Theatre studies Books

Book SynopsisWhat were the origins of commedia dell'arte and how did it evolve as a dramatic form over time and as it spread from Italy? How did its relationship to the ruling ideology of the day change during the Enlightenment? What is its legacy today? These are just some of the questions addressed in this authoritative overview of the dramatic, ideological and aesthetic form of commedia dell'arte. The book's 3 sections examine the changing role of performers and playwrights, improvisatory scenarios and scripted performance, and its function as a vehicle for social criticism, to offer readers a clear understanding of commedia dell'arte's evolution in Renaissance Italy and beyond. This study throws new light on the role of women performers; on the changing ideological discourse of commedia dell'arte, which included social reform and, later, conservatism as well as the alienation of ethnic minorities in complicity with its audience; and on its later adaptation into hybrid forms including grotesqueTrade ReviewIn this fascinating study, Domenico Pietropaolo enriches and deepens our knowledge of the commedia dell’arte throughout its early history and golden age in Italy (1560 to 1630s). His highly readable text engages the reader with its masterful weaving of theory and practice as he carefully lays out the dramaturgical and aesthetic features which defined the commedia dell’arte during its historical evolution in both north and south Italy, and beyond. Building on this comprehensive foundation, Pietropaolo offers brilliant readings of 18th-century play texts and performances by such genius playwrights as Goldoni and Gozzi whose opposing reforms teased out the complex relationships between improvised and scripted forms. The final section pays tribute to the commedia dell’arte’s enduring legacy by referencing some of its adapted dramatic forms, such as Lambranzi’s grotesque dance, the Neapolitan Pulcinellata, the English Harlequinade, and the Opera. The inclusion of key 20th-century performers and companies dedicated to keeping arte traditions alive attest to its ongoing presence. Pietropaolo’s The Commedia dell’Arte is essential reading for theatre scholars and theatre lovers alike. * Rosalind Kerr, University of Alberta, Canada *Table of ContentsList of Figures Series Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Part 1: Form, Dramaturgy and Content of Early Commedia dell’Arte 1. The First Professionals 2. Elements of Form: Characters and Dramatic Actions 3. Elements of Form: The Scenario, Lazzi, Improvisation 4. Commedia dell'Arte and Ottonelli's Theology Part 2: Innovations in the 18th Century 5. From Scenario to Script: Riccoboni and Goldoni 6. Riccoboni's Commedia of Civic Responsibility 7. The Commedia dell'Arte in Goldoni's Reform 8. Gozzi's Fable Form: A New Horizon of Expectations Part 3: Adaptations and Revivals 9. Commedia dell'Arte and Grotesque Dance: Gregorio Lambranzi 10. Pulcinellate and Harlequinades 11. Commedia dell'Arte in the Opera Libretto 12. Continuity and Transformation in the 20th Century References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTranslation for the theatre is often considered to hold a marginal status between literary translation and adaptation for the stage. As a result, this book argues that studies of this complex activity tend to take either a textual or performative approach. After exploring the history of translation theory through these lenses, Massimiliano Morini proposes a more totalizing view of theatre translation' as the sum of operations required to transform one theatre act into another, and analyses three complex Western case histories in light of this all-encompassing definition. Combining theory with practice, Morini investigates how traditional ideas on translation from Plautus and Cicero to the early 20th century have been applied in the theatrical domain. He then compares and contrasts the inherently textual viewpoint of post-humanistic translators with the more performative approaches of contemporary theatrical practitioners, and chronicles the rise of performative views in the third miTrade ReviewMassimiliano Morini’s book is an inspiring, provocative, and stirring intervention into the comfortable waters of theatre translation. I am very grateful for this book and am looking forward to the debate it will engender. * Theatrialia *Praise is, however, due to Morini for his unwavering clarity and nearly-as-unwavering accessibility of language to those not immersed within the field of translation studies or those hoping to dip into the discipline from the outside. … Ultimately, I commend Morini’s view of and hopes for the future of theatre translation and the theoretical structures that, at different turns, support, constrain, and propel it forward. * The Mercurian *This useful book explores the current state of the art of theatre translation. Morini introduces the history of translating for the theatre both in theory and practice and offers a working definition and a methodology for studying theatre translation that will be helpful to students both of translation and theatre. * Susan Bassnett, Professor, University of Glasgow, Scotland. *Massimiliano Morini’s study is the first book-length account of the history, theory and methodology of theatre translation. It is a highly informative and reliable guide to the evolution of theatrical translation studies from text-centred to performance-based approaches. The result is both a lucid text and a persuasive rhetorical performance. * Keir Elam, Alma Mater Professor of English Literature, University of Bologna, Italy *Table of ContentsList of Figures Acknowledgements Introduction: What This Book is About Part I: Theory 1. The Translation of Theatre before Translation Studies 2. The Age of Translation Studies: Early Work on Theatre Translation 3. Theatre Translation: Performance-Centric Theories in the Twenty-First Century 4. Voices from the Field of Theatre Studies Part II: Terms and Methodology 5. Proposing a Methodology for the Study of Theatre Translation Part III: Practice 6. Renaissance Translation between Text and Stage: The European Circulation of Il pastor fido 7. Contemporary Theatre Translation and the Persistence of Textual Bias 8. Performance as Translation, Translation in Performance: Two Examples from Contemporary Experimental Theatre Conclusion: What This Book is Not About Notes References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisCan theatre change the world? If so, how can it productively connect with social reality and foster spectatorial critique and engagement? This open access book examines the forms and functions of political drama in what has been described as a post-Marxist, post-ideological, even post-political moment. It argues that Bertolt Brecht's concept of dialectical theatre represents a privileged theoretical and dramaturgical method on the contemporary British stage as well as a valuable lens for understanding 21st-century theatre in Britain. Establishing a creative philosophical dialogue between Brecht, Walter Benjamin, Theodor W. Adorno and Jacques Rancière, the study analyses seminal works by five influential contemporary playwrights, ranging from Mark Ravenhill's in-yer-face' plays to Caryl Churchill's 21st century theatrical experiments. Engaging critically with Brecht's theatrical legacy, these plays create a politically progressive form of drama which emphasises notions of negativity, amTrade ReviewAn impressive and persuasive study, paying close and scrupulous attention to a selection of well-chosen and significant dramatic works to show how the Brechtian mode has endured through adaptation to a transformed political and critical context. * Journal of Contemporary Drama in English *Hartl is able to expose new and interesting facets in her analysis of the plays ... the argumentation is rigorous, circumspect, and well-informed throughout. * The Brecht Yearbook *Dramaturgically informed and philosophically astute, Hartl makes a compelling argument for Brecht’s contribution to today’s theatre. Focused on British playtexts, the book clarifies the centrality of Brecht’s materialist dialectics in sharp-eyed readings of performances responding to neo-liberal globalization and post-postmodern relativism. Updating Brecht’s strategies of spectatorship, negation and contradiction, this book is required reading for anyone concerned about new forms of dialectical realism on the stage. * Marc Silberman, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA *An eloquent, lucidly argued investigation of Brecht’s legacy in post-1990s British theatre, this book probes “the potential of Brechtian-inspired theatre to spur resistance and ideological critique in a decidedly anti-dialectical age.” Anja Hartl incisively clarifies dialectics as a worldview rooted in openness rather than dogma, illuminating the ways in which Brechtian concepts find renewed urgency and fresh forms in the work of an exciting and important cluster of contemporary playwrights. * Clare Wallace, Charles University, Czech Republic *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction Revisiting Brecht’s Dialectical Theatre Rethinking Dialectics via Adorno and Rancière Towards a Post-Brechtian Theatre 1. ‘In-Yer-Face’ Theatre and the Crisis of Dialectics: Mark Ravenhill’s Post-Brechtian Drama in Anti-Dialectical Times 1.1 The Post-Brechtian Parable: Some Explicit Polaroids 1.2 Resisting the Banal Dialectic of (Counter-)Terrorism: Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat 1.3 Conclusion 2. Reimagining Brecht: David Greig’s Theatre of Dissensus 2.1 Appropriating the Imagination in Dunsinane 2.2 Interrupting Empathy: The Events 2.3 Conclusion 3. Strategic Naivety: The Dialectic of Sincerity in Andy Smith and Tim Crouch’s Work 3.1 Post-Brechtian Meta-Theatre: all that is solid melts into air 3.2 The Limits of Sincerity: The Author 3.3 Conclusion 4. Political Theatre Between Dialectics and Absurdity: Caryl Churchill’s Twenty-First-Century Plays 4.1 Dystopian Negativity: Escaped Alone 4.2 Deconstructing the Dialectic: Here We Go 4.3 Conclusion Conclusion Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisLes Ballets C de la B was founded by Alain Platel in 1984. Since then it has become a company that enjoys great success at home and abroad. Over the years, Platel has developed a unique choreographic oeuvre. His motto, This dance is for the world and the world is for everyone', reveals a deep social and political commitment. Through the three topics of emotions, gestures and politics, this book unravels the choreopolitics of Platel's Les Ballets C de la B. His choreopolitics go beyond conveying a (political) message because rather than defending one opinion, Platel is more concerned about the exposure of the complexity within the debate itself. Highly respected scholars from different fields contribute to this book to provide an interdisciplinary perspective on the intense emotions, the damaged narratives, and the precarious bodies in Platel's choreographic oeuvre.Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Choreographic Work of Alain Platel in Context (Christel Stalpaert, Ghent University, Belgium; Guy Cools, Ghent University, Belgium; and Hildegard De Vuyst, Les Ballets C de la B, Belgium) 1. Collaborative Dramaturgy: An Experiment in Democracy (Katalin Trencsenyi, Freelance Dramaturg, UK) Part I: Emotions 2. Alain Platel is a Barbarian: Perceiving Emotions as Forms of Intelligent Awareness (Hildegard De Vuyst, Les Ballets C de la B, Belgium) 3. Desire amongst the Dodgems: The Scene of Seduction (Adrian Kear, Aberystwyth University, UK) 4. Platel’s Quest for Embodied Salvation: A Musical Perspective on Choeurs (Francis Maes, Ghent University, Belgium) 5. Poetics of Fight in Nicht Schlafen (Claire Besuelle, École Doctorale Sciences de l'homme et de la Société, France) Part II: Gestures 6. How to Witness the Hyper-Sensitive Through the Virtuosic: “I Have Never Seen Anybody Who Can Participate So Intensely While Standing Aside” (Guy Cools, Ghent University, Belgium) 7. Choreic Gesture: Virtuosic Angularity and Alterkinetic Dance in Platel’s Out of Context: For Pina (2010) (Kélina Gotman, King’s College, London, UK) 8. Being Alone Together: The ‘Disturbance of Violent Relatedness’ in La Tristeza Complice, Pitié and Tauberbach (Ann Cooper Albright, Oberlin College and Conservatory, USA) 9. Staging the Precarious: Vulnerability and Sexual Identity in Gardenia (Miriam Dreysse, Universität Hildesheim, Germany) 10. Schizophrenia and Resistance: On Tauberbach (Jeroen Donckers, Independent Psychotherapist, Belgium) Part III: Politics 11. Catastrophe as Political Gesture: On Gestus and Hieroglyphs in Bernadetje (Erwin Jans, Dramaturg, Toneelhuis, Belgium) 12. Tauberbach: A Diagrammatical Reading (Piet Defraeye, University of Alberta, Canada) 13. Mourning a Europe in Crisis: En Avant, Marche! (Lourdes Orozco, University of Leeds, UK) 14. Troubled Pasts, Differential Futures: Platel’s Choreopolitics with Les Ballets C de la B (Christel Stalpaert, Ghent University, Belgium) Conclusion: A Genealogical Perspective on Les Ballets C de la B’s Influences and Offspring (Christel Stalpaert, Ghent University, Belgium; Guy Cools, Ghent University, Belgium; and Hildegard De Vuyst, Les Ballets C de la B, Belgium) Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisA bold play collection representing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ+) experiences, from Black British perspectives, this anthology contains seven radical plays by Black writers that change the face of theatre in Britain. With an international reach connecting Africa, the Caribbean and the Diaspora, these plays address themes including same-sex love, sex, homophobia, apartheid, migration and space travel. The collection captures the historical scope and range of Black British LGBTIQ+ theatre, from the 1980s to 2021. Including a range of forms, from monologue to musicals, realist drama to club-performance, readers will journey through the development of Black Queer theatre in Britain. Through a helpful critical introduction, this book provides important socio-political and historical context, highlighting and illuminating key themes in the plays. Each play is preceded by an intergenerational in-conversation' piece between two Black British LGBTIQ+ artists and wrTable of ContentsIntroduction by Mojisola Adebayo and Lynette Goddard Jaqueline Rudet, Basin, 1987 Paul Boakye, Boy With Beer, 1995 Valerie Mason-John, Sin Dykes, 1998 Rikki Beadle-Blair, Bashment, 2005 Zodwa Nyoni, Nine Lives, 2014 Travis Alabanza, Burgerz, 2018 Temi Wilkey - The High Table 2019 Mojisola Adebayo, Stars, 2019

