Theatre direction and production Books
Createspace Independent Publishing Platform Poems for the Stage: A Story of Love
£10.71
Createspace Independent Publishing Platform Poems for the Stage: The Man at the Computer
£10.71
£16.49
Fordham University Press Our Laundry, Our Town: My Chinese American Life
Book SynopsisNEW IN PAPERBACK! BOOKS ARE MAGIC 2023 HOLIDAY GIFT BOOK With humor and grace, the memoir of a first-generation Chinese American in New York City. Our Laundry, Our Town is a memoir that decodes and processes the fractured urban oracle bones of Alvin Eng’s upbringing in Flushing, Queens, in the 1970s. Back then, his family was one of the few immigrant Chinese families in a far-flung neighborhood in New York City. His parents had an arranged marriage and ran a Chinese hand laundry. From behind the counter of his parents’ laundry and within the confines of a household that was rooted in a different century and culture, he sought to reconcile this insular home life with the turbulent yet inspiring street life that was all around them––from the faux martial arts of TV’s Kung Fu to the burgeoning underworld of the punk rock scene. In the 1970s, NYC, like most of the world, was in the throes of regenerating itself in the wake of major social and cultural changes resulting from the counterculture and civil rights movements. And by the 1980s, Flushing had become NYC’s second Chinatown. But Eng remained one of the neighborhood’s few Chinese citizens who did not speak fluent Chinese. Finding his way in the downtown theater and performance world of Manhattan, he discovered the under-chronicled Chinese influence on Thornton Wilder’s foundational Americana drama, Our Town. This discovery became the unlikely catalyst for a psyche-healing pilgrimage to Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China—his ancestral home in southern China—that led to writing and performing his successful autobiographical monologue, The Last Emperor of Flushing. Learning to tell his own story on stages around the world was what proudly made him whole. As cities, classrooms, cultures, and communities the world over continue to re-examine the parameters of diversity, equity, and inclusion, Our Laundry, Our Town will reverberate with a broad readership.Table of Contents1 The Urban Oracle Bones of Our Laundry: Channeling China’s Last Emperor and Rock ’n’ Roll’s First Opera 2 Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting . . . or Faking It 3 Our Laundry’s Roots in Resistance: Family Reunification Along Flushing’s Fault Line 4 It’s Only a Paper Son: The Chinatown Bachelor Society 5 Addressees 6 Disappearing Acts: That Old-Time Religion 7 Chinese Rocks: Opium, the Chinese Diaspora and Soul . . . and Punk Rock 8 A Sort of Homecoming: But Where Are You Really From? 9 The Bigger Picture, On Screen and Off 10 Trip the Light, Gorgeous Mosaic: Double Happiness, Discovering Playwriting and Activism 11 Commencement Ceremonies: Leaving Flushing 12 Village Pilgrimage for a Marriage Blessing 13 Life Dances On: Our Town in China Epilogue Acknowledgments
£15.19
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. Thinking Shakespeare: A working guide for actors,
Book Synopsis
£20.69
Focus Publishing/R Pullins & Co Experiencing Theatre
Book Synopsis"Experiencing Theatre completely engages the beginning theatre student in the art of theatre. Students become playwrights, dramaturges, actors, directors, designers, adapters and collaborators though dynamic readings and excercises. This text gives them a great awareness of the work of being a theatre artist. Teachers have long strived towards creating these opportunities for their Intro students--finally a text that will make it happen." --Barbara Burgess-Lefebvre, Robert Morris University
£18.89
Watchmaker Publishing Acting: The First Six Lessons
£9.66
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC My Shakespeare
Book SynopsisTHE TIMES'' BEST BOOKS OF THE YEARThis book charts the personal and professional journey of Greg Doran, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 2012 until 2022 and one of the great Shakespearians of his generation (Sunday Times). During his illustrious career, Doran has directed or produced all of the plays within Shakespeare''s First Folio -- a milestone reached in the same year that the world celebrates the 400th anniversary of its original publication. Each chapter looks at a different play, considering the choices made and weaving in both autobiographical detail and background on the RSC, as well as giving insights into key collaborations, including those with actors such as Judi Dench, David Tennant, Harriet Walter, Patrick Stewart, Simon Russell Beale, Paterson Joseph and Doran''s husband, the late Antony Sher, as well as seminal practitioners such as Cicely Berry, John Barton and Terry Hands. The book also includes 16 stri
£16.14
Universal Publishers Basics of Stage Combat: Unarmed
£19.95
Universal Publishers Basics of Stage Combat: Single Sword
£19.95
Skyhorse Publishing Theatrical Genre Style
Book SynopsisA one-of-a-kind guide about style and genre for theatre artisans.Theatrical Genre & Style will appeal to all theatre makers—those in performance as well as design—students, amateurs, and professionals. Traditionally, theatre practitioners receive information about style and genre from sources composed primarily for studio artisans and not theatre artisans. These books are helpful but ultimately fall short because they do not specifically apply the use of style to theatre art and practice. Theatrical Genre & Style gives theatre artists a guidebook to style and genre that is specific and tailored to their needs. Theatrical Genre & Style defines genre and style (and the differences between them), gives relatable examples with helpful exercises, clearly explains the distinctions between artistic style, period style, and literary style, and helps readers understand how to identify, research, and utilize appropriate artistic styles for theatrical productions. Theatrical genres are listed, thoroughly explained, and examples and exercises given that are designed to elucidate. The ways theatrical scenery, costumes, lighting, sound, multi-media, acting, directing, and movement can work together to successfully utilize style is addressed in this text.Theatrical Genre & Style serves as a companion to authors Karen Brewster and Melissa Shafer's Fundamentals of Theatrical Design: A Guide to the Basics of Scenic, Costume, and Lighting Design. The two books complement one another in content, size, scope, purpose, and target audience.
