Theatre studies Books
The University of Chicago Press The Public Mirror Moliere and the Social Commerce
Book SynopsisPairing close readings of Moliere's comedies with accounts of French social history and aesthetics, this book aims to show how Moliere perceived satire as a public mirror provoking dynamic exchange and conflict with audience members obsessed with their own images.
£28.00
The University of Chicago Press Theaters of Madness
Book SynopsisIn the mid-1800s a utopian movement to rehabilitate the insane resulted in a wave of publicly funded asylums - many of which became unexpected centers of cultural activity. This work prompts us to reflect on what our society can learn from a generation that urgently and creatively tried to solve the problem of mental illness.
£28.00
The University of Chicago Press The Acoustic World of Early Modern England
Book SynopsisIn this journey into the sound-worlds of Shakespeare's contemporaries, the text explores the physical aspects of human speech (ears, lungs, tongue) and the surrounding environment (buildings, landscape, climate), as well as social and political structures.
£34.20
McGill-Queen's University Press Political Adaptation in Canadian Theatre
Book SynopsisIn Canada, adaptation is a national mode of survival, but it is also a way to create radical change. Throughout history, Canadians have been inheritors and adaptors: of political systems, stories, and customs from the old world and the new. More than updating popular narratives, adaptation informs understandings of culture, race, gender, and sexuality, as well as individual experiences. In Political Adaptation in Canadian Theatre Kailin Wright investigates adaptations that retell popular stories with a political purpose and examines how they acknowledge diverse realities and transform our past. Political Adaptation in Canadian Theatre explores adaptations of Canadian history, Shakespeare, Greek mythologies, and Indigenous history by playwrights who identify as English-Canadian, African-Canadian, French-Canadian, French, Kuna Rappahannock, and Delaware from the Six Nations. Along with new considerations of the activist potential of popular Canadian theatre, this book outlines eight straTrade Review"One comes away from Political Adaptation in Canadian Theatre with a renewed appreciation not just of the politics of adapting cultural texts, but of the plays discussed as truly impressive works of Canadian theatre. In a series of intellectually thorough and ethically careful analyses, Kailin Wright walks her reader through some of the ways that Canada is facing up to its past – and its future." Barry Freeman, University of Toronto Scarborough and author of Staging Strangers: Theatre and Global Ethics
£27.90
McGill-Queen's University Press Blowing up the Skirt of History Recovered and
Book SynopsisReviving a dramatic past in which women playwrights used theatre to empower their culture and themselves.Trade Review“Kym Bird’s Blowing up the Skirt of History is a dynamic and compelling anthology [that] collects some of the earliest English plays from different regions in Canada. With verve and humour, Bird uses public theory and feminism to analyze the plays’ constrained performance of nationalism and racial privilege. Bird’s energetic writing style will certainly appeal to undergraduate students and help make early Canadian theatre more accessible. Blowing up the Skirt of History is an important work for anyone interested in early Canadian drama and feminist literature.” Canadian Literature
£35.10
McGill-Queen's University Press Sweet Canadian Girls Abroad
Book SynopsisBy the late nineteenth century, Canadian women had begun forging careers as professional actresses, appearing not just in Canada, but in the United States, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. They played an integral role in theatrical networks and helped shape transnational middle-class culture.Taking the approach of feminist collective biography, Sweet Canadian Girls Abroad writes the lives of women who, despite their renown during their lifetimes, have been all too easily forgotten. Cecilia Morgan examines these sweet girls' childhoods, their experiences of work, touring, and company management, the plays in which they appeared, and the celebrity they enjoyed. In so doing she shows how women helped convey messages about race, empire, and white identity in popular culture. Investigating a period from the 1870s to the 1940s, Morgan demonstrates how actresses evolved within a period of change in theatre, how they coped with new challenges, and how they brought their cra
£30.39
Columbia University Press Scenes for Mandarins
Book SynopsisThe first introduction to the classical Chinese theater of Ming drama contains highlights from six of the best plays of the period and lively commentary on each, providing the context necessary for Western readers to grasp the scope of the genre.
£29.75
Columbia University Press Differences in the Dark
Book SynopsisThis work demonstrates that the way to understand the distinctions between American and English cultures is to study each country's favourite art form. Therefore it studies America's fascination with movies and stars, and the way Britain is reflected in its relationship with the theatre.Trade ReviewGilmore's lively account raises questions many of us have never thought of--or dared to bring up... One of the more engaging cross-cultural studies in recent years, [it] has major implications for popular culture. Journal of Popular Culture Gilmore sketches profiles of two societies, American and Britain... From this, he works out that film... is predominantly in America, while the theater, which upholds 'customary values against the possible future symbolized by movies,'dominates Britain... The thesis... teases us-toward a comfortable sense of cultural arrangement. -- Stanley Kauffmann New Republic
£37.50
Columbia University Press A Field of Honor Writers Court Culture and
Book SynopsisThis study of eighteenth-century French playwriting and playwrights reviews individual authorial strategies for self-fashioning and the playwrights' intellectual, social, and institutional contexts, using research in original sources and analysis of the contentious historiography and competing analytic contructs in cultural theory and criticism.Trade ReviewBrown's book provides a fascinating analysis of the world of dramatic authors during the Old Regime...Effectively challenges aspects of historians'current understanding of the political culture of Old Regime France while providing new interpretations of dramatic writers and their relationship with that culture... And its overall quality is certainly equal to that of the best historical monographs published in the traditional manner. American Historical Review How giants like Voltaire and Beaumarchais managed to beat the system, turn it to their advantage, and, in the case of Beaumarchais, make the Comedie work more in the interests of the profession. But Brown does not neglect the authors whom the system beat... An exceptional contribution to theater and cultural history. H France An important contribution to studies of cultural politics in the... eighteenth century and is sure to become required reading. -- Katherine Astbury British Journal of Eighteenth-Century Studies
£54.40
Columbia University Press Learning to Kneel
Book SynopsisLearning to Kneel locates noh drama’s influence on American and European writers, dancers, and composers. Carrie J. Preston’s work has been profoundly shaped by her training in noh performance. While her subjects are often criticized for Orientalist tendencies, Preston’s own journey reflects a more nuanced understanding of cultural exchange.Trade ReviewWhat drew Western writers to an arcane, highly stylized form of Japanese court theater? As a scholar, Carrie J. Preston answers this question by way of the archive, unearthing a global network of dancers and writers. But she also pursues this question as a student, subjecting herself to the rigors of noh training. The result is an unusual blend of both approaches, a magisterial study in cultural history that is also a compelling story of teaching and learning. -- Martin Puchner, Harvard University Eloquently, movingly, and persuasively, Preston traces modernism's fascination with noh through European and Japanese histories of poetry, drama, and performance. She asks us to reflect on the project of cross-cultural learning, what it means to know another culture as well as what it means to know one's own. A tour de force of memoir and scholarship, at once entertaining and erudite, Learning to Kneel shows us why mistranslation, partial fluency, and failing to understand have been crucial to the transnational history of modernism. -- Rebecca Walkowitz, Rutgers University Kneel before this humbling account of submission and, at times, personal but never sentimental antidote to both easy celebrations of multiculturalism and easy critiques of cultural appropriation. Sitting with calm strength at the intersections of performance, pedagogy, and the politics of 'global modernism,' Preston successfully reinvents the modernist reinvention of noh as a timely, urgent topic by asking what it means to succeed or fail. Don't fail to read it. -- Christopher Bush, Northwestern University In Learning to Kneel, Preston tells the story not only of the influence of Japanese culture and noh theater on modernist writers from Yeats to Beckett but also of her personal experience as a neophyte practitioner of noh. Together, these narratives brilliantly reframe received ideas about cross-cultural aesthetic transformation, the relation of success and failure in art, and the tension between subversion and tradition that underlies any form of training or pedagogy. -- Scott Klein, Wake Forest UniversityTable of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsIntroduction to Noh Lessons1. Ezra Pound as Noh Student2. Theater in the "Deep": W. B. Yeats's At the Hawk's Well3. Ito Michio's Hawk Tours in Modern Dance and Theater4. Pedagogical Intermission: A Lesson Plan for Bertolt Brecht's Revisions5. Noh Circles in Twentieth-Century Japanese Performance6. Trouble with Titles and Directors: Benjamin Britten and William Plomer's Curlew River and Samuel Beckett's Footfalls/PasCodaNotesGlossaryBibliographyIndex
£22.00
Columbia University Press New Yorks Yiddish Theater