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is the first book to offer a clear introduction to Kattaikkuttu (or Terukkuttu), a vibrant, vocal and physical outdoor Tamil theatre tradition from India. It describes the theatre's characteristic heroic nature as expressed through its principal, male kattai characters, explores its history, social status and ritual context, and examines the production of all-night plays. After placing Kattaikkuttu in the wider, competitive context of the performing arts in India, Hanne M. de Bruin introduces readers to some of the debates about the form and provides an overview of the different elements that make up a Kattaikkuttu performance. It considers its performance spaces and the way the form has changed, such as its transition towards an independent and more professional theatre genre, as well as the opening up of the form to different castes and to women. It covers the production and frameworks of all-night performances, uses the Mahabharata play Karna MokTrade ReviewThis is an extraordinary introduction to an invisibilized theatre tradition. De Bruin skillfully highlights the complex social history, spectacular technique and cultural politics around the Tamil kuttu theatre. This book marks an immense contribution to the study of subaltern theatres from South Asia by one of the most significant scholars on the subject. Few studies of Indian theatre glide so seamlessly between theoretical propositions and the affective and material dimensions of practice. This book is bound to become a classic for the study of theatre in modern South Asia. * Davesh Soneji, University of Pennsylvania, USA *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Series Preface Acknowledgements Notes on Transliteration Introduction What’s in a Name? Tamil Theatre Histories Discourse of Contempt Alternative Views Personal Note Chapter 1. Kattaikkuttu: Aesthetic Characteristics and Historical and Socio-economic Contexts What is Kattaikkuttu? The Elements Performance Spaces Performances Performers Art as Labour Theatre Companies Emergence of Kattaikkuttu as a Distinct Genre Summary Chapter 2. Producing an All-night Performance Performance Texts Framework of a Performance Building Blocks and Modes of Production Performance Conventions and Recall Strategies The Play Karna Moksam Shifting Repertories Summary Chapter 3. Transmission, Interpretation and Innovation Kattaikkuttu’s Embodied Performance Knowledge Interpretation The Kattaikkuttu Gurukulam Pakatai Tukil Validation and Aesthetics Notes References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins''s 1879 musical Peculiar Sam to Lynn Nottage''s 2021 musical MJ, the ''Black musical'' does not get the credit it deserves for sustaining the genre we know and love. This introductory book is devoted to representative African-American perspectives in musical theatre from the literature of slavery and freedom, 1746-1865, to the contemporary period, offering the reader case studies of what the ''Black musical'' is, how it works, and why it matters.Based on Glover''s experience teaching Black musical theatre at a conservatory and in the liberal arts, he draws his close readings of Eubie Blake, Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins and Charlie Smalls from theory and practice. Moreover, Glover investigates how the ballet, the musical comedy, the opera, the play with music and the revue are similar and different narrative sub-genres. Finally, the book reflect on issues such as blackface minstrelsy, the Chitlin Circuit', non-traditional casting and yellowface.Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: An Anti-Racist Approach to the Study of Culture: The Black Musical as a Mode of Inquiry Chapter 2: 'Way over Jordan': Bondage and Freedom in Peculiar Sam (1879) and Choir Boy (2012) Chapter 3: 'Everything reminds me of you': Memory and Rememory as Narrative Techniques in Shuffle Along (1921) and Shuffle Along or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed (2016) Chapter 4: 'Home': Initiation Rites and Other 'Rites of Passage' in The Wiz (1975) and Passing Strange (2008) Conclusion References