£22.50
Samuel French Ltd The Height of the Storm
Book Synopsis
£999.99
Samuel French Ltd Red Velvet
Book SynopsisRed Velvet is about the nineteenth century black American actor Ira Aldridge. In a theatre dressing room in Poland an elderly and sick Aldridge prepares to play King Lear. The intrusion of a young female journalist forces him to look back on the defining moment of his illustrious career. Thirty years previously Edmund Kean one of the greatest actors of his generation collapses on the Theatre Royal stage in London and Pierre Laporte theatre manager and friend asks Aldridge to replace him as Othello. At the same time Parliament is preparing to vote in favour of abolishing slavery in all British colonies. Opinions are fiercely divided. Aldridge performs successfully at the Theatre Royal but the reactions of the cast and critics are complex and divisive. He is not allowed to fulfil his engagement and the betrayal of a dear friend changes the course of his life.Red Velvet examines the world of the theatre where comedy and tragedy are synonymous. The play discusses friendship betra
£999.99
Samuel French Ltd Wolf Play
Book SynopsisA Korean boy is ushered into a new house by his adopted American father. This new house belongs to an American boxer and her wife. American father un-adopts boy by a single signature on a piece of paper. But just before he leaves the new house ex-father discovers that the new parents to whom he has re-homed his ex-son are a lesbian couple. American ex-father spends the rest of the play trying to get the boy back. In his corner is Ryan the boxer's coach and her wife's brother. Ryan doesn't like the new Korean boy who is a bit weird. Wolf Playis a messy funny disturbing theatrical experience grappling with a wolf a puppet and the very prickly problem of What is a family and what do we need from families today? Is it very different from what humans have needed from families before?
£999.99
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Harold Prince A Directors Journey
Book SynopsisHAROLD PRINCE/DIR JOURNEY
£17.09
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Little Musicals for Little Theaters A Reference
Book SynopsisLITTLE MUSICALS FOR LITTLE THEATRES GUIDE TO MUSICALS THAT DON'T NEED CHANDELIERS
£12.59
McFarland & Co Inc Stage Managing Chaos
Book SynopsisIn the early 1970s, London's National Theatre, led by Sir Laurence Olivier, launched an infamous avant garde production of The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria. Concerned that his classical approach would clash with the enfant terrible director, Victor Garcia, Olivier enlisted stage manager Jackie Harvey to keep a diary of the often ludicrous, occasionally creative, always challenging rehearsals. Anthony Hopkins and Jim Dale costarred in the surreal two-man piece. Led by the eccentric Garcia, the play quickly descended into a chaotic farce. Missed deadlines, technical hitches, unauthorized nudity and backstage feuds culminated in an unforgettable production, leaving the company debating whether he was a misunderstood genius or a brilliant con-artist.The production was part of an upheaval in British theater, as old traditions gave way to new trends. Accompanied by recollections from Hopkins, Dale and others, along with photographs and documents that bring the key players to life, th
£999.99
Globe Pequot Press How Broadway Works
Book Synopsis
£16.19
Ivan R Dee, Inc Stage Managing and Theatre Etiquette: A Basic
Book SynopsisHere is a practical, accessible introduction to one of the most complex jobs in theatre. Linda Apperson clearly and concisely leads the reader through the procedures and responsibilities of stage management, from auditions to closing night. What is “blocking”? How do you “call” a show? Who is the technical director, and why do you want him or her as your best friend? How can you tame (or endure) a prima donna? When is the best time to offer advice to the actors? Ms. Apperson answers these and countless other questions in a resource book that will become a constant companion for both the novice and the experienced theatre person. Especially useful is her attention to personal relationships among actors and crew. She insists that working to create an atmosphere of respect backstage will improve the show onstage, and she shows precisely how this is done, based upon her years of experience in managing the stage. Stage Managing and Theatre Etiquette includes samples of prompt scripts and other essential stage manager’s tools.Trade Review“Lively...this is no 'pro' looking down her nose at amateurs, this is someone who has been in the trenches.” * Community Theater *“A contagiously encouraging tone.” * Dramatics *“Concise, complete, accessible...will preserve the safety and sanity of making live theater!” -- Robert Kelley, Artistic Director, TheatreWorks“A handy manual and a great resource...will translate to a wonderful theater experience for cast, crew, and audience.” * Stage and Screen *
£11.39
Ivan R Dee, Inc Mis-directing the Play: An Argument Against
Book SynopsisTerry McCabe, himself an accomplished stage director and teacher of theatre arts, here attacks what he calls the growing decadence that plagues contemporary stage directing. He argues for a radical reorganization of the director’s view of his role. It has become an article of faith in the theatre, Mr. McCabe observes, that a play is about what the director chooses to have it be about. But what right does a director have to treat a play as a found object, to be reshaped to express the director’s concerns? None whatsoever, Mr. McCabe replies. He examines anecdotally a range of work by different directors by way of offering a substantial critique of today’s leading theory of stage directing, and he offers an alternate approach. He challenges the notion that a play is the director’s vehicle for self-expression, arguing that the idea of the director as centerpiece of the theatre tends to distort plays and oppress actors. He explores what it means to direct a play when directing is properly understood as a process of self-effacement. Mis-directing the Play examines the role of the director as collaborator with actors, designers, dramaturges, and playwrights. Throughout, the book’s focus is on shedding the counterproductive myth of the director as creative auteur and urging in its place a return to first principles: the idea of the director as the interpretive artist in charge of putting the playwright’s play onstage.Trade ReviewEminently sensible, delivered with cogent examples and equally cogent arguments. It is a heartfelt cry that needs to be heard. -- Nicholas RudallOne of the paradoxes of the theatre is that the artistry of its greatest directors is largely invisible...Terry McCabe raises the curtain on why this must be so. -- Gregory MosherI would be delighted if every director I work with read and gave serious consideration to the ideas in this book. -- Jeffrey Sweet