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA witty and absorbing demonstration of the interplay of minority and mainstream-with the minority culture here being of outsize influence over the larger culture of Broadway, Hollywood, and America. Kirkus Reviews The many photos of famous actors and comics, old posters, packed theaters, and stage scenes balance out the richly sourced text, making this a visually lively, comprehensive, and accessible addition to any collection on theater or Jewish American history and heritage. Booklist A comprehensive... readable and lavishly illustrated history of the Yiddish Theater... This essential book is an important addition to library collections focusing on theater, pop culture, and Jewish studies. Library Journal (starred review) A tribute in scholarly scrapbook form to a dramatic phenomenon that acculturated immigrant Jews and left a legacy often defined as New York humor. -- Sam Roberts The New York Times [A] scholarly scrapbook full of vivid illustrations that buttress essays from leading critics and historians. Haaretz A richly-illustrated approachable work about the Lower East Side's entertainment legacy. Southern Jewish Life [A] marvelous book. -- Norman J. Fedder Jewish Book Council A comprehensive guide... the book is as entertaining as New York's once-thriving Yiddish theater. -- Robert A. Cohn St. Louis Jewish Light Anyone interested in Yiddish New York will want to read New York's Yiddish Theater. Theater buffs will be delighted to the learn the connections between Yiddish theater and the American stage. The book is also highly recommended for anyone interested in American Jewish history. -- Rabbi Rachel Esserman The Reporter New York's Yiddish Theater serves as an excellent history through images, together with illuminating essays... This welcome publication also fills a long-felt need for an illustrated history of an important chapter in the city's musical life. -- Michael Ochs Notes: the Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association Prodigiously illustrated... This indispensable book is a fun read, easy to browse through, get lost in. It is no dry academic treatise, but a generous yet scholarly account of a now-vanished era of popular Yiddish culture. Highly recommended. -- Richard C. Norton Operetta Research CenterTable of ContentsDirector's Foreword, by Susan Henshaw Jones Overture: From the Bowery to Broadway, by Edna Nahshon 1. Yiddish New York, by Hasia Diner 2. Popular Yiddish Theater: Music, Melodrama, and Operetta, by Nahmha Sandrow 3. Jacob Gordin: The Great Reformer, by Barbara Henry 4. Pathbreakers and Superstars, by Edna Nahshon, Stefanie Halpern, and Joshua S. Walden Intermission 5. Maurice Schwartz and the Yiddish Art Theater Movement, by Edna Nahshon 6. Yiddish Political Theater: The Artef, by Edna Nahshon 7. Yiddish Theater and the Transformation of American Design, by Arnold Aronson 8. Modicut: The Yiddish Puppet Theater of Yosl Cutler and Zuni Maud, by Eddy Portnoy 9. Yiddish Vaudeville, by Edna Nahshon and Judith Thissen 10. Borscht Belt Entertainment, by Edna Nahshon 11. Tevye's Travels: From Yiddish Everyman to American Icon, by Alisa Solomon Finale: A Gallery of Stars of the American Yiddish Stage, by Stefanie Halpern and Edna Nahshon Editor's Acknowledgments List of Contributors Endnotes Selected Bibliography Index
£46.75
Columbia University Press Staged
Book SynopsisMinou Arjomand draws on a rich archive of postwar German and American performances to reveal theater as a place for forms of judgment that are inadmissible in a courtroom but indispensable for public life. Staged weaves together theater history and political philosophy into a powerful case for the importance of theaters as democratic institutions.Trade ReviewThis is a brilliant work that gives us both a social history and critical theory of postwar theatre. One thinks about the show trial as a terrible miscarriage of justice, but Arjomand gives trial theatre another function: public deliberation and judgment on responsibility and political justice. Whereas much attention has been given to the theatricality of legal trials, Arjomand asks us to value the public function of theatre in enacting debates on justice and establishing a public practice of considered judgment. The history of postwar German theatre offered here engaged in critical theory and aesthetics in a new and engaging argument about aesthetics and politics and the public functions of art in a democracy. -- Judith Butler, Maxine Elliot Professor of Comparative Literature, University of California, BerkeleyTheatricality is pervasive in courtroom scenes. So is the question about the relationship between ethical judgment and the law. Political theater has always exploited this conjunction. The show trial exemplifies the ambivalence between law and theatricality, while the trial play offers a counterpoint. This is the constellation Minou Arjomand brilliantly explores, focusing on productions of trial plays, films, and TV courtroom series from Brecht and Piscator to Anna Deavere Smith, with Hannah Arendt’s political philosophy as a touchstone of the argument. A major intervention into the aesthetics of political theater. -- Andreas Huyssen, Columbia UniversityIn crystal-clear prose, Staged examines the unique relation between political thought and theater in German and German-American theater from the 1920s to the 1970s, one born from the historical experience of Nazism, the Holocaust, and their aftermath. I was struck by how much we can learn from this painful period of German and German-American theater and political thought. The book is very timely indeed. -- Martin Puchner, Byron and Anita Wien Professor of Drama and of English and Comparative Literature, Harvard UniversityA thoughtful and intelligent book on the ways in which political theater, or more precisely courtroom dramas, create a space in which aesthetic, ethical, and political judgments bleed into one another. -- G. Grieve-Carlson, Lebanon Valley College * Choice *Staged marks an exciting moment for scholarship at the intersection of law and theater... emerge[ing] from the long-established insight that law and performance are mutually constitutive. -- Rebecca Kastleman, University of Virginia * The English Association *For its ambitious articulation of fundamental questions of aesthetics and politics, and for the study’s under-appreciated subjects, Staged should be read not just by those interested in post-war Germany but by anyone interested in how theatre can benefit judgement and justice. -- Matt Cornish, Ohio University * Modern Drama *An exciting moment for scholarship at the intersection of law and theater...Arjomand’s analysis offers a powerful defense of theater as a public institution. * The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory *An important contribution to scholarship on political theater...[and] a strong argument for the continued political relevance of theater. -- Michael Swellander, University of Iowa * The Germanic Review *This book is full of small anecdotes...that add humanizing touches to its subject of study, giving readers a glimpse of the real personal and political stakes that these theatre artists encountered...highly accessible. -- Evleen Nasir, Louisiana State University * Theatre History Studies *A highly original book that confidently speaks to different audiences. * Contemporary Political Theory *Table of ContentsList of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Show Trials and Political Theater1. Hannah Arendt: Judging in Dark Times2. Bertolt Brecht: Poetic Justice3. Erwin Piscator: Theater After Auschwitz4. Trials in NurembergConclusion: Archives, Law, and Theater TodayNotesBibliographyIndex
£80.39
University of Illinois Press American Women Stage Directors of the Twentieth
Book SynopsisThe first reference tool to focus on American women directorsTrade ReviewA Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2009. "This is an outstanding volume that will be a crucial purchase for theater collections in academic and public libraries. . . . Essential."--Choice "A compact work that fills a void in the annals of American theater history and scholarship. . . . A welcome addition to any performing arts or women's history collection."--Booklist“A must-have reference work."Feminist Collections
£45.90
University of Illinois Press Chinatown Opera Theater in North America
Book SynopsisAwards:Irving Lowens Award, Society for American Music (SAM), 2019Music in American Culture Award, American Musicological Society (AMS), 2018Trade ReviewIrving Lowens Award, Society for American Music (SAM), 2019 Music in American Culture Award, American Musicological Society (AMS), 2018 Certificate of Merit for Best Historical Research in Recorded Country, Folk, Roots, or World Music, Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC), 2018 Outstanding Achievement in Humanities and Cultural Studies: Media, Visual, and Performance Studies, Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS), 2019 "Detailed, historically sound, and entertaining . . . Chinatown Opera Theater in America is an extraordinary accomplishment, and its many revelations open a world unseen for nearly a century. The glory that was is now again seen, as Chinatown Opera Theater puts the spotlight on the high achievements of the early Chinese American community that is too often portrayed otherwise in American history." --International Examiner"Chinatown Opera Theater, with its new global knowledge, provides in that sense a compelling alternative space in which to contemplate -- for opera studies and the academy of which it is a part -- the ongoing and inescapable anxieties of Western-reflexive scholarship." --Cambridge Opera Journal"Rao's detailed and engaging study reminds us of the xenophobia that continues to mark the Asian American experience. This book is implicitly an act of resistance not only against erasure, but also against racist tropes that have existed in history and reverberate into the present." --Theatre Journal"Chinatown Opera Theater in North America is a treasure trove that celebrates the transnational development of Cantonese Opera in North America in the 1920s." --Studies in Theatre and Performance"Achieves a sharpness of focus and depth of detail that takes our understanding of the history of Cantonese opera in North America to a new level . . . Chinatown Opera Theater in North America is an excellent piece of historical scholarship, and a unique and original contribution to our knowledge of Chinese performing arts in the Americas."--Ethnomusicology Forum"Rao's book not only complements Wing Chung Ng's study of the rise of Cantonese Opera and Bell Yung's analysis of its creative process, but also constitutes a significant contribution to Asian-American Studies, Chinese Studies, and American music history."