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Trance Speakers: Femininity and Authorship in Spiritual Séances, 1850-1930
by Claudie MassicotteFew people know that Susanna Moodie participated in spiritual séances with her husband, Dunbar, and her sister, Catharine Parr Traill. Moodie, like many other women, found in her communications with the departed an important space to question her commitment to authorship and her understanding of femininity. Retracing the history of possession and mediumship among women following the emergence of spiritualism in mid-nineteenth-century Canada – and unearthing a vast collection of archival documents and photographs from séances – Claudie Massicotte pinpoints spiritualism as a site of conflict and gender struggle and redefines modern understandings of female agency. Trance Speakers offers a new feminist and psychoanalytical approach to the religious and creative practice of trance, arguing that by providing women with a voice for their conscious and unconscious desires, this phenomenon helped them resolve their inner struggles in a society that sought to confine their lives. Drawing attention to the fascinating history of spiritualism and its persistent appeal to women, Massicotte makes a strong case for moving this practice out of the margins of the past. A compelling new reading of spiritual possession as a response to conflicting interpretations of authorship, agency, and gender, Trance Speakers shines a much-needed light on women’s religious practices and on the history of spiritualist traditions and travels across North America and Europe.
Três dias em Setembro
by Luna MillerTrês dias em Setembro Uma história acerca de amizade florescente, amor e aventura, mas também acerca de infidelidade, violência e morte, que tem lugar durante três dias em Setembro. Não sentimos já todos, alguma vez, uma saudade desesperada por algo ou alguém? Talvez não saibamos sempre por quem ou por quê a sentimos embora o sentimento seja avassaladoramente forte. É isso que sente Gabriel. Mas como o artista ainda jovem, atraente e muito inquieto que é, ignora o sentimento e afasta-se, em vez disso, para uma cabana vazia em Ludvika a fim de desenvolver uma ideia. Enquanto ali está, porém, nada acontece como tinha pensado. Subitamente vê-se como uma das peças num jogo em que, cada movimento, parece ter consequências fatais. Consequências que se espalham sobre a até então sonolenta vila. Em velocidade acelerada, Anna, Kessa, Lea, Johan e Niklas são conduzidos aos seus destinos. Aqui se fala de amizade florescente, amor e aventura, mas também de manipulação, infidelidade, violência e morte. Depois destes três dias em Setembro, não há regresso possível.
Turks, Repertories, and the Early Modern English Stage (Early Modern Literature in History)
by Mark HutchingsThis book considers the relationship between the vogue for putting the Ottoman Empire on the English stage and the repertory system that underpinned London playmaking. The sheer visibility of 'the Turk' in plays staged between 1567 and 1642 has tended to be interpreted as registering English attitudes to Islam, as articulating popular perceptions of Anglo-Ottoman relations, and as part of a broader interest in the wider world brought home by travellers, writers, adventurers, merchants, and diplomats. Such reports furnished playwrights with raw material which, fashioned into drama, established ‘the Turk’ as a fixture in the playhouse. But it was the demand for plays to replenish company repertories to attract London audiences that underpinned playmaking in this period. Thus this remarkable fascination for the Ottoman Empire is best understood as a product of theatre economics and the repertory system, rather than taken directly as a measure of cultural and historical engagement.
Turner Classic Movies: 50 Show-Stopping Movies We Can't Forget (Turner Classic Movies)
by Richard Barrios Michael FeinsteinSpanning nine decades and showcasing the most memorable songs, dazzling dancing, and brightest stars ever to grace the silver screen, Must-See Musicals is the guide to the greatest musicals of all time from the most trusted authority on film: Turner Classic Movies. Movie musicals have been a part of pop culture since films began to talk, over nine decades ago. From The Jazz Singer in 1927 all the way to La La Land in modern times, musicals have sung and danced over a vast amount of territory, thrilling audiences the entire time. More than any other type of entertainment, musicals transport us to marvelous places: a Technicolor land over the rainbow in The Wizard of Oz; a romantic ballroom where, in Top Hat, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dance cheek to cheek; a London theater where the Beatles perform before hysterical crowds in A Hard Day's Night; even to a seemingly alternate reality where eager throngs still throw rice as they watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show. These titles, and many more, show us that a great musical film is a timeless joy. Covering fifty of the best spanning the dawn of sound to the high-def present, Turner Classic Movies: Must-See Musicals-written by renowned musical historian Richard Barrios-is filled with lush illustrations as well as enlightening commentary and entertaining "backstage" stories about every one of these unforgettable films.