Read more less

Book SynopsisPostmodern theatre is dead. A new theatre is rising one that combines the well-worn postmodern aesthetics of irony, detachment, and deconstruction with a paradoxical interest in authenticity, engagement, and re-construction. Whilst recent scholarship has treated these evolving interests as unrelated shifts in performance aesthetics, this volume proposes a new understanding: that these are part of a wider emerging cultural paradigm metamodernism.Metamodernism in Contemporary British Theatre is the first book to focus on metamodernism and performance, offering a pioneering framework by which to identify and understand metamodern theatre. By drawing critical links between the works of performance theorists such as Anne Bogart and Andy Lavender and the metamodern as defined by Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker, this book makes a clear, vital, and urgent case for the use of the term metamodernism within mainstream theatre scholarship.Focussing on small-

Read more less

Book SynopsisWritten in the aftermath of the Covid crisis, this book brings the past, present and future of theatre-going together as it explores the nature of the relationships between performance practitioners, arts organisations and their audiences. Proposing that the pandemic forced a re-evaluation of what it means to be an audience, and combining historical and current cultural sector perspectives, the book reflects on how historical conventions have conditioned present day expectations of theatre-going in the UK. Helen Freshwater examines the ways in which developments in technology, architecture and forms of communication have influenced what is expected by and of audiences, reflecting changes in theatre's cultural status and place in our lives. Drawing on the first-hand experiences of festival director and performance practitioner Kate Craddock, it also contends that practitioners now need to turn their attention to care, access and sustainability, arguing that theTrade ReviewOffering both a careful analysis of spectatorship throughout history, and an urgent reflection on the relationship between live performance and audiences in the present, Theatre and its Audiences is that rare book – both timeless and exceptionally timely. For those of us presently involved in the task of making sense of the confusing post-lockdown performance landscape, Craddock and Freshwater offer an essential blueprint for the future of the theatre industry, by leading us carefully through big issues like technology, communication, and accessibility in the age of COVID. But they don’t stop there. Rather than producing a text that is relevant to the present moment alone, they also offer a valuable framework for situating March 2020’s sudden rupture – and the ‘new’ modes of audiencing it produced – within a long historical context. Ultimately, reading Theatre and its Audiences is to understand the necessity of learning from the past, in order to build a better, kinder, more equitable future today. * Kirsty Sedgman, University of Bristol, UK *Much more than just a textbook for students, Theatre and its Audiences combines academic rigour with real-world experience, providing an insight into how meaningful connections can be achieved with audiences, drawing on practice as well as theory. Essential reading for anyone in theatre looking to shift relationships to achieve deeper engagement. * Annabel Turpin, Co-Director, Future Arts Centres and Chief Executive, Storyhouse, UK *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: Conventions, Interruptions and Change 1. Performance’s Place in Time: On Duration, Speed and Intervals 2. Spatial Relationships: Exclusivity and Inclusivity 3. Technologies, Connection and Copresence 4. Honesty, Secrets and Lies: How Theatre Communicates with Audiences 5. On the Present and Future Needs of Audiences: Care, Access and Sustainability Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisNoël Coward was born in 1899 in Teddington, Middlesex. He made his name as a playwright with The Vortex (1924), in which he also appeared. His numerous other successful plays included Fallen Angels (1925), Hay Fever (1925), Private Lives (1933), Design for Living (1933) and Blithe Spirit (1941). During the war he wrote screenplays such as Brief Encounter (1944) and In Which We Serve (1942). In the fifties he began a new career as a cabaret entertainer. He published volumes of verse and a novel (Pomp and Circumstance, 1960), two volumes of autobiography and four volumes of short stories: To Step Aside (1939), Star Quality (1951), Pretty Polly Barlow (1964) and Bon Voyage (1967). He was knighted in 1970 and died three years later in Jamaica.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis handbook provides a detailed exploration of the rich and diverse theatrical work produced by women in the first two decades of 21st-century British theatre. The book explores key issues and methodologies relevant to women working in the UK's theatre industry, including the legacies of feminism and its role in shaping contemporary work by women, the politics of visibility and inclusion in theatrical institutions, and collaborative strategies in creating original work. It closely examines how women in contemporary British theatre tackle urgent social issues such as environmental risk, the representation of marginalized identities and mental and physical wellbeing. Chapters by both established and early-career scholars from a variety of international contexts present new perspectives on significant questions and issues underpinning women's work in 21st-century British theatre by engaging with contemporary debates from theatre and performance studies and cultural theory. A conc

Read more less

Book SynopsisDrawing on interview material from more than 20 leading stage managers from the UK, USA and Australia, this book situates the contemporary practice of stage management within its historical and social contexts.Questioning the notions of the invisible stage manager and a linear production process, it argues for a broader conception of stage management lying at the intersections of administration, management and artistry. This volume places stage management practice within key theories drawn from the diverse fields of performance studies, semiotics, phenomenology, distributed cognition, management and scenography. It champions the creative agency of stage management and details the properties of communication which stage managers manipulate and the objectives they set out to achieve as a guide for decision making. While it considers the different approaches necessitated by productions from different cultures, genres, and so on, it offers a view of stage managemeTrade ReviewThe rich body of interview material, together with the analysis of that material and the development of an original and substantial theoretical model of stage management practice represent a significant achievement. * Nick Hunt, Rose Bruford College, UK *Smalley does something rather special in this book: he presents an argument that squarely positions stage management as a critical practice that has its own register, academic value and creativity. There is no doubt that this is now THE book on critical stage management studies. Stage managers as communication designers – I’m sold! * Rachel Hann, Northumbria University, UK *Table of ContentsList of Figures Series Preface Acknowledgements Introductions Assumptions Synopsis Interviews Part One: Various Stage Management Approaches Chapter 1 – Developments Over Time Chapter 2 – Cultural Differences Different Stage Management Approaches in the UK, North America and Australia Intercultural Stage Management Cultural Diversity and Stage Management Conclusions Chapter 3 – Content-driven Differences Genre Different Scales of Production Conclusions. Chapter 4 – Recent Developments Communication Technology Performance Technology New Approaches to Maintaining Productions Developments in Health and Safety Management Conclusions Chapter 5 – Three Models of Stage Management Practice The Administrative Model Features Limitations The Managerial Model The Artistic Model Artistry Communication Design Audience Experience Conclusions Part Two: Scenographic Stage Management Chapter 6 – Scenographic Stage Management Other Technical Theatre Disciplines Scenography Analysing Scenography The Coordinates Model of Scenography Conclusions Chapter 7 – Objectives of Stage Management Selective Information Flow Targeted Information Flow. Distributed Cognition Controlling the Mood and Atmosphere Translation Conclusions Chapter 8 – The Properties of Communication Message Mode Distribution Updates Conclusions Chapter 9 – Rationales, Implications and Conclusions Rationales Implications Conclusions Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisHow have ideas of the tragic influenced Western culture? How has tragedy been shaped by its social and cultural conditions?In a work that spans 2,500 years, these ambitious questions are addressed by 55 experts, each contributing their overview of a theme applied to a period in history. Extending far beyond the established aesthetic tradition, the volumes describe the forms tragedy takes to represent human conflict and suffering, and how it engages with matters of philosophy, society, politics, religion and gender.Individual volume editors ensure the cohesion of the whole, and to make it as easy as possible to use, chapter titles are identical across each of the volumes. This gives the choice of reading about a specific period in one of the volumes, or following a theme across history by reading the relevant chapter in each of the six.The six volumes cover: 1. Antiquity (500 BCE - 1000 AD); 2. Middle Ages (1000 - 1400); 3. Early Modern Age (1400 -