--China Review International"Chinatown Theater in North America represents a significant contribution in theater scholarship. It is a book that is sure to provoke further discussion among all those who have an interest either in Chinese opera or musicology or American history or cultural studies. There is much to impress and enjoy in this interestingly illustrated book, and it is a welcome study of the subject."--Studies in Theatre and Performance"Through her in-depth archival research and adept linguistic and musicological skills, [Rao] brings to light the importance of Chinese immigrant music making. . . . A significant contribution to our understanding of the history of music making, particularly in the United States."--Theatre Survey "Rao's book is an important text that should be included in musicology or ethnomusicology courses, not only for the historical and cultural reference that it brings to bear, but also for how the genre of Cantonese opera improves our understanding of the world today." --American Music Review "An engaging manifesto. . . . This book is an invaluable source for educators, students, and general readers." --Asian Theatre Journal "The story Rao lays out in this work is rich and complex....It is therefore a story that should be of great interest to many CHINOPERL readers." --CHINOPERL "The book is abundant in content and, most of all, admirable in the sense of connectivity Rao adroitly establishes." --Journal of the American Musicological Society "Reading Nancy Yunhua Rao's Chinatown Opera Theater in North America is a great treat. . . . Rao's work makes a crucial contribution to scholarship on Chinese theatre, specifically Cantonese opera, in the diaspora, as well as to larger scholarly discussions on transationalism." --World of Music "Chinatown Opera Theater in North America does nothing less than situate Cantonese opera firmly within the warp and weft of the American musical fabric. . . . All in all, Rao's study is a wonder." --Journal of the Society for American Music "Rao's elegant writing provides insight into the mind of a scholar and researcher. The insistence on lifting 'the silence' and undoing 'invisibility' results in an influential recalibration of narratives on the history of American music." --MUSICultures "Chinatown Opera Theater, with its new global knowledge, provides in that sense a compelling alternative space in which to contemplate -- for opera studies and the academy of which it is a part -- the ongoing and inescapable anxieties of Western-reflexive scholarship." --Cambridge Opera Journal "Comprehensively conceived, exhaustively researched, and clearly written, Rao’s book is an extraordinary achievement documenting a unique musical and theatrical genre in North American history. Showing how border crossing enriches the cultural tapestry of this land, it is a must-read for those interested in American music, theater, and social history."--Bell Yung, coeditor of Music and Cultural Rights
£87.55
University of Illinois Press Disappearing Tricks
Book Synopsis Disappearing Tricks revisits the golden age of theatrical magic and silent film to reveal how professional magicians shaped the early history of cinema. Where others have called upon magic as merely an evocative metaphor for the wonders of cinema, Matthew Solomon focuses on the work of the professional illusionists who actually made magic with moving pictures between 1895 and 1929. The first to reveal fully how powerfully magic impacted the development of cinema, the book combines film and theater history to uncover new evidence of the exchanges between magic and filmmaking in the United States and France during the silent period. Chapters detailing the stage and screen work of Harry Houdini and Georges Méliès show how each transformed theatrical magic to create innovative cinematic effects and thrilling new exploits for twentieth-century mass audiences. The book also considers the previously overlooked roles of anti-spiritualism and presentational peTrade Review Received the Best Moving Image Book Award from the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation, 2011. A Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2011."Along with intriguing insights into the early development of film, Disappearing Tricks is a reminder that magic and movies involve playing with perceptions and making the appearance of reality seem malleable."--ExpressMilwaukee.com"Students of magic history, film history, the intersection of both, and of Houdini's film career in particular, will all find much to enlarge their insight and understanding of these subjects."--GENII "A sharp, sophisticated, and fascinating read."--Magicol "Conjuring up an amazing trick of his own with this engaged scholarship, Solomon provides a fresh, fascinating display of theory applied to film history. This is one of the most succinct, scintillating books of the year. Essential."--Choice"A truly important and impressive book, the most thoroughly researched and broadly conceived history of the interaction between magicians and cinema that anyone has offered or is likely to offer.”--Tom Gunning, author of The Films of Fritz Lang: Allegories of Vision and ModernityTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction; 1 An Anti-Spiritualist Medium: Stage Magic and the Beginnings of Cinema; 2 The Death of Magic? Presentational Performance and Early Film; 3 Behind the Curtain: Melies at the Theatre Robert-Houdin; 4 Up-to-Date Magic: Theatrical Conjuring and the Trick Film; 5 Houdini's Actuality Magic: Escaping the "Ghost House" with Moving Pictures; 6 Lost in Transition: Sensational Fiction and the Limits of Narrative Integration Epilogue; Notes; Bibliography; Index
£19.94
University of Illinois Press Contemporary Plays by African American Women
Book SynopsisTrade Review"A wonderful addition to dramatic literature, this important volume brings the talents of these remarkable playwrights to a broader audience. With this anthology of plays we see the larger conversations--loud voices of a new, unsatisfied generation. These women join their foremothers taking on form and content to take on the most pressing issues of our day. They relentlessly ensure that by reading this collection your beliefs will be tested and you will come to a better understanding about the world."--Nadine George-Graves, author of Urban Bush Women: Twenty Years of African American Dance Theater, Community Engagement, and Working It OutA fascinating collection that brings important but rarely presented perspectives on African American life to the stage. I have a hard time imagining aspiring actresses not having a copy of this book on their bookshelves and mining it for audition material.--Harvey Young, author of Theatre and Race"Adell's compendium offers an opportunity for new scholarly inquiries in theatre history and puts, at the fingertips of educators and students, a dramatic sampling of the best and freshest African American women playwrights of the twenty-first century."--Artisia Green, College of William and Mary"Dr. Adell's book is a refreshingly contemporary collection of plays by both newer, and some more prominent, African-American female playwrights. It is an essential anthology for scholars and practitioners interested in reading, discovering, and collecting early twenty-first-century plays by these artists and a great complement to other anthologies that feature the work of African-American female playwrights."--Martine Kei Green-Rogers, University of Utah
£28.80
University of Illinois Press Chinatown Opera Theater in North America
Book SynopsisAwards:Irving Lowens Award, Society for American Music (SAM), 2019Music in American Culture Award, American Musicological Society (AMS), 2018Trade ReviewIrving Lowens Award, Society for American Music (SAM), 2019 Music in American Culture Award, American Musicological Society (AMS), 2018 Certificate of Merit for Best Historical Research in Recorded Country, Folk, Roots, or World Music, Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC), 2018 Outstanding Achievement in Humanities and Cultural Studies: Media, Visual, and Performance Studies, Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS), 2019 "Detailed, historically sound, and entertaining . . . Chinatown Opera Theater in America is an extraordinary accomplishment, and its many revelations open a world unseen for nearly a century. The glory that was is now again seen, as Chinatown Opera Theater puts the spotlight on the high achievements of the early Chinese American community that is too often portrayed otherwise in American history." --International Examiner"Chinatown Opera Theater, with its new global knowledge, provides in that sense a compelling alternative space in which to contemplate -- for opera studies and the academy of which it is a part -- the ongoing and inescapable anxieties of Western-reflexive scholarship." --Cambridge Opera Journal"Rao's detailed and engaging study reminds us of the xenophobia that continues to mark the Asian American experience. This book is implicitly an act of resistance not only against erasure, but also against racist tropes that have existed in history and reverberate into the present." --Theatre Journal"Chinatown Opera Theater in North America is a treasure trove that celebrates the transnational development of Cantonese Opera in North America in the 1920s." --Studies in Theatre and Performance"Achieves a sharpness of focus and depth of detail that takes our understanding of the history of Cantonese opera in North America to a new level . . . Chinatown Opera Theater in North America is an excellent piece of historical scholarship, and a unique and original contribution to our knowledge of Chinese performing arts in the Americas."--Ethnomusicology Forum"Rao's book not only complements Wing Chung Ng's study of the rise of Cantonese Opera and Bell Yung's analysis of its creative process, but also constitutes a significant contribution to Asian-American Studies, Chinese Studies, and American music history."--China Review International"Chinatown Theater in North America represents a significant contribution in theater scholarship. It is a book that is sure to provoke further discussion among all those who have an interest either in Chinese opera or musicology or American history or cultural studies. There is much to impress and enjoy in this interestingly illustrated book, and it is a welcome study of the subject."--Studies in Theatre and Performance"Through her in-depth archival research and adept linguistic and musicological skills, [Rao] brings to light the importance of Chinese immigrant music making. . . . A significant contribution to our understanding of the history of music making, particularly in the United States."