came from the pen of William Dunlap.' Dunlap is perhaps best known as the author of History of the American Theatre and History of the Arts of Design in America, both of which were pioneering scholarly works in their respective fields. These earlier reviews are interesting to the student of American drama, however, not only because they tell us something about the development of Dunlap's ideas on the theater, but also because they reflect some attitudes about the dramatic art which were an intrinsic part of the American consciousness in the late eighteenth century. Particularly, they suggest the degree to which moral considerations influenced and shaped American literary awareness in that period. The first of Dunlap's reviews is dated November 20, 1794. In this introductory essay he writes a brief survey of the English theater and states the general purpose of the Theatrical Register as a guardian of the public taste. It is not surprising to note the per

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