£11.69
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Musical Theatre Script and Song Analysis Through
Book SynopsisHow many times have you experienced a musical that was fabulous or just didn't work at all, but you had no idea how to communicate why? How do you differentiate between a flaw in the performance portrayal of a character to a structural flaw in the musical itself? How do you analyse musical theatre songs that are so subjective in its very nature? Is there even a common link of analysis between musicals from the Golden Age and musicals from the present day? Musical Theatre Script and Song Analysis Through the Ages answers these questions and gives students of musical theatre the tools they need to understand and articulate how musicals work. At the heart of any musical lie its music and lyrics, yet it is this area that is least understood. This book offers a brand new terminology of analysis that gets to the core of what holds a musical together: the libretto, music, and lyrics. Through identifying methods of lyric and musical analysis and applying these to ten different musicaTable of ContentsChapter I: Some Basic Terminology Chapter II: Need Energy in Lyric Analysis Chapter III: Life Force Energy in Lyric Analysis Chapter IV: Alignment Energy in Lyric Analysis Chapter V: Growth Moment Energy in Lyric Analysis Chapter VI: Basic Need & Life Force Energy Characteristics in Music Analysis Chapter VII: The Need Energy Music Circle of Truths Chapter VIII: The Life Force Energy Music Circle of Truths Chapter IX: The Analytical Process Chapter X: The Ground Plan Chapter XI: 1927-The Musical is Born Show Boat Chapter XII: 1940’s-The Beginning of the Golden Age Oklahoma! Chapter XIII: 1950’s-The Late Golden Age West Side Story Chapter XIV: 1960’s-The Extravaganza Musical Fiddler on the Roof Chapter XV: 1970’s-The Concept Musical The Wiz Chapter XVI: Stephen Sondheim Sweeney Todd Chapter XVII: 1980’s-The Spectacle Musical The Phantom of the Opera Chapter XVIII: 1990’s-Voice of a New Generation Rent Chapter XIX: 2000’s- Corporate Broadway – A Gem in the Rough Spring Awakening Chapter XX: 2015- What Will the Future Bring? Hamilton
£999.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Great North American Stage Directors Set 1
Book Synopsis
£80.75
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Great North American Stage Directors Set 2
Book Synopsis
£80.75
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Directing Professionally
Book SynopsisHow do you develop both the craft of directing as well as a professional career in freelance directing in today''s theatre industry? Drawing on his own extensive experience and that of other theatre professionals from the US and UK, Kent Thompson illuminates a pathway from training, apprenticeship and assistant directing to an established career as a director. Directing Professionally first lays out paths for aspirant directors to train, grow and succeed as directors, then advises freelance directors on how to establish and accelerate their professional careers. It also reveals the most significant ways those directors become artistic directors today. With a frank, thoughtful and often humorous examination of the job of professional direction and artistic direction, Thompson writes about the passion, commitment, artistic vision, directorial experience, leadership skills, and powerful persuasive gifts needed to succeed in this extraordinary field. Featuring case stuTrade ReviewKent Thompson’s Directing Professionally is the perfect blend of the real experience of directing in professional theatre and the process needed to direct in today’s theatre companies... Kent's optimistic and realistic book is an invaluable guide for every student of directing or emerging director. -- Jane Page, University of California, USATable of ContentsAbout the Author Acknowledgements Introduction PART I: Entering the Field Chapter 1. The Big Leap Chapter 2. Understanding the Business of Theatre PART II: Your First Professional Job Chapter 3. Interviewing for the Job Chapter 4. Director’s Work in Pre-Production Chapter 5. Rehearsals in the Studio Chapter 6. Moving into the Theatre through Final Dress Chapter 7. Previews through Opening PART III: Advancing Your Career Chapter 8. Finding Your Next Job(s) Chapter 9. Directing New Plays & Musicals Chapter 10. Nurturing Your Art & Yourself PART IV: Becoming an Artistic DirectorChapter 11. Leading a Theatre… or Not Chapter 12. Getting the Artistic Director Job Chapter 13. Preparing to Lead Conclusion Notes Further Reading
£23.99
Skyhorse Publishing The Perfect Stage Crew: The Complete Technical
Book SynopsisHere is a must-have book for anyone producing a stage show without a Broadway-sized budget. Written by a technical theater veteran, The Perfect Stage Crew explains the pitfalls to avoid and provides solutions to the most commonand the most complexstage performance problems, even for theaters with a lack of resources. An invaluable guide for middle and high school theaters, college theaters, and community theaters, The Perfect Stage Crew teaches readers how to:Stock, organize, and store the essential backstage suppliesConceptualize, design, and build setsManage a stage crew effectivelyPaint scenery and backdropsTest, design, and hang lightingOperate and repair sound equipmentSet cuesPromote your showThis expanded second edition covers up-to-date technology, including for use with recording, sound, and lighting. Chapters also cover such crucial topics as running technical rehearsals, gathering props, and creating and selling tickets. Theater groups that need to learn the nuts and bolts of putting a show together will discover how to turn backstage workers into The Perfect Stage Crew.Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.
