The 1980s Are Back on Stage. And They're Bringing the Apocalypse With Them.

American Theatre just published a major essay on why contemporary theater is suddenly obsessed with the 1980s, a decade of neon colors, financial collapse, and televised neurosis. The answer: the 1980s are the last time America felt culturally coherent, even as it was falling apart. We're living the same moment now, and theater is the first art form to notice.