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Book Synopsis''I''m lucky to have an inexhaustible appetite for life. I''ve had many amazing adventures in Hollywood and beyond, but some stories I have only ever shared with my friends. After all, you''ve got to have a bit of mystery, so I hide a knowing smile behind my shoulder pads. Until now! So, read on for the tales I tell my friends . . .''In her new book, Dame Joan Collins returns in dazzling form to share the most memorable moments from her eclectic and vibrant life, in and out of the limelight. Taking us on an incredible journey from her early years as a young star in the golden era of Hollywood to stamping her stilettos in Dynasty; from the glittering heights of St Tropez to the busy Oscars season in LA over the years.Joan writes movingly about her grief and adventures with her sister Jackie, delving deeper into the ups and downs of love and relationships, and her happiness with husband Percy. Filled with a cast of household names, including the laTrade Review'Expect entertaining excerpts of encounters with a cast including the late Queen Elizabeth II, Diana Princess of Wales, Elizabeth Taylor and Warren Beatty, as well as a raw and honest account of the grief that encountered [Joan] after losing her sister, Jackie' - Red Magazine

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Book SynopsisLearn to celebrate the smallest victories and unlock some of life''s greatest joys!What does a forty-two-year-old, small-town pastor do when he wins one of the most popular singing competitions in the world? He celebrates with the same joyful mindset of embracing every little win along the way that his family has practiced for years.When Todd Tilghman, pastor and father of eight, auditioned for The Voice, he counted it as a win simply to sing in front of an audience. But despite not having any music or vocal training he won the show''s entire eighteenth season! Fans loved Todd''s rich voice, but they loved his exuberant joy even more. No one knew, though, that his joy came not from winning each round but from years of choosing light over darkness.In Every Little Win, Todd and Brooke share how their focus on joy and celebrating every little win has helped them to overcome numerous challenges over their twenty-pl

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Book SynopsisGet to know a national icon in Eddie Izzard''s hilarious and dazzling autobiography''Comic genius . . . Entertainment incarnate'' Telegraph______Star of stage and screen. Tireless supporter of charity. Marathon runner. Political campaigner.Fashion icon. Human.There is no one quite like Eddie Izzard. This is the story of how she broke through.Her relentless optimism has led her to always do things her own way, even if it didn''t work the first time, and her incredible self-belief has pushed her to keep on trying, even if it didn''t work the second or third time either.Whether she was putting on teddy bear shows on boarding school beds or swordfighting on the streets of London, Eddie never stopped trying to achieve her dreams of becoming a performer.Brimming with her distinctively surreal humour and disarming candour, Believe Me tells the story of a person who never took no for an answer.___Trade ReviewKing of the Universe . . . Comic genius . . . Entertainment incarnate * Telegraph *Izzard is Wikipedia in heels. He's made his career out of hilarious, dizzying, surreal routines held up by their own daft logic . . . A force of nature * Radio Times *A comedy gem * Guardian *Izzard has a knack for reducing centuries' worth of history to just a few exquisite words (the Romans were just 'fascist plumbers', for example) * Time Out *The funniest man in England -- John CleeseThe funniest man in, well, pretty much all of the known universe * Los Angeles Times *A consistent intelligence underpins Izzard's whimsy * Chortle *

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Book SynopsisStanislavski was the first to outline a systematic approach for using our experience, imagination and observation to create truthful acting. 150 years after his birth, his approach is more widely embraced and taught throughout the world but is still often rejected, misunderstood and misapplied.In Acting Stanislavski, John Gillett offers a clear, accessible and comprehensive account of the Stanislavski approach, from the actor's training to final performance, exploring: ease and focus the nature of action, interaction and objectives the imaginary reality, senses and feeling active analysis of text physical and vocal expression of character the actor in the context of training and the industry.Drawing on Stanislavski's major books, in both English translations, and on records of his directing process and final studio classes, Acting Stanislavski demystifies terms and concepts. It is for actors from an actor's point of view, and offers many practical exeTrade ReviewA manual full of enabling, easing exercises – it will enable you to analyse any scene. The cry of the actor at sea, 'I don't know what I'm doing,' should, with this book, become a thing of the past. * Sam West, Actor and Director *This is probably the single most useful and powerfully presented summation of Stanislavski’s approach to acting available ... What sets this book apart from other recent studies is that the Stanislavskian approach has been filtered through a lifetime of practice – the‘concentrate’ that emerges is crystal clear, an explication of the ‘system’ which makes absolute practical sense for the actor ... The primary strength and authority of this book is derived from the single fact that he is an actor addressing other actors with the impassioned objective of encouraging them to take responsibility for their own art and to have ‘respect’ for what they do. -- Julian Jones * New Theatre Quarterly *I'd recommend this book to anyone wanting an introduction to Stanislavksi or Michael Chekhov or acting in general. * Matt Peover, LAMDA trainer and theatre director. *Contains all the important things that need to be said about learning to act . . . in an extremely logical and sensible manner * Simon Dunmore, Editor, Actors Yearbook *It sets the record straight in terms of what Stanislavski was actually about. Its invaluable. * Marina Caldarone, co-author 'ACTIONS, The Actor’s Thesaurus' *This is an excellent book – one of the best of its kind that I have read. John Gillett’s book is way out in front in that it offers both scholarship and really sound practical strategies * Annie Tyson, acting tutor at RADA and Drama Centre *If an actor was to have just one book on the process of acting on their shelf it should be this one * Edda Sharpe, co-author of 'How To Do Accents' *[Acting Stanislavski] feels significantly more substantial, more comprehensive, and clearer than other recent studies of Stanislavski … While this book is a fantastically expansive introduction for the uninitiated, it will also provide real nourishment and clarity for the many actors who have studied bits of Stanislavski here and there and are looking for something more comprehensive. Or one could simply dip into the book for some fresh studio exercises to use in the classroom … This balance between the practical and scholarly, as well as the book’s sensible, logical structure, would make it a great course book for the more technically-minded and historically-curious of acting students, while its glossary and index make it one the best reference books about acting on the market … A deep, authentic, and mature love of the theatre shines throughout the writing. This is the clearest, most comprehensive, and most ambitious book on Stanislavski in existence, from a writer who clearly has a lifetime’s experience of dedicated exploration as an actor, teacher, and director. * Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Foreword, by Sam West Introduction – acting in context PART ONE STARTING FROM NOTHING Chapter 1 Awareness Chapter 2 Ease and focus PART TWO IMAGINATION AND ACTION – CREATING THE FOUNDATIONS Chapter 3 Acting in circumstances Chapter 4 Acting with others Chapter 5 What do I want? PART THREE DEVELOPING THE IMAGINARY REALITY – IMAGES, SENSING, FEELING Chapter 6 Imagining the action Chapter 7 Sensing Chapter 8 Feeling Chapter 9 Atmosphere PART FOUR EXPLORING TEXT AND CHARACTER Chapter 10 Meeting the play Chapter 11 Meeting the character PART FIVE CREATING THE LIFE OF THE ROLE Chapter 12 Discovering the action – active analysis Chapter 13 Embodiment – physical expression of the character Chapter 14 Refining the role Chapter 15 The character PART SIX BEYOND THE ROLE Chapter 16 Acting ethics Chapter 17 Working together Chapter 18 An open conclusion A map of the organic acting process Glossary Selected bibliography Index

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Book Synopsis________________''Absorbing... his gift for dialogue is exceptional'' - The Observer________________First published in 1983, An Orderly Man is volume three of Dirk Bogarde's best-selling memoirs.After completing work on Visconti's Death in Venice, the celebrated actor seeks a refuge from 20 years of continual motion'. This dream of a peaceful retreat materialises itself in the form of a neglected farmhouse in the South of France. However, before he is rewarded with the calm he craves, he is forced to endure the relative evils of dying olive trees and the rampaging mistral.In this pursuit of the tranquil, Bogarde manages to portray the simplest of issues in the most delicate and humane way. This volume also covers the years in which Dirk Bogarde gave some of his finest acting performances and began his career as a gifted writer, imposing order on a rich and varied life.Trade ReviewAbsorbing... his gift for dialogue is exceptional * The Observer *

