Other performing arts Books

Book SynopsisBritish filmmaker Michael Powell (1905-1990) began his career assisting director Rex Ingram in the waning years of silent film. Given a boost by Alfred Hitchcock, Powell spent much of the 1930s directing what were known as ""quota quickies,"" low-budget B movies. Later he created some of the most daring, interesting, and literate films ever made, including The Edge of the World (1937), Peeping Tom (1960), and his work with Hungarian-born filmmaker Emeric Pressburger, with whom producer/director Alexander Korda paired him. Powell's conversations disclose the same intellectual and artistic range that makes his films so rewarding. This collection of interviews manifests how he imagined himself simultaneously as a classic English gentleman and as a citizen of the world, making films with social conscience about life both in England and abroad. His expressions are charged with brilliance, wit, and jauntiness as he discusses his work on Thief of Baghdad, One of Our Aircraft Is Missing, The Red Shoes, The Tales of Hoffman, and Black Narcissus, as well as the politics of the British film industry. He is candid about the controversy surrounding his thriller Peeping Tom (1960). Now regarded as a classic, it was so derided upon its original release that Powell could not direct in the United Kingdom for a decade. This collection reveals the mind and the tactics of a master filmmaker who is woefully under-known, even as his films are widely celebrated throughout the world. Martin Scorsese, whom Powell befriended in his later years, considers him a towering genius of cinema. David Lazar, an associate professor of English at Ohio University, senior editor of Hotel Amerika, and editor/publisher of CreativeNonfiction.com, edited Conversations with M. F. K. Fisher (University Press of Mississippi). He is the author of The Body of Brooklyn and his work has appeared in the Houston Chronicle, Aperture, Southwest Review, and many other journals and magazines.

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Book SynopsisThe Routledge Pantomime Reader is the first anthology to document this entertainment genreone of the most distinctive and ubiquitous in nineteenth-century Britain. Across ten different shows, readers witness pantomime's development from a highly improvisational venue for clowning, dance, and musical parody to a complex amalgamation of physical and topical comedy, stage wizardry, scenic spectacle, satire, and magical mayhem. Combining well-known tales such as Cinderella, Aladdin, and Jack and the Beanstalk with the lesser-known plotlines of Peter Wilkins and The Prince of Happy Land, the book demonstrates not only how popular narratives were adapted to the current moment, but also how this blend of high and low entertainment addressed a whole range of social and cultural anxieties. Along with carefully annotated scripts, readers will find detailed introductions to all of the collected pantomimes and supplementary materials such as reviews, reminiscences, and a host ofTrade Review"Providing more than a century of pantomime texts as incontrovertible evidence, Professors Schacker and O’Quinn offer a wonderfully fresh approach to the study of English pantomime, demonstrating the genre’s mutability over time whilst focusing precise scholarly attention on performance and on the changing cultural circumstances in which pantomimes were conceived, performed, and enjoyed." - David Mayer, Emeritus Professor of Drama at the University of Manchester, UKTable of ContentsGeneral Introduction; Chapter 1: Three Sadler’s Wells Entertainments (1800); Chapter 2: Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper (1804); Chapter 3: Harlequin and Mother Goose, or, The Golden Egg (1806); Chapter 4: Aladdin; or, The Wonderful Lamp (1813); Chapter 5: Puss in Boots; An Original Comical, Magical, Mew-sical Fairy Burletta, in One Act (1837); Chapter 6: The Prince of Happy Land; or, The Fawn in the Forest (1851); Chapter 7: Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves; or, Harlequin and the Genii of the Arabian Nights (1866); Chapter 8: Robinson Crusoe, or Friday and the Fairies (1868); Chapter 9: Bluebeard; The Old Story Re-Told (1879); Chapter 10: Jack and the Beanstalk (1899); Recommended Readings

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Book SynopsisJokes have always been part of African culture, but never have they been so blended with the strains and gains of the contemporary African world as today. Joke-Performance in Africa describes and analyses the diverse aesthetics, forms, and media of jokes and their performance and shows how African jokes embody the anxieties of the time and space in which they are enacted.The book considers the pervasive phenomenon of jokes and their performance across Africa in such forms as local jests, street jokes, cartoons, mchongoano, ewhe-eje, stand-up comedy, internet sex jokes, and âcomicastâ transmitted via modern technology media such as the TV, CDs, DVDs, the internet platforms of YouTube, Facebook, and other social arenas, as well as live performances. Countries represented are Egypt, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Nigeria, and Zambia, covering the North, West, East and Southern Africa. The book explores the description of the joke form from various perspectives, ranging from critical discourse analysis, interviews, humour theories, psychoanalysis, the postcolony and technauriture, to the interactive dramaturgy of joke-performances, irrespective of media and modes of performance.Containing insightful contributions from leading African scholars, the book acquaints readers with detailed descriptions of the diverse aesthetics of contemporary African jokes, thereby contributing to the current understanding of joke-performance in Africa. It will appeal to students and scholars of African studies, popular culture, theatre, performance studies and literary studies.Trade ReviewThis is not just another book about Africa. It is a splendid book by scholars who know this Africa that is often glossed over by the so-called experts. It is about the other Africa, ignored but unbowed. In one essay after the other, the eloquence of this Africa speaks to us across different media, asking us to rethink this Africa intimately and wisely. This is a rare collection of essays about joke and joking in Africa. No Africanist must do without it. Onookome Okome, University of Alberta, CanadaTable of ContentsIntroduction Part I ‘JOKING ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT’ 1. (Re)Imagining the Postcolony in Kenya’s The XYZ Show Joke-Cartoons, Remmy Shiundu Barasa 2. Nigeria’s 2015 Presidential Elections and the Rise of "Comicast", Ignatius Chukwumah 3. Joking About the Government: A Close Reading of the Moroccan Comic Show: ‘The School of the Naughty’, Zakariae Bouhmala Part II TRADITIONAL FORMS AND (POST)MODERN CONTEXTS 4. Ehwe-Ejẹ: Art and Humour in Urhobo Joke-Performance, Peter E. Omoko 5. Aesthetics of Anganga Afiki’s Video Joke-Performance in Malawi, Smith Likongwe 6. Joke-Performance and the Tiv Cultural Context of Satirizing and Appraising Postmodernity, Godwin Aondofa Ikyer7. Egyptian Satire in Modern Media Age, Sebastian Gadomski Part III STREET JOKES 8. (Con)text and Performance of Mchongoano: An Urban Youth Joke Genre in Kenya, Wangari Mwai, David Kimongo and Charles Kebaya 9. Joke-Performance in Egypt: Halah and Kouta Hamra, Heba M. Sharobeem Part IV SEX AND GENDER 10. The Aesthetics of the Ugly: Perspectives on Degrading Online Sex Jokes in Kenya, Felix A. Orina and Fred W. Simiyu 11. Dorika’s Metamorphosis: The Allusive Potency of a Comic Character, Cheela Himutwe K. Chilala 12. "From the ‘Beautiful’ to the ‘Bold’: A Linguistic Analysis of Some Doaa Farouk’s Humorous Texts", Mona Eid Saad Part V STAND-UP COMEDY 13. Severity in Hilarity: Appraising the Satirical Value of Stand-up Comedy in Nigeria, Samuel O. Igomu 14. Ideological Undertones in Mediatised Comedy in ‘Churchill Live’ Show of Kenya, Khaemba Josephine Mulindi & Michael Mule Ndonye

