The Self-Centred Art is a study of the plays of Ben Jonson and the actors who first performed in them. Jakub Boguszak shows how the idiosyncrasies of Jonson's comic characters were thrown into relief in actors' part-scripts-scrolls containing a single actor's lines and cues-some five hundred of which are reconstructed here from Jonson's seventeen extant plays. Reading Jonson's spectating parts, humorous parts, apprentice parts, and plotting parts, Boguszak argues that the kind of self-absorption which defines so many of Jonson's famous comic creations would have come easily to actors relying on these documents. Jonson's actors would have moreover worked on their cues, studied their speeches, and thought about the information excluded from their parts differently, depending on the type they had to play. Boguszak thus shows that Jonson brilliantly adapted his comedies to the way the actors worked, making the actors' self-centredness serve his art. This book addresses Jonson's dealings with the actors as well as the printers of his plays and supplements the discussion of different types of parts with a colourful range of case studies. In doing so, it presents a new way of understanding not just Ben Jonson, but early modern theatre at large.

Staging Detection reveals how the new figure of the stage detective emerged in nineteenth-century Britain. The first book to explore the productive intersections between detection and performance across a range of Victorian plays, Staging Detection foregrounds the role of the stage detective in shaping important theatrical modes of the period, from popular melodrama to society comedy. Beginning in 1863 with Tom Taylor's blockbuster play, The Ticket-of-Leave Man, the book criss-crosses London following the earliest performances of stage detectives. Centring the work of playwrights, novelists, critics and actors, from Sarah Lane and Horace Wigan to Wilkie Collins and Oscar Wilde, Staging Detection sheds new light on Victorian acting styles, furthers our understanding of melodrama, and resituates the famous Wildean dandy as a successor to the stage detective. Drawing on histories of masculinity and gender performance as well as developing scientific theory and nineteenth-century visual culture, Staging Detection shows how the earliest stage portrayals of the detective shaped broader Victorian debates concerning fraud, omniscience and earned authority. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of theatre history, Victorian literature and popular culture - as well as anyone with an interest in the figure of the detective.

This volume explores the relationship between the emphasis on performance in Elizabethan humanist education and the flourishing of literary brilliance around the turn of the sixteenth century. This study asks us what lessons we can learn today from Shakespeare's Latin grammar school. What were the cognitive benefits of an education so deeply rooted in what Demosthenes and Quintilian called "actio"-acting? Because of the vast difference between educational practice then and now, we have not often followed one essential thread: the focus on performance. This study examines the connections relevant to the education offered in schools today. This book will be of great interest to teachers, scholars, and administrators in performing arts and education.

Inspired by the power of nature and excelling at science, the young student Victor Frankenstein learns how to create life. However he is so horrified at his resulting creation, with it's own mind, thoughts and desires, that he rejects it. The Monster seeks revenge through terror and murder leaving Frankenstein, the man who challenged nature and sought after power, haunted by his actions. The infamous story of Frankenstein and his monster is a powerful, disturbing and cautionary tale, as relevant now as when it was written. This Essential Student Texts edition of Shelley's classic comes with accessible and informative notes.

The New Windmills series provides unabridged versions of pre-20th-century novels, complete with an introduction, glossary, extended writing questions and activities. The sewn binding and hard laminated covers make them hardwearing for class use and excellent value for money.

This edition of Twelfth Night is especially designed for students, with accessible on-page notes and explanatory illustrations, clear background information, and rigorous but accessible scholarly credentials. This edition includes illustrations, preliminary notes, reading lists (including websites) and classroom notes, allowing students to master Shakespeare's work.
About the Series:
Newly redesigned and easier to read, each play in the Oxford School Shakespeare series includes the complete and unabridged text, detailed and clear explanations of difficult words and passages, a synopsis of the plot, summaries of individual scenes, and notes on the main characters. Also included is a wide range of questions and activities for work in class, together with the historical background to Shakespeare's England, a brief biography of Shakespeare, and a complete list of his plays.

