Theatre: technical Books

Book SynopsisClown: The Physical Comedian is a detailed and comprehensive workbook for those interested in the art of clowning and physical theatre, including actors, directors, improvisers, stand-up comedians, circus artists, mask performers and devisers of new work. Offering an extensive and hugely diverse compilation of tried-and-tested exercises and games, the book is for students, teachers and practitioners to aid ensemble-building, character development, devising theatre, physicalising text and vocalising movement, plus creating cabaret acts, clown routines and adding physical play to scripted scenes. It offers advice on subjects such as developing presence onstage; increasing strength, flexibility and physical expression; developing partner and trio relationships; understanding the power of the mask; and working with an audience - in particular, turning a performance into a conversation with the audience and increasing the actor's ability to connect with a crowd. The exercises andTrade ReviewClown: The Physical Comedian belongs on every theater library’s bookshelf. * CHOICE *Joe Dieffenbacher draws on a wide range of influences and experiences to create this wonderful resource book. The exercises and insights offer support to both professionals who are looking to enrich or refresh their existing work and teachers who are introducing "newbies" to clown or enhancing existing clowning or acting classes for the more experienced students. Dieffenbacher's approach is inspirational not prescriptive and easily adapted to your needs. * Malcolm Tulip, University of Michigan, USA *Concise, generous, energetic, collaborative and complicit. Joe manages to articulate; what clown is, where it came from and what it takes to become a true clown. Clown: The Physical Comedian offers great tools for teaching, directing and devising clown. I wish I had this book 35 years ago when I first started clowning. It is brilliant. * Michael Kennard, University of Alberta, Canada *Clown: The Physical Comedian is an essential addition to the growing field of Clowning Studies. In this increasingly popular area of study, there are a few books of clown exercises, but fewer that offer such direct building blocks for devising and creating clown scenes. Joe Dieffenbacher draws on his contagiously energetic teaching and a wealth of professional experience performing in large scale commercial events and directing smaller scale touring to present a rich collection of clowning exercises for students at all stages of clowning practice. The generous array of exercises included here are accessible, practical and easy to incorporate. You will find helpful contextual notes on significant ideas and practitioners as well as step-by-step suggestions for building your Physical Comedy routines. The exercises work from fundamental principles such as appearance and playfulness, moving on to the details of gesture and how to respond to your audience. * Richard Talbot, University of Salford, UK *Table of ContentsList of Images Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Section 1: Hello - A Pharmacist, Helium Balloons and a Red Nose Games to introduce the students to each other, build the ensemble, and get them physical. Section 2: Energy - The Telepathic Renaissance Fool Games to increase and focus the student’s energy through physical play. Section 3: The Talking Body - Silence on the Streets Exercises for developing strength, flexibility and physical expression. Section 4: Prop Play - The Prop Whisperer Using props for improv, revealing emotions, telling stories and developing relationships. Section 5: Curiosity - Oddfellows Finding potential in the performance space, blurring the border between stage and audience. Section 6: Clown Solos: Catching a Salad on Your Face Exercises to develop a solo player’s skills and help generate performance material. Section 7: Clown Duos: The Wet Towel Intervention Exercises to develop partner relationships and tools for generating performance material. Section 8: Clown Trios: Boss, Negotiator, Fool Exercises that explore status and the dynamics of a trio. Section 9: Clown Ensembles: Fractious Fun Exercises to develop complicity, group rhythms, the acceptance of accident and absurdity. Section 10: The Rules, the Script, the Game, the Play Exercises to help devise original work for clown and physical comedy. Section 11: The Mask of the Clown Background, history and uses for the mask of the clown. Section 12: The Skillful Clown How to use skills to develop and enhance clowning and physical comedy. Section 13: Getting Serious about your Funny Tips on creating original work and ways to reach your goals Section 14: Devising for Clown and Physical Comedy Practical ways to get started on creating new material Bibliography. Inspirations Index