Read more less

Book SynopsisProviding one of the first book-length accounts of Samuel Beckett's poetry, this book demonstrates how Beckett's poetry reconfigures lyrical language, while also providing a new context for his experiments in poetic form by reading him alongside nineteenth and twentieth century European poets such as Hölderlin, Mallarmé, Rimbaud, Montale, and Apollinaire. Offering the reader a new way of reading Samuel Beckett's poetry, this book studies Beckett''s poems'' complex interactions between subjectivity, lyrical language, and human voice. Beckett employs lyric tactics that range from deixis, parataxis, and caesura to specific kinds of voicing, muting, and punctuation, tactics this book analyses under the rubric of lyric failure'. Beckett uses these tactics to situate the human subject and poetics between life/death, event/non-event, and beginning/ending. Giving an in-depth view of Beckett's poetry beyond the usual comparisons with his p

Read more less

Book SynopsisHow does theatre, one of the most ancient and physical arts, relate to the modern, dynamic technology that is social media? How have changes in the use of social media affected the theatre? How does social media itself operate as a performance space?Used daily by many, social media has become one of the main mediums through which we present and perform our lives. In this concise study of the revealing relationship between theatre and social media, Patrick Lonergan considers social media as a performance space, analyses how theatre-makers'' engagement with social media on and off stage affects elements of theatrical composition and reception, and explores the practical and conceptual implications of audiences interacting with professional productions through social media.Exploring case studies from Shakespearean performance to Broadway musicals, this revised edition explores new approaches to social media and theatre, asking how new platforms can influence, and

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis critical and inclusive edited collection offers an overview of the musical in relation to issues of race, culture and identity. Bringing together contributions from cultural, American and theatre studies for the first time, the chapters offer fresh perspectives on musical theatre history, calling for a radical and inclusive new approach. By questioning ideas about what the musical is about and who it for, this groundbreaking book retells the story of the musical, prioritising previously neglected voices to reshape our understanding of the form. Timely and engaging, this is required reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of musical theatre. It offers an intersectional approach which will also be invaluable for theatre practitioners.Trade ReviewMultiple authors come from diverse backgrounds and bring fresh perspectives on popular musicals as well as shows which had limited runs … testifies to the centrality of this form of popular theatre in America, while raising important questions for scholars, for artists and for audiences. * Journal of American Drama and Theatre *An exquisite anthology which covers musical theatre from South Pacific to Hamilton and Fun Home, featuring thought-provoking contributions from new, passionate and politically active musical theatre academics. * George Rodosthenous, University of Leeds, UK *A pathbreaking volume, as compelling as it is captivating. This volume gathers emerging and established voices in the interdisciplinary field of musical theatre studies to activate new routes of critical conversation and inquiry. Accessible to both the academic specialist and the interested enthusiast, this volume promises to be a relevant resource for teachers, scholars, students and fans of musical theatre for years to come. * Brian E. Herrera, Princeton University, USA *Table of ContentsSuperman/Sidekick': White Storytellers and Black Lives in The Fortress of Solitude (2012) Hamilton (2015): Restaging a Revolution at the Expense of Black Revolt Rebuilding Posterity: Savion Glover's Choreography of Shuffle Along, Or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 And All That Followed (2015) Black Conductors Make History on the Great 'White' Way: The Lost Labours of the Musical Director in Musical Theatre Creating a Theatrical Legacy: Examining Oscar Hammerstein II's British Legacy Beyond Rue Pigalle: Ada 'Bricktop' Smith as Muse, Mentor, and Maker of Transatlantic Musical Theatre 'Dedicated to the Proposition...', Raising Cultural Consciousness in the Musical, Hair (1967) 'Till We Find Our Place': Understanding The Lion King (1997) as a Vital Trope of Civic and Racial Presence in the New Millennium The Evolution of Musical Theatre in Spain Throughout the 20th and 21st Centuries Philippine Theatricality and the Aestheticization of Politics in David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's Here Lies Love 'Am I Just Like You?' Musematic Relationships in Jeanine Tesori's Score for Fun Home (2015) 'What about love?': Claiming and Re-Claiming LGBTQ+ Spaces in 21st Century Musical Theatre.

Read more less

Book SynopsisArgues for the social and ethical importance of judgment in politics, law, art and everyday life, taking Shakespeare as a guide and travel companion

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisRecurring to the governing idea of her 2005 study Shakespeare on the Edge, Lisa Hopkins expands the parameters of her investigation beyond England to include the Continent, and beyond Shakespeare to include a number of dramatists ranging from Christopher Marlowe to John Ford. Hopkins also expands her notion of liminality to explore not only geographical borders, but also the intersection of the material and the spiritual more generally, tracing the contours of the edge which each inhabits. Making a journey of its own by starting from the most literally liminal of physical structures, walls, and ending with the wholly invisible and intangible, the idea of the divine, this book plots the many and various ways in which, for the Renaissance imagination, metaphysical overtones accrued to the physically liminal.Table of ContentsContents: Introduction; Part I What is an Edge?: Walls: the edge of territory; Peter or Paul? The edge of the state. Part II The Edge of the Nation: Sex on the edge; ’Gate of Spain’: the southern edge of France; ’Pas de Calais’: the northern edge of France. Part III Invisible Edges: The edge of heaven; Jewels and the edge of the skin; The edge of the world. Conclusion; Works cited; Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA unique exploration of how mental illness is portrayed in classic and contemporary films. The study of classic and contemporary films can provide a powerful avenue to understand the experience of mental illness. In Madness at the Movies, James Charney, MD, a practicing psychiatrist and long-time cinephile, examines films that delve deeply into characters' inner worlds, and he analyzes moments that help define their particular mental illness. Based on the highly popular course that Charney taught at Yale University and the American University of Rome, Madness at the Movies introduces readers to films that may be new to them and encourages them to view these films in an entirely new way. Through films such as Psycho, Taxi Driver, Through a Glass Darkly, Night of the Hunter, A Woman Under the Influence, Ordinary People, and As Good As It Gets, Charney covers an array of disorders, including psychosis, paranoia, psychopathy, depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, a

