Alison Oddey takes us on a spectator's journey engaging with art forms that cross boundaries of categorization. She questions the role of the spectator and director, including interviews with Deborah Warner; the nature of art works and performance with artists Heather Ackroyd, Dan Harvey and Graeme Miller. She provocatively demonstrates the spectator as centre of the artistic experience, a new kind of making theatre-art, revealing its spirit and nature; searching for space and contemplation in a hectic Twenty-First century landscape.

Shakespeare and the Cultivation of Difference reveals the relationship between racial discrimination and the struggle for upward social mobility in the early modern world. Reading Shakespeare's plays alongside contemporaneous conduct literature - how-to books on self-improvement - this book demonstrates the ways that the pursuit of personal improvement was accomplished by the simultaneous stigmatization of particular kinds of difference. The widespread belief that one could better, or cultivate, oneself through proper conduct was coupled with an equally widespread belief that certain markers (including but not limited to "blackness"), indicated an inability to conduct oneself properly, laying the foundation for what we now call "racism." A careful reading of Shakespeare's plays reveals a recurring critique of the conduct system voiced, for example, by malcontents and social climbers like Iago and Caliban, and embodied in the struggles of earnest strivers like Othello, Bottom, Dromio of Ephesus, and Dromio of Syracuse, whose bodies are bruised, pinched, blackened, and otherwise indelibly marked as uncultivatable. By approaching race through the discourse of conduct, this volume not only exposes the epistemic violence toward stigmatized others that lies at the heart of self-cultivation, but also contributes to the broader definition of race that has emerged in recent studies of cross-cultural encounter, colonialism, and the global early modern world.

From his first unscripted appearance on an Off-Broadway stage in the revolutionary 1960s to the frontpage news of his death from AIDS in 1987 at age 44 Charles Ludlam embodied a and helped to engender a the upheavals of his time. The astonishing life and legacy of this force to be reckoned with are at last revealed in ERIDICULOUS!E a literary biography of an American comic genius. After founding the Ridiculous Theatrical Company in 1967 Ludlam sustained an ever-shifting troupe of bohemian players through two decades of perennially daunting circumstances by writing 29 plays a plays that he starred in and directed as well. While Ludlam's work has become increasingly popular at regional theatres on college campuses and on stages throughout the world his gender-bending theories and wide-ranging cultural impact have reached far beyond Bette Midler the original cast members of ESaturday Night LiveE and the countless other artists he influenced during his abbreviated lifetime. Like his early plays Ludlam's life was rife with the sex drugs and creative experimentation that characterized the freewheeling '60s and '70s. Based on a decade of research and interviews with more than 150 people who knew or worked with Ludlam a including all of the major players in his troupe and seven of his lovers a ERIDICULOUS!E recreates the dramatic life of an inimitable and subversive theatrical master with you-are-there intensity.THWinner of the LAMBDA Literary Award for Biography and the Theatre Library Association Award for Outstanding Theatre Book of the YearTH David Kaufman makes a persuasive case for Ludlam's being a genius ... As a record of Ludlam's life and the theatrical world in which he was both guru and grandmaster this book is informed and passionate. THa Mel Gussow EThe New York TimesETH A fascinating portrait of an authentic stage genius and the New York avant-garde scene in which he toiled with such demented and dedicated diligence. THa PlaybillTH The phenom who inspired everyone from Bette Midler and Madeline Kahn to Tony Kushner and Paul Rudnick was no box of chocolates a which as reading experiences go makes his story all the sweeter. THa EVanity FairETH This is one helluva piece of work. THa Marilyn Stasio Variety.com

Contents:
Martin Brunkhorst, Bergische Universitat (Germany); Anthony B Dawson, University of British Columbia (Canada); Mary Judith Dunbar, University of Santa Clara (USA); Juilet Dusinberre, Girton College, Cambridge; Barbara Hodgdon, Drake University (USA); Dennis Kennedy, University of Pittsburgh (USA); Richard Paul Knowles, University of Guelph (Canada); Douglas Lanier, University of New Hampshire (USA); Philip C McGuire, Michigan State University (USA); Cary Mazer, University of Pennsylvania (USA); Denis Salter, McGill University (Canada); William B Worthen, Northwestern University (USA)

Both dramatic and musical theater are part of the tradition that has made Austria - especially Vienna - and the old Habsburg lands synonymous with high culture in Central Europe. Many works, often controversial originally but now considered as classics, are still performed regularly in Vienna, Prague, Budapest, or Krakow. This volume not only offers an excellent overview of the theatrical history of the region, it is also an innovative, cross-disciplinary attempt to analyse the inner workings and dynamics of theater through a discussion of the interplay between society, the audience, and performing artists.

"Theatre, Intimacy and Engagement "unravels politics from theatre in order to propose a new means to politicize performance. The last human venue is the location where the sense of one's aliveness, ethical associations, and collective potential is kickstarted through the shock of theatrical affects. Performance analyses ranging from child actors, animals and objects to reflections on the innovative theatre work of Societas Raffaello Sanzio, Forced Entertainment and Goat Island combine to offer a radical critique of performance studies: the first social science of appearance.