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Book SynopsisThe Ballets Russes was perhaps the most iconic, yet at the same time mysterious, ballet company of the twentieth century. Inspired by the unique vision of their founder Sergei Diaghilev, the company gained a large international following. In the mid-twentieth century - during the tumultuous years of World War II and the Cold War - the Ballets Russes companies kept the spirit and traditions of Russian ballet alive in the West, touring extensively in America, Europe and Australia. This important new book uncovers previously-unseen interviews and provides insights into the lives of the great figures of the age - from the dancers Anna Pavlova and Alicia Markova to the choreographers Leonide Massine, George Balanchine and Anton Dolin. The dancers'' own words reveal what life was really like for the stars of the Ballets Russes and provide fascinating new insights into one of the most vibrant and creative groups of artists of the modern age.Trade ReviewMeylac's love of ballet has gifted balletomanes with genuinely evocative reading, providing dancers' tidbits from this unforgettable ballet era. * Dance International Magazine *Table of ContentsIntroduction : Russia and Europe: A Transparent Barrier Part I: Les Ballets Russes de Serge de Diaghilev, Les Ballets Russes de Colonel de Basil and the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo Working with Diaghilev The Baby Ballerinas Working with the Ballets Russes de Colonel de Basil and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo The Ballets Russes in Australia The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in America Part II: Marquis de Cuevas and Others 6. Serge Lifar 7. Nina Vyroubova Part III: The Next Generation 8. Pierre Lacotte 9. Three Portraits 10. The Canadian ballet 11. The Netherlands Ballet Part IV: The Heirs of the Russian Tradition 12. American ballet Part V: The Mariinsky Theatre Part VI: The Wandering Stars 13. Rudolf Nureyev 14. Natalia Makarova 15. Mikhail Baryshnikov 16. Two Portraits Postscript, List of Illustrations, Index

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Book SynopsisKit Spencer is an experienced make-up artist and hair stylist with a backgroundin producing make-up for television, film, and music videos. She is theauthor of Period Make-up for the Stage and Screen.Trade Review'There is a real wealth of information here - and it couldn't be clearer to read.' Reviewsgate.com 'It isn't often that I get excited about training manuals especially when they deal with subjects of which I have absolutely no hands-on experience. But Period Hairstyles for Studio Stage and Screen and its companion volume Period Make-up, both by Kit Spencer and both new from Methuen Drama, are lovely, heavy ring-bound books with lots of outstandingly helpful pictures.' The Stage - Education Blog "I would thoroughly recommend these books to enthusiastic amateurs or young people who want to experiment before making headway into the industry." The Stage (June 2009)

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Book SynopsisStriking make-up is a vital part of creating character for film,stage shows and TV. Every period in history has its classic make-upstyles. The clear step-by-step instructions, tricks and techniquesfeatured in this book make it your essential guide to re-creating them.Whether you need to create authentic make-up for film, a stageproduction or fashion shoot - this guide has complete coverage frommedieval princesses and Regency heroines to classic Hollywood style,punk-rock and more. With clear instructions and close-up photography,over a hundred looks can be re-created for innovative, iconic andauthentic effect.'There is a real wealth of information here - and it couldn't be clearer to read.' Reviewsgate.com

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Book SynopsisTaking a new approach to the metaphor of the political body, this book examines Shakespeare's representation of that body as possessing epistemological faculties. The theater is one of these faculties, and is, therefore, essential to the health and survival of the Early Modern state. By depicting the theater as an essential faculty of the body politic, Shakespeare offers a defense of the theater against anti-theatrical critics. Students and teachers interested in the body and its representations in literature will find this text illuminating as will those scholars whose work focuses on knowledge, its relationship to the body, ways of knowing, and anti-theatrical prejudice.

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Book SynopsisWhen Black runway models began throwing phones and VH1's Divas Live riveted viewers, a new paradigm for Black women had fully evolved in the form of the Black Diva. Tracing the trajectory of the Diva figure from the Italian castrati to Ntozake Shange's Liliane: Resurrection of the Daughter suggests a way around staid and fixed stereotypes about Black womanhood. The Black Diva performs her demands as a quintessential act of survival in a hostile and racist world; she is both a product of and a mark against the male gaze, Black and white. Ultimately, Tipping on a Tightrope: Divas in African American Literature uses present popular culture incarnations of the Diva to detail her long relationship with Black American literary culture.