--Theatre Survey "Rao's book is an important text that should be included in musicology or ethnomusicology courses, not only for the historical and cultural reference that it brings to bear, but also for how the genre of Cantonese opera improves our understanding of the world today." --American Music Review "An engaging manifesto. . . . This book is an invaluable source for educators, students, and general readers." --Asian Theatre Journal "The story Rao lays out in this work is rich and complex....It is therefore a story that should be of great interest to many CHINOPERL readers." --CHINOPERL "The book is abundant in content and, most of all, admirable in the sense of connectivity Rao adroitly establishes." --Journal of the American Musicological Society "Reading Nancy Yunhua Rao's Chinatown Opera Theater in North America is a great treat. . . . Rao's work makes a crucial contribution to scholarship on Chinese theatre, specifically Cantonese opera, in the diaspora, as well as to larger scholarly discussions on transationalism." --World of Music "Chinatown Opera Theater in North America does nothing less than situate Cantonese opera firmly within the warp and weft of the American musical fabric. . . . All in all, Rao's study is a wonder." --Journal of the Society for American Music "Rao's elegant writing provides insight into the mind of a scholar and researcher. The insistence on lifting 'the silence' and undoing 'invisibility' results in an influential recalibration of narratives on the history of American music." --MUSICultures "Chinatown Opera Theater, with its new global knowledge, provides in that sense a compelling alternative space in which to contemplate -- for opera studies and the academy of which it is a part -- the ongoing and inescapable anxieties of Western-reflexive scholarship." --Cambridge Opera Journal "Comprehensively conceived, exhaustively researched, and clearly written, Rao’s book is an extraordinary achievement documenting a unique musical and theatrical genre in North American history. Showing how border crossing enriches the cultural tapestry of this land, it is a must-read for those interested in American music, theater, and social history."--Bell Yung, coeditor of Music and Cultural Rights
£21.59
University of Illinois Press Slapstick Modernism
Book SynopsisTrade Review"The book's central concept is unprecedented and, once explained, it seems quite extraordinary that no one has fleshed it out before. This is clearly a work of scope and insight whose ideas will have considerable applicability."--Juan Suãrez, author of Pop Modernism: Noise and the Reinvention of the Everyday "Slapstick Modernism uses a fresh and innovative methodology to examine the ways comic films influenced the experimental principals of artists and thinkers from the high modernism of the early 1920s through to the Beat generation."--The Year's Work in American Humor Studies"Admirably organized and beautifully written, it is stylistically uncontaminated by the frenetic lunacy it describes. It traces modernist literary experimentation and coterminous cinematic physical comedy, until the two parallel tracks merge in the final chapter to form a single phenomenon, "slapstick modernism."--TLS"Slapstick Modernism is a study of little remarked aesthetic influences, fascinating for articulating tendencies that should have been obvious (but were not)."--Shepherd Express"An ambitious book, Slapstick Modernism delineates a new literary sub-genre, arguing that physical humor becomes a way of undermining economic rationalism. . . . Recommended."--Choice"Solomon not only articulates a new category for understanding literary history, but ranges easily and provocatively across a wide and deep archive to show why that history matters."--Matthew Stratton, author of The Politics of Irony in American Modernism"An exciting, fresh study. Solomon illuminates the historical relationships between aesthetic modernism and anarchic screen comedy--unlikely allies in an attempt to negotiate, and survive, the sensory experiences of modernity. Brimming with attractions but absent conceptual pratfalls, the book also makes a compelling case for why, when modernism returns to U.S. artistic practices in late 1950s and 1960s, it often does so in the key of Keaton and Keystone. Solomon's revisionist account of modernism as a space of inspired immaturity and embodied lunacy is a joy to read."--Justus Nieland, co-author of Film Noir: Hard-Boiled Modernity and the Cultures of Globalization
£17.99
Indiana University Press Performing Trauma in Central Africa
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWhile the arguments put forward in Performing Trauma in Central Africa are impressive, the methodological and ethical commitments that buttress the text are even more so. Edmondson's research for the book spans well over adecade and encompasses a rich variety of ethnographic and archival investigations on three continents. * Modern Drama *Edmondson's publication provokes a crucial debate on the humanitarian efforts of performance, particularly in geographic regions of trauma. * TDR: The Drama Review *Edmondson's book is an outstanding addition to the literature on theatre and performance in situations of conflict and post-conflict. It will be an indispensable work for students, academics and activists concerned with the role of the arts in war-affected communities and within the humanitarian sector more broadly. * New Theatre Quarterly *Edmondson deploys her knowledge of the region and her capacity for critical participation to illuminate both the power and the limits of memory * Theatre Journal *[T]his important volume [is] particularly valuable as an honest and accurate critique of art for social change. . . . Essential. * Choice *The author's transparency calls attention to the burden of empire she both carries and casts off whenever possible . . . Edmondson's writing is both trauma-suspect and trauma-informed. * Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments List of AcronymsIntroduction1. Competitive Memory in the Great Lakes: Touring Genocide2. Marketing Trauma and the Theatre of War in Northern Uganda3. Trauma, Inc. in Postgenocide Rwanda4. Repetition, Rupture, and Ruined: Narratives from the Congo5. Gifted by Trauma: The Branding of Post-Conflict Northern Uganda6. Confessions of a Failed Theatre ActivistAfterword: Faustin Linyekula and the Labors of HopeBibliographyIndex
£66.60
Indiana University Press Orson Welles in Focus
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis is a fascinating collection, several of the contributions making the reader wish for more. * Film International *Table of ContentsForeword / James NaremoreIntroduction: The Totality of Orson Welles / Sidney Gottlieb and James N. Gilmore1. The Death of the Auteur: Orson Welles, Asadata Dafora, and the 1936 Macbeth / Marguerite Rippy 2. Revisiting "War of the Worlds": First-Person Narration in Golden Age Radio Drama / Shawn VanCour 3. Old-Time Movies: Welles and Silent Pictures / Matthew Solomon 4. Orson Welles's Itineraries in It's All True: From "Lived Topography" to Pan-American Transculturation / Catherine L. Benamou 5. Orson Welles as Journalist: The New York Post Columns / Sidney Gottlieb6. Progressivism and the Struggles Against Racism and Anti-Semitism: Welles's Correspondences in 1946 / James N. Gilmore7. Multimedia Magic in Around the World, Orson Welles's Film-and-Theater Hybrid / Vincent Longo8. "The Worst Possible Partners for Movie Production": Orson Welles, Louis Dolivet, and the Filmorsa Years (1953-56) / François Thomas9. Presenting Orson Welles: An Exhibition Challenge / Craig S. SimpsonIndex
£25.19
Indiana University Press Staging Cultural Encounters
Book SynopsisJane E. Goodman follows Algerian theater troupe Istijmam as they prepare for and then tour the U.S.Questioning notions such as directionality, Goodman offer a frank account of the encounters with American audiences and the successes and disappointments of the experience of exchange.Trade Review"In Staging Encounters, Goodman mimics her subject, becoming a goual, a raconteur, telling the story of a play that critiques neoliberalism from the standpoint of a nation emerging from a traumatic civil war, Algeria's "dark decade." But when Goodman accompanies the actors on a United States tour, they become aware of all that had been implicit in their theater. Ironies abound. And Goodman brings them to the fore, in the voices of the actors (who are being used as tools of cultural diplomacy) and in her own incisive observations. This is a ground-breaking and beautifully written work in the anthropology of performance as well as an intervention in experimental anthropology, wherein theater play is both ethnographic subject and method. The book is accompanied by a detailed website of audio-visual examples, making this a hyper-text, a multi-modal way of knowing. It is a tour de force."—Deborah Kapchan, author of Theorizing Sound Writing"The Algerian theatre troupe Istijman takes a play on tour to the US, as part of a cultural diplomacy program. Jane Goodman goes with them, and in this engrossing ethnography she brings to life the excitements, hopes and disappointments of their staged cultural encounter. We are shown in fascinating detail what lies behind and before the tour: the actors' intense disciplined dedication to avant garde theatre practices, the political and economic constraints of contemporary Algeria, the labour of translation, the performance traditions of the Algerian market place. The text is paired with online video recordings of Istijman performances – illuminating, and wonderful for teaching. Subtle, searching and empathetic, with touches of wry humor, Goodman's study will become an instant classic in anthropology, theatre and performance studies."—Karin Barber, London School of Economics, author of A History of African Popular CultureTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsNote on TransliterationIntroduction1. The Customer and the Attendant: Desire, Disappearance, and Disenfranchisement in Neoliberalizing Algeria2. Restaging the Halqa: From Algerian Market to Global Marketplace3. On the Road: Cultural Encounters in Cosmopolitan Times 4. Behind the Scenes: The Disciplines of Rehearsal5. Encounters in Translation: How Et-Teffeh Became ApplesEpilogue. Apples in AmericaWorks CitedIndex
£59.50
Indiana University Press Staging Cultural Encounters Algerian Actors Tour
