The Last Yankee

'When the play focuses on the self-entrapment of the characters, Mr. Miller can be tender as well as trenchant'
NEW YORK TIMES

Two strangers meet in a New England psychiatric clinic, each visiting their admitted, depressed wife: one is a humble carpenter with seven children, the other a successful businessman in a childless marriage; both have been forgotten by the promise of the American Dream.
Described by Miller as 'a comedy about a tragedy', this one-act play highlights the devastating consequences for those who fail to achieve the purported riches of the American Dream; a reality many face.
This Methuen Drama Student Edition is edited by Ciarán Leinster, with commentary and notes that explore the play's production history (including excerpts from an interview with director David Thacker) as well as the dramatic, thematic and academic debates that surround it.

Arthur Miller (1915-2005) was arguably the greatest American playwright of the twentieth century. Hist most famous work for the stage includes Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, All My Sons and A View from the Bridge. Six volumes of his plays and a volume of his theatre essays are published by Methuen Drama.
Ciarán Leinster (volume editor) is a Dublin-based scholar, who teaches at University College Dublin, Ireland. His PhD at the University of Seville, Spain, focused on postmodernism in the late work of Arthur Miller.
Susan C. W. Abbotson (series editor) is Professor of Dramatic Literature at Rhode Island College, USA.

CHRONOLOGY
COMMENTARY
Historical, social and cultural contexts
Genre and themes
Play as performance
Production history
Academic debate
Behind the scenes
Further study
PLAY TEXT
NOTES