Focusing on Odin Teatret's latest work, this discussion is updated by drawing on fresh research. The group's productions since 2000 are included and the book offers a reassessment of Odin's actor training. Its community work and legacy are discussed and Barba's intercultural practice is viewed alongside two major Theatrum Mundi productions.

"Devising in Process" examines the creative processes of eight theatre companies making devising-based performances.
Companies covered include:
- The People Show
- Station House Opera
- Shunt
- The Red Room
- Faulty Optic Theatre of Animation
- theatre O
- Gecko
- Third Angel
Authors were granted unusual access to the rehearsal room, enabling them to provide unique insights into how ideas evolve and develop, how strategies and methods are applied and how roles and relationships are structured. Covering a broad range of styles, the collection explores physical theatre, political theatre, puppetry, live art, new writing and performance with new technology.
Accessibly framed, the book includes a comprehensive introduction which highlights similarities and differences in approach, examines the impact of economic and cultural factors and explores how definitions of devised theatre are changing and developing. This eye-opening collection will be important reading for students and practitioners interested in exploring 21st century devising processes.

This collection investigates dramatic and performative renderings of 'America' as an exilic place particularly focusing on issues of language, space and identity. It looks at ways in which immigrants and outsiders are embodied in American theatre practice and explores ways in which 'America' is staged and dramatized by immigrants and foreigners.

The Hedgerow Theatre was created by Jasper Deeter in 1923 in a rural Pennsylvania community devoted to the Arts and Crafts movement. Deeter, who had achieved some success in Eugene O'Neill's The Emperor Jones, abandoned the commercial stage and assembled a company dedicated to true repertory and to theater as a 'way of life.' It was an audacious experiment, but over the next thirty years Hedgerow prospered and became America's most successful repertory company. While it is popularly known for some of its famous alumnae, including Ann Harding and Richard Basehart, Hedgerow's genuine legacy is a living library of over 200 productions created by Deeter's idealistic, but determined, pursuit of "truth and beauty" in the theatre.

* This book offers an exciting examination of the theatrical functions of medieval English stage directions as records of earlier performance. * Would be recommended reading in for any undergraduate or master's level students studying the medieval period in Performance studies, English Literature or in History (in particular in the UK and the US). * The closest competitors focus on after 1560 so this project is a first in its time period coverage.

The relationship between the practice of dance and the technologies of representation have excited artists since the advent of film. Dancers, choreographers, and directors are increasingly drawn to screendance, the practice of capturing dance as a moving image mediated by a camera. While the interest in screendance has grown in importance and influence amongst artists, it has until now flown under the academic radar. Emmy-nominated director and auteur Douglas Rosenberg's groundbreaking book considers screendance as both a visual art form as well as an extension of modern and post-modern dance without drawing artificial boundaries between the two. Both a history and a critical framework, Screendance: Inscribing the Ephemeral Image is a new and important look at the subject. As he reconstructs the history and influences of screendance, Rosenberg presents a theoretical guide to navigating the boundaries of an inherently collaborative art form. Drawing on psycho-analytic, literary, materialist, queer, and feminist modes of analysis, Rosenberg explores the relationships between camera and subject, director and dancer, and the ephemeral nature of dance and the fixed nature of film. This interdisciplinary approach allows for a broader discussion of issues of hybridity and mediatized representation as they apply to dance on film. Rosenberg also discusses the audiences and venues of screendance and the tensions between commercial and fine-art cultures that the form has confronted in recent years. The surge of screendance festivals and courses at universities around the world has exposed the friction that exists between art, which is generally curated, and dance, which is generally programmed. Rosenberg explores the cultural implications of both methods of reaching audiences, and ultimately calls for a radical new way of thinking of both dance and film that engages with critical issues rather than simple advocacy.

A ground-floor guide to the practice and philosophy of directing that is open to all, including newcomers to the field. Through a series of concise and engaging essays, Directing Your Heart Out will inspire the next generation of theatre directors by encouraging them to approach the craft through instinct, compassion and the uninhibited expression of their own voice and vision. Each of the book's essays deals with a core principle of directing, such as strategies for directing text; facilitating productive discussion in rehearsals; absorbing criticism; and maintaining a positive work environment. Taken together, they serve as an effective introduction to the fundamentals of directing, or as provocative supplementary readings alongside traditional directing textbooks. En route, it references: > more than 20 directors and choreographers > major contemporary ensembles such as The Wooster Group, SITI Company and Back to Back Theatre > key terminology, such as objective, action, obstacle, realism and absurdism > over 12 plays, including a close-reading of a scene from The Seagull Encouraging an approach to directing that is grounded in self-empowerment and set out accessibly, this book opens up directing to the first-time director or student from a range of backgrounds, as well as the seasoned professional, who will benefit from the many revisionary, fresh perspectives.