Book SynopsisJane E. Goodman follows Algerian theater troupe Istijmam as they prepare for and then tour the U.S.Questioning notions such as directionality, Goodman offer a frank account of the encounters with American audiences and the successes and disappointments of the experience of exchange.Trade Review"In Staging Encounters, Goodman mimics her subject, becoming a goual, a raconteur, telling the story of a play that critiques neoliberalism from the standpoint of a nation emerging from a traumatic civil war, Algeria's "dark decade." But when Goodman accompanies the actors on a United States tour, they become aware of all that had been implicit in their theater. Ironies abound. And Goodman brings them to the fore, in the voices of the actors (who are being used as tools of cultural diplomacy) and in her own incisive observations. This is a ground-breaking and beautifully written work in the anthropology of performance as well as an intervention in experimental anthropology, wherein theater play is both ethnographic subject and method. The book is accompanied by a detailed website of audio-visual examples, making this a hyper-text, a multi-modal way of knowing. It is a tour de force."—Deborah Kapchan, author of Theorizing Sound Writing"The Algerian theatre troupe Istijman takes a play on tour to the US, as part of a cultural diplomacy program. Jane Goodman goes with them, and in this engrossing ethnography she brings to life the excitements, hopes and disappointments of their staged cultural encounter. We are shown in fascinating detail what lies behind and before the tour: the actors' intense disciplined dedication to avant garde theatre practices, the political and economic constraints of contemporary Algeria, the labour of translation, the performance traditions of the Algerian market place. The text is paired with online video recordings of Istijman performances – illuminating, and wonderful for teaching. Subtle, searching and empathetic, with touches of wry humor, Goodman's study will become an instant classic in anthropology, theatre and performance studies."—Karin Barber, London School of Economics, author of A History of African Popular CultureTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsNote on TransliterationIntroduction1. The Customer and the Attendant: Desire, Disappearance, and Disenfranchisement in Neoliberalizing Algeria2. Restaging the Halqa: From Algerian Market to Global Marketplace3. On the Road: Cultural Encounters in Cosmopolitan Times 4. Behind the Scenes: The Disciplines of Rehearsal5. Encounters in Translation: How Et-Teffeh Became ApplesEpilogue. Apples in AmericaWorks CitedIndex
£22.79
Indiana University Press Storytelling in Opera and Musical Theater
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewNina Penner's Storytelling in Opera and Musical Theater is a remarkable blend of musicology and philosophy [that . . .] deserves to be a foundational text for future work on musical theatre. -- Andrew Kania * The Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsOverture1. What is a Narrative?2. Telling, Operatically3. Character-Narrators4. Orchestral Narration & Authorial Commentary5. Character-Focused Narration6. Works & Performances7. Performances of Works8. Performances as WorksFinaleBibliographyIndex
£59.50
Indiana University Press Storytelling in Opera and Musical Theater
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewNina Penner's Storytelling in Opera and Musical Theater is a remarkable blend of musicology and philosophy [that . . .] deserves to be a foundational text for future work on musical theatre. -- Andrew Kania * The Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsOverture1. What is a Narrative?2. Telling, Operatically3. Character-Narrators4. Orchestral Narration & Authorial Commentary5. Character-Focused Narration6. Works & Performances7. Performances of Works8. Performances as WorksFinaleBibliographyIndex
£21.59
Indiana University Press Russias Theatrical Past
Book SynopsisTrade Review"The eccentric characters, amusing anecdotes, and pointed insights draw the reader in, making this an appetizing work."—Valerie Kivelson, author of Cartographies of Tsardom: The Land and Its Meanings in Seventeenth-Century Russia"Fascinating and entertaining, Russia's Theatrical Past takes us backstage at Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich's new court theater in the 1670s, tracking how actors, musicians, and theatrical companies from Northern Europe joined in Moscow with other directors, musicians, and amateur actors (many from the 'German Suburb') and staged works from Biblical epics to Tamburlaine. With on-the-ground detail (sets, casts, salaries, scripts), the authors display the world of theater and performance in Muscovy as a dynamic interchange of Northern European, Ukrainian Orthodox, and Muscovite culture."—Nancy S. Kollmann, Stanford UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsA Note on Dates, Transliteration, and TranslationList of AbbreviationsIntroduction: The Comedians Come to Pskov1. Court Music at Home and Abroad2. The Theater of Diplomacy3. Introducing Pickleherring: The Origins of the Russian Court Theater4. The Plays and "Ballets" for the Tsar5. The Play of Tamerlane6. From Tamerlane to Tamerlane and BeyondBibliographyIndex
£62.90
Indiana University Press Russias Theatrical Past Court Entertainment in
Book SynopsisTrade Review"The eccentric characters, amusing anecdotes, and pointed insights draw the reader in, making this an appetizing work."—Valerie Kivelson, author of Cartographies of Tsardom: The Land and Its Meanings in Seventeenth-Century Russia"Fascinating and entertaining, Russia's Theatrical Past takes us backstage at Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich's new court theater in the 1670s, tracking how actors, musicians, and theatrical companies from Northern Europe joined in Moscow with other directors, musicians, and amateur actors (many from the 'German Suburb') and staged works from Biblical epics to Tamburlaine. With on-the-ground detail (sets, casts, salaries, scripts), the authors display the world of theater and performance in Muscovy as a dynamic interchange of Northern European, Ukrainian Orthodox, and Muscovite culture."—Nancy S. Kollmann, Stanford UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsA Note on Dates, Transliteration, and TranslationList of AbbreviationsIntroduction: The Comedians Come to Pskov1. Court Music at Home and Abroad2. The Theater of Diplomacy3. Introducing Pickleherring: The Origins of the Russian Court Theater4. The Plays and "Ballets" for the Tsar5. The Play of Tamerlane6. From Tamerlane to Tamerlane and BeyondBibliographyIndex
£26.99
University of Notre Dame Press Messiahs and Machiavellians
Book SynopsisAn innovative exploration of “modern evil” in works of early- and late-modern theatre, focusing on ethics, religion, and aesthetics that speak to our present condition.Trade Review“Corey’s lucid, compelling treatise argues for a radical reconsideration of the role of tragedy in dealing with the shifting metaphysical and metatheatrical sands of the contemporary era. While the study begins with an examination of mid-20th Century French existentialism—and the dramatic work of Beckett and Camus in particular—the book soon takes the reader on a fascinating voyage back into the ‘problem’ comedies of the Italian and English Renaissance theatre, and beyond that, into Greek tragedy to understand the evolving concept of ‘evil’ in the Western philosophical, theological, and dramatic tradition. Ending with a reflection on the new ‘theatre’ of terrorism entering the 21st Century, Corey poses the intriguing suggestion, that far from being irrelevant to the post-modern era, a ‘new tragic sensibility’ may become key to our gaining a ‘lucid awareness of our current situation […] the limits of politics, the indelible nature of violence, our inescapable mortality, and a need for prudence’” —Moira Day, University of Saskatchewan“A sensitive examination of the problem of evil in Renaissance and 20th century drama. Corey provides fascinating analyses of individual plays, and makes a compelling argument for restoring a tragic vision of good and evil in the face of modern expediency and utopianism.” —Mary P. Nichols, Baylor University“In Messiahs and Machiavellians, Paul Corey delivers insights both numerous and profound. His work is a serious and important contribution to contemporary political science while also offering analyses of interest to scholars in literature, religious studies, theology, and ethics.” —Barry Cooper, University of Calgary“Corey's engaging book centers on the close analysis of four plays, each one depicting evil in a particular light: Albert Camus' Caligula, Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, Machiavelli's Mandragola, and Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. Corey carefully distinguishes between endeavors that might achieve temporary success within definite limits and those that claim a boundless victory that will destroy evil forever.” —First Principles
£25.19
University of Notre Dame Press Do This
Book SynopsisDramatic elements have always been apparent in the historic Christian liturgy. Because the liturgy is a structured action and not merely a verbal narrative, it has historically been both illuminated by and confused with other types of performance, such as theatre and drama. This confusion has been compounded by the fact that much analysis of liturgy has focused on the linguistic and theological aspects of the event and not on its elements of performance.In Do This: Liturgy as Performance, Richard D. McCall presents a systematic approach to the liturgy as event rather than text, using tools made available by contemporary performance theory. McCall follows the rise of dramatic interpretation of the early Christian liturgy from its beginnings through such elements as costumes, interpretative text, and gesture. He then examines the development of performance theory, focusing on the work of Victor Turner and Richard Schechner, and asks if it can be applied to the liturgy. TTrade Review“Do This . . . is a valuable contribution to the conversation about worship that is ongoing between practitioners and scholars. Professors who teach advanced courses in liturgical studies will find their reading lists enriched by McCall’s foray into the drama that is liturgical enactment.” —Anglican Theological Review“McCall has done all those who toil in that field a great service by showing that a non text-based methodology can be brought to bear on liturgy as an event. He deliberately tries to avoid any reliance on text to understand liturgy as performed, although he appeals to it here and there. Many have tried to develop a methodology, for the liturgical event, but McCall has largely succeeded.” —Theoforum“Far from being an apologia pro ostentatione liturgica, this is a serious attempt to explore performance as “a many-faceted model for approaching all of that reality which can only be, for human beings, symbolic and enacted in our institutions, relationships, art, and rituals” (3). It is the most important book I have read in liturgical studies in the last five years.” —Worship“ . . . this is a valuable contribution to the corpus of liturgical studies.” —Church Times“McCall highlights the dramatic character of liturgy in this book, giving it theoretical substance. 