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Book SynopsisIn January 2012, one of EastEnders'' longest-serving and best-loved characters breathed her last when Pat Butcher succumbed to cancer. Her departure from the show gave actress Pam St Clement time to reflect, not only on almost 26 years playing a role that she loved, but also on her whole life.Pam''s mother died when she was a baby, leaving her with a father whose life didn''t really have space for a child. What followed was an itinerant childhood, with various stepmothers and foster families, before an advertisement in The Lady took 11-year-old Pamela to the farm in Devon that was to become her true home, with the ''aunts'' who became her surrogate parents. Time on the farm at Dartmoor, where she discovered her love of animals, alternated with life at The Warren boarding school in West Sussex, where she discovered her passion for acting.On leaving school, Pam was unsure of what direction to take but gradually realised that acting was what she wanted to do withTrade Reviewtells the story of Pam St Clement, who for 26 years played one of Britain's most iconic soap characters Pat Butcher. * This Morning *Charts her life from her childhood to finding national fame in the show. * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisAs an actor, awareness of your movement is the key to transformation. By making deliberate physical choices, you can fully and articulately embody different ways of being: you can become someone or something else. Laban''s Efforts give you a way of identifying and making these choices. Working with them helps the actor to create wholly present and physically ambitious performances. This book outlines Ewan''s practical process, which allows the actor to understand their own movement and that of others by exploring one key part of Laban''s work: the ''Efforts of Action Drive''. This complete, stage-by-stage, working process has been developed through more than thirty years of work with actors in the studio. Clear instructions for practical exercises are woven throughout the book, as well as exciting ways to apply the work in rehearsal, performance and on set. This allows the actor to learn and apply Laban''s Efforts for themselves. Full video and audio resources allow the reader tTrade ReviewThis is a fresh and invigorating new addition to the Laban for Actors family of publications. It’s just like being in the studio with Vanessa - with practical how-to exercises and guided explorations in Effort, this book will be invaluable for all actors and teachers of movement for actors * Juliet Chambers, Guildford School of Acting/University of Surrey, UK *Vanessa Ewan's work with Laban and the Efforts, as you will find in this inspired book, provides performers with an incredibly fertile foundation from which to create. She has found an astoundingly practical way of applying Laban's work to the quest of being a fully embodied actor. You will find tools in this book that will open door after door to your own creativity and awaken you to the endless possibility of what you can create on stage and on screen. * Andrew Garfield, actor *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION Laban and His Work Laban’s Work on Effort Approaching the Efforts About this Book How to Use this Book Part A: THE BIGGER PICTURE CHAPTER ONE: MOVEMENT AND THE ACTOR What is Movement? What is Effort? What is Action? Laban’s Efforts and the Actor CHAPTER TWO: UNLOCKING MOVEMENT POTENTIAL The Body in Space Basic Locomotion The Body as Orchestra Part B: BUILDING BLOCKS CHAPTER THREE: WEIGHT, TIME, SPACE The Motion Factors Examining Weight, Time, and Space CHAPTER FOUR: EMBODYING THE MOTION FACTORS Weight Time Space Discovering the Eight Basic Efforts Part C: DISCOVERING THE EFFORTS CHAPTER FIVE: ABOUT THE PROCESS Process Overview Basic Philosophies CHAPTER SIX (a): THE PROCESS WITH FLOATING Preparation Meeting the Effort Mapping the Effort The Effort as Code A Journey (Guided Improvisation) Efforts in the World CHAPTER SIX (b): THE OTHER SEVEN EFFORTS Dabbing Wringing Thrusting Pressing Flicking Slashing Gliding Part D: THE EFFORTS AT PLAY CHAPTER SEVEN: THE EIGHT EFFORT ARCHETYPES What is an Effort Archetype? Embodying the Eight Effort Archetypes Applying the Eight Effort Archetypes Observing the Eight Effort Archetypes CHAPTER EIGHT: THE EFFORT WEAVE What is an Effort Weave? Effort Weave Preparation Basic Effort Weave Internalised Effort Weaves Effort Weaves with An Agenda CHAPTER NINE: EFFORT DUOS What is an Effort Duo? Discovering Effort Duos Embodying Effort Duos Effort Equation Creating Effort Equations Part E: APPLYING THE EFFORTS CHAPTER TEN: ADVANCED EXPLORATIONS Uniting Efforts and Text ‘Giving Birth’: Embodied Storytelling Creating a Precise Physical Score ‘Cloning’: Discovering Characters ‘Gallery-Glide’: Unlocking Text Manifesting Thoughts and Feelings: Subtext in Action ‘Bottling’: Mapping Bottled Emotions CHAPTER ELEVEN: EFFORTS IN REHEARSAL Preparation Creating Character The World of the Play Advanced Observation Final Reflections APPENDICES APPENDIX A: NOTES ON PROCESS The Role of Flow Self-Reflection Control Working with Gestures Working with Vocalisation Using Music The Game of Life Relating to Constraints APPENDIX B: A NOTE ON WORD CHOICES APPENDIX C: FOCUSING THE WORK FOR THE ACTOR APPENDIX D: MUSIC SUGGESTIONS GLOSSARY BIBLIOGRAPHY LIST OF VIDEO RESOURCES ABOUT THE AUTHORS INDEX

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Book SynopsisI wish I had copies like this at Drama School. Essential notes on the language for those who will get up and speak it, not purely for those who will sit and study it. An incredibly useful tool with room on every page to make notes. Next time I'm in rehearsal on a Shakespeare play, I have no doubt that a copy from this series will be in my hand.' ADRIAN LESTER, Actor, Director and Writer Arden Performance Editions are ideal for anyone engaging with a Shakespeare play in performance. With clear facing-page notes giving definitions of words, easily accessible information about key textual variants, lineation, metrical ambiguities and pronunciation, each edition has been developed to open the play's possibilities and meanings to actors and students. Each edition offers: -Facing-page notes -Short, clear definitions of words-Easily accessible information about key textual variants-Notes on pronunciation of difficult names and unfamiliar words-An easy to read layout -Space to wrTrade ReviewPerformance Editions provide the basis for fascinating discussions about where different communities locate the quintessence of Shakespeare and early modern drama. * Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 *These editions are likely to help not only actors and drama students but also all amateur Shakespeareans including schools and colleges which stage the plays … What genius to have Simon Russell Beale as a series editor along with two Shakespeare Institute academics, Michael Dobson and Abigail Rokison-Woodall. * Ink Pellet *Table of ContentsIntroduction; Othello; Longer Notes

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Book SynopsisONE OF THE SUNDAY TIMES'' 100 BEST SUMMER READS OF 2020''It''s hard to beat Susanna Moore''s Miss Aluminium'' Vogue''A sharp-edged summery treat'' Hadley Freeman''Unlike any Hollywood memoir you''ll have read'' MetroAt seventeen, Susanna Moore left her home in Hawai''i, with no money, no belongings and no prospects. But in Philadelphia, an unexpected gift of four trunks of beautiful clothes allowed her to assume the first of many disguises. Her journey takes her from New York to Los Angeles where she becomes a model and meets Joan Didion and Audrey Hepburn. She works as a script reader for Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson, and is given a screen test by Mike Nichols. But beneath Miss Aluminium''s glittering fairytale surface lies the story of a girl''s insatiable hunger to learn. Moore gives us a sardonic, often humorous portrait of Hollywood in the seventies and of a young womanTrade ReviewAn outstanding memoir... A novelist best known for her extraordinary 1995 erotic thriller In the Cut, Moore has now written an extraordinary memoir... The descriptive writing is a joy. * The Sunday Times *Poignant and hugely entertaining... As she tries on different identities, the book becomes less about childhood trauma than an examination of the masks women wear to meet social expectations, occasionally prompting them to forget who they are entirely... The book bursts with brilliantly gossipy titbits, recounted with wry understatement... From the outside, Moore's life seemed gilded with its merry-go-round of parties, lovers, designer clothes and dizzyingly famous friends. In Miss Aluminium, her tales of the Hollywood high life certainly provide giggles and glitz, though the darkness is never far from the surface. The real story is the ripple effect of grief, a woman's self-invention and the awful deeds of powerful men. -- Fiona Sturges * Guardian *Moore's account of her time as a model and bit-part actress in Hollywood is peppered with famous names, from Audrey Hepburn and Harrison Ford to Warren Beatty and Roman Polanski. But this riveting book isn't just about being on the fringes of celebrity: it's a compellingly dark tale of a young woman navigating her way through a sea full of sharks ... This is a totally gripping and tremendously entertaining memoir. * Daily Mail *A striking new memoir ... Through the #MeToo lens, Moore's measured, superficially judgment-free recounting of her time in the middle of All That can be read as a personal statement of empowerment: She came, she saw, she took notes, and she left to become a novelist and a miss-no-detail student of female autonomy. * New York Times *Miss Aluminium, is a triumphant, inspiring account of how to find your true self in the most unlikely of settings * RED magazine *As well as documenting Moore's heartbreaks, Miss Aluminium is also full of humorous tales about the famous... a poignant remembrance of a life lived in the shadow of family tragedy, as well as being a wry peak into celebrity narcissism. * Independent (App Edition) *Susanna Moore on working in Hollywood in the 1970s is literally my fantasy weekend read, and it does not disappoint. -- Hadley FreemanA sharp-edged summery treat -- Hadley FreemanDisarmingly candid... This is her first memoir and it's even better than her fiction... Moore deploys a disarming repertoire of sideswipes, gallows humour and raised eyebrows, whether writing about trivia or tragedy... There's a fascination here with toxic masculinity that makes you think of the dangerous, sexually potent detective in In the Cut. * The Times *Susanna Moore's memoir Miss Aluminium is the most blissful brilliant beautiful book. How it manages to be so glittery with old Hollywood gossip, and yet to be so utterly serious about a woman's struggle for self-determination, I don't know, but there it is. -- Rachel CookeNow seventy-four, and a well-regarded author, Moore is ready to expose her "shadow self" and the pain of her early life . . . One gets a sense that what is revealed has been chosen appraisingly, not out of coyness but, rather, out of something resembling an architect's appreciation of a structure's good bones. Moore's writing has the slightly mysterious sense of detachment that she adopted when building her persona, many years ago, though paradoxically this is what makes her revelations, when they come, more piercing. * The New Yorker *Moore's search for stability during a free-spirited decade is a whirlwind of celebrity encounters and a lyrical exploration of the lingering effects of a mother's death * Publishers Weekly *As readers of Moore's fiction know, she is a brilliant storyteller and sentence-maker . . . Miss Aluminum reminded me of everything I ever loved about her as a writer and now, as happens with certain memoirs, I feel like she is my friend? A very elegant, accomplished grande dame sort of friend, to be sure, one who might loan you a pair of blue velvet Pucci bell-bottoms or a copy of 'The Great War and Modern Memory' on your way out the door after tea. * The Washington Post *A tantalizing tale, told in a seductive and provocative voice. * Booklist *A captivating portrait of a woman in search of herself * Kirkus *It's a tale of shimmering, glamorous surfaces that conceal something darker and more painful... Miss Aluminium positions Moore as a chronicler of Sixties power and pleasure to rival her friend Didion, and, you sense, this model-actress-author has plenty more Hollywood stories to tell. We can only hope she chooses to share them. * Evening Standard *It's hard to beat Susanna Moore's Miss Aluminium * Vogue *There may not be an air bridge to the US just yet but you can still touch down on Tinseltown high life thanks to Susanna Moore's memoir, Miss Aluminium... her understated book is unlike any Hollywood memoir you'll have read * Metro *Wonderful ... Moore's sketches of famous friends cut to the quick - Nichols is tiringly brilliant; Beatty is restless and ravenous; Roman Polanski (this 20-something starlet was "too old to interest him") makes a contest of everything * Daily Telegraph *Moore's book captures what it was like to come of age in a glamorous world, but there was darkness beneath the surface. If the 70s was Hollywood's Golden Age, Miss Aluminium illustrates that there was much suffering and exploitation behind the scenes - and yet the young wannabe writer and actor from Hawaii clearly had plenty of fun along the way * Irish Independent *In this superb Hollywood memoir, novelist Susanna Moore tells the story of her early years... just as memorable is Moore's unflinching portrayal of the darkness beneath the glamour of Seventies Hollywood * Tatler *Miss Aluminium is a different order of achievement entirely, both in its scalding honesty and its sly, watchful humour. I haven't read a book like it in years. -- Anthony Quinn * Mail on Sunday *There's a kind of writing about LA that I am a sucker for. Gossipy, lyrical, with a surface of affectless simplicity but an undertow of melancholy that can be personal or institutional or, best of all, both entwined ... Joan Didion did it; Eve Babitz specialised in it... Miss Aluminium is that kind of book. I, of course, adore it. Miss Aluminium ends before Moore really becomes a writer, but with her poised for that part of her life to begin; its ravishing execution is testament to how fine a writer she became. * Spectator *There is a coolness in the way she describes traumatic events. Such understatement also lends itself to wicked humour... In another's hands, a Hollywood memoir would be pure titillation. What makes this stand out is its depiction of a specific place in time and the elegant restraint of its prose... an excellent book * Financial Times *A rollercoaster ride that will both move and entertain -- Alex Clark * Financial Times *Hollywood's darker side is exposed in this model-turned-writer's tales of her time among the stars * Sunday Times *The bare-bone facts of Susanna Moore's memoir read like a dark fairy tale... Heartbroken, directionless and adrift in a man's world... she embarks on a quest to find a voice and sense of selfhood, poignantly described by the older, wiser Susanna * Sunday Express *Moore's book captures what it was like to come of age in a glamorous world, but there was darkness beneath the glittering surface. If the 70s was Hollywood's Golden Age, Miss Aluminium illustrates that there was much suffering and exploitation behind the scenes * Irish Independent *