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Book SynopsisThis edited collection explores the roles of material culture in socializing young people through their play. Authors explore notions of play from diverse cultural viewpoints, as well as the impact of technology on play, and the kinds of resistant and liberatory play children might partake in. Informed by the field of performance studies, the book considers play as performance, asking questions about embodiment at physical, relational, and ideological levels, and considering performance to be part of identity construction, as well as a component of enculturation into various societies. Of interest are the ways in which children try on various identities through their play, and how these identities may (re)define their attitudes, values, and beliefs. As curriculum and instruction have become open to the use of games and children's material culture more generally as a forum for learning, intersections have emerged between schooling and culture at large. This book broadens the scopeTable of ContentsContents: Jack Zipes: Foreword: Toward Creating a Children’s Public Sphere – Drew Chappell: Colonizing the Imaginary: Socializing (Specific) Identities, Bodies, Ethics, and Moralities through Pleasurable Embodiment – Amy Petersen Jensen/McKay R. Jensen: Online Girl Games, Identity, and the Creation of a Multimodal Consumer/Creator – Warren Linds/Felice Yuen/Linda Goulet/Jo-Ann Episkenew/Karen Schmidt: Exploring and Re-creating Indigenous Identity through Theatre-based Workshops – Valerie Borey/Tove I. Dahl: Playing with Meaning in a Norwegian Language Immersion Village – Noelia Enriz: Ñeovanga Poranguei: The Lucky Ones Who Play (Mbyá guaraní Children’s Learning through Social Play) – Rebecca Howard: What Are Little (Gender «Normal», Heterosexual) Kids Made Of? Performing and Subverting the Status Quo in the Dramatic Play Area – Anna Beresin: Children’s Museums and Children’s Bodies – Sean J. Bliznik: We’re All In This Together: Framing the Self-Representation of Adolescence in Disney’s High School Musical – Amy K. Way: Going on 30: Adult Discourses of Femininity in Young Women’s Sports Training – Matt Omasta: Constructing Good and Evil at the «Happiest Place on Earth» – Christina Marín: Whose Rights Are They Anyway? Examining Human Rights Education with Young People Incorporating Theatre Games and Dramatic Activities – Maria Kromidas: Cyberculture, Multiculture and the Emergent Morality of Critical Cosmopolitanism: Kids (Trans)Forming Difference Online – Shimi Friedman: Adversity in a Snowball Fight: Jewish Childhood in the Muslim Village of Sillwan – Drew Chappell: Success through Excess: Narratives and Performances in Board and Card Games.

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Book SynopsisImmigration and Contemporary British Theater: Finding a Home on the Stage analyzes how contemporary British theater has responded to post-war immigration to the United Kingdom through its depictions of home and domestic life. Bridging literary analysis, theater history, and migration studies, the book examines the ways that immigration to the United Kingdom has reshaped British theatrical culture and inspired new conceptions of Britishness and of communal belonging. Furthermore, it examines how immigrant theater artists from widely varying backgrounds (geographical, educational, cultural) have worked within and around existing theatrical institutions in Britain.

