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History, Memory, Performance
by David Dean Yana Meerzon Kathryn PrinceHistory, Memory, Performance is an interdisciplinary collection of essays exploring performances of the past in a wide range of trans-national and historical contexts. At its core are contributions from theatre scholars and public historians discussing how historical meaning is shaped through performance.
House of Games
by Chris JohnstonAn immensely valuable resource book for drama leaders, House of Games is a how-to book for building up drama troupes and keeping them creative. House of Games is sure to take its place alongside the most established drama method texts.
The Humans
by Stephen Karam"A kind, warm, beautifully observed and deeply moving new play, a celebration of working-class familial imperfection and affection and a game-changing work for this gifted young playwright."-Chicago Tribune"Karam is in rare form here, showing a remarkable ear for the way families converse... For all the characters' woes, this is a warm, funny, sharply observed portrait of their abiding connections with one another." -Time Out ChicagoBreaking with tradition, Erik Blake has brought his Pennsylvania family to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter's apartment in lower Manhattan. Unfolding over a single scene, this "delirious tragicomedy" (Chicago Sun-Times) by acclaimed young playwright Stephen Karam "infuses the traditional kitchen-sink family drama with qualities of horror in his portentous and penetrating work of psychological unease" (Variety), creating an indelible family portrait.Stephen Karam's plays include Speech & Debate and Sons of the Prophet, a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize and the winner of the 2012 Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel and Hull-Warriner awards for Best Play. Born and raised in Scranton, PA, he lives in New York City.
I, Animal
by Daniel Macivor"Man in Scrubs" follows the story of a queer black nurse who is getting awfully tired of being put in a box. He's queer, not gay, and he'll tell you the difference. He's always been an outcast, and constantly finds himself at the bottom of any and every hierarchy. With his patience waning, he confronts what it means to be an outsider, and, more importantly, what it means to take charge of one's own identity. "Boy in Hoodie" is the story of the "Dead Cat Kid," as he’s known by his classmates. He's fascinated by death—curious about it in a philosophical sense—but he's not morbid, and he didn't kill a cat. But which is more important, the truth or perception? "Woman in Prada" centres on an attractive, middle-aged woman who enjoys the finer things in life. And now that she's no longer a suburban housewife, she's finally free to explore her own desires. But what if they are leading her to be with a much younger man? Can she choose to put social optics to the side and do what makes her happy for once?
I, the Blue Angel
by Lázaro Droznes Pablo BarrantesLife and Songs of Marlene Dietrich Marlene Dietrich was one of Hollywood's topmost stars and one of the greatest myths in cinema. She was born in Germany but later on, after being discovered by Josef von Sternberg, she migrated to the US to eventually become a citizen. She was the seduction icon, the fatal woman with the eternal femininity. Her intense militancy against Nazism and her participation, as a soldier in the Second World War revealed an extraordinary aspect of her life and personality. In this play, Marlene tells anecdotes, and speaks about intimate experiences of her legendary life interweaved with the famous songs that illustrated it. What is the mystery that Marlene hides and then reveals?
Ibsen’s Houses
by Mark B. SandbergHenrik Ibsen's plays came at a pivotal moment in late nineteenth-century European modernity. They engaged his public through a strategic use of metaphors of house and home, which resonated with experiences of displacement, philosophical homelessness, and exile. The most famous of these metaphors - embodied by the titles of his plays A Doll's House, Pillars of Society, and The Master Builder - have entered into mainstream Western thought in ways that mask the full force of the reversals Ibsen performed on notions of architectural space. Analyzing literary and performance-related reception materials from Ibsen's lifetime, Mark B. Sandberg concentrates on the interior dramas of the playwright's prose-play cycle, drawing also on his selected poems. Sandberg's close readings of texts and cultural commentary present the immediate context of the plays, provide new perspectives on them for international readers, and reveal how Ibsen became a master of the modern uncanny.