Grouped by genre, this collection of short stories introduces students to a range of fiction genres. Each group includes an introduction to the genre, an example of pre-20th century fiction and reading and writing assignments - helping students explore the characteristics of each genre.

These stories are arranged to help students investigate and compare the features of different genres and how authors conform to or deviate from established conventions. The book includes activities which draw out key features at word, sentence and text level.

Through a close re-examination of Eugene O'Neill's oeuvre, from minor plays to his Pulitzer-winning works, this study proposes that O'Neill's vision of tragedy privileges a particular emotional response over a more "rational" one among his audience members. In addition to offering a new paradigm through which to interpret O'Neill's work, this book argues that O'Neill's theory of tragedy is a robust account of the value of difficult theatre as a whole, with more explanatory scope and power than its cognitivist counterparts. This paradigm reshapes our understanding of live theatrical tragedy's impact and significance for our lives. The book enters the discussion of tragic value by way of the plays of Eugene O'Neill, and through this study, Killian makes the case that O'Neill has refused to allow Plato to define the terms of tragedy's merit, as the cognitivists have. He argues that O'Neill's theory of tragedy is non-cognitive and locates the value of a play in its ability to trigger certain emotional responses from the audience. This would be of great interest to students and scholars of performance studies, literature and philosophy.

A Tale of Two Cities is Dickens' tale of London and Paris leading up to, and during, the dramatic upheavals of the French Revolution. After being released from Bastille prison, Doctor Manette is reunited with his daughter, Lucie, in London. When Lucie falls in love with and marries a French emigre, terrors return to haunt the family as France suffers the convulsions of revolution. Essential Classics is a wonderful new series that offers a quick way into a range of exciting stories. Fast-moving and accessible, each story is a shortened, dramatically illustrated version of the classic novel, which loses none of the strength and flavour of the original.

Staging Detection reveals how the new figure of the stage detective emerged in nineteenth-century Britain. The first book to explore the productive intersections between detection and performance across a range of Victorian plays, Staging Detection foregrounds the role of the stage detective in shaping important theatrical modes of the period, from popular melodrama to society comedy. Beginning in 1863 with Tom Taylor's blockbuster play, The Ticket-of-Leave Man, the book criss-crosses London following the earliest performances of stage detectives. Centring the work of playwrights, novelists, critics and actors, from Sarah Lane and Horace Wigan to Wilkie Collins and Oscar Wilde, Staging Detection sheds new light on Victorian acting styles, furthers our understanding of melodrama, and resituates the famous Wildean dandy as a successor to the stage detective. Drawing on histories of masculinity and gender performance as well as developing scientific theory and nineteenth-century visual culture, Staging Detection shows how the earliest stage portrayals of the detective shaped broader Victorian debates concerning fraud, omniscience and earned authority. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of theatre history, Victorian literature and popular culture - as well as anyone with an interest in the figure of the detective.

Listen Learn Succeed. Revision Rocks offers a completely new approach to learning and revision. You can now get all the facts while walking to school, or as the soundtrack to your favourite computer game. The guide includes a 20 page booklet with clear essay plans, key quotes and key vocabulary you will need to use in your exam in order to get a great grade.Total Running Time: 1 hour 14 MinutesTrack listing: 1. Dr Jekyll - Key Points, 2. Dr Jekyll - Revision Essay, 3. Mr Hyde - Key Points, 4. Mr Hyde - Revision Essay, 5. Mr Utterson - Key Points, 6. Mr Utterson - Revision Essay, 7. Supporting Characters - Key Points, 8. Supporting Characters - Revision Essay, 9. Language - Key Points, 10. Language - Revision Essay, 11. Structure - Key Points, 12. Structure - Revision Essay, 13. Themes - Key Points, 14. Themes - Revision Essay, 15. Setting and Genre - Key Points, 16. Setting and Genre - Revision Essay, 17. Historical Context - Key Points, 18. Historical Context - Revision Essay.