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Book SynopsisThis book examines and illustrates the use of design principles, design thinking, and other empathy research techniques in university and public settings, to plan and ethically target socially-concerned transmedia stories and evaluate their success through user experience testing methods. All media industries continue to adjust to a dispersed, diverse, and dilettante mediascape where reaching a large global audience may be easy but communicating with a decisive and engaged public is more difficult. This challenge is arguably toughest for communicators who work to engage a public with reality rather than escape. The chapters in this volume outline the pedagogy and practice of design, empathy research methods for story development, transmedia logics for socially-concerned stories, development of community engagement and the embrace of collective narrative, art and science research collaboration, the role of mixed and virtual reality in prosocial communication, ethical audienceTable of Contents1. Introduction; 2. Native, Emergent, and Feral Transmedia Storyworlds; 3. Design Thinking and the Storytelling Goal; 4. Deploying Design Thinking for Story Design: Case Studies; 5. Contextualizing the American Opioid Crisis: A Case Study in Transmedia Harm Reduction; 6. Storylines and Conceptual Lineage: Tomas van Houtryve and the Contextualization of History; 7. Challenging Hegemonic Narratives: Power of Story-Based Design Strategies in Activating Sustainable Social Change; 8. Teaching Transmedia Practice in a Design School: The Plug Social TV Experience; 9. Transmedia Action Research: Progressive Pedagogy and Community Engagement; 10. Water from Fog: Transmedia Storytelling and Humanitarian Engineering; 11. Encounters: Art, Science, Clouds and Water; 12. Addressing Social Issues Through Immersive Media; 13. Immersive Storytelling Case Studies: Eva: A-7063, Lesson Learned from That Dragon Cancer, and Coming Home Virtually; 14. Design Thinking as a Tool for Ethical Audience Targeting; 15. The Revolutionist: Eugene V. Debs – A Transmedia Experience for Public Media Audiences; 16. User Experience Design and Testing for Socially-Concerned Storytelling; 17. User Experience Case Study: Professor Garfield’s 21st Century Literacy Project; 18. Conclusion: Defining a Flexible Framework for Analysis or Design of Socially-Concerned Transmedia Stories

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Book SynopsisPlay helps define who we are as human beings. However, many of the leisurely/ludic activities people participate in are created and governed by corporate entities with social, political, and business agendas. As such, it is critical that scholars understand and explicate the ideological underpinnings of played-through experiences and how they affect the player/performers who engage in them.This book explores how people play and why their play matters, with a particular interest in how ludic experiences are often constructed and controlled by the interests of institutions, including corporations, non-profit organizations, government agencies, religious organizations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Each chapter explores diverse sites of play. From theme parks to comic conventions to massively-multiplayer online games, they probe what roles the designers of these experiences construct for players, and how such play might affect participants' identities and ideTable of Contents1. Introduction: Play Matters Matt Omasta & Drew Chappell 2. Warriors, Wizards, and Clerics: Heroric Identify Construction in Live Action Role Playing Games Dani Snyder-Young 3. Homo Ludens and the Sharks: Structuring Alternative Realities while Shark Cage Diving in South Africa Michael Schwartz 4. Playfully Empowering: Stunt Runners and Momentary Performance Terry Brino-Dean 5. The Future of Family Play at Epcot John Newman 6. Mormons Think They Should Dance Megan Sanborn Jones 7. All the Dungeon's a Stage: The Lived Experiences of Commercial BDSM Players Danielle Szlawieniec-Haw 8. Cheering is Tied to Eating: Consumption and Excess in Immersive, Role-Specific Dinner Theatre Spaces Drew Chappell 9. Becoming Batman: Cosplay, Performance, and Ludic Transformation at Comic-Con Kane Anderson 10. Plaza Indonesia: Performing Modernity in a Shopping Mall Jennifer Goodlander 11. Britpicking as Cultural Policing in Fanfiction Erin Horáková 12. Dramatic Manipulations: Conflict, Empathy, and Identity in World of Warcraft Kimi Johnson 13. Afterword: Who are You? Matt Omasta & Drew Chappell

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Book SynopsisThe overthrow of the âgang of fourâ in 1976 had profound effects in all areas of Chinese society, and probably nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in the performing arts. Jiang Qing, Mao Zedongâs widow, was strongly interested in the performing arts and exercised great influence over them. Professor Mackerras describes this influence and the effects its removal had on the arts in the years after Maoâs death, as well as in the years following the Cultural Revolution.This book, first published in 1981, deals not only with opera, the spoken play, music and dance but also with cinema, describing how in all these cases the Chinese have adapted traditional art forms for political, social and propagandist purposes, both domestic and international. It charts the transformations that have taken place in all the multiple aspects of the performing arts and sets them against the development of Chinese society as a whole. It also looks at the role of the actor and performer in sociTable of Contents1. Historical Background 2. Performing Arts Policy in the History of China since Mao Zedong 3. The Traditional Forms of the Performing Arts since 1976 4. Theatre in its Modern Forms 5. The Cinema 6. Music in the Performing Arts 7. Bringing Performances to Fruition 8. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThe overthrow of the gang of four' in 1976 had profound effects in all areas of Chinese society, and probably nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in the performing arts. Jiang Qing, Mao Zedong's widow, was strongly interested in the performing arts and exercised great influence over them. Professor Mackerras describes this influence and the effects its removal had on the arts in the years after Mao's death, as well as in the years following the Cultural Revolution.This book, first published in 1981, deals not only with opera, the spoken play, music and dance but also with cinema, describing how in all these cases the Chinese have adapted traditional art forms for political, social and propagandist purposes, both domestic and international. It charts the transformations that have taken place in all the multiple aspects of the performing arts and sets them against the development of Chinese society as a whole. It also looks at the role of the actor and performer iTable of Contents1. Historical Background 2. Performing Arts Policy in the History of China since Mao Zedong 3. The Traditional Forms of the Performing Arts since 1976 4. Theatre in its Modern Forms 5. The Cinema 6. Music in the Performing Arts 7. Bringing Performances to Fruition 8. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThe question of why we laugh (or don't laugh) has intrigued scholars since antiquity. This book contributes to that debate by exploring how we evaluate screen comedy. What kinds of criteria do we use to judge films and TV shows that are meant to be funny? And what might that have to do with our social and cultural backgrounds, or with wider cultural ideas about film, TV, comedy, quality and entertainment? The book examines these questions through a study of audience responses posted to online facilities such as Twitter, Facebook, review sites, blogs and message boards. Boreâs analysis of these responses considers a broad range of issues, including how audiences perceive the idea of national comedy; what they think of female comedians; how they evaluate romcoms, sitcoms and web comedy; what they think is acceptable to joke about; what comedy fans get excited about; how fans interact with star comedians; and what comedy viewers really despise. The book demonstrates some of the ways inTrade ReviewScreen Comedy and Online Audiences is boldly, brilliantly diverse, offering up a multi-text exploration of how different modalities, hybrids and subgenres of screen comedy are valued (or not) by an equally diverse range of audiences. Inger-Lise Kalviknes Bore also adopts a multi-sited approach, deftly analysing responses and reviews across the likes of amazon.com, Facebook, imdb, Pinterest, reddit, Tumblr, Twitter and YouTube. Brimming with insight, this book shows how indispensable fan/audience studies can be for understanding comedy’s cultural politics and affective resonances.—Professor Matt Hills, University of HuddersfieldAt last! A detailed, evidence-based study of the major gap in the study of media and comedy; audiences. Offering a convincing argument for the specificity of comedy as a mode of popular media, this book artfully explores audience responses to a range of humorous media on TV, in film, and online. With chapters on gender, fandom, romcom, offence and comic failure, Bore’s analysis pinpoints the importance of finding out what people do with comedy. As such, it impressively forges an important new direction in the study of media and humour.—Dr. Brett Mills, University of East AngliaTable of Contents1. Introduction2. Comedy and comedian fandom: Parks and Recreation on Tumblr3. Women in Hollywood comedy: P/reviewing Bridesmaids and Ghostbusters 4. National and transnational comedy: Lilyhammer on NRK and Netflix 5. Black web comedy: Brothers With No Game on YouTube6. Sitcom audiences and genre developments: Everybody Hates Chris, Miranda and Gavin & Stacey7. Reviewing romcom: (500) Days of Summer on IMDb8. Comedy and transgression: Pinning Amy Schumer 9. Unintentional comedy and comic failure: Tommy Wiseau fandom on reddit

