Towns, Alike in Dignity

Modern theatrical literature has become increasingly concerned with the goings-on in small towns and often largely un-notable communities. The epic plots and larger-than-life characters that occupied plays in Shakespeare's day and in much subsequent drama took place either in large metropolises, both real and imagined, or else in wildernesses of untamed forest or uninhabited isles. The small towns and hamlets that most people occupied were largely ignored, and the fanciful and more important-seeming tales of the rich and powerful and the cities that they occupied held the stage. Interestingly, as industrialization has increased urbanization so that now most people live in or near major cities, drama has begun to focus on the smaller towns that are being left behind. Perhaps this can be understood as a reaction to the loss itself, in some instances, and in others it has more to do with the continuation of...
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