This selection of 16 Greek myths provides tales of adventure, courage and mystery. Geraldine McCaughrean's re-telling makes them accessible for Key Stage 3 pupils.

Chris and Marley are in a new school, and from the word go they discover that things are not quite the same as in other schools. Their new friends start to behave strangely, not to mention the guy with no hair and that weird library teacher. When they are slowly but surely sucked into a series of disturbing events, Chris and Marley decide to investigate – and end up in the clutches of the lady with the purple eye. A chilling story with lots of blood curdling surprises.

Sizwe, Tembile, Victor, Vuyo and Mlibo have to do some fine detective work to rope in a gang of ruthless drug dealers. Queen, the leader of the gang, will stop at nothing but murder to prevent anybody from interfering with her plans. When the four friends are captured by Queens mugs, they devise a clever plan to escape and foil the gangs smuggling activities. This school edition was approved for the Department of Basic Educations National Catalogue for Senior Phase learners. Additional educational and subject matter is included: activities for pre-reading and post-reading, questions according to cognitive levels, glossary of literary terms and notes on the novel as genre.

Oliver Strange's life in London is all very normal until his father disappears in the wilds of the Okavango Swamps while collecting frog data. When Oliver goes in search of his dad, he is captured and things go from bad to worse.

He soon discovers his knowledge of reading maps and his Swiss Army knife are not enough when faced with crocodiles, hippos, lions and dynamite-brandishing crooks with a sinister goal to collect venom from the most poisonous frog of all the golden poison dart frog, found only in Colombia. Oliver is faced with not only saving his father but perhaps the whole world.

This school edition of Oliver Strange and the Journey to the Swamps is included in the Department of Basic Educations National Catalogue for Senior Phase learners. It has been revised and updated with activities for pre-reading and post-reading, questions according to cognitive levels, glossaries and notes on the genre of the novel.

This award-winning novel is a story of friendship, adventure and a journey of trust. When thirteen-year-old Grants dad disappears, the only clue to his whereabouts is R50 000 in a cell phone FLASH account. Rather than going to his uncle in Cape Town, Grant decides to run away to find his fisherman father. But before long he finds himself hurt and alone on a secluded West Coast beach. Desperate to remain hidden from the authorities, Grant seeks the help of Smiler and Ally; but can they be trusted? Winner of the Gold Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature (2007). This school edition of Sharkeys Son is included in the Department of Basic Educations National Catalogue for Senior Phase learners. It has been revised and updated with activities for pre-reading and post-reading, questions according to cognitive levels, glossaries and notes on the genre of the novel. Memoranda available online at www.tafelberg.com.

Zed is just an ordinary boy living an ordinary life when one day he discovers a secret box, long-hidden, crammed with clues and secrets that might just change his life forever. Soon there are unexplained fires and cruel deaths, weird happenings at the circus, and Zeds strange conviction that slowly everyone around him seem to be somehow changing. But what can Zed do about it one small, slightly clumsy schoolboy? How can he be expected to save himself, let alone the world? Winner of the Silver Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature (2005) and the Percy Fitzpatrick Prize for Youth Literature (2008). This school edition of SuperZero is included in the Department of Basic Educations National Catalogue for Senior Phase learners. It has been revised and updated with activities for pre-reading and post-reading, questions according to cognitive levels, glossaries and notes on the genre of the novel. Memoranda available online at www.tafelberg.com.

For the ultimate Grade 9-1 GCSE English Literature exam preparation, look no further than this brilliant CGP Workbook for George Orwell's novel Animal Farm. It's packed with questions on the plot, characters, context, themes and the writer's techniques - with answers at the back. We've also included a section of exercises to help students practise the skills they'll need for the exam, exam-style questions and there's even a cartoon that summarises the whole plot. This Workbook is matched to CGP's Animal Farm Text Guide (9781847626677).