Twins in Early Modern English Drama and Shakespeare (Routledge Studies in Renaissance Literature and Culture)
by Daisy MurrayThis volume investigates the early modern understanding of twinship through new readings of plays, informed by discussions of twins appearing in such literature as anatomy tracts, midwifery manuals, monstrous birth broadsides, and chapbooks. The book contextualizes such dramatic representations of twinship, investigating contemporary discussions about twins in medical and popular literature and how such dialogues resonate with the twin characters appearing on the early modern stage. Garofalo demonstrates that, in this period, twin births were viewed as biologically aberrant and, because of this classification, authors frequently attempt to explain the phenomenon in ways which call into question the moral and constitutional standing of both the parents and the twins themselves. In line with current critical studies on pregnancy and the female body, discussions of twin births reveal a distrust of the mother and the processes surrounding twin conception; however, a corresponding suspicion of twins also emerges, which monstrous birth pamphlets exemplify. This book analyzes the representation of twins in early modern drama in light of this information, moving from tragedies through to comedies. This progression demonstrates how the dramatic potential inherent in the early modern understanding of twinship is capitalized on by playwrights, as negative ideas about twins can be seen transitioning into tragic and tragicomic depictions of twinship. However, by building toward a positive, comic representation of twins, the work additionally suggests an alternate interpretation of twinship in this period, which appreciates and celebrates twins because of their difference. The volume will be of interest to those studying Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature in relation to the History of Emotions, the Body, and the Medical Humanities.
Twisted
by Joseph Jomo Pierre Charlotte Corbeil-ColemanGrowing up, Nancy believed in magic despite a hand-me-down life in a small town. So it’s no wonder the buzzing excitement of Toronto and its allure of freedom was a likely choice for her new home, the place she finds herself years later selling her body for drugs. Nancy is further from freedom than ever under the wings of Sikes, a drug dealer and pimp. When she meets Oliver, a seventeen-year-old who lands at Sikes’s feet after a life of foster care and shelters, the two find unlikely solace in each other. As text messages are exchanged by the instant, and truths are revealed, Nancy and Oliver form an unbreakable bond in order to write a new story together.
Unbuttoned: The Art and Artists of Theatrical Costume Design
by Shura PollatsekUnbuttoned: The Art and Artists of Theatrical Costume Design documents the creative journey of costume creation from concept to performance. Each chapter provides an overview of the process, including designing and shopping; draping, cutting, dyeing, and painting; and beading, sewing, and creating embellishments and accessories. This book features interviews with practitioners from Broadway and regional theatres to opera and ballet companies, offering valuable insights into the costume design profession. Exceptional behind-the-scenes photography illustrates top costume designers and craftspeople at work, along with gorgeous costumes in progress.
Unbuttoned: The Art and Artists of Theatrical Costume Design
by Shura PollatsekUnbuttoned: The Art and Artists of Theatrical Costume Design documents the creative journey of costume creation from concept to performance. Each chapter provides an overview of the process, including designing and shopping; draping, cutting, dyeing, and painting; and beading, sewing, and creating embellishments and accessories. This book features interviews with practitioners from Broadway and regional theatres to opera and ballet companies, offering valuable insights into the costume design profession. Exceptional behind-the-scenes photography illustrates top costume designers and craftspeople at work, along with gorgeous costumes in progress.
Unearthing Shakespeare: Embodied Performance and the Globe
by Valerie Clayman PyeWhat can the Globe Theatre tell us about performing Shakespeare? Unearthing Shakespeare is the first book to consider what the Globe, today’s replica of Shakespeare’s theatre, can contribute to a practical understanding of Shakespeare’s plays. Valerie Clayman Pye reconsiders the material evidence of Early Modern theatre-making, presenting clear, accessible discussions of historical theatre practice; stages and staging; and the relationship between actor and audience. She relays this into a series of training exercises for actors at all levels. From "Shakesball" and "Telescoping" to Elliptical Energy Training and The Radiating Box, this is a rich set of resources for anyone looking to tackle Shakespeare with authenticity and confidence.
Until the End of Days
by Adeline Shade Elaine Cristina Albino de OliveiraThe world is slowlydying. The streets are not safe, for one's attempt to scavenge for food may be someone else's bountiful hunt. Meanwhile, a mother and daughter struggle to survive the hunger and the violence.