This book argues that US theatre in the 20th century embraced the theories and practices of internationalism as a way to realize a better world and as part of the strategic reform of the theatre into a national expression. Live performance, theatre internationalists argued, could represent and reflect the nation like no other endeavour.

Olympe de Gouges, French activist and playwright, has for centuries been called illiterate, immoral, and insane while being mentioned almost uniquely for her "Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the female]" Citizen (1791). However, her plays and pamphlets imagine in vivid terms the consequences of natural right and their potential for transforming the autocratic state and family. She wrote nearly fifty plays, of which about a dozen have been recovered, and innumerable polemical letters, posters, brochures, and essays. This book uncovers her radical views of the self, the family, and the state and accounts for her vision of increasing female agency and decreasing the entitlements of aristocratic males. Here, Sherman examines and refutes the calumny de Gouges's reputation has suffered and proves that this intriguing historical figure deserves to be read instead of simply being talked about.

Theatre of Real People offers fresh perspectives on the current fascination with putting people on stage who present aspects of their own lives and who are not usually trained actors. After providing a history of this mode of performance, and theoretical frameworks for its analysis, the book focuses on work developed by seminal practitioners at Berlin's Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) production house. It invites the reader to explore the HAU's innovative approach to Theatre of Real People, authenticity and cultural diversity during the period of Matthias Lilienthal's leadership (2003-12). Garde and Mumford also elucidate how Theatre of Real People can create and destabilise a sense of the authentic, and suggest how Authenticity-Effects can present new ways of perceiving diverse and unfamiliar people. Through a detailed analysis of key HAU productions such as Lilienthal's brainchild X-Apartments, Mobile Academy's Blackmarket, and Rimini Protokoll's 100% City, the book explores both the artistic agenda of an important European theatre institution, and a crucial aspect of contemporary theatre's social engagement.

Theatre and Dictatorship in the Luso-Hispanic World explores the discourses that have linked theatrical performance and prevailing dictatorial regimes across Spain, Portugal and their former colonies. These are divided into three different approaches to theatre itself - as cultural practice, as performance, and as textual artifact - addressing topics including obedience, resistance, authoritarian policies, theatre business, exile, violence, memory, trauma, nationalism, and postcolonialism. This book draws together a diverse range of methodological approaches to foreground the effects and constraints of dictatorship on theatrical expression and how theatre responds to these impositions.

This is the first book to explore the relationship between experimental theatre and performance making in France. Reflecting the recent return to aesthetics and politics in French theory, it focuses on how a variety of theatre and performance practitioners use their art work to contest reality as it is currently configured in France.

British-born David Niven began his acting career in 1935, appearing in movie classics that have stood the test of time. Immensely popular with moviemakers and fans alike, Niven's urbane wittiness and charm enamored him to them throughout his long career. After grieving the death of his young first wife and left to raise two small children, he developed his career and won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1958. He later attained success as a writer. This reference is a definitive guide to David Niven's fascinating career. The book begins with a short biography that summarizes his life and provides a context for his work. The following chapters are each devoted to Niven's work in a particular medium, such as film, stage, radio, and television. Each chapter includes entries for Niven's performances, which provide full production information, plot synopses, review excerpts, and commentary. Other portions of the book offer information on material written by Niven, his various awards, and an annotated bibliography of works about him.

Music-Dance explores the identity of choreomusical work, its complex authorship and its modes of reception as well as the cognitive processes involved in the reception of dance performance. Scholars of dance and music analyse the ways in which a musical score changes its prescriptive status when it becomes part of a choreographic project, the encounter between sound and motion on stage, and the intersection of listening and seeing. As well as being of interest to musicologists and choreologists considering issues such as notation, multimedia and the analysis of performance, this volume will appeal to scholars interested in applied research in the fields of cognition and neuroscience. The line-up of authors comprises representative figures of today's choreomusicology, dance historians, scholars of twentieth-century composition and specialists in cognitive science and performance studies. Among the topics covered are multimedia and the analysis of performance; the notational practice of choreographers and the parallel attempts of composers to find a graphic representation for musical gestures; and the experience of dance as a paradigm for a multimodal perception, which is investigated in terms of how the association of sound and movement triggers emotions and specific forms of cognition.

This book charts how promotional campaigns in which Bernard Shaw participated were key crucibles within which agency and personality could re-negotiate their relationship to one another and to the consuming public. Concurrent with the rise of modern advertising, the creation of Shaw's 'G.B.S.' public persona was achieved through masterful imitation of patent medicine marketing strategies and a shrewd understanding of the relationship between product and spokesman. Helping to enhance the visibility of his literary writing and dovetailing with his Fabian political activities, 'G.B.S.' also became a key figure in the evolution of testimonial endorsement and the professionalizing of modern advertising. The study analyzes multiple ad series in which Shaw was prominently featured that were occasions for self-promotion for both Shaw and the agencies, and presage the iconoclastic style of contemporary 'public personality' and techniques of celebrity marketing.