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Book Synopsis Brazil has one of the most vibrant theater cultures in the world, home to a wide variety of theatrical expression. This collection of 15 interviews includes some of the country''s most prolific creative minds--Ze Celso (Teatro Oficina), Antunes Filho, Gerald Thomas, Nos do Morro, Rudolfo Vasquez (Os Satyros), Antonio Araujo (Teatro Vertigem), Enrique Diaz (Cia do Atores) and Lia Rodrigues, to name a few--discussing their approaches to the collaborative theater process. They describe a collective creative environment in which practitioners are concerned with fundamental questions about social, cultural and artistic contexts in which productions are staged, and the interdisciplinary climate that predominated from the beginning of the 1980s.

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Book Synopsis? In her 60-year career, Joanne Woodward has been a film, television and stage actress, television producer and director, stage director, and film director. She won the Best Actress Academy Award for her performance in The Three Faces of Eve and was nominated for Rachel, Rachel, Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams and Mr. & Mrs. Bridge. She also won the Best Actress Emmy Award for See How She Runs and Do You Remember Love. This book is the first to be solely devoted to Woodward''s life and career, which were often overshadowed by the successes of her late husband, Paul Newman.

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Book Synopsis Anita Page (1910-2008) first captured attention near the end of the silent film era in such classics as While the City Sleeps (1928) with Lon Chaney, The Flying Fleet (1929) with Ramon Novarro, and her own favorite, Our Dancing Daughters (1928) with Joan Crawford. In a relatively short career, Page enjoyed critical acclaim. She appeared in the first full-sound movie to win Best Picture, The Broadway Melody (1929). With a foreword by her close friend, actor Randal Malone, this reference work is the first to fully detail Page''s remarkable career, including a biography and a complete listing of all her films, along with her one stage appearance and her returns to the limelight in later years. Entries provide complete production information, reviews and behind-the-scenes commentary. Dozens of photos and revealing anecdotes complete a portrait of a fascinating yet underappreciated performer.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ixForeword by Randal Malone 1Preface 3Anita Page: "You Were Meant for Me" 7The FilmsA Kiss for Cinderella (1925) 73Love 'Em and Leave 'Em (1926) 75Beach Nuts (1927) 76Telling the World (1928) 78While the City Sleeps (1928) 83Our Dancing Daughters (1928) 86The Flying Fleet (1929) 93The Broadway Melody (1929) 98Speedway (1929) 106Our Modern Maidens (1929) 109The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929) 114Navy Blues (1929) 118Free and Easy (1930) 121Caught Short (1930) 124Our Blushing Brides (1930) 127The Little Accident (1930) 130War Nurse (1930) 134Reducing (1931) 137The Easiest Way (1931) 140Gentleman's Fate (1931) 146Sidewalks of New York (1931) 149Under Eighteen (1932) 152Are You Listening? (1932) 154Night Court (1932) 157Skyscraper Souls (1932) 161Prosperity (1932) 164Jungle Bride (1933) 166The Big Cage (1933) 169Soldiers of the Storm (1933) 172I Have Lived (1933) 174Hitch Hike to Heaven (1936) 176The Runaway (1961) 178Sunset After Dark (1996) 180Theater 185Foreign Language Films 191Shorts 193Documentaries and Television 195Video Films 197Chapter Notes 199Bibliography 209Index 211

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Book SynopsisCrossover Stardom: Popular Male Stars in American Cinema focuses on male music stars who have attempted to achieve film stardom. Crossover stardom can describe stars who cross from one medium to another. Although crossover' has become a popular term to describe many modern stars who appear in various mediums, crossover stardom has a long history, going back to the beginning of the cinema. Lobalzo Wright begins with Bing Crosby, a significant Hollywood star in the studio era; moving to Elvis Presley in the 1950s and 1960s, as the studio system collapsed; to Kris Kristofferson in the New Hollywood period of the 1970s; and ending with Will Smith and Justin Timberlake, in the contemporary era, when corporate conglomerates dominate Hollywood. Thus, the study not only explores music stardom (and music genres) in various eras, and masculinity within these periods, it also surveys the history of American cinema from industrial and cultural perspectives, from the 1930s to today.Trade ReviewCrossover Stardom represents a welcome intervention in star studies, providing a long overdue framework to explore multi-media stardom as a key concept within the field. Lobalzo Wright's wide-ranging study of stars from Crosby to Kristofferson is entertaining and enlightening, serving as both a rich resource and an invitation to further research on this essential topic. * Karen McNally, Senior Lecturer in Film and Television Studies, London Metropolitan University, UK *Julie Lobalzo Wright explores a relatively neglected but important field of star studies. Her clear, scholarly and lively discussion of male stars with contrasting levels of meaning and popularity in different media expertly ranges over questions of genre, spectatorship and masculinity. Drawing especially on gender and cultural theory, her fine analysis of persona and performance brilliantly highlights afresh the impact and significance of crossover stars like Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley. * Peter William Evans, Emeritus Professor of Film Studies, Queen Mary, University of London, UK *Crossover Stardom presents five case studies of US American male stars who moved from music to film. Although each case study is insightful in itself, the strength of Crossover Stardom is the bringing together of five quite different male stars over a period of almost a century. Lobalzo Wright effectively uses the concept of the star image to examine both the historical continuities as well as the changes in the way gender and genre function within the entertainment industry. Rather than merely questioning whether or not these crossovers into film were successful, the book shows how the onscreen performances are informed by the off-screen music star image. The focus on the star image enables to explore how these performers embody an ideal masculinity of their times and its connection to music genres, ranging from the American songbook, rock ’n’ roll and country to contemporary hip-hop and pop. Crossover Stardom not only successfully applies the star image to popular music studies, but also highlights the relevance of the—often-neglected—male music star in the study of film. * Jaap Kooijman, Associate Professor in Media Studies and American Studies, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction 1: The Crooner Film Star: Bing Crosby 2: The Rock ‘N’ Roll Film Star: Elvis Presley 3: The Country Film Star: Kris Kristofferson 4: The Rap Film Star: Will Smith 5: The Pop Film Star: Justin Timberlake Conclusion Bibliography Filmography

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Book SynopsisQueer exceptions is a study of contemporary solo performance in the UK and Western Europe that explores the contentious relationship between identity, individuality and neoliberalism. With diverse case studies featuring the work of La Ribot, David Hoyle, Oreet Ashery, Bridget Christie, Tanja Ostojic, Adrian Howells and Nassim Soleimanpour, the book examines the role of singular or ‘exceptional’ subjects in constructing and challenging assumed notions of communal sociability and togetherness, while drawing fresh insight from the fields of sociology, gender studies and political philosophy to reconsider theatre’s attachment to singular lives and experiences. Framed by a detailed exploration of arts festivals as encapsulating the material, entrepreneurial circumstances of contemporary performance-making, this is the first major critical study of solo work since the millennium.Trade Review‘Rising to the promise that the title holds out, this excellent book will be of value to all scholars with an interest in contemporary performance practices. It gives deep and well-informed insight into not only the creation and presentation of solo performance work but the economic realities within which it is embedded […]Greer’s palette is broad and wide-ranging, though this not in any way at the expense of detail – far from it. This brilliant addition to scholarly considerations of contemporary theatre practices is deeply rooted in an insider’s understanding of the logistics, economics, and sheer hard work that underpins solo performance.’Alison Jeffers, New Theatre Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 2 (May 2019)'This wide-ranging, brilliant, and scholarly volume adds a much-needed perspective on and assessment of queer solo performance: one that does not simply venerate it as identity validation nor dismiss it as a tool of neoliberal identity consumption, but that instead articulates how the works analysed offer twenty-first-century radical performance politics looking at, out, through, and beyond the performance of ‘the singular subject in neoliberal times’'Contemporary Theatre Review'Through an examination of contemporary European solo performance, Stephen Greer explores the form’s simultaneous resistance to and compatibility within neoliberalism.'The Drama Review'Queer Exceptions... catalogues a breadth of innovative performance practices, making it a valuable read for contemporary performance scholars. The application of a figural approach further offers a provocation to scholars across the discipline to reconsider ways in which we hold performance practices together.'Theatre Research International -- .Table of ContentsList of figuresAcknowledgmentsIntroduction 1. Locating solo performance 2. The martyr: dramaturgies of endurance, exhaustion and confession 3. The pariah: queer outcasts and the politics of wounded attachment 4. The killjoy: public unhappiness and theatrical scapegoats 5. The stranger: performing ‘out-of-placeness’ in the UK and Europe 6. The misfit: illness, disability and ‘improper’ subjects 7. The optimist: alternatives to neoliberalism in the here and now Conclusion ReferencesIndex