Up the Garden Path & The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God
by Lisa CodringtonIn Up the Garden Path, Rosa, a young Barbadian seamstress, offers to pose as her brother to go to the Niagara Region in Ontario to work. There, she meets an aspiring actress obsessed with Joan of Arc, the ghost of a black Loyalist soldier who wants to die and a boss who can’t keep the starlings away from his failing vineyard. Finding it impossible to ignore their demands, but not wanting to be found out and sent home, Rosa has to stop and figure out what she really wants instead of what everyone around her needs. Based on Bernard Shaw’s short story, The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God follows a black girl who is abandoned by a white missionary for asking too many questions. Taking matters into her own hands, the Black Girl sets off to find out who or what God really is. Along the way she meets a number of characters who have very different views on God, but the Black Girl’s unrelenting questions create conflict, and in the end she’s forced to make her own decisions on God and her search.
Utility
by Emily Schwend Nicholas WrightThe tenth winner of the Yale Drama Series centers on a young mother dealing with life’s many trials Marking the tenth anniversary of the Yale Drama Series for emerging playwrights, Emily Schwend’s powerful work centers on Amber, a young woman struggling to raise a family in East Texas. Amber is juggling two nearly full-time jobs and three kids. Her on-again, off-again husband Chris is eternally optimistic and charming as hell, but rarely employed. The house is falling apart and Amber has an eight-year-old’s birthday party to plan. Selected from more than 1,600 entries, Schwend’s newest play—produced by the Amoralists Theatre Company at Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre in 2016—vividly captures the economic hardships and relationship difficulties faced by so many Americans today. “Utility is a remarkable play: beautifully written and effortlessly powerful,” said contest judge Nicholas Wright. “At every moment the happiness of human lives is put at risk: is there any greater dramatic theme?”
Vic e Tim
by Mike Sims Alessandra MartinsO livro original que iniciou a série, a história de Vickie e Tim. Vickie é uma executiva por profissão, mas sua personalidade é incrivelmente esperta, criativa e letal. Com a bela aparência de uma rosa vermelha e olhos fascinantes como uma violeta, ela possui espinhos para aqueles não forem cuidadosos. As adversidades da vida a fizeram vítima, entretanto isso apenas fortaleceu suas aptidões para sair vitoriosa diante de pessoas e situações. Ela é fisicamente forte e possui um intelecto habilidoso, e aqueles que caem em suas garram recebem um método de tratamento específico. Em Vic e Tim nós acompanhamos sua jornada por territórios e relacionamentos de uma maneira diferente. Ela oferece seu humor pesado e muitas vezes seu tipo de justiça irônico para algumas pessoas, salvando-as no processo. Um heroína relutante, uma Valquíria que faz o que acha necessário sem a fama ou fortuna. No entanto, ela acaba descobrindo que as vidas que ela tenta mudar também a modificam.
The Videofag Book
by Jordan Tannahill William EllisLonglisted for the 2018 Toronto Book AwardsIn October 2012, lovers William Ellis and Jordan Tannahill moved into a former barbershop in Toronto's Kensington Market neighbourhood and turned it into an art space called Videofag. Over the next four years Videofag became a hub for counterculture in the city, playing host to a litany of performances, screenings, parties, exhibitions, and all manner of queer fuckery. But hosting a city in their house took its toll and eventually William and Jordan broke up, closing the space for good in June 2016.The Videofag Book is a chronicle of those four years told through multiple voices and mediums: a personal history by William and Jordan; a love letter by Jon Davies; a communal oral history compiled by Chandler Levack; a play by Greg MacArthur; a poem by Aisha Sasha John; a chronological history of Videofag's programming; and a photo archive curated by William and Jordan in full colour.
Vietgone
by Qui NguyenAn all-American love story about two very new Americans. It's 1975. Saigon has fallen. He lost his wife. She lost her fiancé. But now in a new land, they just might find each other. <p><p> Using his uniquely infectious style The New York Times calls "culturally savvy comedy" - and skipping back and forth from the dramatic evacuation of Saigon to the here and now - playwright Qui Nguyen gets up-close-and-personal to tell the story that led to the creation of...Qui Nguyen.