£19.15
Taylor & Francis Ltd OneHour Shakespeare
Book SynopsisThe One-Hour Shakespeare series is a collection of abridged versions of Shakespeare’s plays, designed specifically to accommodate both small and large casts. This volume, The Tragedies, includes the following plays: Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Othello and Romeo and Juliet.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. One-Hour projects in performance: money-saving suggestions to consider with a minimal budget 3. Lesson Plan and Editing Exercise 4. Cross-gender casting suggestions 5. Hamlet 6. Hamlet: suggested cast list and character assignments for a small cast 7. Julius Caesar 8. Julius Caesar: suggested cast list and character assignments for a small cast 9. Macbeth 10. Macbeth: suggested cast list and character assignments for a small cast 11. Othello 12. Othello: suggested cast list and character assignments for a small cast 13. Romeo and Juliet 14. Romeo and Juliet: suggested cast list and character assignments for a small cast
£36.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd Female Playwrights and Applied Intersectionality
Book SynopsisIn this collection, the author focuses on several contemporary Romanian female playwrights with residencies in Europe and the U.S.: Alexandra Badea, Carmen-Francesca Banciu, Alexa Bacanu, Ana Sorina Corneanu, Mihaela Dragan, Dr. Catalina Florina Florescu, Dr. Mihaela Michailov, Dr. Domnica Radulescu, Saviana Stanescu, and Dr. Elise Wilk.In their bold works, written by female playwrights who are academics, activists, and performers, we are invited to discover variations in the modus operandi of the dramatic language itself from metaphorical to matter-of-fact approaches. Furthermore, while all these playwrights speak Romanian, they also think and operate in various other languages, such as Romani, German, French, Italian, and American English.This book facilitates scholars and students to discover contemporary issues related to Romanian society as presented heavily from a feminine angle and to reveal intersectional issues as seen and applied to dramatic characters in a pTrade Review''Dr. Florescu’s focus on intersectionality in plays written by Romanian female playwrights is an admirable endeavor given both the scarcity of materials on Romanian cultural intersectionality and theater in general in the United States curricula. Not only are the ten plays included for discussion in this book a splendid sample of Romanian theater, but also the carefully structured analyses and activities, prefaced by photographs from performances, make this book a labor of love'' – Dr. Adriana Cordali author of Visual Rhetorics of Communist Romania: Life Under the Totalitarian Gaze''Designed as multilingual and multidimensional, this volume presents a series of plays by female artists who are deeply connected to Romania, Dr. Cătălina Florina Florescu’s native country. Their engagement with intersectionality becomes evident not only when discussed by Florescu, but also when the playwrights are given a selfless chance to reflect on their own works. Shining a bright light on the urgent political issues and innovatory theatrical strategies at the heart of these contemporary productions will definitely stir interest and debate, proving the timeliness of the current project.'' – Dr. Ludmila Martanovschi, Secretary of the Society for Multi-Ethnic Studies: Europe and the Americas (MESEA)''A compassionate and intimate exploration of female playwrights in Romanian theater presented to the global public through the lens of intersectionality as a tool for discernment of how the invisible power relations create inequality. Catalina Florescu masterfully uses her multifaceted roles as a woman, immigrant, mother, partner, author, and professor to examine the still vastly unexamined role female artists have in making intellectually stimulating art and leaving their beautifully diverse legacy on heteropatriarchy.'' – Mihaela Campion, Clinical licensed psychotherapist and ARCHER Founder (American Romanian Coalition of Human and Equal Rights)Table of ContentsForewordA Note Before Reading This VolumeChapter 1. Feminin (Feminine)Chapter 2. Pisica Lui Schrödinger (Schrödinger’s Cat)Chapter 3. Ein Land Voller Helden (A Land Full of Heroes)Chapter 4. Romacen: Vremea Vrăjitoarei (Romacene: The Age of the Witch)Chapter 5. Pulvérisés (The Pulverised)Chapter 6. Moss (Verde Crud)Chapter 7. Hai să vorbim despre viaţă! (Let’s Talk about Life!)Chapter 8. Familia Offline (Offline Family)Chapter 9. Exile Is My Home (Exilul este casa mea)Chapter 10. Aliens with Extraordinary Skills (Extratereştii cu puteri supraomeneşti)Post ScriptumMiscellaneaAbout The PlaywrightsIndex
£62.58
Routledge Female Playwrights and Applied Intersectionality
Book Synopsis
£21.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd Directing Actors
Directing Actors: A Practical Aesthetics Approach is the first book to apply the Practical Aesthetics acting technique to the craft of directing.Lee Cohn lays out a step-by-step, no-nonsense methodology for the director that includes a deep dive into the mechanics of storytelling, the rehearsal process, working with writers, and the practical realities of the director's job. Featuring end-of-chapter exercises, this book provides a clear and e?ective means of breaking down a script in order to tell a story with clarity, simplicity, and dramatic force and gives directors a clear working vocabulary that will allow e?ective communication with actors. The techniques in this book are applicable to any theatrical style and any media platform in which a director might work. Written in an accessible, conversational style, this book strips the process of directing down to its most essential components to explain how to become an actor's director.A must-rea
£31.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd The Stage Directors Prompt Book
Book SynopsisThe Stage Director's Prompt Book is a step-by-step, detailed guide on how to create a practical and powerful rehearsal and performance toolthe director's prompt book.A prompt book is a coordinating and organizational tool for the stage director. This book systematizes the creative process the director uses to analyze and interpret a play and coordinates all director-related rehearsal and production activities into a single, self-contained interpretive and organizational system. This book guides the director through the necessary steps and stages of creating and using a prompt bookfrom play analysis and interpretation, through the formation of a dynamic and theatrical director's vision, to a unique method of physicalizing a play in production. A prompt book of a one-act play is included in the book as a complete example of the system. Such techniques as redlining, color coding and creating a three-column left-hand page are vividly illustrated for readers, allowing theTrade Review"If only this wonderful book were available when I was teaching directing. Great for the beginner, and a perfect refresher course in all the fundamentals for the experienced director. An invaluable guide for the journey from ‘play to stage.’"Gregory Lehane, Professor Emeritus, and former Head of Directing at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama"This indispensable guide to building an effective stage director's prompt book enables a director to approach production with a thorough understanding of the structure and detail of the play. It is a powerful template for creativity and collaboration."Marc