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Book SynopsisA Theater Criticism/Arts Journalism Primer: Refereeing the Muses examines the skill set associated with being a critic and arts journalist. It explores the history, evolution, and future of the profession in the United States, and carefully and purposefully dissects the preparation, observation, and writing process associated with generating thoughtful and interesting arts criticism. Using theatrical productions as the best and most vivid example of a storytelling enterprise that employs creativity, imagination, collaboration, aesthetics, and artisanship to effectively engage an audience, this book is intended to generate the critical thinking and critical writing skills necessary to effectively engage in all forms of arts journalism. It is designed to be used as a college-level textbook on theater criticism and arts journalism courses, for those looking to become more thoughtful, critical consumers, for casual critics thinking about starting a blog or working for their Trade Review«Bob Abelman and Cheryl Kushner’s accessible and information-rich primer is useful to beginners eager to develop their critical voices. It’s also worthwhile to those of us who have been practicing criticism for years but need to recall the basics: Why we write criticism, how to do it well, and why it matters.matters.» (David Cote, Theater Editor and Chief Drama Critic, Time Out New York) «The authors’ passion and obsession are what make this book invaluable.» (Sasha Anawalt, Director, Arts Journalism Programs, USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism) «Refereeing the Muses provides an element-by-element analysis of what goes into constructing an artful, journalistically sound review. The book’s insights into how critics prepare and then react to a work of art are valid and valuable. The authors also acknowledge that the best criticism, like the work it analyzes, requires creativity.» (Christine Dolen, Theater Critic, The Miami Herald) «The art and practice of criticism is undergoing fundamental change. Before we figure out where it’s going we have to understand what it’s been and how it’s been done. ‘Refereeing the Muses’ is a valuable and compelling place from which to start.» (Douglas McLennan, Editor, ArtsJournal.com) «Bob Abelman and Cheryl Kushner have delivered a book of remarkable clarity, a detailed survey and breakdown of critic-craft that’s granular without ever getting grainy. Even if we end up living in that much-feared near-future where ‘Everyone’s a Critic’, ‘Refereeing the Muses’ will be required reading for every drive-by Twitterer and citizen-kvetcher.» (Scott Brown, Theater Critic, New York Magazine) «As one who has been heralded and eviscerated in reviews, I can only hope that both critics and artists take the time to truly digest the insightful information in this book – to more fully understand not only where the ideals of criticism come from, but where critics fit in today’s theatrical ecosystem.» (Eric Coble, Playwright (‘Bright Ideas’, ‘The Velocity of Autumn’))«Bob Abelman and Cheryl Kushner’s accessible and information-rich primer is useful to beginners eager to develop their critical voices. It’s also worthwhile to those of us who have been practicing criticism for years but need to recall the basics: Why we write criticism, how to do it well, and why it matters.» (David Cote, Theater Editor and Chief Drama Critic, Time Out New York) «The authors’ passion and obsession are what make this book invaluable.» (Sasha Anawalt, Director, Arts Journalism Programs, USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism) «Refereeing the Muses provides an element-by-element analysis of what goes into constructing an artful, journalistically sound review. The book’s insights into how critics prepare and then react to a work of art are valid and valuable. The authors also acknowledge that the best criticism, like the work it analyzes, requires creativity.» (Christine Dolen, Theater Critic, The Miami Herald) «The art and practice of criticism is undergoing fundamental change. Before we figure out where it’s going we have to understand what it’s been and how it’s been done. ‘Refereeing the Muses’ is a valuable and compelling place from which to start.» (Douglas McLennan, Editor, ArtsJournal.com) «Bob Abelman and Cheryl Kushner have delivered a book of remarkable clarity, a detailed survey and breakdown of critic-craft that’s granular without ever getting grainy. Even if we end up living in that much-feared near-future where ‘Everyone’s a Critic’, ‘Refereeing the Muses’ will be required reading for every drive-by Twitterer and citizen-kvetcher.» (Scott Brown, Theater Critic, New York Magazine) «As one who has been heralded and eviscerated in reviews, I can only hope that both critics and artists take the time to truly digest the insightful information in this book – to more fully understand not only where the ideals of criticism come from, but where critics fit in today’s theatrical ecosystem.» (Eric Coble, Playwright (‘Bright Ideas’, ‘The Velocity of Autumn’))Table of ContentsContents: The Arts at Arm’s Length – Criticizing the Arts, or Not – The Critic – Critical Thinking – The Evolution of Criticism: From Dramatic to Theater – The Evolution of Theater Criticism: The Modern Era – Storytelling Conventions – The Storytell ers – Prelude to a Critique – Writing a Critique – Deconstruction of a Critique.