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat does it mean for a play to be political in the 21st century? Does it require explicit engagement with events and situations with the aim of bringing about change or highlighting social wrongs? Is it purely a matter of content or is it also a matter of structure?The Contemporary Political Play: Rethinking Dramaturgical Structure examines the politics of contemporary ''political'' drama. It traces the origins of the contemporary British political play to the emergence of the idea of serious drama' in the late 19th century through the work of Bernard Shaw, and argues that a Shavian version of serious drama was inextricably linked to the social and political structures of British society at the time. While political drama is still often thought of as adhering to a Shavian model in which social issues are presented through a dialectical structure, Grochala argues that the different political structures of contemporary Britain give rise to formally inventive dramaturgies that areTrade Review[Grochala's] book is at its most powerful when it engages with such divided selves and spaces, as well as the creative impulses that lie behind them. * Times Literary Supplement *The Contemporary Political Play: Rethinking Dramaturgical Structure is a valuable resource for students and academics, as well as to new and established playwrights. This book will become a staple in my arsenal as an academic, lecturer and playwright. I found the book so useful that I began using it in my teaching and lectures even before I had finished reading it. * South African Theatre Journal *Table of ContentsContents Forward Introduction 1 – Serious Drama 2 – The Politics of Structure 3 – Time 4 – Space 5 – Plot 6 – Character Conclusion Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhy has memory become such an important political tool in response to the challenges of modernity? How can performance be used to probe and recuperate aspects of the past, and what are the ethical and political questions that arise when it does so? And how should the discipline of theatre studies define and deploy the term ''memory'' theoretically and in practice? Theory for Theatre Studies: Memory provides a comprehensive introduction to the intersections between contemporary theatre and performance, the field of memory studies and the politics of memory across the globe. Beginning by offering a fresh critical snapshot of the major theoretical foundations for the study of memory today, the author presents vivid theatrical examples drawn from a wide variety of cultural contexts and compellingly illustrates the centrality of memory for the theatre as well as the vital role of theatre in transmitting individual and collective memories. Featuring in-depth case studies of a range oTrade ReviewWith Theory for Theater Studies: Memory Gluhovic has succeeded in bringing together current questions and theories of memory research with theater studies considerations ... The interdisciplinary theoretical framework that Gluhovic elaborates, together with the case studies, illustrates the possibilities of theater to function as a corrective or a media dispositive. * rezens.tfm (Bloomsbury translation) *This is an excellent book that will be appreciated by theatre students, scholars, practitioners, and enthusiasts alike. A clear and lucid writer, Milija Gluhovic offers close readings of theatre and performance works that bring the theory he deftly explicates to the vibrant and global contexts of embodied practice. * Rebecca Schneider, Professor, Performance Studies, Brown University, USA *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Series Preface INTRODUCTION SECTION ONE: Mapping Memory: Theorizing Recollection The Classical and Medieval Practice of Mnemotechnics: How Memory Works on Stage Memory and Theatre in a Global Age SECTION TWO: Searching for Common Ground: Performance, Testimony, and Small Acts of Repair Case study 1: Lola Arias’s Minefield Case study 2: Yael Ronen’s Common Ground Case study 3: Robert Lepage's The Seven Streams of the River Ota SECTION THREE: Memory and Migration Case study 1: Andrea Levy’s Small Island Case study 2: André Amálio’s Portugal is not a small country Theatre and Memory in the Age of the Anthropocene BIBLIOGRAPHY Notes Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis Theatre of the Ridiculous is a significant movement that highlighted the radical possibilities inherent in camp. Much of contemporary theatre owes this form a great debt but little has been written about its history or aesthetic markers. This book offers a comprehensive overview of the important practitioners, along with critical commentary of their work. Beginning with Ridiculous'' most recognizable name, Charles Ludlam, the author traces the development of this campy, queer genre, from the B movies of Maria Montez to the Pop Art scene of Andy Warhol to the founding of the Play-House of the Ridiculous and the dawn of Ludlam''s career and finally to the contemporary theatre scene.

Read more less

Book SynopsisBroadway, once upon a time. A place where people buy tickets at the box office, with cash; where patrons dress for theatre, with no sneakers, no water bottles, and no backpacks; and the only text messages are the ones put there by the playwright. A place where iconic legends of stage and screen can be found in plain view, smiling politely or egotistically preening. Where three dollars will get you a balcony seat at the biggest hitor the lowliest flopin town. And a place where an innocent teenager from the suburbs can buy a ticket, slip through the stage door, and wander o''er the threshold into the magical world backstage.Steven Suskin introduces Broadway, once upon a time, in Offstage Observations: Tales of the Not-So-Legitimate Theatre. The drama critic and noted chronicler of Broadway takes the reader through a decade''s worth of adventures, working his way from a menial pencil sharpener for producer David Merrick toward a career as a full-fledged manager, producer, and dr

Read more less

Book SynopsisBoika Sokolova and Kirilka Stavreva’s second edition of the stage history of The Merchant of Venice interweaves into the chronology of James Bulman’s first edition richly contextualised chapters on Max Reinhardt, Peter Zadek, and the first production of the play in Mandatory Palestine, directed by Leopold Jessner. While the focus of the book is on post-1990s productions across Europe and the USA, and on film, the Segue provides a broad survey of the interpretative shifts in the play’s performance from the 1930s to the second decade of the twenty-first century. Individual chapters explore productions by Peter Zadek, Trevor Nunn, Robert Sturua, Edward Hall, Rupert Goold, Daniel Sullivan, and Karin Coonrod. An extensive film section including silent film offers close analysis of Don Selwyn’s Te Tangata Whai Rawa o Weniti and Michael Radford’s adaptation. Accessible and engaging, the book will interest students, academics, and general readers.Table of ContentsPART II An Elizabethan Merchant: performance and contextII Henry Irving and the great traditionIII Wayward genius in the high temple of bardolotry: Theodore KomisarjevskyIV Aesthetes in a rugger club: Jonathan Miller and Laurence OlivierV The BBC Merchant: diminishing returnsVI Cultural stereotyping and audience response: Bill Alexander and Antony SherVII Shylock and the pressures of historyPART IISegue The Merchant of Venice: pressures of war, ideology, and the crises of late capitalismI Magical spectacles and nightmarish times: Max Reinhardt’s productions of The Merchant of VeniceII Peter Zadek’s challenges to the post-war German legacy of The Merchant of VeniceIII A post-Holocaust balancing act: The Merchant of Venice directed by Trevor Nunn at the National Theatre, London (1999)IV Desperate outsiders in a money-drunk world: The Merchant of Venice directed by Daniel Sullivan (2010) and Rupert Goold (2011)V Crises of the new millennium: The Merchant of Venice directed by Robert Sturua (2000) and Edward Hall (2009)VI The Merchant of Venice on filmVII The search for justice: The Merchant of Venice in Mandatory Palestine (1936) and the Venetian Ghetto (2016)Appendix A Some significant twentieth- and twenty-first century productions of The Merchant of Venice Appendix B Major actors and creative staff for productions discussedBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis collection brings together studies of popular performance and politics across the nineteenth century, offering a fresh perspective from an archivally grounded research base. It works with the concept that politics is performative and performance is political. The book is organised into three parts in dialogue regarding specific approaches to popular performance and politics. Part I offers a series of conceptual studies using popular culture as an analytical category for social and political history. Part II explores the ways that performance represents and constructs contemporary ideologies of race, nation and empire. Part III investigates the performance techniques of specific politicians – including Robert Peel, Keir Hardie and Henry Hyndman – and analyses the performative elements of collective movements.Trade Review'This collection will be a landmark work across the disciplines of theatre studies, social and cultural history, and cultural studies broadly conceived.' Peter Bailey, Indiana University‘This welcome, and often entertaining, volume brings together a synergy often remarked on but seldom explored in a systematic way: politics and the theatre. Bringing together historians and theatre scholars, the editors are to be congratulated for producing a coherent and focused collection of essays, largely structured around the concept and practice of performance, which probe that relationship from both sides of the divide: the politics of theatre, and the theatrical nature of politics.’Matthew Roberts, Sheffield Hallam University, Parliamentary History, June 2019'This book constitutes an argument for theatre history as a rigorous interdisciplinary form of study that can remake social history through attentiveness to the meanings of performance. For that reason, it deserves to have an impact beyond that of Victorian Studies. It also constitutes one of the most original works of political history for a long time.'Rohan McWilliam, Anglia Ruskin University, Social History'The authors and editors have collectively enriched the study of politics and performance and helped to carry it forward.'Joseph S. Meisel, Brown University, Journal of Victorian Culture -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction: politics, performance and popular culture - Peter Yeandle, Katherine Newey and Jeffrey RichardsPart I: Conceptualising performance, theorising politics1. 'To the last drop of my blood': melodrama and politics in late Georgian England' - Robert Poole2. The platform and the stage: the primary aesthetics of Chartism - Michael Sanders3. 'Bubbles of the day': the melodramatic and the pantomimic - Katherine Newey4. Theatrical hierarchy, cultural capital and legitimate/illegitimate divide - Caroline Radcliffe5. Performances for imagined communities: Gladstone, the national theatre and the contested didactics of the stage - Anselm Heinrich6. Women's suffrage and theatricality - Sos EltisPart II: Politics in performance7. English pantomime and the Irish question - Jill Sullivan8. 'Executed with remarkable care and artistic feeling': popular imperialism and the music hall ballet - Jane Pritchard and Peter Yeandle9. Drury Lane imperialism - Jeffrey RichardsPart III: The performance of politics10. 'Love, bitter wrong, freedom, sad pity, and lust of power': politics and performance in 1820 - Malcolm Chase11. Robert Peel - actor dramatist - Richard Gaunt12. The performance of protest: the 1889 dock strike on and off the stage - Janice Norwood13. Class, performance and socialist politics: the political campaigns of early labour leaders - Marcus MorrisIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book uses the latest techniques in textual analysis to reveal the influence of a community of English playwrights on the celebrated works of William Shakespeare. -- .