Masterson, Former Artistic Director of Actors Theatre of Louisville and South Coast Repertory"Leslie Ferreira opens up the treasure chest of his knowledge, skill and experience as a stage director by sharing the playbook of his extraordinary craft. The Stage Director’s Prompt Book is a pièce de résistance that brings everything together and takes your directing craft to the next level. Any director who seeks to up-their-game will immediately benefit from Leslie Ferreira’s meticulous and creative approach to directing. This rare insight into directing is a gift of a lifetime that will keep on giving."Eric Bishop, Chair, Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region 8"Leslie Ferreira’s The Stage Director’s Prompt Book is the perfect companion for any director’s journey. It offers encouragement, inspiration, and concrete advice—challenging us along the way to ‘direct better.’"Tina Kronis, Artistic Director, Theatre Movement Bazaar"Why hasn’t the The Stage Director's Prompt Book been written years ago? It clearly establishes the Who, What, Where, When, Why and How to effectively direct a play using the road map of a prompt book. Leslie Ferreira demystifies how to approach directing—all through the importance of the Three-Column Left-Hand Page. An excellent guide for anyone brave enough to call themselves, director."Daniel T. Green, Ph.D., Director: Entertainment Industry Management, Carnegie Mellon University"A great guide for assembling and organizing all the essential elements for a production, The Stage Director’s Prompt Book is an excellent step-by-step method for investigating a play and developing a sound directorial approach to it."Tom Bryant, Dramaturg, Professor Emeritus, Crafton Hills College"A thoroughly entertaining, insightful and straightforward account of the steps needed to bring a play to life on stage. Not only directors but everyone else involved in the creation of theatre will benefit immeasurably from reading this book."Anthony Maggio, Chair, Theatre Academy, Los Angeles City CollegeTable of Contents1. Introduction 2. A Director’s Glossary: In Order of Appearance 3. The Mechanics of it All: Constructing the Prompt Book 4. Redlining the Script: Finding the Important, Distilling the Essence 5. Director’s Units 6. Color Coding 7. The Three Column Left-Hand Page 8. The Right-Hand Page 9. Using the Prompt Book to Schedule and Organize for Artistic Success 10. The Director and the Stage Manager 11. Four One-Hundredths: A Model One Act 12. Final Thoughts Index
£34.89
Taylor & Francis Vsevolod Meyerhold
Book SynopsisVsevolod Meyerhold considers the life and work of the extraordinary twentieth-century director and theatre-maker. This compact, well-illustrated volume includes: a biographical introduction to Meyerholdâs life a clear explanation of his theoretical writings an analysis of his masterpiece production Revisor, or The Government Inspector a comprehensive and usable description of the âbiomechanicalâ exercises he developed for training the actor. As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners offer unbeatable value for today's student.Trade Review'Pitches' skill ... is impressive.' Aleks Sierz, The Times Higher Education Supplement'A useful entry point.' Theatre Research InternationalTable of ContentsA LIFE OF CONTRADICTIONS Apprenticeship (1874–1905) St Petersburg (1906–17) Meyerhold and the Revolution (1917–22) The Meyerhold Theatre (1922–31) The death of Meyerhold and his theatre (1932–40) Meyerhold today MEYERHOLD'S KEY WRITINGS Don’t (always) believe what you read! The key theoretical principles Naturalism Stylisation Rhythm and music The mask The grotesque Biomechanics and the actor of the future Chaplin and Eisenstein: a theory of montage CONTENTS MEYERHOLD’S KEY PRODUCTION: THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR Gogol’s challenge Meyerhold’s response Nikolai Gogol: the comet Gogol’s Government Inspector Meyerhold’s Government Inspector PRACTICAL EXERCISES Practice: the living link with Meyerhold So what are the basic skills of a biomechanical actor? The exercises Skills-based exercises Back to the basic skills Improvisation exercises Work on text Conclusions Bibliography Books and articles Films and videos
£36.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd Conversations with Women in Musical Theatre
Book SynopsisMost writers, composers, librettists, and music directors who make their careers in musical theatre do so without specific training or clear pathways to progress through the industry. Conversations with Women in Musical Theatre Leadership addresses that absence by drawing on the experiences of these women to show the many and varied routes to successful careers on, off, and beyond Broadway. Conversations with Women in Musical Theatre Leadership features 15 interviews with Broadway-level musical theatre music directors, directors, writers, composers, lyricists, stage managers, orchestrators, music arrangers, and other women in positions of leadership. Built around extensive interviews with women at the top of their careers in the creative and leadership spheres of musical theatre, these first-hand accounts offer insight into the jobs themselves, the skills that they require, and how those skills can be developed.Any students of musical theatre and stagecraTable of Contents1. The State of Things 2. The Writers 3. The Music Team 4. The Director-Choreographers 5. The Producers 6. The Management 7. The Resources
£35.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd Directing for Community Theatre
Book SynopsisDirecting for Community Theatre is a primer for the amateur director working in community theatre. With an emphasis on preparedness, this book gives the amateur director the tools and techniques needed to effectively work on a community theatre production. Covering play analysis, blocking, staging, communication, and working with actors, designers, and other theatre personnel, this how-to book is designed to have the community theatre director up and running quickly, with full knowledge of how to direct a show. The book also contains sample forms and guidelines, including acting analysis, character analysis, rehearsal schedule, audition form, prop list, and blocking pans. Directing for Community Theatre is written for the community theatre participant who is interested, or already cast, in the role of the director.Table of Contents1. Introduction2. Obsession3. Blocking Notes4. Stages of Rehearsal5. A Directing Primer6. Play Analysis7. Production Organization8. Directors and Design9. The Visual Tools10. Acting Exercises11. Playwrighting12. Memorization13. Ethics and Behavior14. Diversity15. The Stage Manager
£35.76
Taylor & Francis Ltd Sarah Kanes 4.48 Psychosis