'Liturgy as performance' is not intended here in the informal sense panned by ecclesiastical authorities as a widespread popular misinterpretation of liturgical 'active participation.' Rather, McCall is concerned with theory, much of it philosophical-from Aristotle to Bakhtin.” —Choice“In this excellent book, Richard McCall addresses the question of what it means to speak of the liturgy as drama. This claim is often made, but generally without adequate attention to what this claim actually means. In Do This, McCall undertakes this task and offers to his readers a thorough analysis of the multi-faceted issues that the question raises. McCall brings to this task not only his knowledge of liturgical history and theology, but also his extensive professional experience in theatre. The central act of the Christian Eucharist is placed within the context of the wide range of human performative acts, with a careful analysis of both similarities and differences. McCall's book offers enormous insight into this aspect of the Eucharistic rite.” —Louis Weil, Hodges-Haynes Professor of Liturgics, Church Divinity School of the Pacific"In this splendid contribution to liturgical theology, Richard McCall provides an excellent analysis of liturgical memorial through the lens of performance theory. In the course of the book McCall constructs a profound account of the liturgy as Trinitarian theology." —John F. Baldovin, S.J., Weston Jesuit School of Theology“Richard McCall’s Do This is an insightful work of scholarship that brings the tools of performance studies to bear on the doing of liturgical action. McCall moves freely between nascent church dramas, Aristotle’s Poetics, liturgical theology, and historical reconstructions of medieval liturgy. Paralleling recent work in performance and cultural studies, McCall understands that liturgy is first and foremost a performed event in a particular context—not a text or theology.” —Troy Messenger, Union Theological Seminary"Richard McCall takes what is perhaps the most obvious yet most neglected element in the liturgy, its dramatic character, and gives it superb theoretical substance. Liturgical studies can have many starting points but the most neglected of all is Jesus' command: Do this in memory of me. While the ’this’ can be codified into rubrics, the essence of the command, i.e., the ‘do’ in ‘Do this’ is that it must be performed. Dr. McCall deftly and brilliantly explores the nature of such performance and its implications for liturgical studies. In this, he has advanced the field significantly." —Alejandro Garcia-Rivera, Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley
£999.99
University of Notre Dame Press Festive Enterprise
Book SynopsisFestive Enterprise reveals marketplace pressures at the heart of dramatic form in medieval and Renaissance drama.In Festive Enterprise, Jill P. Ingram merges the history of economic thought with studies of theatricality and spectatorship to examine how English Renaissance plays employed forms and practices from medieval and traditional entertainments to signal the expectation of giving from their audiences. Resisting the conventional divide between medieval and Renaissance, Festive Enterprise takes a trans-Reformation view of dramaturgical strategies, which reflected the need to generate both income and audience assent. By analyzing a wide range of genres (such as civic ceremonial, mummings, interludes, scripted plays, and university drama) and a diverse range of venues (including great halls, city streets, the Inns of Court, and public playhouses), Ingram demonstrates how early moderns borrowed medieval money-gatherers' techniques to signal communTrade Review“The virtue of Festive Enterprise is to situate famous plays from the era in a detailed historical context that helps to illuminate the achievement of Shakespeare and some of his better-known contemporaries. It’s a solid and significant contribution to the scholarship of medieval and Renaissance drama in England.” —Paul A. Cantor, author of Shakespeare’s Roman TrilogyIndeed, as an innovative, deeply detailed study of Renaissance drama's interrelation with pre-commercial economic practices, Festive Enterprise deserves much applause: it reveals the humanity and sense of community in the rise of theatrical commercialism. —Journal of British Studies"Economically and precisely expressed, packed full of detail and useful information, and consistently lively and entertaining." —The English Historical ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Festive Gatherer and the Empathetic Thief: The Genealogy of a Character 2. Forms of Investment: Mummings, Prologues and Epilogues 3. Reconciliation in The Winter’s Tale: Devotion and Commerce from Guilds to Church Ales 4. The Mobile Entertainer: John Taylor’s Penniless Pilgrimage 5. Coding Complaint in Gesta Grayorum and The Christmas Prince 6. “A Jest’s Prosperity”: The Market, Marprelate, and Love’s Labour’s Lost Conclusion
£70.55
University of Notre Dame Press Festive Enterprise
Book SynopsisFestive Enterprise reveals marketplace pressures at the heart of dramatic form in medieval and Renaissance drama.In Festive Enterprise, Jill P. Ingram merges the history of economic thought with studies of theatricality and spectatorship to examine how English Renaissance plays employed forms and practices from medieval and traditional entertainments to signal the expectation of giving from their audiences. Resisting the conventional divide between medieval and Renaissance, Festive Enterprise takes a trans-Reformation view of dramaturgical strategies, which reflected the need to generate both income and audience assent. By analyzing a wide range of genres (such as civic ceremonial, mummings, interludes, scripted plays, and university drama) and a diverse range of venues (including great halls, city streets, the Inns of Court, and public playhouses), Ingram demonstrates how early moderns borrowed medieval money-gatherers' techniques to signal communTrade Review“The virtue of Festive Enterprise is to situate famous plays from the era in a detailed historical context that helps to illuminate the achievement of Shakespeare and some of his better-known contemporaries. It’s a solid and significant contribution to the scholarship of medieval and Renaissance drama in England.” —Paul A. Cantor, author of Shakespeare’s Roman TrilogyIndeed, as an innovative, deeply detailed study of Renaissance drama's interrelation with pre-commercial economic practices, Festive Enterprise deserves much applause: it reveals the humanity and sense of community in the rise of theatrical commercialism. —Journal of British Studies"Economically and precisely expressed, packed full of detail and useful information, and consistently lively and entertaining." —The English Historical ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Festive Gatherer and the Empathetic Thief: The Genealogy of a Character 2. Forms of Investment: Mummings, Prologues and Epilogues 3. Reconciliation in The Winter’s Tale: Devotion and Commerce from Guilds to Church Ales 4. The Mobile Entertainer: John Taylor’s Penniless Pilgrimage 5. Coding Complaint in Gesta Grayorum and The Christmas Prince 6. “A Jest’s Prosperity”: The Market, Marprelate, and Love’s Labour’s Lost Conclusion
£35.10
University of Texas Press Nine Contemporary Jewish Plays
Book SynopsisA sampling of plays by Donald Margulies and other contemporary Jewish playwrights that exemplifies the diversity and excellence of Jewish theatre today.Trade ReviewMainstream readers are encouraged to visit the drama bookshelf to locate this intelligent, probing collection filled with vivid examples of how dramatic literature can humanize moral and social dilemmas by embodying them in the personal irritations and intimacies of daily life. * Forward *Table of Contents Editors' Acknowledgments Foreword (Theodore Bikel) Preface: The New Play Commissions and the New Jewish Theatre (Ellen Schiff) Introduction: Background and History of the New Play Commissions in Jewish Theatre (Michael Posnick) God of Vengeance (Donald Margulies) A Certain Raquel (Nora Glickman) Green Violin (Elise Thoron) Life in Refusal (Ari Roth) See Under: Love (Corey Fischer) The Action against Sol Schumann (Jeffrey Sweet) Exile in Jerusalem (Motti Lerner) Asher's Command (Marilyn Clayton Felt) The Last Seder (Jennifer Maisel) About the Playwrights Permissions
£27.90
University of Texas Press Making the Scene
Book SynopsisA lively, beautifully illustrated history of theatrical stage design from ancient Greek times to the present, coauthored by the world’s leading authority, Oscar G. Brockett.
£59.50
MP-WIS Uni of Wisconsin Power and Performance Ethnographic Explorations
Book SynopsisAn examination of traditional proverbs about power. The book presents rehearsal and performance versions of a play which emerged from the author's attempts to track down the meaning of a phrase - ""power is eaten whole"" - which he encountered when he was engaged in fieldwork in Shaha, Zaire.
£18.86
MP-WIS Uni of Wisconsin Theo An Autobiography
Book Synopsis
£21.56
Yale University Press Playwriting
Book SynopsisA classic guide to dramatic writing now revised and expanded for a new generation of playwrights and screenwritersTrade Review“I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this book. Always a classic on the playwright’s bookshelf; now that it has been substantially reorganized, updated, and rewritten for contemporary playwrights, I believe it is a must-own text for the serious dramatist.”—David A. Crespy,Writing for Performance Program, University of Missouri-Columbia -- David A. Crespy"It's great to see the granddaddy of all playwriting books back in action, more vigorous than ever in this newly revised edition, ready to mentor and inspire a whole new generation of young playwrights."—Paul Stephen Lim, English Alternative Theatre, University of Kansas -- Paul Stephen Lim
£22.50
Yale University Press Spectacular Flirtations Viewing the Actress in
Book SynopsisDuring the Georgian period there was a remarkable proliferation of seductive visual imagery and written accounts of female performers. Focusing on the close relationship between the dramatic and visual arts at this time, this book explores popular ideas of the actress as coquette, 'whore', celebrity, muse, and creative agent.