Ideal
by Ayn RandIdeal is the story of beautiful but tormented actress Kay Gonda. Accused of murder, she is on the run and turns for help to six fans who have written letters to her, each telling her that she represents their ideal--a respectable family man, a far-left activist, a cynical artist, an evangelist, a playboy, and a lost soul.<P><P> Each reacts to her plight in his own way, their reactions a glimpse into their secret selves and their true values. In the end their responses to her pleas give Kay the answers she has been seeking.Ideal was written in 1934 as a novel, but Ayn Rand thought the theme of the piece would be better realized as a play and put the novel aside.
Identity and Theatre Translation in Hong Kong
by Shelby Kar-yan ChanIn this book, Shelby Chan examines the relationship between theatre translation and identity construction against the sociocultural background that has led to the popularity of translated theatre in Hong Kong. A statistical analysis of the development of translated theatre is presented, establishing a correlation between its popularity and major socio-political trends. When the idea of home, often assumed to be the basis for identity, becomes blurred for historical, political and sociocultural reasons, people may come to feel "homeless" and compelled to look for alternative means to develop the Self. In theatre translation, Hongkongers have found a source of inspiration to nurture their identity and expand their "home" territory. By exploring the translation strategies of various theatre practitioners in Hong Kong, the book also analyses a number of foreign plays and their stage renditions. The focus is not only on the textual and discursive transfers but also on the different ways in which the people of Hong Kong perceive their identity in the performances.
The Illuminated Theatre: Studies on the Suffering of Images
by Joe KelleherWhat sort of thing is a theatre image? How is it produced and consumed? Who is responsible for the images? Why do the images stay with us when the performance is over? How do we learn to speak of what we see and imagine? And how do we relate what we experience in the theatre to what we share with each other of the world? The Illuminated Theatre is a book about theatricality and spectatorship in the early twenty-first century. In a wide-ranging analysis that draws upon theatrical, visual and philosophical approaches, it asks how spectators and audiences negotiate the complexities and challenges of contemporary experimental performance arts. It is also a book about how European practitioners working across a range of forms, from theatre and performance to dance, opera, film and visual arts, use images to address the complexities of the times in which their work takes place. Through detailed and impassioned accounts of works by artists such as Dickie Beau, Wendy Houstoun, Alvis Hermanis and Romeo Castellucci, along with close readings of experimental theoretical and art writing from Gillian Rose to T.J. Clark and Marie-José Mondzain, the book outlines the historical, aesthetic and political dimensions of a contemporary ‘suffering of images.’
I'm Gonna Pray for You So Hard: A Play
by Halley Feiffer“Feiffer’s is a unique, refreshing voice to which attention should be paid.” —TheaterMania Ella is a precocious and fiercely competitive actress whose aims in life are making her famous playwright father proud—and becoming famous herself. In the aftermath of a boozy, drug-fueled evening when Ella’s father is particularly hurtful, she flings herself into the arms of a young director with whom she begins to collaborate on a one-woman show . . . about her father. Halley Feiffer’s dark, probing, and much-anticipated new play is a fierce, funny, and gloves-off take on the eternal struggles of parents and children to find common ground.
IMAGINE: Vita, opere e canzoni di John Ono Lennon
by Lázaro Droznes Maria Elena VaiasusoMusicista, cantante, compositore, fondatore dei Beatles e Cavaliere dell'Ordine Britannico, John Lennon è una delle icone più importanti della musica e della cultura del XX secolo. Il suo rifiuto dei valori prestabiliti e la sua capacità di innovazione, tanto a livello personale quanto artistico, sono fonte di ispirazione per qualsiasi generazione alla ricerca di un modello di vita che rompa gli schemi imposti e che aspiri alla creazione di un futuro migliore. In quest'opera Lennon ci confida storie e vicende personali, arricchendo il racconto con alcune delle sue canzoni, eloquenti almeno quanto gli stessi aneddoti.