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Book SynopsisJason Statham has risen from street seller through championship diving and modelling to become arguably the biggest British male film star of the twenty-first century. This is the first book to offer a critical analysis of his work across a variety of media, including film, television, video games and music videos. Each chapter focuses on a particular aspect of Statham’s career, from his distinctive screen presence to his style, branding and celebrity. Accessibly written, and featuring a contribution from Hollywood director Paul Feig, who worked with Statham on the 2015 action-comedy Spy, the collection will appeal to a wide audience of scholars, students and fans.Table of ContentsIntroduction – Steven Gerrard and Robert Shail1 Reframing the British tough guy: Jason Statham as postmodern hero - Robert Shail2 ‘I’m certainly not Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt’: Jason Statham, fandom and a new type of (anti)hero - Renee Middlemost3 The power of Statham - Paul Feig4 ‘It’s that peasant mentality’: the cult persona of Jason Statham, Hollywood outsider - Jonathan Mack5 A balancing act(or): Jason Statham and the ensemble film – Sarah Thomas6 Blagging it both ways: The Bank Job and the British heist movie - James Chapman7 Jason Statham in Spy: subverting genre and gender - Clare Smith8 Arthouse Statham - Martin Carter9 Transporting Jason Statham: national identity in the Transporter trilogy - Jennie Lewis-Vidler10 The avatar hero: exploring the virtualisation of the Statham brand - Dean Bowman and Erin Pearson11 Ageing Statham: expendable expendable? - Nathasha Parcei12 Crank it up! Scoring Statham - Shelley O’Brien 13 Clothes make the man: Statham’s sartorial serendipity - Steven GerrardConclusion - Steven Gerrard and Robert ShailIndex

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Book SynopsisWHAT HAVE WE HERE? follows Billy Dee Williams from his childhood growing up in Harlem to his days on Broadway and in Hollywood before landing the role in George Lucas' space opera that would win him everlasting fame.Over a 60-year career spanning Broadway, music, movies, and television, Billy's tales and travels include Lawrence Olivier, Marlon Brando, James Baldwin, Henry Fonda, Duke Ellington, Berry Gordy, Diana Ross, Richard Pryor, Sylvester Stallone, Diahann Carroll, and a world of less famous but no less colourful characters.And that's just his life on this planet. As hundreds of millions of Star Wars fans worldwide know, Williams is and always will be Lando Calrissian, the double-dealing, outlandishly handsome rogue from George Lucas' classic Star Wars adventures The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi, a role he reprised in 2019's Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

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Book SynopsisMake Me, Lisa Stathoplos'' searingly honest and dark humored memoir explores how one comes to be. Comes to live in their own skin; exist in their very bones. In 1958 Lisa landed on this earth with a whack and a wail and a highly uncomfortable feeling that she shouldn''t be here. Regardless, here she is. Born into a fusion of the French and the Greeks, Lisa''s wickedly smart and loving family nurtures her from fussy baby, "moody" child, into a passionate, rebellious young woman.Set in the beauty of Southern Maine, with a few forays to the Caribbean, the Atlantic shipping lanes and Greece, Make Me is both as tempestuous and tranquil as the sea when Lisa takes us on her voyage toward acceptance and authenticity. Her stories of growing up Catholic, coming of age beside the turbulent Atlantic Ocean, discovering dance, her activism and becoming a successful professional actor as well as a fishwife, are fraught, rewarding and often hysterically funny.Make Me follows Lisa''s memories in and out of chronological time, landing on the significant ones that shaped her most of all. The language is crisply straightforward, hauntingly witty, and emotionally fathomless. Make Me is an oceanic ride into Lisa''s very soul and should be read by anyone who is becoming who they truly are or has already arrived.

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Book SynopsisCraft classic drinks with the first official cocktail book inspired by the life and legacy of John Wayne.Based on the iconic and beloved actor John Wayne, this collection of satisfying drinks takes cocktail enthusiasts on a trip through some of John Wayne’s most memorable characters, films and extraordinary life. This unique book includes seventy recipes for delicious, handcrafted cocktails and a selection of tasteful bar bites to pair with the beverages. With drinks inspired by characters such as Rooster Cogburn, Big Jake McCandles, and Davy Crockett, John Wayne: The Official Cocktail Book includes step-by-step instructions, tips on how to craft the perfect cocktail, and beautiful full-color photography. This book is an essential addition to every fan’s bar cart or bookshelf. OFFICIALLY LICENSED: The first officially licensed John Wayne cocktail book. Created in conjunction with John Wayne Enterprises. 70+ RECIPES: From refreshing cocktails to serve a crowd to tasty after-dinner sips, learn to make dozens of specialty drinks inspired by The Duke DELICIOUS BAR BITES: Includes recipes for delicious nibbles to accompany the libations and create a perfect cocktail party MOVIE MEMORIES: Relive favorite characters, scenes from John Wayne’s filmography of more than 80 movies FULL-COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY: Features beautiful full color photography of the delicious drinks COMPLETE YOUR COLLECTION: Complete your John Wayne collection the treasure trove of memorabilia, stories, and interviews John Wayne: The Genuine Article

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Book SynopsisA collection of inventive writings in letter form from a sixteenth-century star of commedia dell'arte. Isabella Andreini (1562–1604) was a commedia dell’arte diva who toured Italy and France as part of the Compagnia dei Comici Gelosi. Letters is a collection of epistles written by Andreini in fictional, anonymous, male, and female voices, a “hermaphroditic” alternation of gender unlike any that had been seen in letter writing to that time. In her letters, Andreini remade the humanistic epistolary genre into a distinctive fusion of literary and dramatic performance. The guise of epistolary intimacy cedes to a knowing artificiality, which allows for the emergence of Andreini’s modern critique of the gendered self as a uniform entity. The collection centers on love and examines—from surprising perspectives—pertinent issues such as death, the birth of a girl, prostitution, patriarchal marital practices, love in old age, courtiership, country and city life, human nature, and defenses and critiques of both sexes. Trade Review"Paola De Santo and Caterina Mongiat Farina’s critical edition and translation of Isabella Andreini’s Letters (1607) is a long-awaited resource for English readers and scholars of Renaissance and early modern studies. This monumental volume showcases De Santo and Mongiat Farina’s strong translation skills, as well as their deep knowledge of Andreini’s work and the rich trove of classical and Renaissance sources from which she drew her copious allusions. Their erudite notes contextualize the letters well for the modern reader. On the whole, the volume provides an eminently readable and enjoyable translation of this work that found enduring fame in Italy and abroad during the seventeenth century." -- Julie D. Campbell, Professor of English, Eastern Illinois UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Illustrations Introduction The Other Voice Life, Works, and Authorship Isabella Andreini and Women’s Writing in Early Modern Italy The Question of Genre: Pushing the Boundaries of the Letterbook Summary and Analysis of the Letters Love as the Beginning, Middle, and End of the Letters A Discordant Harmony: Paired and Thematically Grouped Letters The Actress as Writer: Thematic and Stylistic Aspects of the Letters Rhetoric and the questione della donna in the Letters Reception and Afterlife Translators’ Note Letters of Isabella Andreini Permission Dedicatory Letter Encomiastic Verses and Anagrams Table of All the Letters Contained in the Work Letters AppendixComparative Table of the Letters’ Summaries: 1607 Edition and This Edition Gender Designations of Letter Writers and Recipients Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTinker Tailor Soldier Spy, War Horse, Star Trek: Into Darkness, The Hobbit trilogy, Twelve Years a Slave, August: Osage County, The Fifth Estate; Hedda Gabler, After the Dance, Frankenstein; Hawking, To the Ends of the Earth, The Last Enemy, Parade''s End, and, of course, Sherlock. For most actors, these stellar cinematic, theatrical, and television events would be the highlights of a lifetime''s work. On Benedict Cumberbatch''s résumé they are only a few of many entries. Especially since 2010, his performances have garnered a plethora of best actor awards, both in the theatre (Evening Standard Theatre Award, Critics Circle Theatre Award, and Olivier Award), by playing the dual roles of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature in the National Theatre''s Frankenstein, and on television (Broadcasting Press Guild Award, Critics Choice Television Award, Crime Thriller Award, and TV Choice Award), by starring as the titular Holmes in the BBC''s Sherlock. Add these and other recent accolades to nearly a decade s nominations and awards (such as the Golden Nymph as best actor in Hawking), and it''s easy to see why Benedict Cumberbatch is often hailed as the actor of his generation. Cumberbatch''s body of work further includes indie films, radio plays and series, television documentaries, live dramatic readings, multimedia advertisements, and even the occasional stint as a fashion model. He often shares an intriguing perspective on his profession, as evidenced in sometimes controversial interviews. He has become so much in demand that online box offices crash when tickets for his performances go on sale, and, before a Cheltenham Literature Festival Q&A session, fans overwhelmed Twitter when so many responded immediately to a call for questions. Cumberbatch consistently is a top name on lists ranging from sex appeal to global influence. In 2012 he beat David Beckham in the former and U.S. President Barack Obama in the latter. Increasingly, part of Cumberbatch''s job involves the role of celebrity. Benedict Cumberbatch is at a pivotal point in his profession, and his career trajectory especially as documented in entertainment media permits a closer examination of just what it means to be a celebrity or star in Britain or the U.S. and how an actor may be perceived very differently in London or Hollywood. This performance biography is an analysis of a man in transition from working actor to multimedia star, as well as the balance between actor and celebrity. It looks at what makes this actor so well suited to play one of popular culture''s iconic characters, Sherlock Holmes, and how Sherlock is so well suited to propel Cumberbatch toward greater global fame.