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Book SynopsisUsing historical evidence as well as personal accounts, Tracy C. Davis examines the reality of conditions for `ordinary'' actresses, their working environments, employment patterns and the reasons why acting continued to be such a popular, though insecure, profession. Firmly grounded in Marxist and feminist theory she looks at representations of women on stage, and the meanings associated with and generated by them.Trade Review`What is most impressive in Davis's study is the broad spectrum of her research. It includes not only the famous names from the era, but the working women of low rank who entered the profession as a means of securing social independence in an age when women belonged to men.' - New Statesman & Society`This book transforms nineteenth century theatre studies. Tracy Davis brings feminist scholarship and perspectives tellingly to bear on her investigation of the meanings and practices of the world of actresses in the nineteenth century.' - Theatre Research International`Its a sophisticated scholarship (there are over 450 footnotes) championing a neglected rarity of 19th-century cultural history: women as legitimate autonomous professionals' - City Limits`It is fascinating and important that someone has at last tackled the topic of women performers as workers, and Tracy Davis is particularly insightful about the ways their image was sexualised by society.' - Morning StarTable of ContentsPart I The Profession 1 THE SOCIOECONOMIC ORGANIZATION OF THE THEATRE 2 SEX, GENDER, AND SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHY 3 THE SOCIAL DYNAMIC AND ‘RESPECTABILITY’ Part II Conditions of work 4 ACTRESSES AND THE MISE EN SCÈNE 5 THE GEOGRAPHY OF SEX IN SOCIETY AND THEATRE

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Book SynopsisKatherine Liepe-Levinson has spent three years researching heterosexual female and male striptease in North America: this is the first full length theoretically informed study of striptease.Trade Review'Insightful, informative, and as provocative as the art form it considers. Strip Show is a refreshing book, which seeks to illuminate a subject too often avoided or misunderstood, highlighting the professional theatricality of some of the world's most daring performers.' - Neil Eckersley, Manchester on StageTable of ContentsList of illustrations, Acknowledgements, Introduction: Strip show: Performances of gender and desire, 1 Urban locations of desire: A tale of five cities, 2 Interiors, 3 Costume dramas and sexual subjectivity, 4 Choreography I: The basic moves, 5 Choreography II: Structure, pleasure, and “confessional” narratives of the body, 6 Performing spectators: The pleasure of mimetic jeopardy, 7 Epilogue as intermezzo: The saga of the strip show, or the battles over sexual representation rage on…, Appendix, Notes, Select bibliography, Index

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Book SynopsisThis book offers an account of an unprecedented North American study of contemporary female and male strip shows. It particularly focuses on the contradictory sex roles, cultural positions, and performance practices of ''straight'' strip shows during their second heyday in the early 1990s.Katherine Liepe-Levinson''s research took her to over seventy different strip bars, clubs, theatres and sex emporiums ranging from elaborate lap-dancing and couch-dancing ''gentlemen''s'' clubs in New York, Houston, and San Francisco; to Peoria''s onetime duplex cabaret where women strip for men downstairs, and men for women upstairs; to the nightclubs of Montreal where female and male performers displayed the ''Full Monty''. Liepe-Levinson''s intriguing, comprehensive study concentrates on the cultural and theatrical elements of the strip shows themselves including the geographic locations and interior designs of the clubs, the choreography and costumes of the dancers and the all-important paTrade Review'Insightful, informative, and as provocative as the art form it considers. Strip Show is a refreshing book, which seeks to illuminate a subject too often avoided or misunderstood, highlighting the professional theatricality of some of the world's most daring performers.' - Neil Eckersley, Manchester on StageTable of ContentsList of illustrations, Acknowledgements, Introduction: Strip show: Performances of gender and desire, 1 Urban locations of desire: A tale of five cities, 2 Interiors, 3 Costume dramas and sexual subjectivity, 4 Choreography I: The basic moves, 5 Choreography II: Structure, pleasure, and “confessional” narratives of the body, 6 Performing spectators: The pleasure of mimetic jeopardy, 7 Epilogue as intermezzo: The saga of the strip show, or the battles over sexual representation rage on…, Appendix, Notes, Select bibliography, Index

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Book SynopsisThis radical new evaluation of music making in the past and future will be essential reading for students of aesthetics, the philosophy of music, as well as musicologists and performance specialists.Table of ContentsIntroduction PART I Central aspects of performance 1 A model of musical performance 2 Skills and Guilds PART II Challenges to the model 3 Performances and musical works 4 Computers, ready-mades, and artistic agency 5 Experiments with musical agency 6 Artists, programs, and performance

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Book SynopsisIncreasingly significant as mediators of spatial identity and meaning, leisure, tourism, culture and heritage are only now beginning to be located within the rapidly evolving discourses of poststructuralist geographies.Exploring the influence of leisure and tourism on the production, representation and consumption of landscape, the first half of this important book focuses on different ways of seeing' or representing landscape, whereas the second half examines different forms of productive consumption in leisure and tourism. Both symbolic and material spaces of leisure and tourism are also examined in relation to urban and rural landscapes, heritage landscapes, gendered landscapes, and landscapes of sexuality and desire.With a multidisciplinary approach and a strong theoretical content which builds on poststructuralist theories, this is undoubtedly an important addition to literature in the field.Table of Contents1. Introduction A place for leisure and tourism? From geography to geographies Theorising the social-cultural nexus Social and cultural geographies of leisure and tourism landscapes 2. Locating Landscapes: Geographies of Lesiure and Tourism Introduction Colonial geographies: mapping regional territories Systematic geographies: modelling land use and tourism Landscape evaluations: mapping scenic amenity in leisure and tourism Tourism geographies: topologies of land use Structuralist interpretations of leisure and tourism landscapes Post-colonial geographies of leisure and tourism Geography's cultural turn: the spatiality of leisure and tourism Leisure geographies of the street Tourism geographies of the spectacle and monument Geographies of social and cultural exclusion Overview 3. Moving Landscpaes: Leisure and Tourism in Time and Space Introduction The Journey, travel and discovery Prospects of pleasure, landscapes of feeling Annihilating time and distance Landscape, leisure and mobility Road to nowhere? Overview 4. Valuing the Countryside: Leisure, Tourism and the Rural Landscape Introduction Nature was His book Access and exclusion Landscape fit for heroes A people's charter for the open air A countryside for all? Overview 5. Introduction A landscape aesthetic? The socio-cultural context Landscape and imaginative reconstuction The Highlands of Scotland Ossianic tourism The Highlander in the picture The Highlands of Walter Scott Travelling in the Highlands Royal Patrons A Literary way of seeing The real Highlands Overview 6. Heritage Landscapes: Merging Past and Present Introduction The evolution of heritage Heritage in the landscape Stonehenge: multi-vocal landscape Avebury: evolving landscape Tintagel: mythical landscape Overview 7. Gendered Landscapes: Constructing and Consuming Leisure and Tourism Inroduction Spatialised feminism Feminism and leisure landscapes Gendered space Deconstructing dualisms The gendered other Gender and landscapes of tourism Gender and landscapes of heritage Overview 8. Retrophilia and the Urban Landscape Introduction Antiquity, restoration and fake Reverence, worldliness and action Modernism, collective memory and amnesia Urban conservation and civic pride Commercialism, decadence and tourism The historic quarters of London's City Fringe Overview 9. Landscapes of Desire: Reappropriating the City Introduction Queer space: material and symbolic landscapes Gay destinations: the landscape of the city Sexuality and spectacle: the landscape of the street Sexuality and hospitality: the landscape of the hotel Overview 10. Leisure, Tourism and Culture: Relocating Landscapes

