This stunning contribution to the field of theatre history is the first in-depth look at avant-garde theatre in the United States between from the early 1950s to the 1990s. American Avant-Garde Theatre offers a definition of the avant-garde, and looks at its origins and theoretical foundations by examining:

* Gertrude Stein
* John Cage
* the Beat writers
* avant-garde cinema
* Abstract Expressionism
* Minimalism

There are fascinating discussions and illustrations of the productions of the Living Theatre, the Wooster Group, Open Theatre, Ontological-Hysteric Theatre and Performance Group, among many others. Aronson also examines why avant-garde theatre declined and virtually disappeared at the end of the twentieth century.