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Modernism and Opera (Hopkins Studies in Modernism)
by Richard Begam and Matthew Wilson SmithMany of the greatest works in the operatic repertoire bear the hallmarks of modernism.At first glance, modernism and opera may seem like strange bedfellows—the former hostile to sentiment, the latter wearing its heart on its sleeve. And yet these apparent opposites attract: many operas are aesthetically avant-garde, politically subversive, and socially transgressive. From the proto-modernist strains of Richard Wagner’s Parsifal through the twenty-first-century modernism of Kaija Saariaho’s L’amour de loin, the duet between modernism and opera, at turns harmonious and dissonant, has been one of the central artistic events of modernity. Despite this centrality, scholars of modernist literature only rarely venture into opera, and music scholars generally return the favor by leaving literature to one side. But opera, that grand cauldron of the arts, demands that scholars, too, share the stage with one another.In Modernism and Opera, Richard Begam and Matthew Wilson Smith bring together musicologists, literary critics, and theater scholars for the first time in a mutual endeavor to trace certain key moments in the history of modernism and opera. This innovative volume includes essays from some of the most notable scholars in their fields and covers works as diverse as Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, Berg’s Wozzeck, Janáček’s Makropulos Case, Thomson’s Four Saints in Three Acts, Strauss’s Arabella, Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron, Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, Britten’s Gloriana, and Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise. A collaborative study of the ultimate collaborative art form, Modernism and Opera reveals how modernism and opera illuminate each other and, more generally, the culture of the twentieth century. It also addresses a number of issues crucial for understanding the relation between modernism and opera, focusing in particular on intermediality (how modernism integrates music, literature, and drama into opera) and anti-theatricality (how opera responds to modernism’s apparent antipathy to theatricality). This captivating book—the first of its kind—will appeal to scholars of literature, music, theater, and modernity as well as to sophisticated opera lovers everywhere.
Modernism and Scottish Theatre since 1969: A Revolution on Stage
by Mark BrownThis book argues that Scottish theatre has, since the late 1960s, undergone an artistic renaissance, driven by European Modernist aesthetics. Combining detailed research and analysis with exclusive interviews with ten leading figures in modern Scottish drama, the book sets out the case for the last half-century as the strongest period in the history of the Scottish stage. Mark Brown traces the development of Scottish theatre’s Modernist revolution from the arrival of influential theatre director Giles Havergal at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow in 1969 through to the advent of the National Theatre of Scotland in 2006. Finally, the book contemplates the future of Scotland’s theatrical renaissance. It is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary theatre and/or the modern history of live drama in Scotland.
Modernist Circumnavigations: Around the World in Jules Verne's Wake
by Kevin RiordanThis book shows how Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days changed the global imagination. Through his novel, the world was converted into a personal itinerary, scaled to the individual traveller and, by extension, to the individual reader. Exploring Verne’s modern legacy, this study shows how subsequent generations of artists and writers took on Around the World in Eighty Days as an adaptable guidebook to the modern world. It investigates how Verne’s work leads its reader beyond the book itself. It considers Verne’s place in world literature, traces some of the many real reenactments of Verne’s itinerary, and recalls the theatrical adaptations of Verne’s story. Published to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the first circumnavigation and the 150th anniversary of Verne’s novel, this book offers new insights into the largely overlooked influence of Verne on twentieth-century literature and culture and on the field of global modernism.
Modernization of Asian Theatres: Process and Tradition
by Yasushi Nagata Ravi ChaturvediThis volume focuses on the theatre history of Asian countries, and discusses the specific context of theatre modernization in Asia. While Asian theatre is one of the primary interests within theatre scholarship in the world today, knowledge of Asian theatre history is very limited and often surprisingly incorrect. Therefore, this volume addresses a major gap in contemporary theatre studies. The volume discusses the conflict between tradition and modernity in theatre, suggesting that the problems of modernity are closely related to the idea of tradition. Although Asian countries preserved the traditional form and values of their respective theatres, they had to also confront the newly introduced values or mechanisms of European modernity. Several papers in this volume therefore provide critical surveys of the history of theatre modernization in Asian countries or regions—Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India Malaysia, Singapore, and Uyghur. Other papers focus on specific case studies of the history of modernization, discussing contemporary Taiwanese performances, translations of modern French comedy into Chinese, the modernization of Chinese Xiqu, modern Okinawan plays, Malaysian traditional performances, Korean national theatre, and Japanese plays during World War II. Renowned academics and theatre critics have contributed to this volume, making it a valuable resource for researchers and students of theatre studies, literature, and cultural studies.