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Book SynopsisSusan Castilloâs pioneering study examines the extraordinary proliferation of polyphonic or âmulti-voicedâ texts in the three centuries following the first contact between Europeans and the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Taking a selection of plays, printed dialogues, travel narratives and lexicographic studies in English, Spanish and French, the book explores both European and indigenous writers of the early Americas. Paying particular attention to performance and performativity in the texts of the early colonial world, Susan Castillo asks: why vast numbers of polyphonic and performative texts emerged in the Early Americas how these texts enabled explorers, settlers and indigenous groups to come to terms with radical differences in language, behaviour and cultural practices how dialogues, plays and paratheatrical texts were used to impose or resist ideologies and cultural norms how performance and polyphony allowed Europeans and AmericanTrade Review 'The book covers an extraordinarily large and fascinating body of material produced in three languages over three centuries. Few, if any, other scholars would have the knowledge to analyse such a range. It’s written in a scholarly yet engaging fashion, which will make it both accessible to a large readership and authoritative within its field.' - Peter Hulme, University of Essex, UK 'Brilliant... this will be a terrific book.' - Thomas Scanlan, Ohio University, USA 'A landmark book that suceeds in bridging cultural, linguistic and disciplinary divides, and demonstrates the value of a comparative approach to American literary studies.' - American Studies'[This book] attests to the vibrant state of contemporary scholarship in the once neglected area of American theater studies... Colonial Encounters in New World Writing brings together a valuable and impressive array of knowledge about drama and performance in the Spanish colonial era... It documents and makes accessible a history that has been unrecognized in English-dominated American Studies... Castillo brings a valuable theoretical perspective to this fascinating material... This book thus makes a unique and significant contribution to the understanding of cultural differences and interactions.' - William and Mary Quarterly 'One of the real strengths of this consistently illuminating book is the diversity of the material.' - David Murray, Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change 'The book covers an extraordinarily large and fascinating body of material produced in three languages over three centuries. Few, if any, other scholars would have the knowledge to analyse such a range. It’s written in a scholarly yet engaging fashion, which will make it both accessible to a large readership and authoritative within its field.' – Peter Hulme, University of Essex, UK 'Brilliant... this will be a terrific book.' – Thomas Scanlan, Ohio University, USA 'A landmark book that suceeds in bridging cultural, linguistic and disciplinary divides, and demonstrates the value of a comparative approach to American literary studies.' – American Studies '[This book] attests to the vibrant state of contemporary scholarship in the once neglected area of American theater studies... Colonial Encounters in New World Writing brings together a valuable and impressive array of knowledge about drama and performance in the Spanish colonial era... It documents and makes accessible a history that has been unrecognized in English-dominated American Studies... Castillo brings a valuable theoretical perspective to this fascinating material... This book thus makes a unique and significant contribution to the understanding of cultural differences and interactions.' – William and Mary Quarterly 'Castillo displays a daunting command of the literatures of the colonial Americas.... Castillo's own "American performance" is thus precisely what she calls others, "dazzling."' - Josh Bellin, Early American Literature 'Castillo's book is a lively and engaging, erudite and convincing account of an extrodinarily wide range of materials...Castillo's ability to make accesible to the non-specialist such a divergent selection of material should ensure this book's place on reading-lists for many a year to come' - Thea Pitman, MLR Table of Contents1 Introduction 2 Performing God and Mammon 3 Performing history 4 Performing the Noble Savage 5 Performing the Creole

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Book SynopsisProviding new insight into the well-known tradition of acting, Science and the Stanislavsky Tradition of Acting is the first book to contextualise the Stanislavsky tradition with reference to parallel developments in science. Rooted in practice, it presents an alternative perspective based on philosophy, physics, romantic science and theories of industrial management.Working from historical and archive material, as well as practical sources, Jonathan Pitches traces an evolutionary journey of actor training from the roots of the Russian tradition, Konstantin Stanislavsky, to the contemporary Muscovite director, Anatoly Vasiliev. The book explores two key developments that emerge from Stanislavsky's system one linear, rational and empirical, while the other is fluid,organic and intuitive. The otherwise highly contrasting acting theories of Vsevolod Meyerhold (biomechanics) and Lee Strasberg (the Method) are dealt with under the banner of the rational or Newtonian paraTable of ContentsIntroduction: Science and the Stanislavsky Tradition of Acting Part 1. 1. A System for the World? Newtonianism in Stanislavsky’s Science of Acting Part 2. 2. The Theatricality Reflex: The Place of Pavlov and Taylor in Meyerhold’s Biomechanics 3. The System, Psychology and the US: Richard Boleslavsky and Lee Strasberg Part 3. 4. A Delicate Empiricism: Romantic Science and the Michael Chekhov Technique 5. The Laboratory as Sanctuary: The Theatre of Anatoly Vasiliev Epilogue: Genetic Modification and the Backbone of Tradition Bibliography. Index

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Book SynopsisThis pioneering study is one of the major publications in the increasingly popular and largely undocumented area of circus studies.Through photographs and illustrations, Peta Tait presents an extraordinary survey of 140 years of trapeze acts and the socially changing ideas of muscular action in relation to our understanding of gender and sexuality. She questions how spectators see and enjoy aerial actions, and what cultural identities are presented by bodies in fast, physical aerial movement.Adeptly locating aerial performance within the wider cultural history of bodies and their identities, Circus Bodies explores this subject through a range of films such as Trapeze (1956) and Wings of Desire (1987) and Tait also examines live performances including:* the first trapeze performers: Léotard and the Hanlon Brothers* female celebrities; Azella, Sanyeah, black French aerialist LaLa, the infamous Leona Dare, and theTable of ContentsIntroduction: Aerial Bodies Chapter 1: Graceful Manliness, Unfeminine Maidens and Erotic Gods Chapter 2: Unnatural Acts, Female Strongmen Chapter 3: Cross-Dressing and Female Muscular Drag Chapter 4: Gender Competition, Camp Spectacles and Impossible Machismo Chapter 5: Androgyny to Queer Violence: Cirque du Soleil, Archaos and Circus Oz Chapter 6: Ecstasy and Visceral Flesh in Motion Glossary References Index

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Book SynopsisThe first book in the field to explore the links between theories of globalization and surveillance, bipower and biopolitics, performance and theatre, computer arts and politics, The Politics of New Media Theatre is an investigation into the political role played by the new media theatre. Gabriella Giannachi explores how new media arts constitute themselves as a radical political movement, and presents an analysis of both the role of virtuality in radical performance and politics in virtual and mixed reality practices. This outstanding new work offers an analysis of leading political, philosophical and artistic texts and artworks, and represents a milestone for anyone interested in new technologies, theatre and politics.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Global 2. City 3. Body 4. Animals and Plants 5. Cell

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Book SynopsisFamous performance activist Gómez-Peña explores the political and philosophical parameters of what's left for artists to do in a post-9/11 repressive culture and offers groundbreaking insight into his methods of production, development and teaching.Trade Review'This document will be of great value for teachers not just in performance but in all the fields Gómez-Peña admits to his workshops: the arts, literature, cultural studies, visual culture and so on.' – Nick Mirzoeff, SUNY at Stony Brook'A fascinating and important collection of texts.' – Jon McKenzie, author of Perform or Else'Gómez-Peña's work and insight continue to be so very important ... a much needed book in these days and times.' – Rebecca Schneider, Brown University'A publication of international significance and one that will appeal to students, artists and activists engaged with art and politics in a social context across the world' – Lois Keidan, Live Art Development Agency'This collection offers an unprotected fluid exchange of ideas and cross-contamination of methodologies ... a great book ... It might even change your life.' – Contemporary Theatre Review'This document will be of great value for teachers not just in performance but in all the fields Gómez-Peña admits to his workshops: the arts, literature, cultural studies, visual culture and so on.' – Nick Mirzoeff, SUNY at Stony Brook'A fascinating and important collection of texts.' – Jon McKenzie, author of Perform or Else'Gómez-Peña's work and insight continue to be so very important... a much needed book in these days and times.' – Rebecca Schneider, Brown University'A publication of international significance and one that will appeal to students, artists and activists engaged with art and politics in a social context across the world' – Lois Keidan, Live Art Development Agency'This collection offers an unprotected fluid exchange of ideas and cross-contamination of methodologies ... a great book ... It might even change your life.' – Contemporary Theatre ReviewTable of ContentsInterventions in the Mainstream Bizarre Track 1: Introductory Essays and Chronicles Track 2: Pedagogy ( a useful guide to the Pocha Methode) Track 3: Performance Radio Track 4: Performance Literature (for the stage and cyber-space) Track 5: Conversations with Theorists