Read more less

Book SynopsisCourageous artists working in conflict regions describe exemplary peacebuilding performances and groundbreaking theory on performance for transformation of violence. Acting Together: Performance and the Creative Transformation of Conflict is a two-volume work describing peacebuilding performances in regions beset by violence and internal conflicts. Volume I: Resistance and Reconciliation in Regions of Violence, emphasizes the role theatre and ritual play both in the midst and in the aftermath of direct violence, while Volume II: Building Just and Inclusive Communities, focuses on the transformative power of performance in regions fractured by "subtler" forms of structural violence and social exclusion. Volume I: Resistance and Reconciliation in Regions of Violence focuses on the role theatre and ritual play both in the midst and in the aftermath of violence. The performances highlighted in this volume nourish and restore capacities for expression, communication, and transformative action, and creatively support communities in grappling with conflicting moral imperatives surrounding questions of justice, memory, resistance, and identity. The individual chapters, written by scholars, conflict resolution practitioners, and artists who work directly with the communities involved, offer vivid firsthand accounts and analyses of traditional and nontraditional performances in Serbia, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Palestine, Israel, Argentina, Peru, India, Cambodia, Australia, and the United States. Complemented by a website of related materials, a documentary film, Acting Together on the World Stage, that features clips and interviews with the curators and artists, and a toolkit, or "Tools for Continuing the Conversation," that is included with the documentary as a second disc, this book will inform and inspire socially engaged artists, cultural workers, peacebuilding scholars and practitioners, human rights activists, students of peace and justice studies, and whoever wishes to better understand conflict and the power of art to bring about social change. The Acting Together project is born of a collaboration between Theatre Without Borders and the Program in Peacebuilding and the Arts at the International Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life at Brandeis University. The two volumes are edited by Cynthia E. Cohen, director of the aforementioned program and a leading figure in creative approaches to coexistence and reconciliation; Roberto Gutierrez Varea, an award-winning director and associate professor at the University of San Francisco; and Polly O. Walker, director of Partners in Peace, an NGO based in Brisbane, Australia..Trade Review"Acting Together places before us the human story unfolding. It invites us to penetrate through the mask to the source and the vibrating essence of voice on the journey to find our way back to humanity." -- John Paul Lederach, Professor of International Peacebuilding, University of Notre Dame"An invaluable resource for the community of practitioners, students, scholars, and activists who are interested in the role of the arts in overcoming the worst of contemporary violence, war, and disaster." -- James Thompson, Professor of Applied and Social Theatre, University of Manchester"Thanks to the vision and the courageous creativity of the theatre artists across the world who have been willing to share their practice, we in Northern Ireland have new tools to help us excavate our truths and our troubled pasts, to speak to them and to dare to envision a future where our broken world will be healed." -- Pauline Ross, Artistic Director, Derry Playhouse, Northern Ireland"This publication is long overdue and will serve theatre students, directors, foundations, community-based theatres, and artist-based theatres as a much-needed guide to the complex, multilayered world of intercultural performance and conflict resolution." -- Frank Hentschker, Executive Director, Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, The CUNY Graduate Center"A significant addition to an emerging field of expertise―performance and conflict. It is difficult not to be inspired by the sheer diversity and versatility of the practices explored." -- Michael Balfour, Chair in Applied and Social Theatre, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia"Acting Together will shift perspectives and change lives. It could transform the trajectory of human conflicts." -- Dr. Michelle LeBaron, University of British Columbia School of Law, Canada"For the first time, the anthology and the Acting Together project provide a platform for peace-building artists to connect and to reflect on their work together with other scholars and practitioners. That in itself is already a significant achievement of the editors and curators of this complex and fascinating collection." -- Serge Loode, Applied Theatre Research