Modernization of Korean Theatre in the 20th Century (ISSN)
by Meewon LeeLee provides a comprehensive guide that traces the transformation of Korean theatre from traditional to modern theatre and examines the impact of the introduction of Western plays to Korean society.Important changes in Korean theatre are discussed chronologically from the beginning of the modernization: Sinpa Theatre, Singeuk Theatre, Theatre of Ideology, The Little Theatre Movement, Madanggeuk, experiments for modernizing traditional Korean theatrical arts, and transitions to postmodern theatre. These changes happened rapidly and coupled with Eurocentric globalization. By the end of the century, the reinterpretations of Western drama like Shakespeare's plays had reached a point where they received attention from the Western world. Today, Korean theatre keeps pace with the world theatre and strives to contribute as a member of it.This book is a vital resource for scholars and students pursuing Korean studies and East Asian theatres with an authentic Korean perspective from a Korean scholar who has lived and researched in Korea.
Modernizing Costume Design, 1820–1920 (Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies)
by Annie HoltAnnie Holt identifies the roots of contemporary Euro-American practices of costume design, in which costumes are an integrated part of the dramaturgy rather than a reflection of an individual performer’s taste or status. She argues that in the period 1820–1920, as part of the larger project of modernism across the artistic and cultural field, the functions of "clothing" and "costume" diverged. Onstage apparel took on a more specific semiotic task, acting as a fresh channel for the flow of information between the performer, the literary text, and the spectator. Modernizing Costume Design traces how five kinds of artists – directors, performers, writers, couturiers, and painters – made key contributions to this new model of costume design. Holt shows that by 1920, costume design shifted in status from craft to art.
Modes of Play in Eighteenth-Century France (Scènes francophones: Studies in French and Francophone Theater)
by Yann Robert Rori Bloom Jean-Alexandre Perras Zeina Hakim Masano Yamashita Erika Mandarino Katharine Hargrave Maria Teodora Comsa Annelle Curulla Jeffrey M. LeichmanCollecting diverse critical perspectives on the topic of play—from dolls, bilboquets, and lotteries, to writing itself—this volume offers new insights into how play was used to represent and reimagine the world in eighteenth-century France. In documenting various modes of play, contributors theorize its relation to law, religion, politics, and economics. Equally important was the role of “play” in plays, and the function of theatrical performance in mirroring, and often contesting, our place in the universe. These essays remind us that the spirit of play was very much alive during the “Age of Reason,” providing ways for its practitioners to consider more “serious” themes such as free will and determinism, illusions and equivocations, or chance and inequality. Standing at the intersection of multiple intellectual avenues, this is the first comprehensive study in English devoted to the different guises of play in Enlightenment France, certain to interest curious readers across disciplinary backgrounds.
Modest Proposal (Thompson)
by Selma ThompsonDramatic Comedy / 1m, 1f / Interior / Although John and Mer have worked to create the ideal liberated relationship (and even love each other), they are growing apart. Then John arrives at Mer's apartment unannounced, late at night and in the middle of a snowstorm with a solution. She mistakes his suggestion of a weekend in the country for a marriage proposal, forcing her to consider the wedding she both wants and fears. This gentle satire, a comedy of errors, explores their confusion over what love, marriage and commitment mean today.
Modigliani
by Dennis McintyreIn 1916, unable to sell his paintings and unable to work, Modigliani decides to leave Paris. A robbery attempt, aided by his painter/friends Turillo and Soutine fails and he seeks money from Zbo, his agent, who informs him he's about to meet Cheron, an influential art dealer. Modigliani's poet/mistress, Beatrice Hastings, tries to convince him to meet Cheron himself. Frightened of failure, he finally agrees only to discover Zbo has given away his best painting. His meeting with Cheron is a disaster and, in a rage, he slashes his paintings and attempts to destroy all the work in his studio. Beatrice prevents this and forces him to realize the paintings are his life. Left alone with no possibilities for success, Modigliani begins work again on a self portrait.