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Book SynopsisGoat Island are one of the world's leading contemporary performance ensembles. Their intimate, low-tech, intensely physical performances represent a unique hybrid of strategies and techniques drawn from live art, experimental theatre and postmodern dance. Small Acts of Repair: Performance, Ecology and Goat Island, is the first book to document and critique the company's performances, processes, politics, aesthetics, and philosophies. It reflects on the company's work through the critical lens of ecology an emerging and urgent concern in performance studies and elsewhere.This collage text combines and juxtaposes writing by company members and arts commentators, to look in detail at Goat Island's distinctive collaborative processes and the reception of their work in performance. The book includes a section of practical workshop exercises and thoughts on teaching drawn from the company's extensive experience, providing an invaluable classroom resource.By documenTrade Review'This book includes practical workshop exercises and thoughts on teaching drawn from the company's extensive experience... a valuable classroom resource... a good introduction to Goat Island.' - Total Theatre'It is a treasure trove of insight for any theatre practitioner engaged in collaborative devised work, as well as anyone interested in the meeting point between aesthetics and ethics of contemporary performance' - Theatre Research InternationalTable of ContentsA. Introduction(s) B1. Performance B1.1 Environment B1.2 Response B1.3 Body B1.4 Time B2. Process: B2.1 Environment B2.2 Response B2.3 Body B2.4 Time C. Teaching Epilogue. Goat Island Timeline. Bibliography and References. Notes on Contributors

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Book SynopsisGoat Island are one of the world's leading contemporary performance ensembles. Their intimate, low-tech, intensely physical performances represent a unique hybrid of strategies and techniques drawn from live art, experimental theatre and postmodern dance. Small Acts of Repair: Performance, Ecology and Goat Island, is the first book to document and critique the company's performances, processes, politics, aesthetics, and philosophies. It reflects on the company's work through the critical lens of ecology an emerging and urgent concern in performance studies and elsewhere.This collage text combines and juxtaposes writing by company members and arts commentators, to look in detail at Goat Island's distinctive collaborative processes and the reception of their work in performance. The book includes a section of practical workshop exercises and thoughts on teaching drawn from the company's extensive experience, providing an invaluable classroom resource.By documenTrade Review'This book includes practical workshop exercises and thoughts on teaching drawn from the company's extensive experience... a valuable classroom resource... a good introduction to Goat Island.' - Total Theatre'It is a treasure trove of insight for any theatre practitioner engaged in collaborative devised work, as well as anyone interested in the meeting point between aesthetics and ethics of contemporary performance' - Theatre Research InternationalTable of ContentsA. Introduction(s) B1. Performance B1.1 Environment B1.2 Response B1.3 Body B1.4 Time B2. Process: B2.1 Environment B2.2 Response B2.3 Body B2.4 Time C. Teaching Epilogue. Goat Island Timeline. Bibliography and References. Notes on Contributors

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Book SynopsisIn an age of globalization, performance is increasingly drawn from intercultural creativity and located in multicultural settings. This volume is the first to focus on the performing arts of Asian diasporas in the context of modernity and multiculturalism. The essays locate the contemporary performing arts as a discursive field in which the boundaries between tradition and translation, and authenticity and hybridity are redefined and negotiated to create a multitude of meaning and aesthetics in global and local contexts.With contributions from scholars of Asian studies, theatre studies, anthropology, cultural studies, dance ethnology and musicology, this truly interdisciplinary work covers every aspect of the sociology of performance of the Asian diasporas.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction Part 1: Asian Diasporas and Performing Arts 1. Power, Identity, Modernity and the Performing Arts among Diasporas: Background Ideas from the Chinese Case 2. Morphing Chineseness: The Changing Image of Chinese Music Clubs in Singapore 3. Community, Identity and Performing Arts: The Korean Diaspora in China and the former Soviet Union 4. Dancing in the Tomb of Samba: Japanese-Brazilian Presence/Absence in São Paulo Carnival 5. Noisy Intersection: Ethnicity, Authenticity and Ownership in Asian American Taiko 6. Arangetrams and Manufacturing Identity: The Changing Role of a Bharata Natyam Dancer's Solo Debut in the Context of the Diaspora 7. South Asian Music in Britain 8. Idealization and Changes in the Music of the Cambodian Diaspora 9. Nagi Music and Community: Belonging and Displacement in Larantuka, Eastern Indonesia Part 2: InterculturalPerformances and Transnational Audiences 10. Jingju (Beijing/Peking Opera) as International Art and as Transnational Root of Cultural Identification: Process of Creation and Reception in Shanghai, Nanjing and Honolulu 11. 'Mirrors' of West and 'Mirrors' of East: Elements of Gagaku in Post-War Art Music 12. Theatrical Collaboration in the Age of Globalization: The Gekidan Kaitaisha-NYID Intercultural Collaboration Project Afterword Index

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Book SynopsisThis impressive new book from Sue-Ellen Case looks at how science has been performed throughout history, tracing a line from nineteenth century alchemy to the twenty-first century virtual avatar.In this bold and wide-ranging book that is written using a crossbreed of styles, we encounter a glance of Edison in his laboratory, enter the soundscape of John Cage and raid tombs with Lara Croft.  Case looks at the intersection of science and performance, the academic treatment of classical plays and internet-like bytes on contemporary issues and experiments where the array of performances include: electronic music Sun Ra, the jazz musician the recursive play of tape from Samuel Beckett to Pauline Oliveros Performing Science and the Virtual reviews how well these performances borrow from spiritualist notions of transcendence, as well as the social codes of race, gender and economic exchange.  This book will appeal to acTable of ContentsList of Illustrations. Introduction. Prologue: Theater's Rebirth. Act One: Alchemy Entr'acte: The Price of Admission. Act Two: Grassroots Performances of Science. Act Three: A Century of Science. Act Four: The Avatar. Bibliography. Index.

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Book SynopsisThis impressive new book from Sue-Ellen Case looks at how science has been performed throughout history, tracing a line from nineteenth century alchemy to the twenty-first century virtual avatar.In this bold and wide-ranging book that is written using a crossbreed of styles, we encounter a glance of Edison in his laboratory, enter the soundscape of John Cage and raid tombs with Lara Croft.  Case looks at the intersection of science and performance, the academic treatment of classical plays and internet-like bytes on contemporary issues and experiments where the array of performances include: electronic music Sun Ra, the jazz musician the recursive play of tape from Samuel Beckett to Pauline Oliveros Performing Science and the Virtual reviews how well these performances borrow from spiritualist notions of transcendence, as well as the social codes of race, gender and economic exchange.  This book will appeal to acTable of ContentsList of Illustrations. Introduction. Prologue: Theater's Rebirth. Act One: Alchemy Entr'acte: The Price of Admission. Act Two: Grassroots Performances of Science. Act Three: A Century of Science. Act Four: The Avatar. Bibliography. Index.