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisMy involvement with the history of theatres suggested that the theme for this book should be the many theatres which have been affected in some way by the destructive force of fire. Their twice nightly entertainment of wide and varied music hall acts and even performing animals, provided a magical escape in the 1800s and 1900s from people’s arduous working conditions, which were often coupled with their poor and overcrowded housing. However, there was a danger of fire at these theatres as they were heated and lit by gas, were mainly constructed of wood, and many had inadequate emergency escapes. In all, they were unsuitable for their purpose of entertaining hundreds of people. It was obvious from my research that many of them were either totally destroyed or badly damaged by fire, on more than one occasion, often leading to the tragic loss of many lives. Thank goodness this resulted in new legislation demanding minimum standards for theatre safety.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume presents the first comprehensive academic study of the history and development of performance art in the former communist countries of Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe since the 1960s. Covering 21 countries and more than 250 artists, this text demonstrates the manner in which performance art in the region developed concurrently with the genre in the West, highlighting the unique contributions of Eastern European artists. The discussions are based on primary source material-interviews with the artists themselves. It offers a comparative study of the genre of performance art in countries and cities across the region, examining the manner in which artists addressed issues such as the body, gender, politics and identity, and institutional critique.Trade Review‘By highlighting an instance in which documentation functioned as a substitute for presence, Bryzgel weighs in on art-historical debates regarding the relationship between live art and photography. It is at moments like this that Performance Art inEastern Europe since 1960 most succeeds in its stated aim of ‘looking not from the centre to the periphery but the reverse, to see how such an approach might not only challenge but also overturn perceptions regarding art history, artistic styles, and the canon’ (p. 5).’Michelle Maydanchik, University of Pittsburgh, Slavonic and East European Review (vol. 95, no. 4, October 2017)‘Bryzgel’s text will interest especially those invested in the rapidly expanding field of Central and Eastern European art history and Cold War cultural studies. Its wide swathe of information illustrates the variety and intrigue of performance art in the Cold War East and will surely entice many curious onlookers to storm the field.’ - Sara Blaylock, University of Minnesota–Duluth, CAA Reviews‘Like any good art historical study the book goes beyond shedding lighton an obscure moment in history, bearing much relevance to contemporary artistsworking in the West today. In this respect, a great strength of the book is itsintimate analysis of the operation of the strategy of ‘Subversive Affirmation’in the communist era.’Pil and Galia Kollectiv, Journal of Contemporary Central andEastern Europe‘The material provided contributes to the expanded fields of performance studies and art history by offering a rich and fascinating overview of the overlooked artistic practices in Eastern Europe. Furthermore, Bryzgel’s approach should challenge the reader’s perception of histories of art and performance shaped through the lens of the West.’Sofia Vranou, Queen Mary University of London, Contemporary theatre review, Volume 28, 2018 – Issue 1‘Bryzgel’s text will interest especially those invested in the rapidly expanding field of Central and Eastern European art history and Cold War cultural studies. Its wide swathe of information illustrates the variety and intrigue of performance art in the Cold War East and will surely entice many curious onlookers to storm the field.’Sara Blaylock, University of Minnesota–Duluth, CAA Reviews‘This is a richly researched and beautifully illustrated book, which makes a major contribution to the field's ability to connect the art histories of these countries to the global history of performance art. It will be an indispensable tool for teachers looking to expand offerings in this area, which as Bryzgel observes, Anglophone art history curricula most often exclude (4).’Adair Rounthwaite, University of Washington in Seattle, Art Journal, Volume 77, 2018 - Issue 1‘Bryzgel's consistent comparison of works from different Eastern European countries helps (re)construct a performative space on its own cultural and political terms. In addition, the many illustrations are a visual treat and help readers imagine the performances discussed. As a Romanian-born writer and director who resided and worked in Bucharest until 2000, I must agree with Bryzgel: given the linguistic, political, and economic barriers, living in Eastern Europe before and even after 1989 does not guarantee that one knows the work of artists there, nor that they know of each other's work. In this and many other ways, the informative value of Bryzgel's study is remarkable for both Western and Eastern scholarship.’Diana Manole, Ryerson University, Theatre Survey, Volume 59, Issue 2, May 2018 , pp. 298-300‘With this recent study, she [Bryzgel] introduces much-needed perspectives from artists who were challenged by socioeconomic conditions while maintaining their artistic research, in spite of the political regimes under which they were forced to live. The new material explored in this book usefully documents and analyzes works that have led to the beginnings of performance studies in Eastern Europe.’Cristina Modreanu, art curator and critic, New York/Bucharest, PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, Volume 40, Number 2, May 20187 (PAJ 119)‘Too often, Eastern Europe is treated as the “other” and on the margins of Europe’s new geopolitical, economic, and cultural fault lines, but thanks to Bryzgel, the region is now resituated as an important focal point for understanding the art practices of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries in ways that venture beyond the generalized divide between the capitalist West and socialist East.’-Aleksandra Jovicevic, Modern Drama, vol. 61/no. 2 (Summer 2018)‘Performance Art in Eastern Europe since 1960 is an important contribution to the study of Eastern European art and will be instructive to those interested in Eastern European studies, art history, and performance art. It introduces the reader to a variety of artists, both established and fairly unknown, and paints a rich picture of the complex history of performance art and experimental culture in Eastern and Central Europe. As an introduction to performance in Eastern Europe, the text broadens art historical scholarship and opens a myriad of possible paths for further research that hopefully will be tackled by scholars in the future.’Anja Foerschner , The Getty Research Institute -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction1. Sources and origins2. The body3. Gender4. Politics and identity5. Institutional critiqueEpilogueSelect bibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume brings together performance texts from nine productions by the experimental theatre company Lightwork and one playtext from Lightwork’s precursor company Academy Productions, presented between 1997 and 2011. Lightwork specialized in collaboratively created and multimedia performance. The company also experimented with several performance forms that emerged at the turn of the twenty-first century, including verbatim and site-specific approaches. Because of this, the texts cover a range of forms and formats – scripted plays such as Here’s What I Did With My Body One Day by Dan Rebellato and Blavatsky by Clare Bayley; multimedia adaptations of classical myths such as Back At You (based on the story of Echo and Narcissus) and Once I was Dead (based on the story of Daedalus and Icarus); site-specific experiments such as The Good Actor, which took place in various spaces across Hoxton Hall, a Victorian theatre in London’s East End; and the use of verbatim witness testimony from the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Crimes section in Sarajevo Story. The defining aspect of the Lightwork aesthetic is that multimedia and scenographic experimentation does not come at the expense of the mainstays of dramatic theatre: character, story and emotional resonance. What lies at the heart of the Lightwork shows you will encounter here are human-scale stories: relationships between lovers or family members, confrontations with the past (both as personal and as cultural history) and, in many cases, matters of life or death that entail wrestling with causality, consequence and fate. The twelve-year span covered by this work reflects a period in British performance practice when the interrelation of page and stage, process and production, text and ‘non-text’, were being radically rethought. In the collaborative and processual theatre making that Lightwork exemplifies, the text may be one element among many and is more likely to be the outcome of the process than its precursor. How do such playtexts (or performance texts) differ from those that are conceived and scripted by a single desk-based playwright in advance of the rehearsal? What gaps are left when the work of many hands is channelled through the pen (or keyboard) of one among them? The texts featured in this volume represent a number of answers to these questions about the nature of writing for the stage. The performance texts are each preceded (and sometime followed) by short essays written by some of the many people who have been involved in productions by Lightwork, including established academics and theatre practitioners: David Annen, Clare Bayley, Gregg Fisher, Sarah Gorman, Andy Lavender, Aneta Mancewicz, Bella Merlin, Alex Mermikides, Jo Parker, Dan Rebellato, and Ayse Tashkiran. Their contributions reflect the collaborative nature of the company and the respect that it accorded the various disciplinary perspectives that make up a theatre company. There are sections on scenography, sound design and technical operation, as well as on those crafts that might more usually draw attention: directing, writing and acting. These contributions offer an insight into the collaborative, multi-layered and sometimes messy business of their creation from an individual maker’s or spectator’s point of view. This book will be invaluable for those who are making, studying or researching performance in the twenty-first century, and an essential resource for the rehearsal room. Primary readership will include researchers, educators, students and practitioners interested in creative practice, theatre-making, integrated design and performance, and contemporary theatre. It will be an important resource for those on theatre and