£42.75
Yale University Press Sarah
Book SynopsisA riveting portrait of the great Sarah Bernhardt from acclaimed writer Robert GottliebTrade Review"[This] is that rarest of books, a serious biography that reads not only like a novel, but like a big, romantic, sprawling, over-the-top novel. . . . A wonderful book."—Michael Korda, Daily Beast -- Michael Korda * The Daily Beast *"A fascinating look at Bernhardt's mythology and the stagecraft behind it. . . . What Sarah understood--as Gottlieb, a storied editor and publisher, makes clear--was how the heightened drama of performance might be extended to her own life."--Vogue * Vogue *"Mr. Gottlieb's fluid style and lightly worn authority offer a lucid and essential modern guide to the making of celebrity, in an era before the noun existed."--Norman Lebrecht, Wall Street Journal -- Norman Lebrecht * Wall Street Journal *"Robert Gottlieb is true to the mystery of his subject's self-invented life. He also does what few biographers of famous women seem able or willing to do: He focuses on her work. . . . Vintage Gottleib, full of humor and refreshingly free of hagiography."--Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times -- Susan Salter Reynolds * Los Angeles Times *"Immensely entertaining."--Jeremy McCarter, Newsweek -- Jeremy McCarter * Newsweek *"A delectable, witty short biography of legendary French actress Sarah Bernhardt, and a decidedly unstuffy debut for Yale's Jewish Lives series."--Shelf Awareness * Shelf Awareness *"Gottlieb's Sarah is a fine introduction to a fascinating woman, giving the reader a lively sense of why, so many decades after her death, the name of Sarah Bernhardt, above all others, still stands for actress."--Julius Novick, The Forward -- Julius Novick * The Forward *"Avoiding pedantry on the one hand and prurience on the other, [Gottlieb] writes about Bernhardt with convincing respect and sympathy, tempered with quiet amusement at her oddities and excesses. . . . His conversational, urbane prose is accompanied by numerous illustrations, including a splendid gallery of full-page photos showing Bernhardt in 16 of her famous roles. Gottlieb's Sarah is a fine introduction to a fascinating woman, giving the reader a lively sense of why, so many decades after her death, the name of Sarah Bernhardt, above all others, still stands for actress."--Julius Novick, The Forward -- Julius Novick * The Forward *"There's an amazing amount of information here, about an amazing woman. . . . This is the first English-language biography of Sarah Bernhardt, and it is wonderfully informative as well as entertaining. I'm glad I've been given the opportunity to experience it, and will never again think of her as just that woman who was famous for playing Hamlet."--Shakespeare Geek * Shakespeare Geek *"An elegant and engaging portrait worthy of Bernhardt. . . a terrific book."--Glenn C. Altschuler, NPR Books We Like -- Glenn C. Altschuler * NPR Books We Like *"Comprehensive and illuminating about many things besides Bernhardt--French anti-Semitism, sexual mores amongst the intellectual aristocracy, etc.--without being exhausting. I can't imagine Bernhardt's story being told better."--Scott Eyman, Palm Beach Post -- Scott Eyman * Palm Beach Post *"Appropriately lively. . . Gottlieb's affable, anecdotal style suits the subject well."--Graham Robb, New York Review of Books -- Graham Robb * New York Review of Books *"Sarah Bernhardt is a gift to the raconteur. Mr. Gottlieb takes full advantage. Where he can, he stages her life as a performance, with knowing asides and a certain kind of old-fashioned fun." — Economist * Economist *"[A] sharp, efficient biography."--Emma Brockes, New York Times Book Review -- Emma Brockes * New York Times Book Review *"A fascinating look at Bernhardt's mythology and the stagecraft behind it. . . . What Sarah understood--as Gottlieb, a storied editor and publisher makes clear--was how the heightened drama of performance might be extended to her own life."--Vogue * Vogue *"Robert Gottlieb's book is appropriately small, beautiful and packed with drama. . . . Mr. Gottlieb is a meticulous reader, researcher and distiller of information. . . . Although he claims we can know little about her actual performances, he manages to make them come alive. I see her and hear her, declamatory to our modern sensibilities, alarmingly natural and passionate to audiences of the late 19th century."--Kathleen George, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette -- Kathleen George * Pittsburgh Post-Gazette *"One ends this breathlessly readable and deeply intelligent book in as much awe of Sarah as people and audiences were in her own lifetime; it is that rarest of books, a serious biography that reads not only like a novel, but like a big, romantic, sprawling, over-the-top novel. Gottlieb has made of her story a wonderful book--one, which, to pay it its highest due, any editor, including himself (and me), would give his or her eye-teeth to have published!"--Michael Korda, Daily Beast -- Michael Korda * Daily Beast *'A book that is wise, funny, affectionate and enjoyable as well as blessedly compact.' — John Carey, Sunday Times -- John Carey * Sunday Times *"In his timely new biography, Sarah: The Life of Sarah Bernhardt, Robert Gottlieb traces the meteoric, improbable, epic life of the illegitimate daughter of a high-flying Paris courtesan who became the most famous actress in theater history."--Joseph A. Harris, American Spectator -- Joseph A. Harris * American Spectator *"In 'Sarah: The Life of Sarah Berndhardt', Robert Gottlieb presents (his subject) appreciatively, in full color, in all her exuberance, extravagance, beauty, passion and talent. This is the first English-language biography in decades of the first internationally known stage star."--Sandee Brawarsky, New York Jewish Week -- Sandee Brawarsky * New York Jewish Week *"At only 220 pages, Sarah is necessarily a breathless account of a life that would happily occupy a book three times longer; yet it makes for an absorbing, at times fantastical read, and is leavened throughout by a dry wit and affectionate scepticism."—Michael Simkins, Mail on Sunday -- Michael Simkins * Mail on Sunday *"A fabulous story and Gottlieb has produced a brilliant short biography, telling you everything you want to know in 200 pages. He’s especially good at analysing what Sarah’s magic was but there was so much of it you’ll have to read the book to find out."—Duncan Fallowell, Daily Express -- Duncan Fallowell * Daily Express *"Robert Gottlieb is a firmly even-handed biographer and his engagingly zippy account focuses particularly on exposing the cracks in the contradictory stories that Bernhardt and her hagiographers assembled about her life…This is a sterling biography, equal to its subject."—Olivia Laing, The Observer -- Olivia Laing * The Observer *"Although Bernhardt's fame is universal and the literature about her immense, the major postwar English language biographies have long been out of print...Gottlieb's succinct survey is timely"—Rupert Christiansen, Literary Review -- Rupert Christiansen * Literary Review *"Suave, intelligent, always slyly entertaining."—Terry Castle, London Review Of Books -- Terry Castle * London Review Of Books *"A riveting account of a life lived in the spotlight"—Richard Edmonds, Birmingham Post -- Richard Edmonds * Birmingham Post *Honorable Mention in the Biography/Autobiography category of the 2010 Los Angeles Book Festival -- Biography/Autobiography Honorable Mention * Los Angeles Book Festival *"Short, witty and tender…This book is one that your friends and family will actually want to read: a better stocking-topper for the literary-minded is hard to imagine."—Miranda Seymour, The Lady -- Miranda Seymour * The Lady *"Gottlieb does an excellent job describing Bernhardt, making her come alive for the reader or, perhaps more accurately, making her larger-than-life personality seem real. With its general overview of her life, the book serves as a perfect introduction to her personal life and her career."—Rabbi Rachel Esserman, Voice of the Dutchess Jewish Community -- Rabbi Rachel Esserman * Voice of the Dutchess Jewish Community *"Gottlieb shows in this fine, sympathetic biography [that Sarah Bernhardt] put the world on a leash and added it to her own private menagerie."—Betty Smartt Carter, Books & Culture -- Betty Smartt Carter * Books & Culture *"Very readable. . . . Gottlieb holds the reader's interest throughout. . . . [An] excellent biography. . . . Recommended very highly for casual reader as well as for specialists."—Richard Weigel, Pages -- Richard Weigel * Pages *"Robert Gottlieb's biography of Bernhardt is very readable and covers the actress' fascinating life qutie well."—Richard Weigel, Bowling Green Daily News -- Richard Weigel * Bowling Green Daily News *"Gottlieb writes about Bernhardt with convincing respect and sympathy, tempered with quiet amusement at her oddities and excesses. His lucid, conversational, urbane prose is accompanied by numerous illustrations. . . . Gottlieb's Sarah is a fine introduction to a fascinating woman."—Julius Novick, Forward -- Julius Novick * Forward *Received Honorable Mention in the Biography/Autobiography category of the 2010 New England Book Festival -- Biography Honorable Mention * New England Book Festival *"it's an ambitious book, a real doorstopper. . . . You'll learn all manner of facts."—David Wood, Book Report -- David Wood * Book Report *"[Robert Gottlieb] does what few biographers of famous women do: He focuses on her work."—Susan Salter Reynolds, Newsday -- Susan Salter Reynolds * Newsday *"Robert Gottlieb presents her appreciatively, in full color, in all her exuberance, extravagance, beauty, passion and talent."—Sandee Brawarsky, -- Sandee Brawarsky * The Jewish Week *"Gottlieb's Life casts a reassuringly sceptical eye over a plethora of less-than-reliable writings about Berhardt, some of them the actress's own memoirs."—John Nathan, Jewish Chronicle -- John Nathan * Jewish Chronicle *“With panache worthy of his subject, Gottlieb lays out the players as if Bernhardt’s life were a stage drama. His charismatic prose captures the spell of the consummate mythmaker.”—Carol Ockman, coauthor of Sarah Bernhardt: The Art of High Drama -- Carol Ockman“Robert Gottlieb sifts through the fiction in this hugely entertaining biography of the theatrical legend, and often casts doubt on the competing accounts of her life with little more than a raised eyebrow.”—Victoria Segal, The Guardian -- Victoria Segal * The Guardian *
£17.63
Yale University Press Theater of the AvantGarde 18901950
Book SynopsisSuitable for theatre artists and students alike, this anthology includes the full texts of sixteen important examples of avant-garde drama from the most daring and influential artistic movements of the first half of the twentieth century, including Symbolism, Futurism, Expressionism, Dada, and Surrealism.