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Book SynopsisA Theater Criticism/Arts Journalism Primer: Refereeing the Muses examines the skill set associated with being a critic and arts journalist. It explores the history, evolution, and future of the profession in the United States, and carefully and purposefully dissects the preparation, observation, and writing process associated with generating thoughtful and interesting arts criticism. Using theatrical productions as the best and most vivid example of a storytelling enterprise that employs creativity, imagination, collaboration, aesthetics, and artisanship to effectively engage an audience, this book is intended to generate the critical thinking and critical writing skills necessary to effectively engage in all forms of arts journalism. It is designed to be used as a college-level textbook on theater criticism and arts journalism courses, for those looking to become more thoughtful, critical consumers, for casual critics thinking about starting a blog or working for their Trade Review«Bob Abelman and Cheryl Kushner’s accessible and information-rich primer is useful to beginners eager to develop their critical voices. It’s also worthwhile to those of us who have been practicing criticism for years but need to recall the basics: Why we write criticism, how to do it well, and why it matters.» (David Cote, Theater Editor and Chief Drama Critic, Time Out New York) «The authors’ passion and obsession are what make this book invaluable.» (Sasha Anawalt, Director, Arts Journalism Programs, USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism) «Refereeing the Muses provides an element-by-element analysis of what goes into constructing an artful, journalistically sound review. The book’s insights into how critics prepare and then react to a work of art are valid and valuable. The authors also acknowledge that the best criticism, like the work it analyzes, requires creativity.» (Christine Dolen, Theater Critic, The Miami Herald) «The art and practice of criticism is undergoing fundamental change. Before we figure out where it’s going we have to understand what it’s been and how it’s been done. ‘Refereeing the Muses’ is a valuable and compelling place from which to start.» (Douglas McLennan, Editor, ArtsJournal.com) «Bob Abelman and Cheryl Kushner have delivered a book of remarkable clarity, a detailed survey and breakdown of critic-craft that’s granular without ever getting grainy. Even if we end up living in that much-feared near-future where ‘Everyone’s a Critic’, ‘Refereeing the Muses’ will be required reading for every drive-by Twitterer and citizen-kvetcher.» (Scott Brown, Theater Critic, New York Magazine) «As one who has been heralded and eviscerated in reviews, I can only hope that both critics and artists take the time to truly digest the insightful information in this book – to more fully understand not only where the ideals of criticism come from, but where critics fit in today’s theatrical ecosystem.» (Eric Coble, Playwright (‘Bright Ideas’, ‘The Velocity of Autumn’))«Bob Abelman and Cheryl Kushner’s accessible and information-rich primer is useful to beginners eager to develop their critical voices. It’s also worthwhile to those of us who have been practicing criticism for years but need to recall the basics: Why we write criticism, how to do it well, and why it matters.matters.» (David Cote, Theater Editor and Chief Drama Critic, Time Out New York) «The authors’ passion and obsession are what make this book invaluable.» (Sasha Anawalt, Director, Arts Journalism Programs, USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism) «Refereeing the Muses provides an element-by-element analysis of what goes into constructing an artful, journalistically sound review. The book’s insights into how critics prepare and then react to a work of art are valid and valuable. The authors also acknowledge that the best criticism, like the work it analyzes, requires creativity.» (Christine Dolen, Theater Critic, The Miami Herald) «The art and practice of criticism is undergoing fundamental change. Before we figure out where it’s going we have to understand what it’s been and how it’s been done. ‘Refereeing the Muses’ is a valuable and compelling place from which to start.» (Douglas McLennan, Editor, ArtsJournal.com) «Bob Abelman and Cheryl Kushner have delivered a book of remarkable clarity, a detailed survey and breakdown of critic-craft that’s granular without ever getting grainy. Even if we end up living in that much-feared near-future where ‘Everyone’s a Critic’, ‘Refereeing the Muses’ will be required reading for every drive-by Twitterer and citizen-kvetcher.» (Scott Brown, Theater Critic, New York Magazine) «As one who has been heralded and eviscerated in reviews, I can only hope that both critics and artists take the time to truly digest the insightful information in this book – to more fully understand not only where the ideals of criticism come from, but where critics fit in today’s theatrical ecosystem.» (Eric Coble, Playwright (‘Bright Ideas’, ‘The Velocity of Autumn’))Table of ContentsContents: The Arts at Arm’s Length – Criticizing the Arts, or Not – The Critic – Critical Thinking – The Evolution of Criticism: From Dramatic to Theater – The Evolution of Theater Criticism: The Modern Era – Storytelling Conventions – The Storytell ers – Prelude to a Critique – Writing a Critique – Deconstruction of a Critique.

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Book SynopsisCurriculum and the Aesthetic Life brings together over 20 years of scholarly work by dancer, educator, and scholar Donald S. Blumenfeld-Jones on the intersection of curriculum theory and practice with aesthetics, ethics, and hermeneutic inquiry, focusing on the body and emotions and the theory and practice of Arts-Based Education Research, including his noted Hogan Dreams. He brings to his work an aesthetic sensibility developed over 40 years of active involvement in the arts as well as a Frankfurt School critical theory orientation and a constant concern for building an ethical world through cultivating an aesthetic awareness. This linking of aesthetics and ethics makes a unique contribution to the theoretical foundations of curriculum theory and educational philosophy. Always concerned with connections to practice, this book provides many examples of curriculum practice and teaching as well as scholarly studies of curriculum work. This book is essential reading for anyone invo