First published in 1974, Investigating Drama offers a holistic understanding of drama. An understanding of drama requires far more thana study, however thorough, of plays and playwright, stagecraft and techniques, for drama must always be seen in the context of the theatre at work. A descriptive coverage of the basic elements of drama is accordingly only half the purpose of this book, and the authors hope that their plea in the title for an 'investigation' will be taken literally. To allow maximum flexibility the book is divided into independent 'units', which can be followed through as a complete drama course, or taken individually by those wishing to concentrate on selective areas. All aspects of theatre are covered and there is ample opportunity for practical work in improvisation. This book will be of interest to students of literature and drama.

The Routledge Anthology of Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Performance brings together a selection of particularly memorable performances, beginning with Nell Gwyn in a 1668 staging of Secret Love, and moving chronologically towards the final performance of John Philip Kemble's controversial adaptation of Thomas Otway's Venice Presever'd in October 1795. This volume contains a wealth of contextual materials, including contemporary reviews, portraits, advertisements, and cast lists. By privileging event over publication, this collection aims to encourage an understanding of performance that emphasizes the immediacy - and changeability - of the theatrical repertoire during the long eighteenth century. Offering an invaluable insight into the performance culture of the time, The Routledge Anthology of Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Performance is a unique, much-needed resource for students of theatre.

This book compares the theatrical cultures of early modern England and Spain and explores the causes and consequences not just of the remarkable similarities but also of the visible differences between them. An exercise in multi-focal theatre history research, it deploys a wide range of perspectives and evidence with which to recreate the theatrical landscapes of these two countries and thus better understand how the specific conditions of performance actively contributed to the development of each country's dramatic literature. This monograph develops an innovative comparative framework within which to explore the numerous similarities, as well as the notable differences, between early modern Europe's two most prominent commercial theatre cultures. By highlighting the nuances and intricacies that make each theatrical culture unique while never losing sight of the fact that the two belong to the same broader cultural ecosystem, its dual focus should appeal to scholars and students of English and Spanish literature alike, as well as those interested in the broader history of European theatre. Learning from what one 'playground' - that is, the environment and circumstances out of which a dramatic tradition originates - reveals about the other will help solve not only the questions posed above but also others that still await examination. This investigation will be of great interest to students and scholars in theatre history, comparative drama, early modern drama, and performance culture.

First published in 1971, Poison, Play and Duel explores the dominant symbols of the language and action of Hamlet. The Ghost first reveals that Claudius murdered his brother by poison, and this act of poisoning is then dramatically presented before the King. The ultimate consequence of the 'poison in jest' performed by the actors is the poisoned 'play' with rapiers between Laertes and Hamlet. This representation of violence, and the vengeful response to violence, creates the moral and the psychological problems of Hamlet. Critics naturally question, and disagree about, the way that Hamlet plays his role in this play because the role of Hamlet is a theatrical device designed to bring all human actions into debate and question. It is hardly surprising that audiences have seen mirrored in Hamlet their own most fundamental and inescapable problems. Nigel Alexander shows how Shakespeare, like Raphael, Titian and other Renaissance artists, developed and adapted the imagery inherited from the Christian and classical past. The battle within the soul, the choice of life, the hunt of passion, the triple face of prudence and the dance of the graces are given dramatic habitation in Hamlet's soliloquies, in the inner-play and in the savage contrast of sexuality between Gertrude and Ophelia. This book will be of interest to students of literature, drama, psychology and philosophy.

Little Women, by Louisa M Alcott, was published in 1868 and was the first children's book in America to become a classic. It tells the story of March girls - Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, describing the ups and downs of one eventful year in their family life. Essential Classics is a wonderful new series that offers a quick way into a range of exciting stories. Fast-moving and accessible, each story is a shortened, dramatically illustrated version of the classic novel, which loses none of the strength and flavour of the original. Includes glossary and a reading quiz.