Spanning three decades, Lanford Wilson's urban plays constitute a neat summation of his achievements as a dramatist. In Discovery and Invention, Anne M. Dean demonstrates that they also provide superb examples of his ability to extricate every ounce of poetry from ordinary language.

From the youthful experimentation dominating every aspect of Balm in Gilead (1964), to the contrast of the almost traditionally conceived and lyrical The Hot l Baltimore (1973) and, finally, to the sheer linguistic versatility of Burn This (1987), Wilson has proven himself to be a challenging and adaptable dramatist whose works perfectly match the spirit of the times.

Wilson is, above all, an American playwright; his work bestrides the United States, reflections of his experiences echoing throughout plays variously set in remote farming communities, small towns, and big cities.

Wherever he has settled, Wilson has utilized the landscape as a dramatic canvas, recreating the language he has heard there into a peculiarly translucent form of dramatic poetry, as well as finding ways of peopling his plays with imaginatively conceived composites of his friends and acquaintances.

The diversity of his life experience has enhanced his appreciation of humanity in all its forms; people are important to Wilson, and he invariably strives to tell their story with honesty and humor. Constant throughout his drama, both rural and urban, is his fundamental humanity and compassion for those he dramatizes.

An analysis of Wilson's work reveals several recurring themes: the importance of individuality and personal history, the necessity to preserve the past and learn from it and, especially, the importance of familial support - surrogate or otherwise. These themes recur throughout Wilson's drama, but are nowhere more importantly demonstrated than in the three urban plays considered in this volume.

Above all, Wilson wants to tell the truth; for him, reality is almost - but not quite - enough. By creating his drama out of his own rich life experiences, he finds little need to exaggerate. Eugene Ionesco once observed that one discovers more than one invents, and that invention is really discovery or rediscovery.

Wilson has displayed a tendency to adhere to this concept: all playwrights rely upon their own experiences to some extent, but for Wilson this strategy is more than an aid to creativity; it is the raison d'etre for his drama.

Wilson combines a subtle artistry with the pragmatics of everyday life and creates resonant and exciting theatre, incidentally illustrating the proficiency with which he is able to "lift ordinary speech and dance it just a little" to create language that is at once as vital as real speech and as complex as dense verse.