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Book SynopsisEncountering Texts represents the theory and praxis uncovered through an ongoing interdisciplinary arts-based critical pedagogy that engages students in critical self-reflection (disciplined, sustained thinking, requiring engagement) on difference. The Multicultural Theatre Project (MTP) is a dialogical encounter with literature through the dramatic arts. This book provides a blueprint for the multiple ways in which this enacted theory/method can be utilized as a high impact practice toward transformative learning. The significance of minority literature as fertile testing ground for raising and seeking to answer questions about difference is undisputed. To address this dynamic, this research utilizes Hans-Georg Gadamer's hermeneutical method of understanding to engage students in the interpretive process using theatre as methodology. Gadamer's concept, described as a fusion of horizons, provides a methodological approach by which students can bring their own effective history tTrade Review«An innovative, exciting, and energizing study that introduces new models of transdisciplinary and transformative learning through arts based pedagogy. Theater becomes an important site of encounter and discovery of new modes of consciousness as well as new strategies for the classroom.» (Wendy Martin, Professor of American Literature and American Studies, Claremont Graduate University)«An innovative, exciting, and energizing study that introduces new models of transdisciplinary and transformative learning through arts based pedagogy. Theater becomes an important site of encounter and discovery of new modes of consciousness as well as new strategies for the classroom.» (Wendy Martin, Professor of American Literature and American Studies, Claremont Graduate University)Table of ContentsContents: Encountering Self – Encountering Texts: Rationale and Method – The University: Work Toward Wholeness? (In)Beyond the Classroom: Transformative Learning – Hans-Georg Gadamer’s Hermeneutics as Framework – «Minority» Literature as Decentering Frame – Praxis Matters: Embodying Texts. Theatre as Method for Encounter – Project Description and Overview – MTP Praxis: Medium for Encounter – Developing Story, Developing Students as Texts – Developing Story: Sample Playwriting – Arts-Based Critical Pedagogy: Strategies for the Classroom – Discovering Through Assessment.

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Book SynopsisEncountering Texts represents the theory and praxis uncovered through an ongoing interdisciplinary arts-based critical pedagogy that engages students in critical self-reflection (disciplined, sustained thinking, requiring engagement) on difference. The Multicultural Theatre Project (MTP) is a dialogical encounter with literature through the dramatic arts. This book provides a blueprint for the multiple ways in which this enacted theory/method can be utilized as a high impact practice toward transformative learning. The significance of minority literature as fertile testing ground for raising and seeking to answer questions about difference is undisputed. To address this dynamic, this research utilizes Hans-Georg Gadamer's hermeneutical method of understanding to engage students in the interpretive process using theatre as methodology. Gadamer's concept, described as a fusion of horizons, provides a methodological approach by which students can bring their own effective history tTrade Review«An innovative, exciting, and energizing study that introduces new models of transdisciplinary and transformative learning through arts based pedagogy. Theater becomes an important site of encounter and discovery of new modes of consciousness as well as new strategies for the classroom.» (Wendy Martin, Professor of American Literature and American Studies, Claremont Graduate University)«An innovative, exciting, and energizing study that introduces new models of transdisciplinary and transformative learning through arts based pedagogy. Theater becomes an important site of encounter and discovery of new modes of consciousness as well as new strategies for the classroom.» (Wendy Martin, Professor of American Literature and American Studies, Claremont Graduate University)Table of ContentsContents: Encountering Self – Encountering Texts: Rationale and Method – The University: Work Toward Wholeness? (In)Beyond the Classroom: Transformative Learning – Hans-Georg Gadamer’s Hermeneutics as Framework – «Minority» Literature as Decentering Frame – Praxis Matters: Embodying Texts. Theatre as Method for Encounter – Project Description and Overview – MTP Praxis: Medium for Encounter – Developing Story, Developing Students as Texts – Developing Story: Sample Playwriting – Arts-Based Critical Pedagogy: Strategies for the Classroom – Discovering Through Assessment.

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Book SynopsisShakespeare's Tragedies Reviewed explores how the recognition of spectator interests by the playwright has determined the detailed character of Shakespeare tragedies. Utilizing Shakespeare's European models and contemporaries, including Cinthio and Lope de Vega, and following forms such as Aristotle's second, more popular style of tragedy (a double ending of punishment for the evil and honor for the good), Hugh Macrae Richmond elicits radical revision of traditional interpretations of the scripts. The analysis includes a major shift in emphasis from conventionally tragic concerns to a more varied blend of tones, characterizations, and situations, designed to hold spectator interest rather than to meet neoclassical standards of coherence, focus, and progression. This reinterpretation also bears on modern staging and directorial emphasis, challenging the relevance of traditional norms of tragedy to production of Renaissance drama. The stress shifts to plays' counter-movements to tTrade Review«All in all, Richmond’s claim to offer a new perspective on the Italian-English cultural dialogue during the Renaissance and its contribution to intellectual history provides fresh insights into an exciting field.» (Sonja Fielitz, Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen 255/2018)Table of ContentsContents: The Spectator and the Dramatists – Renaissance Dramaturgy – Richard III as «a Tragedy with a Happy Ending» – A Spectator’s View of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Lope de Vega’s Castelvines y Monteses – Interlude: Mixed Modes Throughout Shakespeare – Julius Caesar and Neoclassicism 59 – Hamlet: The Spectator as Detective – Othello: Iago’s Audience – Macbeth: Satisfying the Spectator – Coriolanus: The Spectator and Aristotelianism – Enjoying King Lear – Antony and Cleopatra: Comical/Historical/Tragical – Cymbelene as Resolution: Tragical-Comical-Historical-Pastoral – Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen.