Moise and the World of Reason
by Tennessee WilliamsWhat's not to like about Tennessee Williams's most forthright work about homosexual love, with its gay figure skaters, runaways, and sex? An erotic, sensual, and comic novel that was a generation ahead of its time, Moise and the World of Reason has at its center the need of three people for each other: Lance, the beautiful black figure skater full of love and lust for young men as well as a craving for drugs; the nameless gay young narrator, a runaway writer from Alabama who lives near the piers of New York City's West Village, c. 1975, frantically filling notebooks with his observations; and Moise, a young woman who speaks in riddles and can never finish her paintings or consummate her affairs. The long unavailable Moise and the World of Reason represents a kind of uncensored Williams, radically frank, fully articulated, and deeply tender: a true gem.
Moliere Today 1
by Michael SpinglerThis collection focuses on Moliere's theatre as works to be performed as well as read. The essays deal in their various ways with limits which are imposed and respected or violated and broken. The question of transgression both as a subject within Moliere's plays and as a dilemma confronting Moliere's critics and interpreters is addressed. The book aims to enlarge the scope of academic scholarship and include the thinking and insights of actors.
Moliere Today 2
by Michael SpinglerThe refusal on the part of academic critics to recognize the primacy of farce in Moliere's theatre is contradicted by wide spread theatrical pracitce. These essays develop the argument that Moliere needs to be rescued from the pantheon of classical literature and put back on the Pont-Neuf with the strolling players, low-life rogues, cut-purses and clowns with whom he filled his theatre.
Moliere: The Bungler / Lover's Quarrels / The Imaginary Cuckhold, or Sganarelle / The School for Husbands / The School for Wives / Don Juan
by MoliereFor the 400th anniversary of Moliere's birth, Richard Wilbur's unsurpassed translations of Molière's plays--themselves towering achievements in English verse--are brought together by Library of America in a two-volume editionOne of the most accomplished American poets of his generation, Richard Wilbur (1921-2017) was also a prolific translator of French and Russian literature. His verse translations of Molière's plays are especially admired by readers and are still performed today in theaters around the world. "Wilbur," the critic John Simon once wrote, "makes Molière into as great an English verse playwright as he was a French one." Now, for the first time, all ten of Wilbur's unsurpassed translations of Molière's plays are brought together in two-volume Library of America edition, fulfilling the poet's vision for the translations. This first volume comprises Molière's delightful early farces The Bungler, Lover's Quarrels, and The Imaginary Cuckhold, or Sganarelle; the comedies The School for Husbands and The School for Wives, about the efforts of middle-aged men to control their young wives or fiancés, which so delighted female theater goers in Moliere's seventeenth-century France; and Don Juan, Molière's retelling of the Don Juan story, performed only briefly in the playwright's lifetime before pious censure forced it to close and not part of the repertoire of the Comédie-Française until 1847. This volume includes the original introductions by Richard Wilbur and an introduction by Adam Gopnik on the exquisite art of Wilbur's translations.
Moliere: The Misanthrope / Amphitryon / Tartuffe / The Learned Ladies
by MoliereFor the 400th anniversary of Moliere's birth, Richard Wilbur's unsurpassed translations of Molière's plays--themselves towering achievements in English verse--are brought together by Library of America in a two-volume editionOne of the most accomplished American poets of his generation, Richard Wilbur (1921-2017) was also a prolific translator of French and Russian literature. His verse translations of Molière's plays are especially admired by readers and are still performed today in theaters around the world. "Wilbur," the critic John Simon once wrote, "makes Molière into as great an English verse playwright as he was a French one." Now, for the first time, all ten of Wilbur's unsurpassed translations of Molière's plays are brought together in two-volume Library of America edition, fulfilling the poet's vision for the translations.The second volume includes the elusive masterpiece, The Misanthrope, often said to occupy the same space in comedy as Shakespeare's Hamlet does in tragedy; the fantastic farce Amphitryon, about how Jupiter and Mercury commandeer the identities of two mortals ; Tartuffe, Molière's biting satire of religious hypocrisy; and The Learned Ladies, like Tarfuffe, a drama of a household turned suddenly upside down. This volume includes the original introductions by Richard Wilbur and an introduction by Adam Gopnik on the exquisite art of Wilbur's translations.
Molière in Context (Literature in Context)
by Jan ClarkeThe definitive guide to Molière's world and his afterlife, this is an accessible contextual guide for academics, undergraduates and theatre professionals alike. Interdisciplinary and diverse in scope, each chapter offers a different perspective on the social, cultural, intellectual, and theatrical environment within which Molière operated, as well as demonstrating his subsequent impact both within France and across the world. Offering fresh insight for those working in the fields of French Studies, Theatre and Performance Studies and French History, Molière in Context is an exceptional tribute to the premier French dramatist on the 400th anniversary of his birth.