£27.50
Yale University Press Oscar Hammerstein II and the Invention of the
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£14.99
The University of Michigan Press A Menopausal Gentleman The Solo Performances of
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£21.80
The University of Michigan Press Chinese Dreams
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewLucid and accessible . . . an important contribution to the field of East-West comparative studies, Asian studies, and modernism. —Comparative Literature Studies|""Instead of trying to decipher the indecipherable 'China' in Western literary texts and critical discourses, Hayot chose to show us why and how 'China' has remained, and will probably always be, an enchanting, ever-elusive dream. His approach is nuanced and refreshing, his analysis rigorous and illuminating."" —Michelle Yeh, University of California, Davis
£21.80
LUP - University of Michigan Press Acting in Real Time
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£28.45
LUP - University of Michigan Press Mabou Mines
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£23.70
LUP - University of Michigan Press The Sarah Siddons Audio Files
Book SynopsisDuring her lifetime (1755-1831), English actress Sarah Siddons was an international celebrity acclaimed for her performances of tragic heroines. We know what she looked like, but what of her famous voice, reported to cause audiences to hyperventilate or faint? In lively and engaging prose Judith Pascoe takes readers on a journey to discover how the actor's voice actually sounded.
£21.80
LUP - University of Michigan Press Sensational Devotion
Book SynopsisExamines contemporary Passion plays, biblical theme parks, Holy Land recreations, creationist museums, and megachurches in order to understand how they serve their evangelical believer-users while also shaping larger cultural and national dialogues. The book examines how performative media support specific theologies and core beliefs by creating sensual, live experiences for those who use them.Trade ReviewAn engrossing and richly detailed study of the way evangelicalism performs itself—and its adherents—into being by intimately recoding participants’ bodies, feelings, and yearnings. The book deserves a wide and appreciative readership in religious studies, theatre and performance studies, affect studies, and media studies as well.” —Ann Pellegrini, New York University
£26.55
LUP - University of Michigan Press Ten Thousand Nights Highlights from 50 Years of
Book SynopsisEsteemed scholar and theatre aficionado Marvin Carlson has seen an unsurpassed number of theatrical productions in his long and distinguished career. Ten Thousand Nights is a lively chronicle of a half-century of theatre-going, in which Carlson recalls one memorable production for each year from 1960 to 2010.
£23.70
LUP - University of Michigan Press A Glossary of Words and Phrases in the Oral Performing and Dramatic Literatures of the Jin Yuan and Ming
£16.95
The University of Michigan Press The Global White Snake
Book SynopsisThe story of The White Snake is one of the ""four great narratives"" of China and yet it is almost unknown in the West. The Global White Snake is a major, accessible contribution to our knowledge of the story, its traditional interpretations and its importance throughout history.Table of Contents Acknowledgements List of Figures Chapter 1. Introduction to White Snake Legends Gender and Species, Media and Politics Metamorphoses and Regenerations Legends of the White Snake The Power of Transmigration Aspirations in the Remaking of the Legends Theoretical Implications Part I. White Snake at the Turn of the Twentieth Century Chapter 2. The White Snake Problem versus The White Snake Industry The White Snake Problem Inspirations from Kentucky Mystery of the White Snake Hangchow, the “City of Heaven” The White Snake Industry New White Snake Performances, 1870s to 1920s The Popularity of jingju, tanci, and yueju Stage Performance, Urban Gossip, Print Culture, and Intellectual Lamentations Sounding the White Snake: Shaping New Media, New Practice, and New Sensibilities Rong Stage Dominates White Snake Performances Concluding Remarks: The Fall of the Pagoda and the Burning of the Monastery Chapter 3. Fall of the Pagoda and Rise of the White Snake: Visualization and Canonization Fall of the Pagoda and the Visualization of a Vanished Past Bricks, Scriptures, and Visuality: Relics from and Memories of the Thunder Peak Legend, Art Photography, and War Drawing: Timely Journalism and Chinese Popular Imagination Shadows of the Pagoda: Coming to Terms with the Fall through Visual and Textual Representations The Rise of the White Snake and Canonization of “The White Snake Modern” Lu Xun’s Verdict and The Righteous Snake on the Silver Screen The Pagoda in the Film Concluding Remarks: The White Snake Modern Part II Profound Humanity of the Nonhuman during the Cold War Chapter 4. The White Snake Legend in Postwar Japanese Cinema Exquisite Paradise and Forbidden Love in Mizoguchi’s Ugetsu Between Light and Shadow: Infinite Shades of Gray Sound and Look of a Lady Wakasa Film: Pottery, Water, and Mutual Enchantment White Pearl, Red Scarf, and “The Witchcraft of Love” in Byaku fujin no yoren Red Scarf, Manifested Desire, and Significance of Color Special Effects and Technologies of the “Witchcraft of Love” From Hong Kong to Southeast Asia Flowers, Animals, and Humans: Animating the White Snake Legend in Hakujaden From Live-action to Animation “Disney of the East” and Connections between China and Japan Concluding Remarks: A Token of Love Chapter 5. Reconfiguring the White Snake in Korean Cinema in an Inter-Asian Context Sino-Korean Cinematic Connections Shin Sang-ok and the 1960 Madam White Snake The Shadow of Ugetsu and Holding Hands at First Sight Dance to Seduce and Lovers’ Chat in a Moonlit Garden Mutual Love and Devotion, and the Humanity of the Nonhuman Humanity Aided by Special Effects Shin’s Forgotten Second Attempt at a “White Snake” Film: Snake Woman in 1969 A Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan Coproduction? Love of the White Snake in 1978 The Taiwan Connection in the Context of a Hong Kong-Singapore Cinematic Matrix Concluding Remarks: The Korean Connection in an Inter-Asian Context Part III. The Specter of the Past in Contemporary Popular Culture Chapter 6. Dancing White Snake, Writing Green Snake: Reconfiguring the Legend in Mainland China and Hong Kong Writing and Dancing, the Text and the Body The Expressiveness of the Hybrid Body and the Iconoclasm of the Green Snake Writing Women of China A Dancing White Snake: Centered on the “Untold Stories” Writing, Dancing, and the Cultural Revolution as Memory and Imagination Concluding Remarks: Lingering Echoes Chapter 7. The White Snake Legend in the United States in the Twenty-First Century: Opera, Drama, and Digital Video From Chinese Legend to Pulitzer-Prize Winning Western Opera: Madame White Snake Green Snake the Storyteller Righteousness against Love, Truth against Freedom The Singaporean and Mainland Chinese Origins The Powers and Possibilities of Mary Zimmerman’s The White Snake The Wuzhen Experience More Inspirations from Kentucky Students A Female Writer of Socialist China: Zhao Qingge and Her 1956 Novel The CTC Production in Washington D. C. Poetry, Photography, and Fashion: Digital Challenges from Indrani Chapter 8. Nothing Ever Dies: The Eternal Bodies of the White Snake Korean Webtoon Lady White and Her Afterlife in Chinese The Return of the Powerful Hybrid in the 2019 Internet Drama Legend of White Snake Queering an Icon, Becoming a Demon in the 2019 Animation White Snake: The Legend Begins Everlasting Bodily Memory: From the 1992 New Legend of Madame White Snake to the 2016 Star of Tomorrow The Bodies of the Green Snake and the White Snake Concluding Remarks: The Multiplicity and Openness of the Eternal Bodies of the Snake Women Notes Selected Chronological List of White Snake Texts Selected Bibliography Glossary Index
£31.30