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Book Synopsis'Entertaining...revealing, shocking' BERNARDINE EVARISTO'Sublime' CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMSActor and director Zawe Ashton brings us a unique look at life, work and the absurdities of today's worldZawe Ashton has been acting since she was six. She has played many different roles, from 'cute little girl' to 'assassin with attitude', Oscar Wilde's Salome to St Trinian's schoolgirl by way of Fresh Meat's Vod. In Character Breakdown, Zawe scrolls through a version of her life. Or is it a version of her art? Or something in between. In it, she encounters glamour, horror, absurdity and questions like: is a life spent more on performance than reality any life at all?'Smart, funny, vivid, honest, dark, timely' The Times'A smart, funny and well-written take-down of modern showbiz' Elizabeth Day, author of How To FailSelected by Bernardine Evaristo as one her 20 books by Black British Womxn WritersTrade ReviewA very great bookA smart, funny and well-written take-down of modern showbiz -- Elizabeth Day * Mail on Sunday *Smart, funny, vivid, honest, dark, timely * The Times *An entertaining and original memoir touching on career, life and identity. It is an enjoyable read, despite the humiliating tales of auditions or filming situations where she is physically assessed, objectified or subject to casual racism. Understandably there is an undertone of rage in her keen observations -- Hannah Beckerman * Observer *Character Breakdown embraces darkness while also being a wickedly absurd look at modern show business * Stylist *

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Book SynopsisThe Oscar-nominated Precious star and Empire actress delivers a much-awaited memoir which is wise, complex, smart and funny.This Is Just My Face is the whirlwind tour of Gabourey Sidibe’s life so far. In it, we meet her polygamous father, her gifted mother who fed the family by busking on the subway, and the psychic who told her she’d one day be ‘famous like Oprah’. Gabby shows us round the Harlem studio apartment where she grew up, relives the debilitating depression that hit her at college, and reminisces about her first ever job as a phone sex ‘talker’ (less creepy than you’d think). With exhilaratingly honest (and often hilarious) dispatches on friendship, depression, celebrity, haters, fashion, race, and weight, This Is Just My Face will resonate with anyone who has ever felt different - and with anyone who has ever felt inspired to make a dream come true.'Frank, funny, and insanely charming' Lena Dunham'A read that lives up to the unforgettable attitude of its name' Glamour'You’re the BOMB, girl!' President Barack ObamaTrade ReviewHere, Gabourey Sidibe cements her status as gives-zero-effs queen of Hollywood AND perceptive best friend in your head. Frank, funny, and insanely charming…we are blessed by her honesty, passion and wit * Lena Dunham *A read that lives up to the unforgettable attitude of its name...This is Just My Face will make you fall in love with this funny, talented, gorgeous, bad bitch of a woman * Glamour *Gabourey Sidibe's memoir isn't your average celebrity memoir. It's good. Really good. And not just because it's revealing (although that it is), but because it's well-written... Observant and funny, but not indulgent or try-hard * Cosmopolitan *A book you will want to give your daughter * The New York Times *"I just wrote the truth, and it made me feel better." That is the theme of this unique and universal book by a young woman who is both a total surprise and an instant classic. Gabby combines New York and Senegal, the streets and the heights, bravery and self-doubt, laughing and seriousness. Her truth helps us to find ours—and what could be a bigger gift than that? * Gloria Steinem *Sidibe’s hilarious Twitter account is no fluke – the Empire actress’ memoir about growing up in New York City and finding unexpected fame in Hollywood is sharp, witty, and wonderfully substantive * Entertainment Weekly *Gabourey Sidibe’s delightful memoir This Is Just My Face: Try Not To Stare offers a memorable look into what happens when a black girl’s dreams come true, from the inside out. From her unique childhood as the daughter of a subway singer mother and polygamous father to struggling with depression to getting the role of Precious, Sidibe is fearless, incredibly funny and gorgeously open. What she offers of herself in these pages is a gift * Roxane Gay *A mix of complexity, intelligence and humor, Gabby's book promises to be as big a success as her acting * People *To know Gabby is to love Gabby. To read her book is to love her even more. It is bold, brave, on-your-front-foot writing. Her story inspires you to step up and own your life with a compassion and confidence so potent that it will break down any door * Laura Linney *A funny, smart memoir * Nylon *You’re the BOMB, girl! * President Barack Obama *

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Book Synopsis‘Hershman has managed to gather a huge amount of information and distill it into a book that is not only respectful but full of insights into what makes this unstarriest of stars able to produce brilliant work without appearing to break a sweat.’ - Kathryn Hughes, Mail on SundayHe was a Salford-born, homework-hating bookie’s son who broke the social barriers of British film. He did his share of roistering, and yet outlived his contemporaries and dodged typecasting to become a five-time Oscar nominee and one of our most durable international stars. Bon vivant, perennial rebel, self-effacing character actor, charismatic charmer, mentor to a generation of working-class artists, a byword for professionalism, lover of horseflesh and female flesh – Albert Finney is all these things and more.Gabriel Hershman’s colourful and riveting account of Finney’s life and work, which draws on interviews with many of his directors and co-stars, examines how one of Britain’s greatest actors built a glittering career without sacrificing his integrity.Trade ReviewHershman has managed to gather a huge amount of information and distill it into a book that is not only respectful but full of insights into what makes this unstarriest of stars able to produce brilliant work without appearing to break a sweat. -- Kathryn HughesA great read . . . It’s about time Finney’s career was placed in the biographical spotlight. -- Greg JamesonThe book is strong . . . in its evaluation of Finney’s extraordinary career, and for an introduction to the work, it’s invaluable. -- Paul T. Davies

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisThe unique story of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise – British television's most iconic double act. 'A warm and sympathetic portrait of two pals who conquered the world simply by radiating hilarious friendship' Sunday Times 'Barfe lifts the lid on the lives of TV's most iconic double act... and gets to the heart of what made them so loved by a nation' Sunday Post 'Set to be the definitive account of the television age's funniest pair' New European 'Colour about the characters of [Morecambe and Wise] is mixed with Barfe's usual forensic research' Chortle The Morecambe and Wise Show was the crème de la crème of TV light entertainment from the late 1960s until the early 1980s. The hardy perennial comedy duo at its heart had even greater longevity, spanning five decades and becoming a national institution whose shows drew audiences in excess of twenty million. They also loved each other like brothers, and the audience repaid that love; they were the nation's best friends. In Sunshine and Laughter, Louis Barfe tells the touching story of Morecambe and Wise, and explores how it is that thirty-seven years after their last television show, the tall handsome one with glasses and the one with the short, fat, hairy legs continue to work their unique brand of comedy magic.Trade ReviewA warm and sympathetic portrait of two pals who conquered the world simply by radiating hilarious friendship * Sunday Times *Barfe lifts the lid on the lives of TV's most iconic double act [...] and gets to the heart of what made them so loved by a nation * Sunday Post *Britain's best-loved double act have a superb chronicler in Louis Barfe... This looks set to be the definitive account of the television age's funniest pair * New European *Written with affection... Such colour about the characters of [Morecambe and Wise] is mixed with Barfe's usual forensic research * Chortle *Louis Barfe is becoming a polymathic guide to British show business * Sunday Times *Countless TV programmes have paid tribute to 'the boys' [...] and there's a veritable library of books. So do we need a new one? The answer – if you're a fan – is a resounding yes. And comedy historian Louis Barfe [...] is just the man to do it. A safe pair of hands, his Sunshine and Laughter is the perfect companion piece to Graham McCann's excellent 1998 biography. His research is exemplary * Camden New Journal *The comedy continues * Devon Life *

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Book SynopsisAn alternative autobiography of the well-loved actor and man of the theatre, winner of the Sheridan Morley Prize for Theatre Biography. In My Life in Pieces Simon Callow retraces his life through the multifarious performers, writers, productions and events which have left their indelible mark on him. The story begins with Peter Pan – his first ever visit to the theatre – before transporting us to southern Africa and South London, where Callow spent much of his childhood. Later, he charms his way into a job at the National Theatre box office courtesy of his hero, Laurence Olivier – and thus consummated a lifetime’s love affair with theatre. Alongside Olivier, we encounter Paul Scofield, Michael Gambon, Alan Bennett and Richard Eyre, all of whom Callow has worked with, as well as John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson and Alec Guinness, David Hare, Simon Gray and many more. He writes too about figures he did not meet but who greatly influenced his life and work, figures such as Stanislavsky, Nureyev and Cocteau, as well as Charles Laughton and Orson Welles. And he even makes room for not-quite- legit performers like Tony Hancock, Tommy Cooper, Frankie Howard – and Mrs Shufflewick. The result is a passionate, instructive and beguiling book which, in tracing Simon Callow’s own ‘sentimental education’, leaves us enriched by his generosity and wisdom. 'first rate... the best writer-actor we have' David Hare 'Simon Callow combines zest, originality and passion and has elegantly turned his views and life in the theatre into an astonishing memoir' Richard EyreTrade Review'An engaging passionate book which will augment Callow's growing status as a national treasure' * Guardian *'Not simply a terrific actor who happens to write. You could as well call him a terrific writer who happens to act' * The Times *'Essential... [Callow has] a gift for transforming personal experience into blazingly intelligent, objective, critical appreciation' * Observer *