Vimy
by Vern ThiessenFrance, 1917. Four wounded Canadian soldiers recover in a field hospital in the wake of the battle for Vimy Ridge, waiting to find out where they’ll be sent next: back home or back to the front. Along with a young nurse from Nova Scotia, they share their stories, reasons for fighting, and treasured memories. In Vimy, Governor General’s Literary Award–winner Vern Thiessen brings us a classic play that is not about war, but a reflection of the everyday lives of soldiers—their hopes and their dreams—and how actions can define individuals and nations. In the brand-new piece Bluebirds, Thiessen brings to light the stories of three Canadian nurses who crossed oceans to take care of others in the war. Bonding over their duties and patients, the nurses keep up a positive atmosphere, even as the front line draws closer to their field hospital.
Violent Women in Contemporary Theatres
by Nancy Taylor PorterThis book brings together the fields of theatre, gender studies, and psychology/sociology in order to explore the relationships between what happens when women engage in violence, how the events and their reception intercept with cultural understandings of gender, how plays thoughtfully depict this topic, and how their productions impact audiences. Truthful portrayals force consideration of both the startling reality of women's violence -- not how it's been sensationalized or demonized or sexualized, but how it is -- and what parameters, what possibilities, should exist for its enactment in life and live theatre. These women appear in a wide array of contexts: they are mothers, daughters, lovers, streetfighters, boxers, soldiers, and dominatrixes. Who they are and why they choose to use violence varies dramatically. They stage resistance and challenge normative expectations for women. This fascinating and balanced study will appeal to anyone interested in gender/feminism issues and theatre.
The Virgin Trial
by Kate HennigFifteen-year-old Bess has no idea when she heads to London to see her Uncle Ted that she is about to find herself at the heart of a scandal involving sexual impropriety; her stepfather, Thom; and an attempted overthrow of the government. What does all this have to do with her? How adroitly can Bess manoeuvre through a series of interviews to avoid being swept up in the peril that might ensue? And will she be able to spin the facts to create a myth based on her own innocence?
Visiting Edna and Good for Otto: Two Plays
by David RabeTwo plays exploring the struggle of mental illness by the Tony Award–winning “giant of American theater” and author of Hurlyburly (Chicago Tribune). Good for Otto, which premiered in October 2015 at the Gift Theatre in Chicago, is a “sprawling drama of mental illness” in which “Mr. Rabe digs into his subject with a depth that almost feels bottomless.” Drawing on material from Undoing Depression by psychotherapist Richard O’Connor, it explores the lives of a therapist and his many patients, all trying to navigate personal trauma (Charles Isherwood, The New York Times). Visiting Edna, which premiered in September 2016 at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, is a drama of “deeply searing power” about the bond between mother and son. As Edna faces a short future plagued by her many illnesses—and a cancer that looms so large it becomes another character—she and her adult son struggle to communicate about their shared past as they contemplate the future (Variety). Taken together, the plays offer a satisfying glimpse into “Rabe’s theatrical universe . . . at once vivid and mysterious, a pageant and a puzzle” of contemporary American life (John Lahr, The New Yorker). “Many would list [Rabe] among the very greatest of living playwrights.” —Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
Voice Lessons: A Sisters Story
by Cara Mentzel Idina MenzelVoice Lessons is the story of one younger sister growing up in the shadow of a larger-than-life older sister—looking up to her, wondering how they were alike and how they were different and, ultimately, learning how to live her own life and speak in her own voice on her own terms. As Cara Mentzel, studied, explored, married, gave birth (twice) and eventually became an elementary school teacher, she watched her sister, Idina Menzel, from the wings and gives readers a front row seat to opening night of Rent and Wicked, a seat at the Tonys, and a place on the red carpet when her sister taught millions more, as the voice of Queen Elsa in the animated musical Frozen, to “Let It Go.” Voice Lessons is the story of sisters—sisters with pig tails, sisters with boyfriends and broken hearts, sisters as mothers and aunts, sisters as teachers and ice-queens, sisters as allies and confidantes. As Cara puts it, “My big sister is Tony-Award-Winning, Gravity-Defying, Let-It-Go-Singing Idina Menzel who has received top billing on Broadway marquees, who has performed for Barbra Streisand and President Obama, at the Super Bowl and at the Academy Awards. The world knows her as 'Idina Menzel', but I call her 'Dee'.” Voice Lessons is their story.