Molly Sweeney
by Brian Friel<p>From one of Ireland’s best living playwrights, this striking piece of dramatic writing is a daring piece of theater. Keeping the play’s three characters on stage at all times to speak directly to the audience, Brian Friel presents three points of view to the same intriguing tale. Molly herself, blind since she was an infant, tells of her world before and after an operation to try to restore her sight. Her husband, itinerant champion of good causes, talks of his passion to help her. Her once famous eye surgeon, now a whiskey-sodden recluse in Donegal, sees the operation as his chance to reclaim his reputation. Each of their voices interweaves, threading in and out with details, spinning a lush and sensate narrative, and carrying us effortlessly to an unexpected and poignant conclusion. <p>Deceptively simple, yet richly multilayered—combining both an insightful story about the way we perceive our existence with an allegory for our times—Molly Sweeney is an Irish storyteller’s art to create an unforgettable theater piece, painting scenery and rousing emotions with nothing more than the simple purity of beautifully rendered words.</p>
Mom, Dad, I'm Living With A White Girl
by Marty ChanA Chinese son must tell his parents he has moved in with his white girlfriend. In a counter-narrative, the play explodes Asian stereotypes in a B-movie spoof called Wrath of the Yellow Claw.
Moment Work: Tectonic Theater Project's Process of Devising Theater
by Moises Kaufman Barbara Pitts McAdamsA detailed guide to the collaborative method developed by the acclaimed creators of The Laramie Project and Gross Indecency--destined to become a classic. A Vintage Original.By Moisés Kaufman and Barbara Pitts McAdams with Leigh Fondakowski, Andy Paris, Greg Pierotti, Kelli Simpkins, Jimmy Maize, and Scott Barrow. For more than two decades, the members of Tectonic Theater Project have been rigorously experimenting with the process of theatrical creation. Here they set forth a detailed manual of their devising method and a thorough chronicle of how they wrote some of their best-known works. This book is for all theater artists—actors, writers, designers, and directors—who wish to create work that embraces the unbridled potential of the stage.
Momologues 2: Off To School
by Lisa RaffertyThe MOM crew is at it again! MOMologues2: Off to School offers a frank and funny look at the true tales of motherhood, from homework hell to multitasking mania. Four separate characters tell their individual stories, either directly to the audience in monologues, or in scenes with each other. Moms everywhere will laugh in recognition at the playdates gone wrong, the crazy way to get a Mom day off, how to stalk a potential babysitter and much more.
Money and Murda
by Fred BrownMoney grew up in one of the most dangerous projects in Brooklyn. With the help of his right hand man, he became a boss of a multi-million dollar drug ring. He supplied over 70% of the cocaine in New York City and surrounding areas. The five boroughs, the streets... the grimest hoods and projects are familiar with his name however, it's only very small inter circle that recognize him by his face. His people raise the murder rate throughout the city. If you cross the line, have your casket and tombstone ready. A hard nose, relentless veteran NYPD detective refuses to retire, until he finds out who the invisible leader is, this powerful cartel that the streets are scared to talk about and law agencies can not infiltrate. Murder is the most sought after high school basketball player in the country. He is expected to be a 1st round draft pick in the NBA. He lives in a small town that puts up B.G. numbers in the drug trade. He refuses to stop balling in the streets. He has a decision to make, either way, Murder will be balling!! When Money and Murder meet "The Game" is played... The way the Game is supposed to be played and everybody eats!!!