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Book SynopsisAn insight into French film through its actors: profiles of 175 actors and actresses of the French Cinema, illustrated with caricatures of each actor by Jenny BATLAY and Igor BRATUSEK. - Not just biographies, but personal sketches of the actors and actresses, looking at their personalities, acting, and careers. The book is presented alphabetically in mini-dictionary form, and its contributors include academics from around the world - from universities in Australia, Austria, Canada, Cyprus, France, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and throughout the United States - as well as journalists, film curators, and lovers of French cinema, both francophones and Francophiles. It contains a comprehensive alphabetical Index of 2,200 Films - mostly French Films (with their alternative English titles where these were issued), as well as American and European films in which the profiled French actors have appeared. Accurate biographical details (from original records) are provided, including birth names for those actors with a stage name different to their birth names.Table of ContentsCONTENTS [names entered without accents on BookData]: FOREWORD; ISABELLE ADJANI (1955 - ), ANOUK AIMEE (1932 - ) [Francoise Sorya Dreyfus], MATHIEU AMALRIC (1965 - ), RICHARD ANCONINA (1953 - ), FANNY ARDANT (1949 - ), PIERRE ARDITI (1944 - ), NIELS ARESTRUP (1949 - ), ARLETTY (1898 - 1992) [Leonie Bathiat], ANTONIN ARTAUD (1896 - 1948), ARIANE ASCARIDE (1954 - ), STEPHANE AUDRAN (1932 - ) [Colette Suzanne Dacheville], DANIEL AUTEUIL (1950 - ), SABINE AZEMA (1949 - ), CHARLES AZNAVOUR (1924 - ) [Charles Aznaourian], JEAN-PIERRE BACRI (1951 - ), EDOUARD BAER (1966 - ), JOSIANE BALASKO (1950 - ) [Josiane Balaskovic], JEAN-FRANCOIS BALMER (1946 - ), BRIGITTE BARDOT (1934 - ), JEAN-LOUIS BARRAULT (1910 - 1994), HARRY BAUR (1880 - 1943), NATHALIE BAYE (1948 - ), EMMANUELLE BEART (1963 - ) [Emmanuelle Behart-Hasson], LEILA BEKHTI (1984 - ), JEAN-PAUL BELMONDO (1933 - ), FRANCOIS BERLEAND (1952 - ), SARAH BERNHARDT (1844 - 1923) [Henriette-Rosine Bernard], JULES BERRY (1883 - 1951) [Marie Louis Jules Paufichet], RICHARD BERRY (1950 - ), JULIETTE BINOCHE (1964 - ), MICHEL BLANC (1952 - ), FRANCIS BLANCHE (1921 - 1974), BERNARD BLIER (1916 - 1989), RICHARD BOHRINGER (1941 - ), ROMANE BOHRINGER (1973 - ), SANDRINE BONNAIRE (1967 - ), DANY BOON (1966 - ) [Daniel Hamidou], MICHEL BOUJENAH (1952 - ), CAROLE BOUQUET (1957 - ), MICHEL BOUQUET (1925 - ), BOURVIL (1917 - 1970) [Andre Raimbourg], CHARLES BOYER (1899 - 1978), MARCEL BOZZUFFI (1928 - 1988), CLAUDE BRASSEUR (1936 - ), PIERRE BRASSEUR (1905 - 1972) [Pierre-Albert Espinasse], JACQUES BREL (1929 - 1978), JEAN-CLAUDE BRIALY (1933 - 2007), GUILLAUME CANET (1973 - ), JULIEN CARETTE (1897 - 1966), JEAN CARMET (1920 - 1994), JEAN-CLAUDE CARRIERE (1931 - ), MARIA CASARES (1922 - 1996) [Maria Victoria Casares Perez], VINCENT CASSEL (1966 - ) [Vincent Crochon], ALAIN CHABAT (1958 - ), MAURICE CHEVALIER (1888 - 1972), CHRISTIAN CLAVIER (1952 - ), FRANCOIS CLUZET (1955 - ), JEAN COCTEAU (1889 - 1963), COLUCHE (1944 - 1986) [Michel Gerard Joseph Colucci], CLOVIS CORNILLAC (1967 - ), MARION COTILLARD (1975 - ), DARRY COWL (1925 - 2006) [Andre Darricau], MARCEL DALIO (1900 - 1983) [Marcel Blauschild], BEATRICE DALLE (1964 - ) [Beatrice Cabarrou], GERARD DARMON (1948 - ), DANIELLE DARRIEUX (1917 - ), JEAN-PIERRE DARROUSSIN (1953 - ), JAMEL DEBBOUZE (1975 - ), CECILE DE FRANCE (1975 - ), LOUIS DE FUNES (1914 - 1983) [Louis de Funes de Galarza], ALAIN DELON (1935 - ), JULIE DELPY (1969 - ), CATHERINE DENEUVE (1943 - ) [Catherine Dorleac], CHARLES DENNER (1926 - 1995), GERARD DEPARDIEU (1948 - ), JULIE DEPARDIEU (1973 - ), EMMANUELLE DEVOS (1964 - ), PATRICK DEWAERE (1947 - 1982) [Patrick Bourdeaux], JEAN-CLAUDE DREYFUS (1946 - ), MARIE DUBAS (1884 - 1972), JEAN DUJARDIN (1972 - ), ALBERT DUPONTEL (1964 - ), ROMAIN DURIS (1974 - ) ANDRE DUSSOLLIER (1946 - ), GAD ELMALEH (1971 - ), FERNANDEL (1903 - 1971) [Fernand Joseph Desire Contandin], EDWIGE FEUILLERE (1907 - 1998) [Edwige Louise Caroline Cunatti], BRIGITTE FOSSEY (1946 - ), FREHEL (1891 - 1951) [Marguerite Boulc'h], PIERRE FRESNAY (1897 - 1975) [Pierre Jules Louis Laudenbach], CATHERINE FROT (1956 - ), JEAN GABIN (1904 - 1976) [Jean Gabin Alexis Moncorge], CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG (1971 - ), MICHEL GALABRU (1922 - ), NICOLE GARCIA (1946 - ), MARIE GILLAIN (1975 - ), ANNIE GIRARDOT (1931 - 2011), JUDITH GODRECHE (1972 - ) [Judith Goldreich], EVA GREEN (1980 - ), SACHA GUITRY (1885 - 1957), JOHNNY HALLYDAY (1943 - ) [Jean-Philippe Smet], MARINA HANDS (1975 - ), ISABELLE HUPPERT (1953 - ), AGNES JAOUI (1964 - ), LOUIS JOUVET (1887 - 1951), GERARD JUGNOT (1951 - ), ELIE KAKOU (1960 - 1999) [Alain Kakou], ANNA KARINA (1940 - ) [Hanne Karin Bayer], SANDRINE KIBERLAIN (1968 - ) [Sandrine Kiberlajn], BERNADETTE LAFONT (1938 - 2013), CHRISTOPHE LAMBERT (1957 - ), JEAN-PIERRE LEAUD (1944 - ), MADELEINE LEBEAU (1923 - ), FERNAND LEDOUX (1897 - 1993), VIRGINIE LEDOYEN (1976 - ) [Virginie Fernandez], VALERIE LEMERCIER (1964 - ), JEAN LE POULAIN (1924 - 1988), ROBERT LE VIGAN (1900 - 1972) [Robert Coquillaud], THIERRY LHERMITTE (1952 - ), VINCENT LINDON (1959 - ), MICHAEL LONSDALE (1931 - ), FABRICE LUCHINI (1951 - ) [Robert Luchini], BENOIT MAGIMEL (1974 - ), JEAN MARAIS (1913 - 1998), SOPHIE MARCEAU (1966 - ) [Sophie Daniele Sylvie Maupu], JEAN-PIERRE MARIELLE (1932 - ), ROXANE MESQUIDA (1981 - ), PAUL MEURISSE (1912 - 1979), GERARD MEYLAN (1952 - ), MIOU-MIOU (1950 - ) [Sylvette Herry], EDDY MITCHELL (1942 - ) [Claude Moine], YVES MONTAND (1921 - 1991) [Ivo Livi], JEANNE MOREAU (1928 - ) , YOLANDE MOREAU (1953 - ), FRANCOIS MOREL (1959 - ), MICHELE MORGAN (1920 - ) [Simone Roussel], PHILIPPE NOIRET (1930 - 2006), VANESSA PARADIS (1972 - ), GERARD PHILIPE (1922 - 1959) [Gerard Philip], EDITH PIAF (1915 - 1963) [Edith Giovanna Gassion], JEAN PIAT (1924 - ), MICHEL PICCOLI (1925 - ), DENIS PODALYDES (1963 - ), BENOIT POELVOORDE (1964 - ), JEAN POIRET (1926 - 1992) [Jean Gustave Poire], ALBERT PREJEAN (1894 - 1979), RAIMU (1883 - 1946) [Jules Auguste Cesar Muraire], SERGE REGGIANI (1922 - 2004), JEAN RENO (1948 - ) [Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jimenez], PIERRE RICHARD (1934 - ) [Pierre Defays], EMMANUELLE RIVA (1927 - ) [Paulette Riva], JEAN ROCHEFORT (1930 - ), VIVIANE ROMANCE (1912 - 1991), [Pauline Arlette Ortmans], LUDIVINE SAGNIER (1979 - ), EDITH SCOB (1937 - ) [Edith Helena Vladimirovna Scobeltzine], JEAN SEBERG (1938 - 1979), EMMANUELLE SEIGNER (1966 - ), MATHILDE SEIGNER (1968 - ), MICHEL SERRAULT (1928 - 2007), DELPHINE SEYRIG (1932 - 1990), SIMONE SIGNORET (1921 - 1985) [Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker], MICHEL SIMON (1895 - 1975), SIMONE SIMON (1910 - 2005), JACQUES TATI (1907 - 1982), [Jacques Tatischeff], AUDREY TAUTOU (1976 - ), SYLVIE TESTUD (1971 - ), JEAN-LOUIS TRINTIGNANT (1930 - ), CHARLES VANEL (1892 - 1989), LINO VENTURA (1919 - 1987), BORIS VIAN (1920 - 1959), JACQUES VILLERET (1951 - 2005) [Mohammed Boufroura], JACQUES WEBER (1949 - ), LAMBERT WILSON (1958 - ), ELSA ZYLBERSTEIN (1968 - ); COMPREHENSIVE INDEX OF 2,200 FILM TITLES; THE EDITORS AND ARTISTS; THE 67 INTERNATIONAL CONTRIBUTORS.