Book SynopsisEverything passes/Everything perishes/Everything palls 4.48 PsychosisHow on earth do you award aesthetic points to a 75-minute suicide note? The question comes from a review of 4.48 Psychosis' inaugural production, the year after Sarah Kane took her own life, but this book explores the ways in which it misses the point. Kane's final play is much more than a bizarre farewell to mortality. It's a work best understood by approaching it first and foremost as theatre as a singular component in a theatrical assemblage of bodies, voices, light and energy. The play finds an unexpectedly close fit in the established traditions of modern drama and the practices of postdramatic theatre.Glenn D'Cruz explores this theatrical angle through a number of exemplary professional and student productions with a focus on the staging of the play by the Belarus Free Theatre (2005) and Melbourne's Red Stitch Theatre (2007). Trade Review"D’Cruz offers a compelling argument for the theatrical possibilities of the play, its place in the field of postdramatic theatre, and its ability to resonate with audiences twenty years after its first performance. Succinct and engaging, this short book [...] is a useful source for educators teaching Kane’s work, or theatre practitioners bravely considering the challenge of producing it."Sarah Peters, Flinders University, Australia, in Australasian Drama StudiesTable of ContentsList of figuresAcknowledgementsChapter 1: Contextualising 4.48 Psychosis: 'Everybody loves a dead girl' – Sarah Kane as innovator and iconChapter 2: Reading 4.48 Psychosis: The flaw in love (and psychiatry)Chapter 3: Theorising 4.48 Psychosis: 4.48 Psychosis as postdramatic theatreChapter 4: Teaching 4.48 Psychosis: Performance and pedagogyChapter 5: Performing 4.48 Psychosis: From Minsk to MelbourneChapter 6: Conclusion
£15.86
Taylor & Francis Ltd Jacques Lecoq
Book SynopsisThis volume offers a concise guide to the teaching and philosophy of one of the most significant figures in twentieth century actor training. Jacques Lecoq''s influence on the theatre of the latter half of the twentieth century cannot be overestimated.Now reissued Jacques Lecoq is the first book to combine: an historical introduction to his life and the context in which he worked an analysis of his teaching methods and principles of body work, movement, creativity, and contemporary theatre detailed studies of the work of Theatre de Complicite and Mummenschanz practical exercises demonstrating Lecoq''s distinctive approach to actor training. Table of ContentsTHE LIFE OF JACQUES LECOQ Jacques Lecoq (1921–99) Jacques Lecoq: actor, director and teacher Jacques Lecoq and the Western tradition of actor training Jacques Lecoq: the body and culture Summary and conclusion THE TEXTS OF JACQUES LECOQ Lecoq’s pedagogy: from practice to principles (and back) Acting for the theatre of the future End words TRACES OF JACQUES LECOQ: THÉ TRE DE COMPLICITÉ’S STREET OF CROCODILES AND THE WORK OF MUMMENSCHANZ The case of Théâtre de Complicité The Street of Crocodiles The case of Mummenschanz PRACTICAL EXERCISES Aims Background and context Approach Preparatory exercises I push . . . I pull: towards the dynamics of melodrama I am pushed . . . I am pulled: towards the dynamics of tragedy I push myself . . . I pull myself: towards the dynamics of commedia dell’arte Debrief CONCLUSION
£38.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd The Theatre of Katie Mitchell
Book SynopsisThis first volume in the 4x45 series investigates the work of theatre director Katie Mitchell. Pausing to reconsider a career in progress, it engages with some of Mitchell's most recent work in the UK and Europe across theatre, opera, and Live Cinema. It also takes a longer view, considering the early turns that Mitchell took at the start of her career in the late 1980s.This volume gives full scope to the voice of the practitioner, alongside scholarly perspectives, in order to understand the work from within. Interviews with Mitchell's collaborators get inside her process and inside the thinking of key artists who help craft the distinctive visual, aesthetic and technological forms of Mitchell's productions. Three major concerns criss-cross these contributions: the political implications of aesthetic form; the meaning of Mitchell's interest in the radical project of early Naturalism; and the influence of Europe on Mitchell's avant-garde experimentalism, which often draws on Table of ContentsTable of ContentsIntroduction | Benjamin Fowler1. Immersive Worlds: Designing Katie Mitchell’s Theatre | Alex Eales in conversation with Benjamin Fowler 2. Katie Mitchell and the Politics of Naturalist Theatre | Dan Rebellato and Kim Solga3. Willful Distraction: Katie Mitchell, Auteurism and the Canon | Tom Cornford4. Stages and Screens: Katie Mitchell’s Theatre Aesthetics | Leo Warner in conversation with Janis Jefferies
£22.78
Taylor & Francis Ltd Errol Johns Moon on a Rainbow Shawl
Book SynopsisErrol John wrote Moon on a Rainbow Shawl (1958) after becoming disillusioned about the lack of good roles for black actors on the British theatre scene. While this situation has only slightly improved since, his response has become the most revived black play in Britain, from its original production at the Royal Court in 1958, to the National Theatre in 2012. It depicts the lives of a black community living in poverty in a shared tenement yard in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in the mid-1940s, showing how each of the characters carries dreams of escaping to create better lives for themselves and their families. Lynette Goddard focuses on how the play articulates the narratives of migration that prompted many Caribbean people to uproot from their homes on the islands and move to the England in the post-war era. For some of them, these dreams of a new life became a reality, but they were experienced differently across genders and generations.&nTable of Contents1. Frontlines and Backyards: The Post-War Caribbean Yard Play 2. Migration Stories: Island Lives, Hopes, Dreams, and Escapes 3. Text and Character: Gender and Generation 4. Production Histories: Staging, Directing and Reviewing 5. A Caribbean Classic? Bibliography
£15.86
Taylor & Francis Ltd Physical Dramaturgy
Book SynopsisWhat is physical dramaturgy? While the traditional dramaturg shares research intellectually, the physical dramaturg does so viscerally and somatically. By combining elements of text, history, dramatic structure, and the author's intent with movement analysis and physical theatre pedagogies, the physical dramaturg gives actors the opportunity to manifest their work in a connected and intuitive manner and creates a field that is as varied and rich as the theatre itself.Physical Dramaturgy: Perspectives from the Field explores the ways in which this unique role can benefit the production team during the design and rehearsal phases of both traditional and devised productions. Individual chapters look at new ways of approaching a wealth of physical worlds, from the works of Shakespeare and other period playwrights to the processes of Jerzy Grotowski, Lloyd Williamson, Richard Schechner, and Michael Chekhov, and devising original works in a variety of contexts from PiTable of ContentsList of illustrations; List of contributors; Preface; Acknowledgments; Introduction; PART I Historical styles and case studies from the Greeks to contemporary theatre; Chapter 1 Embodying Greek period style: Physical dramaturgy in staging Euripides’ Medea; Chapter 2 Festina Lente and Sprezzatura in action: Unlikely sources of physical dramaturgy in Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost and As You Like It; Chapter 3 Shakespeare’s text in the body of the character in The Winter’s Tale; Chapter 4 Period style: The physical dramaturgy of Loyd Williamson’s Salon; Chapter 5 Understanding the world of the play through period movement; PART II Inner landscapes: Dramaturgy from within; Chapter 6 Dramaturgy as litany; Chapter 7 A dramaturgy of embodiment: The study and practice of experiential anatomy; Chapter 8 The augmented body; Chapter 9 Mining the imagination: A physical approach to the creation of story with Action Theater; PART III Acts of translation: Physical dramaturgy in the rehearsal room; Chapter 10 Devising Brechtian moments: The transformation of traditional dramaturgy into physical dramaturgy; Chapter 11 "Lit from within": Non-traditional casting in Chekhovian realism through physical dramaturgy; Chapter 12 The alchemy of re-composing history in Iphigenia and Other Daughters; 13 Quadruple threat musical theatre: Adding the physical dramaturg; Chapter 14 Kinetic analysis and gesture mapping in The Government Inspector and Anton’s Shorts; PART IV Physical dramaturgy in the devising process; 15 The search for synecdoche: Insight into Pig Iron Theatre Company’s physical dramaturgy. Quinn Bauriedel interview, July 29, 2016; Chapter 16 Devising ‘madness’: Physical dramaturgy in The Ophelia Project and Asylum; Chapter 17 The phenomenon of silence. Bill Bowers interview, September 9, 2017; Chapter 18 Butoh, landscape theatre, and the physical dramaturgy of Gale GAtes et al.; Chapter 19 Moment Work: Exploring the full potential of the stage. Moisés Kaufman interview, July 20, 2017; Chapter 20 Physical dramaturgy: Reflections for the actor, director, designer, and deviser; Index