Inclusive Arts Practice and Research: A Critical Manifesto
by Alice Fox Hannah MacphersonInclusive Arts Practice and Research interrogates an exciting and newly emergent field: the creative collaborations between learning-disabled and non-learning-disabled artists which are increasingly taking place in performance and the visual arts. In Inclusive Arts Practice Alice Fox and Hannah Macpherson interview artists, curators and key practitioners in the UK and US. The authors introduce and articulate this new practice, and situate it in relation to associated approaches. Fox and Macpherson candidly describe the tensions and difficulties involved too, and explore how the work sits within contemporary art and critical theory. The book inhabits the philosophy of Inclusive Arts practice: with Jo Offer, Alice Fox and Kelvin Burke making up the design team behind the striking look of the book. The book also includes essays and illustrated statements, and has over 100 full-colour images. Inclusive Arts Practice represents a landmark publication in an emerging field of creative practice across all the arts. It presents a radical call for collaboration on equal terms and will be an invaluable resource for anyone studying, researching or already working within this dynamic new territory.
Indifference to Difference: On Queer Universalism
by Madhavi MenonIndifference to Difference organizes around Alain Badiou's suggestion that, in the face of increasing claims of identitarian specificity, one might consider the politics and practice of being indifferent to difference. Such a politics would be based on the superabundance of desire and its inability to settle into identity. Madhavi Menon shows that if we turn to another kind of universalism--not one that insists we are all different but one that recognizes we are all similar in our powerlessness to contain desire--then difference no longer becomes the focus of our identity.Instead, we enter the worlds of desire. Following up on ideas of sameness and difference that have animated queer theory, Menon argues that what is most queer about indifference is not that it gives us queerness as an identity but that it is able to change queerness into a resistance of ontology. Firmly committed to the detours of desire, queer universalism evades identity.This polemical book demonstrates that queerness is the condition within which we labor. Our desires are not ours to be owned; they are indifferent to our differences.
Innovation in Five Acts
by Caridad SvichEditor Caridad Svich has gathered forty-three essays from admired theater professionals that comprise a volume of inspiring and innovative techniques for creating theater. Inside are words of wisdom and advice from experienced playwrights, directors, performers, teachers, dramaturgs, artistic directors and founders--each sharing the creative challenges and triumphs of developing original works for today's stages, wherever they might be.Caridad Svich received a 2012 OBIE Award for Lifetime Achievement in the theater, a 2012 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award for her play GUAPA, and the 2011 American Theatre Critics Association Primus Prize for her play The House of the Spirits, based on the Isabel Allende novel.
Inside/Outside
by Nathalie Handal Ismail Khalidi Naomi WallaceDue to the enormous--and ever-growing--interest in Palestinian plays around the world, Inside/Outside brings together six dynamic Palestinian playwrights from both Occupied Palestine and the Diaspora, making it the very first collection of its kind. These plays take on Palestinian history and culture with irreverence, humor, and, above all, an electrifying creativity. This anthology will be a vital contribution to world theater, introducing six political, social, and culturally relevant plays by Palestinian authors living inside the country, and those of descent living outside: Handala adapted by Abdelfattah Abusrour; 603 by Imad Farajin; Keffiyeh/Made in China by Dalia Taha; Plan D by Hannah Khalil; Tennis in Nablus by Ismail Khalidi; and Territories by Betty Shamieh.Naomi Wallace's award-winning plays, which include One Flea Spare and The Fever Chart, are produced in the United States and around the world. Wallace is a recipient of an Obie Award, the MacArthur Fellowship, and the inaugural Windham Campbell prize for drama in 2013.Ismail Khalidi is a playwright and poet. His plays include Tennis in Nablus, Truth Serum Blues, and Sabra Falling.