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Book SynopsisIn the tradition of the medieval cycle plays performed for education, enrichment, and entertainment, A New Corpus Christi: Plays for Churches presents 25 short plays and skits with one or two scripts for each of 21 events in the church year. The scripts range from celebratory pieces to problem plays to liturgical dramas to plays that call for no worship setting accouterments. The scripts will also provide discussion starters for Sunday school classes or small groups. And some of the plays might be grouped together as programs on particular topics such as poverty and homelessness or death and dying. This book also provides a resource for university and seminary courses in liturgics and worship.Trade Review“Norman A. Bert is priested with a rare gift: his writings offer a unique theological dialectic where not only do scripture and the Christian faith speak to the human condition, but the human condition imaginatively ‘speaks back’ to scripture and the Christian faith. If your faith community struggles each holiday season with how to bring fresh spiritual insights into the most familiar and sometimes hackneyed Christian narratives and holy days, Bert’s plays offer creative and thought-provoking alternatives to celebrating our most treasured Christian traditions.” —Rev. David Lee Jones, Th.D., Director, Doctor of Ministry Program, Nashotah House Theological Seminary"If your church is looking to do something a little edgy, something that might even take guts, then take and read. Norman A. Bert’s plays have grit and marrow and will definitely get the people talking in the parking lot afterward.” —Rev. Ryon Price, M.Div., Senior Pastor, Broadway Baptist Church, Fort Worth, TexasTable of ContentsPreface – Acknowledgements – Part I. Plays for Winter – A Play for the First Sunday in Advent – Two Plays for Christmas Eve – A Play for Christmas Day – A Play for New Year’s Day – A Play for Epiphany – Two Plays for the Baptism of the Lord – A Play for Black History Month – Part II. Plays for Spring and Summer – A Play for Transfiguration Sunday – Three Plays for Lent – An Entrance Liturgy for Palm Sunday – A Play for Maundy Thursday – A Play for Good Friday – A Play for Easter Vigil – A Play for Easter – A Play for the Lord’s Ascension – A Celebration for Pentecost – Part III. Plays for Autumn – A Play for World Communion Sunday – Two Plays for All Saints Day – A Play for the Feast of Christ the King – A Play for Thanksgiving.

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Book SynopsisIn the tradition of the medieval cycle plays performed for education, enrichment, and entertainment, A New Corpus Christi: Plays for Churches presents 25 short plays and skits with one or two scripts for each of 21 events in the church year. The scripts range from celebratory pieces to problem plays to liturgical dramas to plays that call for no worship setting accouterments. The scripts will also provide discussion starters for Sunday school classes or small groups. And some of the plays might be grouped together as programs on particular topics such as poverty and homelessness or death and dying. This book also provides a resource for university and seminary courses in liturgics and worship.Trade Review“Norman A. Bert is priested with a rare gift: his writings offer a unique theological dialectic where not only do scripture and the Christian faith speak to the human condition, but the human condition imaginatively ‘speaks back’ to scripture and the Christian faith. If your faith community struggles each holiday season with how to bring fresh spiritual insights into the most familiar and sometimes hackneyed Christian narratives and holy days, Bert’s plays offer creative and thought-provoking alternatives to celebrating our most treasured Christian traditions.” —Rev. David Lee Jones, Th.D., Director, Doctor of Ministry Program, Nashotah House Theological Seminary"If your church is looking to do something a little edgy, something that might even take guts, then take and read. Norman A. Bert’s plays have grit and marrow and will definitely get the people talking in the parking lot afterward.” —Rev. Ryon Price, M.Div., Senior Pastor, Broadway Baptist Church, Fort Worth, TexasTable of ContentsPreface – Acknowledgements – Part I. Plays for Winter – A Play for the First Sunday in Advent – Two Plays for Christmas Eve – A Play for Christmas Day – A Play for New Year’s Day – A Play for Epiphany – Two Plays for the Baptism of the Lord – A Play for Black History Month – Part II. Plays for Spring and Summer – A Play for Transfiguration Sunday – Three Plays for Lent – An Entrance Liturgy for Palm Sunday – A Play for Maundy Thursday – A Play for Good Friday – A Play for Easter Vigil – A Play for Easter – A Play for the Lord’s Ascension – A Celebration for Pentecost – Part III. Plays for Autumn – A Play for World Communion Sunday – Two Plays for All Saints Day – A Play for the Feast of Christ the King – A Play for Thanksgiving.