£36.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Shakespeare in the Theatre Sir William Davenant
Book SynopsisEubanks Winkler and Schoch reveal how and why the first generation to stage Shakespeare after Shakespeare's lifetime changed absolutely everything. Founder of the Duke's Company, Sir William Davenant influenced how Shakespeare was performed in a profound and lasting way. This open access book provides the first performance-based account of Restoration Shakespeare, exploring the precursors to Davenant's approach to Restoration Shakespeare, the cultural context of Restoration theatre, the theatre spaces in which the Duke's Company performed, Davenant's adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, acting styles, and the lasting legacy of Davenant's approach to staging Shakespeare.The eBook editions of this work are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by Queen''s University Belfast.Table of ContentsSeries Preface 1. Precursors 2. Cultural Milieu 3. New Spaces 4. Acting 5. Repertory 6. Case Studies 7. Davenant’s Legacy Notes Bibliography Index
£28.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Three Plays by Squint How They Were Made
Book SynopsisAre you a theatre-maker looking for devising tools? A writer wanting to improve your dialogue? A director trying to create a story through improvisation? Three Plays by Squint & How They Were Made brings three of the company's plays together with the methods used to create them, in a practical, user-friendly toolkit. Three of Squint's plays - created by Lee Anderson, Adam Foster and Andrew Whyment - are published here for the first time. At the heart of each, a character is struggling to process their personal trauma under the intense glare of the public eye. Long Story Short (2014) dissects journalism in the digital age, Molly (2015) takes a reality television-style journey into the mind of a sociopath, and The Incredible True Story of the Johnstown Flood (2021) embarks on a transatlantic exploration of class, exploitation and appropriation.Developed over ten years through Squint's education programme, the exercises in this book distil the company's Trade ReviewSquint’s trio of fast-paced plays, combined with the activities used to create them, are an invaluable resource for directors, ensembles, devisers and playwrights alike * Emma Rice, Wise Children *You can’t help but feel nourished by Squint’s collective spirit and markedly more equipped to originate theatre * Holly Race Roughan, Artistic Director of Headlong *It’s fascinating to read this generous and detailed articulation of the tools and methods of Squint’s theatre making * Amit Lahav, Artistic Director of Gecko *An invaluable resource for theatre makers and educators * Anna Niland, Associate Director of the National Youth Theatre. *A punchy collection of swaggeringly smart plays coupled with a generous toolkit of inspirations for making new work * Dan Rebellato, Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Royal Holloway. *Table of ContentsSquint. Foreword. Introduction. Long Story Short. Molly. The Incredible True Story Of The Johnstown Flood. The Squint Toolkit Acknowledgements Bibliography
£999.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Moving Body Le Corps Poetique
Book Synopsis''In life, I want students to be alive and on stage I want them to be artists'' Jacques LecoqJacques Lecoq was one of the most inspirational theatre teachers of our age. In The Moving Body, he shares with us first-hand his unique philosophy of performance, improvisation, masks, movement and gesture, which together form one of the greatest influences on contemporary theatre.Neutral mask, character mask and counter masks, bouffons, acrobatics, commedia, clowns and complicity: all the famous Lecoq techniques are covered in this book - techniques that have made their way into the work of former collaborators and students including Dario Fo, Ariane Mnouchkine, Yasmina Reza and Theatre de Complicite. The book contains a foreword by Simon McBurney, a critical introduction by Mark Evans and an afterword by Fay Lecoq, Director of the International Theatre School in Paris.Trade ReviewHe taught us how to be artists * Steven Berkoff, on Jacques Lecoq *In a very accessible language and with clear exemplifications and illustrative drawings, Lecoq sheds light on a vision of mime considered as training for theatre and for life … Both for the actor, and for the researcher interested in Lecoq’s theatre, this book is an essential read; for the theatre historian it is also a theoretical source on “dramatic mime” and on the expressive body that transversally influenced dance and theatre in the twentieth century. * Skenè: Journal of Theatre and Drama Studies *Table of ContentsForeword by Simon McBurney 1. Personal Journey 2. The World and Its Movements 3. The Roads to Creativity 4. New Beginnings
£61.75
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The 14th Tale
Book Synopsis1988: at four-years-old, he short-circuited his home with a silver spoon and a Betamax video player. 1989: stopped a 700-strong student assembly with a tantrum. 1995: was chased through jungle growth by a crazed, frustrated French teacher called Monsieur Batcock...Misfit? Apparently – until a little family research reveals a pattern of mischief reaching as far back as a great grandfather, and so the story begins: I'm from a long line of trouble makers, of ash skinned Africans, born with clenched fists and a natural thirst for battle only quenched by breast milk. They'd suckle as if the white silk sliding between gums were liquid peace treaties from mums. The 14th Tale is a beautiful mellifluous narrative that tells the hilarious exploits of a natural born mischief, growing from the clay streets of Nigeria to rooftops in Dublin and finally to London by award-winning writer and performer Inua Ellams.Trade ReviewA sharp reminder of the power of language and rhythm" The Scotsman; "original, experimental, beautiful * Culture Wars *Inua Ellams captures our attention as soon as he opens his mouth * The Times *
£11.78
Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Publications Dorota Maslowska Four Plays
Book Synopsis
£20.00
Springer International Publishing AG Staging Deaf and Hearing Theatre Productions
Book SynopsisThis book explores an unacknowledged gap in theatre study and praxis, and establishes an inceptive model for transforming a playscript into a theatrical production involving deaf and hearing artists.