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Book SynopsisProviding new insight into the well-known tradition of acting, Science and the Stanislavsky Tradition of Acting is the first book to contextualise the Stanislavsky tradition with reference to parallel developments in science. Rooted in practice, it presents an alternative perspective based on philosophy, physics, romantic science and theories of industrial management.Working from historical and archive material, as well as practical sources, Jonathan Pitches traces an evolutionary journey of actor training from the roots of the Russian tradition, Konstantin Stanislavsky, to the contemporary Muscovite director, Anatoly Vasiliev. The book explores two key developments that emerge from Stanislavsky's system one linear, rational and empirical, while the other is fluid,organic and intuitive. The otherwise highly contrasting acting theories of Vsevolod Meyerhold (biomechanics) and Lee Strasberg (the Method) are dealt with under the banner of the rational or Newtonian paraTable of ContentsIntroduction: Science and the Stanislavsky Tradition of Acting Part 1. 1. A System for the World? Newtonianism in Stanislavsky’s Science of Acting Part 2. 2. The Theatricality Reflex: The Place of Pavlov and Taylor in Meyerhold’s Biomechanics 3. The System, Psychology and the US: Richard Boleslavsky and Lee Strasberg Part 3. 4. A Delicate Empiricism: Romantic Science and the Michael Chekhov Technique 5. The Laboratory as Sanctuary: The Theatre of Anatoly Vasiliev Epilogue: Genetic Modification and the Backbone of Tradition Bibliography. Index

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Book SynopsisThe first book in the field to explore the links between theories of globalization and surveillance, bipower and biopolitics, performance and theatre, computer arts and politics, The Politics of New Media Theatre is an investigation into the political role played by the new media theatre. Gabriella Giannachi explores how new media arts constitute themselves as a radical political movement, and presents an analysis of both the role of virtuality in radical performance and politics in virtual and mixed reality practices. This outstanding new work offers an analysis of leading political, philosophical and artistic texts and artworks, and represents a milestone for anyone interested in new technologies, theatre and politics.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Global 2. City 3. Body 4. Animals and Plants 5. Cell

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Book SynopsisThe first and only book to focus on dance on the Internet, Sita Popat's fascinating Invisible Connections examines how Internet and communication technologies offer dance and theatre new platforms for creating and performing work, and how opportunities for remote interaction and collaboration are available on a scale never before imaginable.Drawing upon the work of practioners and theorists in the arts, communications and technology theorists and , Invisible Connections makes special reference to Popat's series of Internet-based choreography projects from with online communities around the globe, and explores:* methods by which such technologies can facilitate creative collaborations between performers and viewers* how sharing creative processes between online communities can enrich the artistic palette and provide arts-based learning* how the Cartesian duality of the mind-body split is challenged by the physicality of danciTable of ContentsIntroduction: Invisible Connections: Beyond the Proscenium Arch Section 1: Creativity and Interactivity for Online Collaborations Chapter 1. Creativity and Devising Chapter 2. Interacting Online Chapter 3. Choreography with Internet Communities Section 2: Three Online Choreography Projects Chapter 4. Three Online Choreography Projects Chapter 5. Three Projects: Choreographic Processes Chapter 6. Three Projects: Bridging the Cartesian Divide Section 3:Future Directions Chapter 7. Applications in Theatre and Performance Chapter 8. Future Directions Appendix A: Technical Issues Kris Popat Bibliography

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Book SynopsisA concise introduction to the study of dance ranging from the practical aspects such as technique and choreography to more theoretical considerations such as aesthetic appreciation and the place of dance in different cultures. This book answers questions such as: Exactly how do we define dance? What kinds of people dance and what kind of training is necessary? How are dances made? What do we know about dance history? Featuring a glossary, chronology of dance history and list of useful websites, this book is the ideal starting point for anyone interested in the study of dance.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Training for Dance 2. Making Dances 3. Dance Theatre History 4. Performing Dances 5. Appreciating Dance 6. Applied Dance Studies First steps in Studying Dance. Glossary

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Book Synopsis'Theater legend Malina has written one of the most interesting studies of the avant-garde theatrical movement published in the last several years.' â CHOICEJudith Malina and The Living Theatre have been icons of political theatre for over six decades. What few realise is that she originally studied under one of the giants of twentieth century culture, Erwin Piscator, in his Dramatic Workshop at The New School in New York. Piscator founded the Workshop after emigrating to New York, having collaborated with Brecht to create epic theatre in Germany.The Piscator Notebook documents Malinaâs intensive and idiosyncratic training at Piscatorâs school. Part diary, part theatrical treatise, this unique and inspiring volume combines: complete transcriptions of Malinaâs diaries from her time as a student at the Dramatic Workshop, as well as reproductions of various of Piscatorâs syllabi and teaching materials; notes on Malinaâs teachers, fellow students â including Marlon Brando and Tennessee Williams â and New School productions; studies of Piscatorâs process and influence, along with a new essay on the relationship between his teaching, Malinaâs work with the Living Theatre and The Ongoing Epic; an introduction by performance pioneer, Richard Schechner. The Piscator Notebook is a compelling record of the genealogy of political theatre practice in the early 20th Century, from Europe to the US. But it is also a stunningly personal reflection on the pleasures and challenges of learning about theatre, charged with essential insights for the student and teacher, actor and director.'Piscator is the greatest theatre man of our time.' â Bertolt BrechtTrade Review'Theater legend Malina has written one of the most interesting studies of the avant-garde theatrical movement published in the last several years. Highly recommended.' M.D. Whitlatch, CHOICE magazineTable of ContentsForeword: by Richard SchechnerPart 1: Weimar to The Dramatic WorkshopPersonal History Erwin Piscator: Germany to New York CityThe Founding of The Dramatic Workshop, 1940The Studio TheatreThe Teachers of Piscator’s SchoolMargrit WylerReiken Ben-AriChouteau DyerLeo KerzPaul ZuckerGloria MontemuroAlexander InceHans SondheimerHenry WendrinerThe StudentsGeorge BartenieffAnna BergerSylvia MilesMarlon BrandoBea ArthurHoward FriedmanPiscator’s StudentsMy Personal Struggle to Enter The Dramatic WorkshopValeska GertLunar Bowels: an Audition PiecePart 2: The NotebookPart 3: The Ongoing EpicEnd of the Notebook and First Workshop Plays Julian BeckBy Any Other Name and Maurice Schwartz’s Yiddish Art TheatrePiscator’s Basic Question: The Role of the AudienceBecoming a Director: A ConfessionThe Inspiration of Joseph Urban’s ArchitectureEleanor FitzgeraldThe ClassesThe March of DramaTheatre ResearchTheatre Research CritiqueThe PlaysThe Sheepwell (Fuente Ovejuna)Franklin Roosevelt’s DeathLysistrataThe Spook SonataHannele’s Way to HeavenThe AristocratsAgamemnonThe Circle of ChalkThe Flies Tonight We Improvise – Pirandello: Breaking into the AudienceKandinsky’s Great InsightPiscator and the AudienceObjective ActingBetween Two WorldsPiscator: Success and FailurePiscator’s Return to Germany – and to BerlinEric BentleyPiscator’s InfluencePiscator’s Influence: The Work of The Living TheatreAfterword: Political Theatre, Theatrical Politics: Epic Theatre in the 21st Century

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Book SynopsisGigs provides a fascinating account of a unique victory for musicians against repressive entertainment licensing laws. It provides a much-needed study of the social, political, cultural and legal conditions surrounding a change in law and public attitudes toward vernacular music in New York City. This second edition includes a new preface by Hamish Birchall and an introduction by the series editors, Guy Osborn and Steve Greenfield, as well as an afterword by the author, and it will be essential reading for all those interested in the history of social attitudes toward the popular arts and the use of constitutional litigation for social change.Table of ContentsPreface Hamish Birchall Series Editors Introduction 1. Prelude 2. The Musicians Union 3. The Music in the Clubs 4. Regulation as Denigration 5. The Campaign to Change the Law: Lost in the Labyrinth 6. The Campaign to Change the Law: Free Expression 7. The Process of Change 8. The Lives of Musicians 9. Conclusion: Politics, Law and Music Afterword