performance courses at all levels, as well as acting, theatre and performance design, dramaturgy and direction courses, creative writing courses and media arts programmes. It will have appeal for general readers interested in new texts and processes in theatre and performance, and individual texts are likely to be of interest to specialist researchers working in related fields – for example performance and the occult (Blavatsky), performance and conflict (Sarajevo Story).Table of ContentsStarting points On Lightwork and twenty-first-century theatre Alex Mermikides On texts and collaborations Andy Lavender Blavatsky On writing live Clare Bayley TEXT: Blavatsky (1999) London/My Lover On technical operation Alex Mermikides TEXT: London/My Lover schematic (2002) On documentation Sarah Gorman Here’s What I Did With My Body One Day On writing and not writing plays Dan Rebellato TEXT: Here’s What I Did With My Body One Day (2004/2006) On experimenting David Annen You Kill Me TEXT: Once I was Dead (2006) TEXT: Back at You (2007) Sarajevo Story On sound Gregg Fisher TEXT: Sarajevo Story (2008) On scenography Jo Parker MyLife On movement direction Ayse Tashkiran TEXT: MyLife running orders (2008) The Tempest On intermediality Aneta Mancewicz TEXT: The Tempest (edited version 2009) The Good Actor On acting Bella Merlin TEXT: The Good Actor various (2010/2011) The Shift On process Clare Bayley TEXT: The Shift (1997) Contributors Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis collection of essays addresses a very broad range of E. T. A. Hoffmann’s most significant works, examining them through the lens of “transgression.” Transgression bears relevance to Hoffmann’s life and professions in three ways. First, his official career path was that of jurisprudence; he was active as a lawyer, a judge and eventually as one of the most important magistrates in Berlin. Second, his personal life was marked by numerous conflicts with political and social authorities. Seemingly no matter where he went, he experienced much chaos, grief and impoverishment in leading his always precarious existence. Third, his works explore characters and concepts beyond the boundaries of what was considered aesthetically acceptable. “Normal” bourgeois existence was often juxtaposed to the lives of criminals, sinners, and other deviants, both within the spaces of the known world as well as in supernatural realms. He, perhaps more than any other author of the German Romantic movement, regularly portrayed the dark side of existence in his works, including unconscious psychological phenomena, nightmares, somnambulism, vampirism, mesmerism, Doppelgänger, and other forms of transgressive behavior. It is the intention of this volume to provide a new look at Hoffmann’s very diverse body of work from numerous perspectives, stimulating interest in Hoffmann in English language audiences.Trade ReviewReviews'This new resource is both enjoyable and thoroughly thought-provoking—and so is well worth consultation by faculty and students.'Seán Williams, European Romantic Review'Transgressive Romanticism engages its central spatial metaphor to make Hoffmann’s complex potential as a protorealist clear: expertly attuned to the forms of life and literature with which he was familiar, while always ready to subvert and think beyond them.'Polly Dickson, German Studies ReviewTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction --- Christopher R. Clason, Oakland UniversityI. Transgression and Institutions1. “A poor, imprisoned animal.” Persons, Property, and the Unnatural Nature of the Law in E.T.A. Hoffmann’s “Das Majorat.” --- Alexander Schlutz, John Jay College and CUNY Graduate Center2. Vergiftete Gaben: Violating the Laws of Hospitality in E. T. A. Hoffmann’s “Das Fräulein von Scuderi” --- Peter Erickson, Colorado State University 3. Transgressive Science in E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Fantastic Tales --- Paola Mayer, University of GuelphII. Transgression and the Arts4. E. T. A. Hoffmann and the Bamberg Theater --- Frederick Burwick, University of California, Los Angeles5. Transitions and Slippages of Mimesis in E.T.A. Hoffmann’s “Der goldene Topf,” “Die Fermate,” and “Das öde Haus.” --- Beate Allert, Purdue University6. Transgressions: On the (De-)Figuration of the Vampire in E. T. A. Hoffmann’s “Vampyrism" --- Nicole Sütterlin, Harvard UniversityIII. Transgression in the Märchen 7. Transgressive Play and Uncanny Toys in E.T.A. Hoffmann’s “Das fremde Kind” --- Christina Weiler, Purdue University8. Attending to the Everyday: Idiosyncrasy in E.T.A. Hoffmann’s “The Golden Pot” --- Ruth Kellar, University of Wisconsin, Madison9. Prinzessin Brambilla: The Aesthetic between Public and Private --- Howard Pollack-Millgate, DePauw UniversityIV. Transgression of Reception in Kater Murr10. Hoffmann’s “Two Worlds” and the Problem of Life-Writing --- Julian Knox, Georgia College11. “Real Humor Cannot Be Captured in a Novel”: Kierkegaard Reading E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Lebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr --- James Rasmussen, United States Air Force AcademyWorks CitedIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhile the infamous Théâtre du Grand-Guignol in Paris closed its doors in 1962, the particular form of horror theatre it spawned lives on and has, moreover, witnessed something of a resurgence over the past twenty years. During its heyday it inspired many imitators, though none quite as successful as the Montmartre-based original. In more recent times, new Grand-Guignol companies the world over have emerged to reimagine the form for a new generation of audiences. This book, the fourth volume in University of Exeter Press’s series on the Grand-Guignol by Richard J. Hand and Michael Wilson, examines the ongoing influence and legacy of the Théâtre du Grand-Guignol through an appraisal of its contemporary imitators and modern reincarnations. As with the previous volumes, Grand-Guignolesque consists of a lengthy critical introduction followed by a series of previously unpublished scripts, each with its own contextualizing preface. The effect thereof is to map the evolution of horror theatre over the past 120 years, asking where the influence of the Grand-Guignol is most visible today, and what might account for its recent resurgence. This book will be of interest not only to the drama student, theatre historian and scholar of popular theatre, but also to the theatre practitioner, theatregoer and horror fan.Trade ReviewOne of the things I like about it is the absence of the verbosity that sometimes ruins academic writing; Hand and Wilson write snappily and makes their points clearly...All in all, a very interesting book - I learned a good deal from it. -- Martin Edwards, crime writer and crime fiction criticTable of ContentsContents Preface Chapter 1. Establishing the Grand-Guignolesque Chapter 2. The Grand-Guignol’s Contemporary Imitators and Competitors Chapter 3: The New Wave Chapter 4: Afterword Appendix: The Molotov Manifesto, or Acting Grand Guignol, Molotov Style Thirteen Plays of Grand-Guignol and the Grand-Guignolesque Professor Verdier’s Operations (Les Opérations du Professeur Verdier, 1907) by Élie de Bassan Short Circuit (Le Court-Circuit, 1916) by Benjamin Rabier and Eugène Joullot The Little House at Auteuil (La Petite Maison D’Auteuil, 1917) by Robert Scheffer and Georges Lignereux The Unhinged (Les Détraquées, 1924) by Palau and Olaf The Eyes of the Phantom (Les Yeux du Spectre, 1924) by Jean Aragny The Lover of Death (L’Amant de Mort, 1925) by Maurice Renard Orgy in the Lighthouse (L’Orgie dans le phare, 1956) adapted by Eddie Muller from Alfred Machard’s play The Sticking Place (2008) by Lucas Maloney and Michael McMahon, with Alex Zavistovich A Room With No View (2009) by James Comtois The Ghost Hunter (2013) by Stewart Pringle We’ll Fix It! (2013) by Les Williams Leviticus: Evil Resides Within (2014) by Antonio Rimola Abel Hartmann's Grand-Guignol: A History of Violence (2015) by Dreamcatcher Horror Theatre Bibliography Webography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume of Who’s Who in Research series offers a useful guide for current researchers in Intellect’s subject area of Media Studies. The directory holds the names, institutions, biographies and current research interests of hundreds of leading international academics as well as references to the researchers’ principal articles in Intellect journals.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn inspiring, practical handbook for anyone working with young people to make devised theatre. Devising theatre is a fundamental element of the Drama curriculum, but managing the process is often demanding, difficult and challenging. It can lead even highly competent Drama teachers to feel disempowered. However, help is at hand, whether you're a novice coping with your first exam season, a non-specialist or a veteran in need of some fresh ideas. Making Theatre provides a framework that will take the stress out of the process, and help your students realise their full potential. Joss Bennathan answers the common questions raised by Drama teachers, such as: What is the best way of grouping my students? How do I manage and monitor several groups rehearsing simultaneously? How do I include the erratic attender without jeopardising the work of the others? What degree of directing and guidance is appropriate? He shows how to build the foundations that underpin devised theatre, and provides ten invaluable structures to meet the needs of different students, regardless of their level of skills. These structures will help you to ensure that your students avoid shallow, clichéd work and demonstrate their understanding of the relationship between style, content and form. There is a diverse range of stimulus material including song lyrics, prose extracts, verbatim testimony and artwork, all reproduced in this book - and also available to download and print. The book includes a range of stand-alone exercises covering key areas, including: Voice and movement Characterisation Communication Scene transitions Narrative economy and clarity Performance conventions Trade Review'Invaluable... clear and practical... a must for your bookshelf' * National Drama - Drama magazine *'A thorough working knowledge of theatre-making with young people, along with a clear understanding of the limitations of working towards an examination, the potential difficulties of managing the work with young people and the pitfalls that may be encountered by any teacher devising for an audience. [Bennathan's] exercises and frameworks should go a long way towards guiding the less experienced teacher through these potential traps and will undoubtedly provide fresh inspiration for those with more experience' * Drama Resource *'A godsend... sound, informed advice, pitched at the right level without being condescending or patronising... I'm so glad this book is now on my shelf. I bet you'll love it too' * Teaching Drama Magazine *

Read more less