* Dunlap was one of the first professional playwrights in the United States.
* His most famous play is *The Father of an Only Child* (1789), which tells the story of a single father raising his daughter.
* Dunlap also wrote a history of the American theater, *A History of the American Theatre* (1832).
John Howard Payne (1791-1852)
* Payne was a playwright and actor who is best known for writing the song "Home, Sweet Home."
* His most famous play is *Brutus, or The Fall of Tarquin* (1820), which tells the story of the Roman consul who overthrew the king.
James Kirke Paulding (1778-1860)
* Paulding was a playwright, novelist, and government official.
* His most famous play is *The Bucktails, or Americans in England* (1818), which satirizes the American political system.
George Henry Boker (1823-1890)
* Boker was a playwright and poet who is best known for his historical dramas.
* His most famous play is *Francesca da Rimini* (1855), which tells the story of a woman who falls in love with her husband's brother.
Dion Boucicault (1822-1890)
* Boucicault was an Irish playwright and actor who moved to the United States in 1853.
* He wrote over 150 plays, many of which were comedies and melodramas.
* Boucicault's most famous play is *The Octoroon* (1859), which tells the story of a mixed-race woman who falls in love with a white man.