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Book SynopsisBritish comedy cinema has been a mainstay of domestic production since the beginning of the last Century and arguably the most popular and important genre in British film history. This edited volume will offer the first comprehensive account of the rich and popular history of British comedy cinema from silent slapstick and satire to contemporary romantic comedy. Using a loosely chronological approach, essays cover successive decades of the 20th and 21st Century with a combination of case studies on key personalities, production cycles and studio output along with fresh approaches to issues of class and gender representation. It will present new research on familiar comedy cycles such as the Ealing Comedies and Carry On films as well as the largely undocumented silent period along with the rise of television spin offs from the 1970s and the development of animated comedy from 1915 to the present. Films covered includTable of Contents1. British comedy cinema: sex, class and very naughty boys 2. British silent comedy: from slapstick to satire 3. No limit: British class and comedy of the 1930s 4. ‘Northern films for Northern people’ – the story of the Mancunian Film Company 5. Ealing Comedies 1947–1957: ‘The bizarre British, faced with yet another extraordinary situation’ 6. ‘From adolescence into maturity’: the film comedy of the Boulting Brothers 7. Margaret Rutherford and comic performance 8. A short history of the Carry On films 9. Gird your armour on: the genteel subversion of the St. Trinian’s films 10. Norman Wisdom: Rank Studios and the rise of the Super Chump 11. From telly laughs to belly laughs: the rise and fall of the sitcom spin-off 12. From window cleaner to potato man: confessions of a working class stereotype 13. Making Ben-Hur look like an epic: Monty Python at the movies 14. Travels in Curtisland: Richard Curtis and British comedy cinema 15. ‘The sight of 40 year old genitalia too disgusting, is it?: wit, whimsy and wishful thinking in British animation 1900 – present

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Book SynopsisBritish comedy cinema has been a mainstay of domestic production since the beginning of the last Century and arguably the most popular and important genre in British film history. This edited volume will offer the first comprehensive account of the rich and popular history of British comedy cinema from silent slapstick and satire to contemporary romantic comedy. Using a loosely chronological approach, essays cover successive decades of the 20th and 21st Century with a combination of case studies on key personalities, production cycles and studio output along with fresh approaches to issues of class and gender representation. It will present new research on familiar comedy cycles such as the Ealing Comedies and Carry On films as well as the largely undocumented silent period along with the rise of television spin offs from the 1970s and the development of animated comedy from 1915 to the present. Films covered includTable of Contents1. British comedy cinema: sex, class and very naughty boys 2. British silent comedy: from slapstick to satire 3. No limit: British class and comedy of the 1930s 4. ‘Northern films for Northern people’ – the story of the Mancunian Film Company 5. Ealing Comedies 1947–1957: ‘The bizarre British, faced with yet another extraordinary situation’ 6. ‘From adolescence into maturity’: the film comedy of the Boulting Brothers 7. Margaret Rutherford and comic performance 8. A short history of the Carry On films 9. Gird your armour on: the genteel subversion of the St. Trinian’s films 10. Norman Wisdom: Rank Studios and the rise of the Super Chump 11. From telly laughs to belly laughs: the rise and fall of the sitcom spin-off 12. From window cleaner to potato man: confessions of a working class stereotype 13. Making Ben-Hur look like an epic: Monty Python at the movies 14. Travels in Curtisland: Richard Curtis and British comedy cinema 15. ‘The sight of 40 year old genitalia too disgusting, is it?: wit, whimsy and wishful thinking in British animation 1900 – present

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Book SynopsisGiven Herzog's own pronouncement that film is not the art of scholars, but of illiterates,' it is not surprising that his work has aroused ambivalent and contradictory responses. Visually and philosophically ambitious and at the same time provocatively eccentric, Herzog's films have been greeted equally by extreme adulation and extreme condemnation.Even as Herzog's rebellious images have gained him a reputation as a master of the German New Wave, he has been attacked for indulging in a romantic naiveté and wilful self-absorption. To his hardest critics, Herzog's films appear as little more than Hollywood fantasies disguised as high seriousness. This book is an attempt to illuminate these contradictions. It gathers essays that focus from a variety of angles on Herzog and his work. The contributors move beyond the myths of Herzog to investigate the merits of his work and its place in film history. A challenging range of films is covered, from Fata Morgana and Aguirre,Table of ContentsPart 1: Introduction 1. Producing Herzog: From a Body of Images Part 2: Promotion as Self-Portrait 2. W.H. or the Mysteries of Walking on Ice Part 3: Readings 3. On Seeing a Mirage 4. Last Words: Observations on a New Language 5. Blindness as Insight: Visions of the Unseen in Land of Silence and Darkness 6. The Cosmos and its Discontents 7. Literature and Writing in the Films of Werner Herzog 8. Herzog, Murnau and the Vampire 9. An Anthropologist’s Eye: Where the Green Ants Dream Part 4: Arguments 10. The Politics of Vision: Herzog’s Heart of Glass 11. Comprehending Appearances: Werner Herzog’s Ironic Sublime Part 5: Documenting Herzog: A Filmography and Selected Bibliography

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Book SynopsisA polemical introduction to the avant-garde and experimental in film (including making and viewing), Materialist Film is a highly original, thought-provoking book.Thirty-seven short chapters work through a series of concepts which will enable the reader to deal imaginatively with the contradictory issues produced by experimental film. Each concept is explored in conjunction with specific films by Andy Warhol, Malcolm LeGrice, Lis Rhodes, Jean-Luc Goddard, Rose Lowder, Kurt Kren, and others.Peter Gidal draws on important politico-aesthetic writings, and uses some of his own previously published essays from Undercut, Screen, October, and Millennium Film Journal to undertake this concrete process of working through abstract concepts. Originally published in 1989.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. The One to One Relation between Viewer and Viewed 2. The Concept of Arbitrariness 3. Implicating Materialism with Physicality 4. Presence 5. Content 6. The Subject 7. Film as Film 8. Perception Versus Knowledge 9. Fetishization of Process 10. Deconstruction 11. Deconstruction and Sexuality 12. Denial of Semioticity 13. Andy Warhol’s Kitchen (1965) 14. The Stare and Voyeurism 15. Lis Rhodes’ Light Reading (1978) 16. Questions around Structural/Materialist Film 17. Meaning and Illusion 18. The Close-Up 19. Context 20. History 21. The Literal 22. Artistic Subject/Aesthetic Subject 23. Duration 24. Splice 25. Filmmakers’ Statements 26. Performance 27. Film as Material 28. Cinema Verite 29. Audience Numbers and Sex 30. Rose Lowder’s Composed Recurrence (1981) 31. Kurt Kren’s TV (1966) 32. The London Filmmakers Co-Operative 33. Repetition 34. Humanism and Anti-humanism 35. Socialism/Optimism/Pessimism 36. A Little Polemic on Production 37. Autonomy and Anonymity