Monkey Business Theatre
by Robert M. LaughlinIn 1983, a group of citizens in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, formed Sna Jtz'ibajom, the Tzotzil-Tzeltal Maya writers' cooperative. In the two decades since, this group has evolved from writing and publishing bilingual booklets to writing and performing plays that have earned them national and international renown. Anthropologist Robert M. Laughlin has been a part of the group since its beginnings, and he offers a unique perspective on its development as a Mayan cultural force. The Monkey Business Theatre, or Teatro Lo'il Maxil, as this branch of Sna Jtz'ibajom calls itself, has presented plays in virtually every corner of the state of Chiapas, as well as in Mexico City, Guatemala, Honduras, Canada, and in many museums and universities in the United States. It has presented to the world, for the first time in drama, a view of the culture of the Mayas of Chiapas. In this work, Laughlin presents a translation of twelve of the plays created by Sna Jtz'ibajom, along with an introduction for each. Half of the plays are based on myths and half on the social, political, and economic problems that have confronted--and continue to confront--the Mayas of Chiapas. In 1983, a group of citizens in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, formed Sna Jtz'ibajom, the Tzotzil-Tzeltal Maya writers' cooperative. In the two decades since, this group has evolved from writing and publishing bilingual booklets to writing and performing plays that have earned them national and international renown. Anthropologist Robert M. Laughlin has been a part of the group since its beginnings, and he offers a unique perspective on its development as a Mayan cultural force. The Monkey Business Theatre, or Teatro Lo'il Maxil, as this branch of Sna Jtz'ibajom calls itself, has presented plays in virtually every corner of the state of Chiapas, as well as in Mexico City, Guatemala, Honduras, Canada, and in many museums and universities in the United States. It has presented to the world, for the first time in drama, a view of the culture of the Mayas of Chiapas. In this work, Laughlin presents a translation of twelve of the plays created by Sna Jtz'ibajom, along with an introduction for each. Half of the plays are based on myths and half on the social, political, and economic problems that have confronted - and continue to confront - the Mayas of Chiapas.
Monkey Monkey Bottle of Beer, How Many Monkeys Have We Here?
by Marsha SheinessDrama \ Marsha Sheiness \ 6 f., 1 child. \ Int. \ This psychological mystery is set in the waiting room of a clinic where five mothers await word on the futures of their retarded children. They have been given the opportunity to change their children into geniuses, and the play explores the hopes, fears and guilt of each woman. As the drama moves forward, the very nature of parent child love is examined. \ "A gallery of characters interestingly and richly observed." N.Y. Times.
Monkey Soup
by Don NigroFull length, farce / 5m, 3f / Unit set / Set on the stage of a New York theatre in the 1930s, this demented, madcap, no holds barred, galloping farce is a loving parody and homage to the sort of movie the Marx Brothers might have made after a hundred cups of coffee with their hair on fire. The language is rapid fire and the physical comedy is maniacal. Mrs. Lillian Quackenfurter, a once renowned actress, has written the worst play in the history of the theatre, Lady Furtwinger's Lover, which she hopes to star in to revive her career after a forty year hiatus, and has hired a person she believes to be the internationally renowned director, Dr Cornelius T. Fartwhistle, a rude, fast-talking con man who insults her constantly and makes hash of her play. He's actually a dentist named Hassenfusser who accidentally killed Fartwhistle with laughing gas while filling a cavity. The stage manager, Boccalucci, and his wild, girl-chasing, mute assistant, Goosey, who have worked with the real Fartwhistle in the past (and slept with his wife) blackmail Fartwhistle-Hassenfusser into letting them appear in the play, planning to disable the other actors by feeding them bad fish and putting vodka in the water cooler. Lucy the maid is determined to get through her exposition, despite the fact that she's forced to talk into a goose instead of a telephone, and is being constantly bombarded by bird carcasses. Edgar is insanely jealous over his blond bombshell wife Thelma, who is unconscious for much of the second act. Dick, the leading man, plays tennis and announces that he has three balls. Somebody has put tranquilizer darts in the prop gun. Non-stop lunacy.
Monkey's Uncle
by Roger KarshnerFarce / Roger Karshner / 4 m. 2 f. / Interior / Ernie loves apes and Fred collects leaves. And the two of them get together every Saturday to play Chinese checkers. During one of the games, Fred fakes dying of a heart attack. Ernie and his wife, Dottie, put Fred in their son's room and leave to get Harold, Fred's daffy nephew. During their absence their son, Clyde, returns home from college unexpectedly with his girlfriend, Sybil. When Sybil suggests they make love Clyde goes to his room and finds a "stiff" Fred in his bed. He panics, causing Sybil to run out into the night scantily clad thinking she doesn't turn Clyde on anymore. Now Clyde, assuming his dad has knocked off Fred, decides to get rid of the body by exchanging it with a stuffed ape. From this point on it's a whirlwind of apes, leaves, worms, ant farms, blackmail, misunderstandings and madness. But it all comes out in the wash.
Monks, Bandits, Lovers, and Immortals: Eleven Early Chinese Plays
by Wilt L. Idema Stephen H. WestThis magnificent collection of eleven early [1250–1450] Chinese plays will give readers a vivid sense of life and a clear understanding of dramatic literature during an extraordinarily eventful period in Chinese history. Not only are the eleven plays in this volume expertly translated into lively, idiomatic English; they are each provided with illuminating, scholarly introductions that are yet fully intelligible to the educated lay reader.