Addressing American and British plays from 1979 to the present, Judith Saunders offers a unique exploration of how theatre on both sides of the Atlantic has responded to the critical socio-politics of the day, charting the vicissitudes of the Anglo-American relationship.

The Anglo-American relationship is rooted in its mutual ethnic history, which brought about a shared language, a common culture and a strong political alliance. But the relationship has also shown signs of familial ruptures and misunderstandings. Spanning four decades, chapters cover the historical “moments” when the Anglo-American relationship surfaced in the public consciousness: the strident Atlanticism of Margaret Thatcher; the Iraq War illustrating a post-imperial British manipulation to reclaim its international stature on the coattails of its American cousin and the war's legacy on both sides of the Atlantic at home and at war; the economic crises of the first decade of the 21st century; and the emergence of populist politics that spawned both Donald Trump and the Brexit debacle. Works by writers including Caryl Churchill, David Hare, Lucy Prebble, James Graham and Mike Bartlett, are considered alongside those by American writers Tony Kushner, Bruce Norris, Larry Kramer, Rajiv Joseph and Lynn Nottage, among many others.

Stylistically the plays selected range from realism to fantasy, from theatrical extravaganza to docudrama, from stream of consciousness to dark satiric comedy which invites discussion on form and content. They include both well-known and lesser-known plays that identify common Anglo-American cultural concerns. An examination of critical responses to these plays on both sides of the Atlantic suggests pertinent cultural differences.