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the 2020 Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present Book Prize​Winner of the 2019 Art Journal Prize from the College Art Association What is the role of pleasure and pain in the politics of art? In Touched Bodies, Mara Polgovsky Ezcurra approaches this question as she examines the flourishing of live and intermedial performance in Latin America during times of authoritarianism and its significance during transitions to democracy. Based on original documents and innovative readings, her book brings politics and ethics to the discussion of artistic developments during the “long 1980s”. She describes the rise of performance art in the context of feminism, HIV-activism, and human right movements, taking a close look at the work of Diamela Eltit and Raúl Zurita from Chile, León Ferrari and Liliana Maresca from Argentina, and Marcos Kurtycz, the No Grupo art collective, and Proceso Pentágono from Mexico. The comparative study of the work of these artists attests to a performative turn in Latin American art during the 1980s that, like photography and film before, recast the artistic field as a whole, changing the ways in which we perceive art and understand its role in society.Trade Review“An astute and moving book, Touched Bodies gives account of the transition from an aesthetics of representation to an aesthetics of embodiment and bodily vulnerability in Latin American art of the 1980s. A contribution to aesthetic theory as much as to the history of art, Touched Bodies extends our understanding of performance-based art in relationship to practices of vulnerability, dissensus, and cross-temporal performativity.” -- Rebecca Schneider * author of Performing Remains: Art and War in Times of Theatrical Reenactment *"Mara Polgovsky makes an outstanding contribution to the re-evaluation of the performative turn in adversarial art from 1970s and 1980s Latin America, expanding the genealogy of conceptualism and recalibrating the spectrum of body-centered practice. The originality of her approach provides unparalleled insights into the complex interaction between corporeality, political activism and the body as site of desire and vulnerability." -- Erica Segre * author of Intersected Identities *"Polgovsky’s book, which has already been shortlisted by the Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present for its 2020 Book Prize, brings to an international audience a series of artists who have broken the mould of Latin America’s default posture of political protest and produced works which sometimes condense the cry of despair in its barest expression by breaking down the gulf between their bodies and their work. She has brought to the project a remarkable combination of philosophical erudition and descriptive skill, plus the unstoppable curiosity of the best researchers. The book marks a turning point." * Journal of Latin American Studies *“An astute and moving book, Touched Bodies gives account of the transition from an aesthetics of representation to an aesthetics of embodiment and bodily vulnerability in Latin American art of the 1980s. A contribution to aesthetic theory as much as to the history of art, Touched Bodies extends our understanding of performance-based art in relationship to practices of vulnerability, dissensus, and cross-temporal performativity.” -- Rebecca Schneider * author of Performing Remains: Art and War in Times of Theatrical Reenactment *"Mara Polgovsky makes an outstanding contribution to the re-evaluation of the performative turn in adversarial art from 1970s and 1980s Latin America, expanding the genealogy of conceptualism and recalibrating the spectrum of body-centered practice. The originality of her approach provides unparalleled insights into the complex interaction between corporeality, political activism and the body as site of desire and vulnerability." -- Erica Segre * author of Intersected Identities *"Polgovsky’s book, which has already been shortlisted by the Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present for its 2020 Book Prize, brings to an international audience a series of artists who have broken the mould of Latin America’s default posture of political protest and produced works which sometimes condense the cry of despair in its barest expression by breaking down the gulf between their bodies and their work. She has brought to the project a remarkable combination of philosophical erudition and descriptive skill, plus the unstoppable curiosity of the best researchers. The book marks a turning point." * Journal of Latin American Studies *Table of ContentsIntroduction Corporeal calligraphies in times of change The long 1980s: redefining the temporality of art From curatorial to historical revisionism Beyond the art of post-dictatorship From memory studies to the aesthetics of dissensus The performative turn The ethics of performance Overview of chapters Chapter 1 – Writing the Body A precarious aesthetic A monstrous scene Territories of excess Sacrificial bodies Neonic Obscenity A mystical occasion Sor Teresa, la Lumpérica A corporeal rhetoric The implicated self Chapter 2 – Lamentations Prayerful acts Sky writing and the poetics of ambiguity The new life Song for his/her disappeared love The politics of lamentation Purgatory Neither sorrow nor fear (Un)godly fragments Chapter 3 – Mē mou haptou: Touch, Ethics, and History Waiting for Ariel A political medium? A tortured era A glimpse into 1960s collage Noli me tangere Brailles The haptic gaze Never Again Scenes from inferno Pacem in terris Chapter 4 – Nudities Le féminin Christs and mannequins Divine phobia Intimacy reawakened A scourge from God? Chapter 5 – Ritual and/of Violence Potlatch The scene of destruction The scene of war Mexico’s parodic guerrilla art The scene of ritual Liminal personae The scene of terror Letter bombing The scene of the self Exploding time Chapter 6 – Cybernetics and Face-off Play The hybrid face The interface Facial traces The (post-)facial matrix Conclusion Touched bodies The trace Acknowledgments List of References List of Figures Index

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Book SynopsisThis monograph presents a specific experience of modernity within the context of Indian dance by looking at the transcultural journey of Indian dancer / choreographer Uday Shankar (1900b – 1977d). His popularity in Europe and America as an Oriental male dancer in the first half of the 20th century, and his worldwide recognition as the Ambassador of Indian culture, are brought into a historiographical perspective within the cultural and social reforms of early twentieth century India. By exploring his artistic journey beyond India in the period between the two world wars, and his experience of dance making, presentational technique and representation of India through various phases of his life, a path is forged to understanding the emergence of modernity in Indian dance.Table of ContentsChapter 1 Uday Shankar and Indian Dance History.- Chapter 2 Modern Dance? Placing Shankar’s Transculturality in Colonial South Asia.- Chapter 3 Dancing ‘Oriental’ Masculinity: Uday Shankar and his Experiments in Modern Dance.- Chapter 4 An attempt at creating a modern institution.- Chapter 5 Beyond the Proscenium with Dance, Magic, and Film.- Chapter 6 The Illusive Legacy.

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Book SynopsisEd Watson, Principal Dancer with The Royal Ballet for over 20 years is a unique talent; a widely celebrated collaborator in dance, photography and fashion. Each illustrated essay of this gorgeous volume focuses on a distinct aspect of Watson’s career. Leading art critic Sarah Crompton discusses his trajectory from young student to principal dancer and coach with The Royal Ballet. Wayne McGregor reflects on their long and fruitful collaboration. Longtime friend Charlotte MacMillan engages in a lively conversation with the man himself, while Gareth Pugh muses on the concept of duende. Dozens of images by leading photographers—including Rick Guest, Nick Knight, Anthony Crickmay, Kosmas Pavlos, Nadav Kander, Paul Smith, Laurence Ellis, Teddy Iborra Wicksteed, Liz Seagrove, Paul Grover, and Johan Persson—depict Watson throughout his career, in rehearsal, on fashion shoots, in the dressing room, and in stills from his famed performances. Together these words and images tell the story of a performer of extraordinary versatility, exceptional physicality, and a profound artistic sensibility.

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Book SynopsisBy combing through the journals that Hannah has kept for much of her life, this collection of narrative essays deliver a fuller picture of her life, her experiences, and the things she''s figured out about family, faith, love, sexuality, self-worth, friendship and fame.Revealing what makes Hannah tick, this sometimes cringe-worthy, poignant collection of stories is sure to deliver plenty of Hannah''s wit and wisdom, and hopefully encourage you to try your hand at her patented brand of reckless optimism.Personal note:Hello, my darlings! I am incredibly pleased to present BUFFERING: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded!As a big fan of memoirs, I wanted to try my hand at writing about the events of my life that deserve a little more consideration than can be accomplished in 140-characters or a 6-minute vlog. Now on the cusp of turning 30, I''m ready to expose some parts of my life that I haven''t shared before. Before, it was all about

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Book SynopsisBeyond biography: a legendary performer’s legacy of symbolismTrade Review"Baker enthusiasts will be grateful for Jules-Rosette's challenges to other studies of Baker's life and legend. . . . It deserves a wide general readership and a significant place in the canon of Franco-American cultural studies and twentieth century French and American history."--Women's Review of Books

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Russell has positioned her concise, structurally adventurous contribution to 'Stanwyck studies' to reflect the expanding range of cultural approaches to women in media published during the past decade. . . . The twenty-six bite-sized essays cover themes of work, gender, sexuality, ageing, misogyny, class and race." --Times Literary Supplement"Catherine Russell's The Cinema of Barbara Stanwyck adds illuminating dimension to the actress's complex life story and equally vaunted career. Her meticulously researched and thoughtful analysis brings a fresh perspective to Stanwyck' s legacy, and captures the enduring power and charm of the classical Hollywood movie star." --Cineaste"The Cinema of Barbara Stanwyck makes the choice to refuse to simplify Stanwyck’s career. It underscores Stanwyck’s importance, but it doesn’t pretend like she, the films, or the era that created them are something they’re not. As a result, Russell has put together an unflinching work of criticism that must be acknowledged as the definitive work on the subject. It’s essential reading for anyone interested in Stanwyck or the era of film she headlined." --NewCity“Catherine Russell’s inventive study of Barbara Stanwyck’s long, fascinating career as a ‘working star’ offers a tantalizing model for other feminist histories of women’s work in the film industry. Achronological and essayistic, Russell’s approach weaves back and forth between Stanwyck’s onscreen roles, her star persona, and her working life to document what Russell calls ‘the structural misogyny of the industry.’”--Shelley Stamp, author of Lois Weber in Early Hollywood and Movie-Struck Girls“A deeply creative and insightful critical study of Barbara Stanwyck’s agency and labor as a performer, The Cinema of Barbara Stanwyck is a stunning blend of feminist historiography, archival research, star-studies, biography, and film analysis--a rewarding and immensely pleasurable read.”--Julie Grossman, author of The Femme FataleTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction to Stanwyck Studies A All I Desire: Pastiche and Performance B The Barbara Stanwyck Show: Everyday Melodrama C Crimes of Passion: A Destructive Character D Dion the Son, and Barbara the Bad Mother E Edith Head: Clothing Makes the Woman a Woman F Forty Guns and The Furies: Angry Women G Gambling Ladies: Playing Games H William Holden: Making Men I Illicit: How to be Ultramodern J Jungle Films/White Women K Kate Crawley: Cross-Dressing in the Archive L The Lady Eve: Performativity and Melancholia M Fred MacMurray: Kissing and Playing N No Man of Her Own: Double Women and the Star O Annie Oakley: A Girl and a Gun P Paranoia, Abjection, and Gaslighting Q The Queen R Riding, Falling, and Stunts S The Stella Dallas Debates T Theresa Harris: Black Double U Union Pacific: Unmaking History V Voice, Body, Identity W Working Women and Cultural Labor X Exotica and Bitter Tears Y You Belong to Me: Archives and Fans Z Zeppo Marx: Comedy and Agency Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIllustrates how American ballet developed over the course of the twentieth century from an aesthetic originating in the courts of Europe into a stylistically diverse expression of a democratic culture. West places at centre stage two artists who were instrumental to this story: Todd Bolender and Janet Reed.