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Book Synopsis''In life, I want students to be alive and on stage I want them to be artists'' Jacques LecoqJacques Lecoq was one of the most inspirational theatre teachers of our age. In The Moving Body, he shares with us first-hand his unique philosophy of performance, improvisation, masks, movement and gesture, which together form one of the greatest influences on contemporary theatre.Neutral mask, character mask and counter masks, bouffons, acrobatics, commedia, clowns and complicity: all the famous Lecoq techniques are covered in this book - techniques that have made their way into the work of former collaborators and students including Dario Fo, Ariane Mnouchkine, Yasmina Reza and Theatre de Complicite. The book contains a foreword by Simon McBurney, a critical introduction by Mark Evans and an afterword by Fay Lecoq, Director of the International Theatre School in Paris.Trade ReviewHe taught us how to be artists * Steven Berkoff, on Jacques Lecoq *In a very accessible language and with clear exemplifications and illustrative drawings, Lecoq sheds light on a vision of mime considered as training for theatre and for life … Both for the actor, and for the researcher interested in Lecoq’s theatre, this book is an essential read; for the theatre historian it is also a theoretical source on “dramatic mime” and on the expressive body that transversally influenced dance and theatre in the twentieth century. * Skenè: Journal of Theatre and Drama Studies *Table of ContentsForeword by Simon McBurney 1. Personal Journey 2. The World and Its Movements 3. The Roads to Creativity 4. New Beginnings

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Book Synopsis This study provides the first comprehensive examination of every prop in Shakespeare''s plays, whether mentioned in stage directions, indicated in dialogue or implied by the action. Building on the latest scholarship and offering a witty treatment of the subject, the authors delve into numerous historical documents, the business of theater in Renaissance England, and the plays themselves to explain what audiences might have seen at the Globe, the Rose, the Curtain, or the Blackfriars Playhouse, and why it matters. Students of the plays will be able to read beyond Shakespeare''s words and visualize the drama as it might have appeared on the stage. Scholars will find a wealth of previously unmined material for reconstructing Renaissance theatrical practices. School drama groups, amateur theaters and directors and prop masters of professional troupes will find help in mounting their own productions as the Bard''s audiences would have seen them.

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Book Synopsis Fashion is synonymous with change yet the iconic showgirl costume--feathers, sparkle and revealing clothes--has remained largely unchanged since the early 20th century. Beginning in the 1800s, a couture of the risque evolved from Paris nightclubs to Las Vegas casinos. The concept of glamour itself was based on what Parisian courtesans and burlesque performers wore. A tall pretty girl with headdress, nude core with spangles, high heels and dramatic makeup became a Gallic symbol and later the trademark of Hollywood musicals. France exported costumes and millinery--as well as whole productions from the Moulin Rouge, the Lido and Folies Bergere --to the U.S. and the world. More recently, cabaret styling has translated into today''s day, sport and evening clothes.

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Book SynopsisThis study provides an in-depth exploration of the dramaturgical practices of radio drama and their underlying philosophical assumptions. By presenting an analytical model drawn from phenomenology, it challenges the current understanding of the medium, instead focusing on the bodily and aural aspects of radio drama, while offering a critique of the conventions of dramaturgical practice for neglecting these affective sonic aspects. Tracing these conventions through the history of the development of radio drama, it proposes that a more bodily, resonant mode of radio dramaturgy is best placed to meet the demands of the current era of digital production and distribution. The book also examines a number of approaches to creating a more embodied experience for the listener.Table of ContentsIntroduction: the problem of radio drama1 Radio thinks, radio sees: the theatre of the mind and beyond2 Radio listens: a phenomenological model of radio drama3 How does radio listen? The semantic paradigm of British radio dramaturgy and its problems4 Radio learns to listen: a genealogy of the semantic paradigm of radio dramaturgy5 Radio listens to itself: resonant radio dramaturgiesConclusion Index

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Book Synopsis

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