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Book SynopsisFrom Commedia dell'Arte came archetypal characters that are still with us today, such as Harlequin and Pantalone, and the rediscovered craft of writing comic dramas and masked theatre. From it came the forces that helped create and influence Opera, Ballet, Pantomime, Shakespeare, Moliere, Lopes de Vega, Goldoni, Meyerhold, and even the glove puppet, Mr Punch.The Routledge Companion to Commedia dell'Arte is a wide-ranging volume written by over 50 experts, that traces the history, characteristics, and development of this fascinating yet elusive theatre form. In synthesizing the elements of Commedia, this book introduces the history of the Sartori mask studio; presents a comparison between Gozzi and Goldoni's complicated and adversarial approaches to theatre; invites discussions on Commedia's relevance to Shakespeare, and illuminates re-interpretations of Commedia in modern times. The authors are drawn from actors, mask-makers, pedagogues, directors, trainers and acadeTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part 1 The Defining Features; Actors; Chapter 1 The Pre-Eminence of the Actor in Renaissance Context, Scott McGehee; Scenarios; Chapter 2 Form and Freedom, Robert Henke; Chapter 3 Parallel Processing, Tim Fitzpatrick; Troupes; Chapter 4 The Commedia dell’Arte Acting Companies, Kenneth Richards; Stock Characters; Chapter 5 You Must have Heard of Harlequin…, Michele Bottini, Samuel Angus McGehee, Michael J. Grady; Chapter 6 Pantalone and Il Dottore, Peter Jordan; Chapter 7 The Young Lovers, Richard Stockton Rand; Chapter 8 Reading and Interpreting the Capitano’s Multiple Mask-Shapes, Mace Perlman; Chapter 9 Le Servette in Commedia dell’Arte, Julie Goell; Chapter 10 Carnival, Comedy and the Commedia, Stephen P. J. Knapper; Chapter 11 Official Recognition of Pulcinella, Antonio Fava, Mace Perlman; Chapter 12 The Many Faces of Brighella, Artemis Preeshl; Masks; Chapter 13 A Mask Maker’s Journey, Stefano Perocco di Meduna, Brenda O’Donohue; Chapter 14 Mask Performance for a Contemporary Commedia dell’Arte, Carlos García Estévez; Chapter 15 New Roles for the Mask in Twentieth Century Theatre, Donato Sartori, Peter Jordan; Language; Chapter 16 Grommelot, John Rudlin; Lazzi; Chapter 17 Lazzi, Mel Gordon; Chapter 18 Principles of Comedy for Commedia dell’Arte, Brian Foley; Chapter 19 Slapstick and Comic Violence in Commedia dell’Arte, Dr Louise Peacock; Part 2 Historical Context; Chapter 20 Aristocratic Archeology, Paul Monaghan; Chapter 21 The Rise of Commedia dell’Arte in Italy, Kate Meehan; Chapter 22 The Great Ruzante, Linda L. Carroll; Chapter 23 The Coming Together, Olly Crick; Chapter 24 Stages and Staging Practices in Early Commedia dell’Arte, Franklin J. Hildy, Matthew R. Wilson; Chapter 25 Commedia dell’Arte and the Spanish Golden Age Theatre, Nancy L. D’Antuono; Chapter 26 Celestial Sirens of the Commedia dell’Arte Stage, Anne E. MacNeil; Chapter 27 Incidental Music in Commedia dell’Arte Performances, Thomas F. Heck; Chapter 28 Meetings on Naxos, Roger Savage; Chapter 29 Classical Ballet and the Commedia dell’Arte, Barry Grantham; Chapter 30 Images of the Commedia dell’Arte, M. A. Katritzky; Chapter 31 The Old Man’s Spectacles, Andrew Grewar; Chapter 32 Shakespeare’s Clown Connection, Sara Romersberger; Chapter 33 Writing for the Elite, Elizabeth C. Goldsmith; Chapter 34 Goldoni and Gozzi, Mike Griffin; Chapter 35 Commedia dell’Arte as Grotesque Dance, Domenico Pietropaolo; Chapter 36 The Myth of Pierrot, Mark Evans; Chapter 37 Speechless Spectacles, Matthew R. Wilson; Chapter 38 From Meyerhold to Eisenstein, J. Douglas Clayton; Chapter 39 Giorgio Strehler’s Arte, Mace Perlman; Chapter 40 Giovanni Poli, Giulia Filacanapa, Eileen Cottis; Chapter 41 Arlecchino Appleseed, Joan Schirle; Part 3 Alive and Well and Living in…; Chapter 42 Despite Everything, Commedia dell’Arte is Alive in Italy, Fabio Mangolini; Chapter 43 Dario Fo and the Commedia dell’Arte, Antonio Scuderi; Chapter 44 Carlo Boso, Anna Cottis; Chapter 45 Antonio Fava, John Rudlin; Chapter 46 Happy Bedfellows, Claudia Orenstein; Chapter 47 Commedia in Gloucestershire, Olly Crick; Chapter 48 I Sebastiani, Judith Chaffee; Chapter 49 Commedia Women on Stage—and in the Wings, Joan Schirle; Chapter 50 Commedia CounterPart s, Kathy Foley; Chapter 51 Commedia for the Contemporary Theatre Maker, Davis Robinson; Chapter 52 Roots and Routes, Didi Hopkins; Chapter 53 Commedia in a New World Context, Katrien van Beurden; Part 4 Commedia dell’Arte Bibliography; Chapter 54 Bibliography of Generally Accepted Commedia dell’Arte Literature;

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Book SynopsisThis collection of 15 original essays, assembled by renowned Mamet and Pinter scholar Leslie Kane, examines the pervasiveness of crime and criminality in the plays and screenplays of two of the most influential contemporary dramatists. The contributors generally focus on one or more works by a single writer, while a few take a comparative approach. Often the works studied are lesser-known or infrequently discussed works, thereby making this volume a valuable addition to current scholarship. In addition, this volume complements other works on Mamet and Pinter on our backlist, including Kane''s earlier edited volumes on Mamet which both received solid sales and accolades from Choice. Assembled by a Garland/Routledge author with a proven sales record and impressive critical reception, this collection should be an easy sell to academic and theater libraries, as well as Pinter and Mamet specialists.Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgements Introduction 1. A Poetics for Thugs Varun Begley 2. You'll Never Be Without a Police Siren: Pinter and the Subject of Law Marc Silverstein 3. Harold Pinter Before the Law Steven Price 4. Harold Pinter's Ashes to Ashes: Violation, Empathy, and Historical Remembrance Charles Grimes 5. Comedy and Crime: Pinter's Primal Power and Celebration Penelope Prentice 6. Lost in the Funhouse: Pinter's Screenplay of Kafka's The Trial Ann C. Hall 7. Lie Detectors: Pinter/Mamet and the Victorian Concept of Crime Ira Nadel 8. Gradations of Criminality in the Plays of David Mamet Kimball King 9. Melville's The Confidence Man and his Descendants in David Mamet's Work Barry Goldensohn 10. Fantasy Crimes/Fictional Lives: Lakeboat Anne M. Dean 11. David Mamet's House of Games: Performance and the Already Played Elizabeth Klaver 12. More Uses of the Knife as Signifier in The Cryptogram, The Old Religion, and The Edge Thomas P. Adler 13. Mamet's The Edge as a Figura of Otherness Claire Magaha 14. Suckered Again: The Perfect Patsy and The Spanish Prisoner Leslie Kane

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Book SynopsisThe Judson Dance Theatre explores the work and legacy of one of the most influential of all dance companies, which first performed at the Judson Memorial Church in downtown Manhattan in the early 1960s. There, a group of choreographers and dancers--including future well-known artists Twyla Tharp, Carolee Schneemann, Robert Morris, Trisha Brown, Yvonne Rainier, and others--created what came to be known as postmodern dance. Taking their cues from the experiments of Merce Cunningham, they took movements from everyday life--walking, running, gymnastics--to create dances that influenced not only future dance work but also minimalism in music and art, as well as the wedding of dance and speech in solo performance pieces.Judson''s legacy has been explored primarily in the work of dance critic Sally Banes, in a book published in the 1980s. Although the dancers from the so-called Judson School continue to perform and create new works--and their influence continues to grow from the US to EuTable of ContentsList of illustrations, Acknowledgements, 1 Introduction: transatlantic crossings, 2 Cunningham, Judson, and the historical avant-garde, 3 Minimalism, theory, and the dancing body, 4 Allegories of the ordinary and particular, 5 Before and after 1968: dance, politics, and the avant-garde, 6 Repetition: Brown, Bausch, and De Keersmaeker, 7 Traces of intimacy and relationless relations, 8 The Judson tradition at the start of a new century, Notes, Bibliography, Index

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Book SynopsisThe second volume in Sources of Dramatic Theory includes the major theoretical writing on drama and theatre from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Many of the texts have been freshly translated for this volume and all have been newly annotated and introduced. Recurrent topics and allusions are traced by a system of cross-references.Trade Review"...Sidnell has drawn material together in an interesting and useful way." Douglas H. White, Letters In CanadaTable of ContentsAcknowledgements; Note on the texts; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction; 2. Sir Richard Steele; 3. Voltaire; 4. Pietro Metastasio; 5. Denis Diderot; 6. Carlo Goldoni; 7. Samuel Johnson; 8. David Hume; 9. Mlle Dumesnil from memoirs; 10. Carlo Gozzi; 11. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing; 12. Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais; 13. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe; 14. Friedrich von Schiller; 15. Decrees and documents from the French Revolution; 16. Joanna Baillie; 17. Mme de Staël; 18. August Wilhelm von Schlegel; 19. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel; 20. Samuel Taylor Coleridge; 21. Heinrich von Kleist; 22. William Hazlitt; 23. Stendhal; 24. Victor-Marie Hugo; Bibliography; Index.

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