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Book SynopsisFor young people, the space of the drama classroom can be a space for deep learning as they struggle across difference to create something together with common purpose. Collaborating across institutions, theatres, and community spaces, the research in Hope in a Collapsing World mobilizes theatre to build its methodology and create new data with young people as they seek the language of performance to communicate their worries, fears, and dreams to a global network of researchers and a wider public. A collaboration between a social scientist and a playwright and using both ethnographic study and playwriting, Hope in a Collapsing World represents a groundbreaking hybrid format of research text and original script titled Towards Youth: A Play on Radical Hope for reading, experimentation, and performance. Table of ContentsDedication Figures and Tables Acknowledgements I Acknowledgements II Prologue Part I: Listening, Pedagogy, Theatre, and Cultural Citizenship Listening as an Artful Practice of Care Listening and Caring as Political Acts Creating Social Value from Theatre The System: Worlds Apart but Structurally Familiar The Settings: Brief Social, Political and Educational Portraits of Athens, Lucknow, Coventry, Tainan, Toronto Athens, Greece: Setting the Context Lucknow, India: Setting the Context Coventry, England: Setting the Context Tainan, Taiwan: Setting the Context Toronto, Canada: Setting the Context Ethnography and its Ecologies An Overview of Data Collection A Word about Ethnography The Qualitative Landscape: Care and Cultural Citizenship Daring to Dream in Greek Austerity Misfit Citizenship and Political Personhood in India: A Methodology of Critical Dialogue and Rehearsed Futurity Hope, Performance Pedagogies, and Democratic Citizenship Canley Youth Theatre’s Missive to the World—Listen A Pedagogy of Hope Tainan Students Making the World they Need The Self, the Collective: Theatre and Social Change Interdependency Against All Odds Voicing Toronto Stories for a more Equal World The Territory of Race, Racism, and Gender in Verbatim Theatre Creation Visible and Invisible Vulnerabilities in Oral History Storytelling Muckles’ Story of Hearing and Being Heard Youth Alienation from Mainstream Politics: Who is the Knowledgeable Citizen? Devising Theatre, Identity and the Search for Structure and Meaning Hope and Care in the Quantitative Landscape Key Quantitative Findings Across Sites ‘Outside the Mainstream’ and the Nature of Personal Hope and Experiences of Care Generating Hope through Self-Creation in the School, the Community, and in the Drama-Making Space Young People as Care-Givers Finding and Giving Care in Context To Conclude: Wrestling Towards Hope through Relationships of Care Epilogue: Acting in Concert Turning Towards Part II: Towards Youth Audience Research Part II: A Step Towards Youth By Andrew Kushnir Towards Youth: A Play on Radical Hope By Andrew Kushnir Appendix References Index

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Book SynopsisA pioneer of the New Queer Cinema, Todd Haynes (b. 1961) is a leading American independent filmmaker. He has garnered numerous awards and nominations and an expanding fan base for his provocative and engaging work. Gathering interviews from 1989 to 2012, this collection presents a range of themes, films, and moments in the burgeoning career of Todd Haynes.

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Book SynopsisThe winner of two Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film in only five years, Asghar Farhadi has become Iran's most prominent director since the late Abbas Kiarostami. This volume offers a unique perspective into his career and sheds light on what Farhadi sees as his role and responsibilities as an Iranian filmmaker in a global age.

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Book SynopsisBarbara Stanwyck (1907-1990) rose from the ranks of chorus girl to become one of Hollywood's most talented leading women-and America's highest paid woman in the mid-1940s. Shuttled among foster homes as a child, she took a number of low-wage jobs while she determinedly made the connections that landed her in successful Broadway productions. Stanwyck then acted in a stream of high-quality films from the 1930s through the 1950s. Directors such as Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang, and Frank Capra treasured her particular magic. A four-time Academy Award nominee, winner of three Emmys and a Golden Globe, she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Academy.Dan Callahan considers both Stanwyck's life and her art, exploring her seminal collaborations with Capra in such great films as Ladies of Leisure, The Miracle Woman, and The Bitter Tea of General Yen; her Pre-Code movies Night Nurse and Baby Face; and her classic roles in Stella Dallas, Remember the Night, The Lady Eve, and Double Indemnity. After making more than eighty films in Hollywood, she revived her career by turning to television, where her role in the 1960s series The Big Valley renewed her immense popularity.Callahan examines Stanwyck's career in relation to the directors she worked with and the genres she worked in, leading up to her late-career triumphs in two films directed by Douglas Sirk, All I Desire and There's Always Tomorrow, and two outrageous westerns, The Furies and Forty Guns. The book positions Stanwyck where she belongs-at the very top of her profession-and offers a close, sympathetic reading of her performances in all their range and complexity.

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Book SynopsisAbraham Polonsky (1910-1999), screenwriter and filmmaker of the mid-twentieth-century Left, recognized his writerly mission to reveal the aspirations of his characters in a material society structured to undermine their hopes. In the process, he ennobled their struggle. His auspicious beginning in Hollywood reached a zenith with his Oscar-nominated screenplay for Robert Rossen's boxing noir, Body and Soul (1947), and his inaugural film as writer and director, Force of Evil (1948), before he was blacklisted during the McCarthy witch hunt. Polonsky envisioned cinema as a modern artist. His aesthetic appreciation for each technical component of the screen aroused him to create voiceovers of urban cadences--poetic monologues spoken by the city's everyman, embodied by the actor who played his heroes best, John Garfield. His use of David Raksin's score in Force of Evil, against the backdrop of the grandeur of New York City's landscape and the conflict between the brothers Joe and Leo Morse, elevated film noir into classical family tragedy. Like Garfield, Polonsky faced persecution and an aborted career during the blacklist. But unlike Garfield, Polonsky survived to resume his career in Hollywood during the ferment of the late sixties. Then his vision of a changing society found allegorical expression in Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, his impressive anti-Western showing the destruction of the Paiute rebel outsider, Willie Boy, and cementing Polonsky as a moral voice in cinema.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Courageous and passionate enough to always embrace change, Linda has infused her life, love, and creativity with spirituality and a truly open heart." -- Jane Seymour, actress "Linda and Elvis sitting in bed doing [Monty] Python sketches in shrilt middle-aged women's voices was something I found hard to believe. I love this woman. You will too." -- Eric Idle, comedian "Linda has led an extraordinary life filled with both blessings and challenges, but she has met them both with grace and kindness." -- Roma Downey, actress "From Graceland's Jungle Room to the beaches of Malibu, my dear friend Linda shares her incredibly interesting and emotional journey, where she never once lost her sense of humor or maiden name." -- Kevin Nealon, comedian "Once in a while a memoir comes along that will change your life. This is not that book, but it is a fascinating inside look at pop-culture history from the nicest, most beautiful woman in the world." -- Jon Lovitz, comedian "Linda Thompson has had quite a life, and she's quite a woman. She is sweet, gentle, articulate, and loving. She's glamorous, so fun-and she's a mom. As her song says, this is all 'a little thing called life' but her life was no little thing." -- Tony Danza, actor "A funny thing happened on the way to Linda's life, namely Elvis, Bruce/Caitlyn, David Foster, and a rock star son. I was mesmerized by the front row seat 'behind the curtain.' A must-read!" -- Sela Ward, actress "Linda is loving, full of spirit, and always makes you feel as if you are the most important person in the room." -- Tim Allen, comedian "Words are the voice of the heart, and with Linda's Southern grace, she speaks with the tenderness, strength, and resilience of a true Steel Magnolia." -- Billy Ray Cyrus, musician "What amazes me about Linda goes far beyond her ridiculous talents for writing lyrics-it is that amidst the interesting and seemingly overwhelming and unique life she's led, she has remained the same beautiful human being she has always been." -- Brooke Shields, actress

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Book SynopsisA Sunday Times Book of the Year 'For anyone interested in Lee's legacy, this is a roundhouse kick of a biography' – Sunday Times'At last, Bruce Lee has the powerful biography he deserves... It will thrill Lee's fans and fascinate the unfamiliar' – Jonathan Eig, author of Ali: A Life and Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig'Meticulously researched' – Jimmy McDonough, author of Shakey: Neil Young’s Biography and Soul Survivor: A Biography of Al Green'You won't find a better match for a biographer with his subject than Matthew Polly and Bruce Lee... A definitive biography, told with passion and punch' – Brian Jay Jones, author George Lucas: A Life and Jim Henson: The Biography.  Trade Review'For anyone interested in Lee's legacy, this is a roundhouse kick of a biography.' * Sunday Times *'Proper biographical investigation … From his early street fights to his friendship with Steve McQueen, from his cha-cha to his one-inch punch, Bruce Lee was made to be Bruce Lee. And Matthew Polly was made to be his biographer.' * The Spectator *'The first in-depth account of Lee's journey from a street-brawling teenager to a global icon … Lee's charisma, ambition and relentless appetite for combat leap off the pages.' * CNN *'Matthew Polly’s new biography is long overdue but does Hong Kong’s most famous son proud ... engaging, enthusiastic and empathetic.' * South China Morning Post Magazine *'The first noteworthy treatment of its subject – and a definitive one at that ... Fascinating.' * New York Times Book Review *'Proof that dogged research and sharp insight lie at the foundation of any successful biography … a definitive work to satisfy Lee’s fans and spark curiosity in a new generation.' * Associated Press *'This thorough, well-sourced biography from Polly is an engrossing examination of the life of a martial arts movie star and his shocking, early death ... Polly wonderfully profiles the man who constructed a new, masculine Asian archetype and ushered kung fu into pop culture.' * Publisher's Weekly *'At last, Bruce Lee has the powerful biography he deserves. Matthew Polly’s book is packed with new information and sharp insights. It will thrill Lee’s fans and fascinate the unfamiliar. Bravo!' —Jonathan Eig, author of Ali: A Life and Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig'You won’t find a better match for a biographer with his subject than Matthew Polly and Bruce Lee. From Lee's early days as the self-proclaimed Cha-cha Champion of Hong Kong to his final, fiery years as the iconic, fist flashing, kung-fu master, Polly tells Bruce Lee’s story with clarity and empathy, tearing away the myths to reveal Lee’s most interesting persona yet: the man himself. A definitive biography, told with passion and punch.' — Brian Jay Jones, author George Lucas: A Life and Jim Henson: The Biography. 'Believe it or not, Bruce Lee has never been the subject of a truly in-depth biography—until now. With this meticulously researched, beautifully realised work, Matthew Polly has written the definitive account. It moves with the authority, grace and economy of Lee himself. I was hooked from the first chapter.' —Jimmy McDonough, author Shakey: Neil Young’s Biography and Soul Survivor: A Biography of Al Green

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