Intimacy and Other Plays
by Thomas Bradshaw"Bradshaw has proved in play after play that he has a confident vision of the theater that is his own. The politically incorrect plots jump merrily from one outrage to another, never pausing to explain motivation or linger on subtext. His dramas ask: What would happen if every dark urge, lingering resentment and unedited ugly insult that popped into your head came spilling out of your mouth? . . . No playwright applies as ruthlessly Hitchcock's definition of drama as 'life with the boring parts taken out.'"-The New York TimesInterracial couple Jerry and Pat borrow tools from their recently widowed, white evangelical neighbor James, and they even share the same Latino contractor, the mysterious Fred. Everything's suburban bliss until James, after discovering his neighbors' daughter Janet is a budding porn star, shuns the family. But what James doesn't know is that his aspiring-filmmaker son Matthew has other ideas...An outrageous and revealing comedy about race, sex, and familiarity, Intimacy, the newest work by playwright Thomas Bradshaw, premiered Off-Broadway with The New Group in winter 2014. This collection from the fiercely provocative and funny playwright also includes Dawn, Fulfillment, Southern Promises, Job, Strom Thurmond Is Not a Racist, Lecture on the Blues and Purity.Thomas Bradshaw's other plays include The Bereaved, declared a New York Times Critic's Pick and one of the Best Plays of 2009 by Time Out New York; Mary; and Burning. He was hailed as the Best Provocative Playwright of 2007 by the Village Voice.
Irish Theatre in Transition
by Donald E. MorseThe Irish Theatre in Transition explores the ever-changing Irish Theatre from its inception to its vibrant modern-day reality. This book shows some of the myriad forms of transition and how Irish theatre reflects the changing conditions of a changing society and nation.
Is Shakespeare any Good?: And Other Questions on How to Evaluate Literature
by Richard BradfordIs Shakespeare any Good? reveals why certain literary works and authors are treated as superior to others, and questions the literary establishment’s criteria for creating an imperium of “great” writers. Enables readers to articulate and formulate their own arguments about the quality of literature – including works that convention forbids us to dislike Dismantles the claims of academic criticism – particularly Theory – to tell us anything useful about why we like or appreciate literature Challenges and shatters many longstanding beliefs about literature and its evaluation Poses serious questions about the value of literature, and studying literature, and presents these in a lively and entertainingly provocative manner
Jabber
by Dennis Foon Marcus YoussefLike many outgoing young women, Fatima feels rebellious against parents she sees as strict. It just so happens that she is Egyptian-born and wears a hijab. When anti-Muslim graffiti appears on the walls of her school, Fatima transfers to a new school. The guidance counsellor there, Mr. E., does his best to help Fatima fit in, but despite his advice she starts an unlikely friendship with Jorah, who has a reputation for anger issues. Maybe, just maybe, Fatima and Jorah start to, like, like each other ...As their mutual attraction grows, the lines Fatima and Jorah cross as they grow closer become the subject of an intense exploration of boundaries - personal boundaries, cultural boundaries, and inherited religious and political boundaries. Fatima and Jorah discover that appearances matter; they've been exposed for their whole lives to images that begin to colour their relationship: images of the Middle East, the working class, and how teenage boys and teenage girls behave. Put all these reactive factors together in the social laboratory that is a high school and observe: is there a solution for Fatima and Jorah?High school, like no other social space, throws together people of all histories and backgrounds, and young people must decide what they believe in and how far they are willing to go to defend their beliefs. Inside a veritable pressure cooker, they negotiate cross-cultural respect and mutual understanding. Jabber does its part to challenge appearances - and the judgments people make based on those appearances.
Jack & Louisa: Act 1 (Jack & Louisa #1)
by Kate Wetherhead Andrew Keenan-BolgerTwelve-year old Jack Goodrich was a Broadway star, with two shows under his belt and a third in rehearsals. But when his voice changes suddenly, Jack and his parents leave the spotlight and move from New York City to Shaker Heights, Ohio. While Jack hopes to leave his Broadway past behind, his new neighbor refuses to let him off the hook. Louisa is a self proclaimed "musical theater nerd" and can hardly believe when an actor moves to town. What's more, the local theater has announced auditions for her favorite show, "Into the Woods." As the audition date looms nearer, the two are faced with difficult choices. Should Jack risk humiliation and return to the stage? Will Louisa have confidence to go it alone? And can their friendship survive all those complicated octave leaps?
