--- tags: DramaSix, class --- # Battle for an American Culture ### Arc of the class ### Questions to Consider _Question_ What challenges did theater makers in the United States face during the late 18th and early 19th centuries in their efforts to shape a national theater culture that spoke to the “nature, genius and destiny” of the American republic? _Question_ What was at stake in the Astor Place Riot and how was it different from the Hernani “Riot”? _Question_ How did the “Stock-and-Star” model of theatrical production define American theater culture in the 19th century? _Question_ How did the way William Wells Brown perform The Escapeaffect its meaning? How does The Escape use the conventions of melodrama to shape a new kind of experience for its audience?