Voices and Texts in Early Modern Italian Society
by Stefano Dall'Aglio Brian Richardson Massimo RospocherThis book studies the uses of orality in Italian society, across all classes, from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century, with an emphasis on the interrelationships between oral communication and the written word. The Introduction provides an overview of the topic as a whole and links the chapters together. Part 1 concerns public life in the states of northern, central, and southern Italy. The chapters examine a range of performances that used the spoken word or song: concerted shouts that expressed the feelings of the lower classes and were then recorded in writing; the proclamation of state policy by town criers; songs that gave news of executions; the exercise of power relations in society as recorded in trial records; and diplomatic orations and interactions. Part 2 centres on private entertainments. It considers the practices of the performance of poetry sung in social gatherings and on stage with and without improvisation; the extent to which lyric poets anticipated the singing of their verse and collaborated with composers; performances of comedies given as dinner entertainments for the governing body of republican Florence; and a reading of a prose work in a house in Venice, subsequently made famous through a printed account. Part 3 concerns collective religious practices. Its chapters study sermons in their own right and in relation to written texts, the battle to control spaces for public performance by civic and religious authorities, and singing texts in sacred spaces.
W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen
by Arthur Frank WertheimThis book reveals how Fields became a character comedian while performing in Broadway's most illustrious revue, the Ziegfeld Follies. As the first biography to use the recently opened Fields Papers at the Motion Picture Academy, the book explores how Fields years as a Follies entertainer portraying a beleaguered husband and a captivating conman became a landmark turning point in his career, leading to his fame as a masterful film comedian. The book also untangles a web of mysteries about Fields's turbulent private life, from the heartrending stories about the tragic relationship with his calculating wife who refused to divorce him, to his estranged son controlled by his mother, to the seven-year extra-marital affair with a chorus girl that led to the birth of an unwanted child. This electrifying saga illuminates a complex dual personality, whirling from tenderness to brusqueness, who endured so much anguish in order to bring the gift of laughter to millions. Although vilified by Ziegfeld and assailed by demons, Fields survived the cutthroat rigors of Broadway show biz to become a legendary American iconoclast and cultural icon.
War and Theatrical Innovation
by Victor EmeljanowThis book examines the relationship between wartime conflict and theatre practices. Bringing together a diverse collection of essays in one volume, it offers both a geographically and historically wide view of the subject, taking examples from Britain, Australia and America to the Middle East, Korea and China, and spanning the fifth century BCE to the present day. It explores the ways in which theatre practices have been manipulated for use in political and military propaganda, such as the employment of scenographers to work on camouflage and the application of acting methods in espionage training. It also maps the change in relationships between performers and audiences as a result of conflict, and the emergence of new forms of patronage during wartime theatre-going, boosting morale at periods when social structures and identity were being destabilized.
The Wardrobe Mistress: An evocative historical romance of hidden secrets that will capture your heart
by Natalie Meg EvansLondon 1945. A young war widow steps aboard a train in search of a new life. Clutching the key to a mysterious inheritance, Vanessa Kingcourt can no longer resist the pull of the old Farren Theatre, which is in need of a Wardrobe Mistress. With no experience and no budget for supplies, Vanessa must use her intuition to create beautiful costumes from whatever scraps survived the blitz. It's a seemingly impossible task, and one which may unravel family secrets sewn deep into the very fabric of the London theatre scene. . .
The Wardrobe Mistress: An evocative historical romance of hidden secrets that will capture your heart
by Natalie Meg EvansFrom the award-winning author of The Dress Thief comes a love story set in the glittering world of London theatre. Perfect for fans of Gill Paul and Lucinda Riley.London 1945. A young war widow steps aboard a train in search of a new life. Clutching the key to a mysterious inheritance, Vanessa Kingcourt can no longer resist the pull of the old Farren Theatre - an enchanted place seeped in memories of her actor father.Now owned by troubled former captain Alistair Redenhall, The Farren is in need of a Wardrobe Mistress and a new lease of life. With no experience and no budget for supplies, Vanessa must use her intuition to create beautiful costumes from whatever scraps of silk and thread survived the blitz. It's a seemingly impossible task, but a welcome distraction as she struggles to resist her blossoming feelings for Alistair.What Vanessa discovers could unravel family secrets sewn deep into the very fabric of the London theatre scene . . . but will she repeat the same terrible mistakes her father made? And can she dare to love a man who will never be hers?(P)2019 Quercus Editions Limited