El jardín de Sonoko
by David CrespoUna historia de amor poco convencional. Una fábula moderna ambientada en un Japón mágico que nos enseña que hay seres abocados a estar juntos pase lo que pase. Kaoru, un vendedor de zapatos de Kioto, se sirve de la maniática regularidad con que rige su vida como escudo protector frente al mundo, pero sobre todo frente a sus propios recuerdos, los que le llevaron a pasar cinco años aislado en una habitación. Y todo funciona según lo previsto hasta que su compañera de trabajo, Sonoko, inesperadamente le invita a salir. A la mañana siguiente, y por primera vez en tres años, Kaoru, olvidará tomar dos de sus cinco tazas de té, levísimo primer síntoma de un imparable efecto mariposa que le obligará a desenroscarse de forma traumática para ir en busca de su destino, ese invisible hilo rojo que como reza la leyenda, conecta a aquellos que están destinados a encontrarse, sin importar tiempo, lugar o circunstancias.
Jerzy Grotowski's Journeys to the East
by Zbigniew OsinskiJerzy Grotowski’s Journeys to the East is an unusual collection of facts, quotations, and commentaries documenting the real and metaphorical journeys of the Polish theatre director and ‘teacher of performers’ into a geographical and cultural dimension which we used to and still call the Orient. Grotowski’s contacts and meetings with the East are placed here in the context of his biography. Painstakingly researched by Grotowski’s main biographer Zbigniew Osiński, this book is necessary reading for those interested in Grotowski’s deep relationship with the East and in the inspiration he drew from its various cultures. The book will appeal to all readers who feel a need to have a glimpse of the East from the perspective of one of the main theatre reformers in the twentieth century.
Joy Ride
by John LahrJoy Ride throws open the stage door and introduces readers to such makers of contemporary drama as Arthur Miller, Tony Kushner, Wallace Shawn, Harold Pinter, David Rabe, David Mamet, Mike Nichols, and August Wilson. Lahr takes us to the cabin in the woods that Arthur Miller built in order to write Death of a Salesman; we walk with August Wilson through the Pittsburgh ghetto where we encounter the inspiration for his great cycle; we sit with Ingmar Bergman at the Kunglinga Theatre in Stockholm, where he attended his first play; we visit with Harold Pinter at his London home and learn the source of the feisty David Mamet's legendary ear for dialogue. In its juxtaposition of biographical detail and critical analysis, Joy Ride explores with insight and panache not only the lives of the theatricals but the liveliness of the stage worlds they have created.
Jung In Love
by Lázaro Droznes Sara Maria HasbunCarl Gustav Jung was a legendary womanizer. This dramatic fiction explores and illustrates the relationships C.G. Jung had with the four women most important to him: Emma Rauschenbach, his wife; Sabina Spielrein, his first patient and lover; Toni Wolff, patient, assistant, friend, and lover for 40 years; and finally, in his older years, with his student, Marie-Louise von Franz. Jung has made significant contributions to psychoanalysis, philosophy, sociology, and the comparative study of religion, and always needed the company of women to serve as his muses.
Kill Me Now
by Brad FraserWhen Joey enters puberty, his father Jake finds himself in a morally ambiguous position. Joey is severely disabled, but he still has the same sexual desires as any seventeen-year-old boy, only he can’t do anything to relieve the tension. Jake is a widower whose life is devoted to his son, but when he suddenly develops a serious medical condition, he becomes the one to rely on the people around him, including his sister Twyla, his friend Robyn, and Joey’s best friend Rowdy. As Jake’s condition worsens, an ethical dilemma troubles the household as everyone is forced to consider the possibility of saying goodbye.