£48.74
The University of Michigan Press The Sixties Center Stage
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe Sixties, Center Stage expands our vision of this critical decade, reminding experimental-theater partisans that Broadway, established Off Broadway, high-profile festivals, and the nascent regional theater were sites of equally challenging innovation. Even more important, Harding and Rosenthal aim to dismantle the boundary between the mainstream and the fringe—to demonstrate that there was far easier exchange of ideas, preoccupations, and methods between the two camps than we usually acknowledge."" - Marc Robinson, Yale University""The editors successfully tackle the dichotomy that has long existed in the scholarly literature about American theater during the turbulent 1960s. Well-written, readable, entertaining, well-organized, and convincing, this book inspires readers to continue their search for ways in which false dichotomies can be exploded in other writings."" - Elizabeth L. Wollman, Baruch College
£999.99
The University of Michigan Press The Sixties Center Stage
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe Sixties, Center Stage expands our vision of this critical decade, reminding experimental-theater partisans that Broadway, established Off Broadway, high-profile festivals, and the nascent regional theater were sites of equally challenging innovation. Even more important, Harding and Rosenthal aim to dismantle the boundary between the mainstream and the fringe—to demonstrate that there was far easier exchange of ideas, preoccupations, and methods between the two camps than we usually acknowledge."" - Marc Robinson, Yale University""The editors successfully tackle the dichotomy that has long existed in the scholarly literature about American theater during the turbulent 1960s. Well-written, readable, entertaining, well-organized, and convincing, this book inspires readers to continue their search for ways in which false dichotomies can be exploded in other writings."" - Elizabeth L. Wollman, Baruch College
£999.99
Manchester University Press Robert Lepages original stage productions Making
Book SynopsisThis book calls upon globalisation, queer, cinema, and affect studies to explore key Robert Lepage productions from 1984 to 2008, analysing the systems through which his work is produced and disseminated.Trade Review‘…a cohesive yet multifaceted analysis of Lepage’s work. Fricker’s excellent book, which will hopefully be translated into French, should be required reading in Québec and in France, where Lepage has been celebrated almost uncritically for too long.’Canadian Theatre Review -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 Local, global, universal? The Dragon’s Trilogy 2 Vinci: Lepage in his own line of vision 3 Lepage’s cinematic dramaturgy 4 Lepage’s affective economy 5 Branding Ex Machina 6 Neoliberalism, authorship, legacy: Lepage and Ex Machina’s futures 7 Coda – Lepage exposed AppendixReferencesIndex
£76.50
Manchester University Press Not Magic but Work
Book SynopsisThis is a detailed description of the intensive work process involved in the making of Toy Symphony, a new play by Michael Gow, directed by Neil Armfield and brought to the stage for the first time in December 2007 by Company B at the Belvoir Street Theatre in Sydney. Drawing on years of research McAuley rejects simplistic notions of playwright or director as ''auteur''. Her account makes possible a more nuanced understanding of the real artistry involved in what it is that the director does and what the playwright contributes to the process.The book is in two parts. The first describes the work process and the complex relations between participants noted by McAuley during her intensive observation of the rehearsal period throughout the run of the production. The second part consists of a number of essays reflecting on aspects of the work observed, and providing a theoretical framework for deeper understanding of the rehearsal practices described. McAuley concludes that contTrade Review'A welcome contribution to the field'P. Solomon Lennox, Studies in Theatre and Performance, 2013|Gay McAuley’s modest summary of her project as ‘an attempt to describe a single rehearsal process’ (p. 2) does not do justice to the significance of this volume in furthering our understanding of ‘how a group of artists with very different skills, working in a range of different media, come together for an intensive period and produce a single work of art’ (p. 4), and in exemplifying the value of rehearsal observation in revealing the ‘profoundly collaborative nature of theatrical creation’ (p. 4). As a forensic account of Belvoir Street Theatre’s staging of Michael Gow’s Toy Symphony (2007), this study affirms the international significance of this theatre company to a readership outside of Australia., Alex Mermikides, Kingston University, Contemporary Theatre Review, 30 April 2015 -- .Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsWriting About Rehearsal – Some Preliminary ObservationsPart One: The Toy Symphony RehearsalsCompany List The Starting Point – Michael’s TextThe First DayEstablishing the Chronology (Day 2)Stop/Start Reading (Days 2-4)Scene Work (Days 4-14)The Sign Systems Come Together (Days 15-19)Runs and Notes (Days 20-27)Creating The PlayTechnical Production – a Parallel UniverseIn the Theatre At Last (Days 28-35)Part Two: Reflections After the Event Fact and Fiction and the Space BetweenNeil’s Play, Michael’s Play and Richard’s PlayThe Director’s ProcessRehearsal and Interaction RitualWorks Cited
£76.50
