In this study of Adrienne Kennedy, Philip C. Kolin explores the interrelationship of life and work of this African American playwright. For more than four decades Kennedy's theater has raised profound issues about race, gender, selfhood, and performativity in American culture - topics that Kolin explores throughout his reading of Kennedy's career.

Philip C. Kolin, professor of English at the University of Southern Mississippi, has published books on Edward Albee, David Rabe, Tennessee Williams, and William Shakespeare. He recently edited The Tennessee Williams Encyclopedia, and his Confronting Tennessee Williams's "A Streetcar Named Desire" remains a widely acclaimed cultural and historical guide to the classic play. Kolin is a founding editor of Studies in American Drama, 1945--Present, serves as the general editor of the Routledge Shakespeare Criticism series, and edits Lilies: A Journal of Sacramental Poetry.