This volume examines the work of directors Jacques Copeau, Theodore Komisarjevsky and Tyrone Guthrie. It explores in detail many of the directors' key productions, including Copeau's staging of Moliere's The Tricks of Scapin, Komisarjevsky's signature season of Chekhov plays at the Barnes Theatre and Guthrie's pioneering direction of Shakespeare's plays in North America. This study argues that their work exemplifies the complexity and novelty of the role of theatre directing in the first three-quarters of the 20th century, as Komisarjevsky was in the middle of the genesis of directing in Russia, Copeau launched his directorial career just as the role was gaining definition, and Guthrie was at the vanguard of directing in Britain, at last shaking off the traditions of the actor-manager to formulate the new role of artistic director.

A broad-ranging guide to the process, collaborations and lasting influences of one of Europe's leading Twentieth Century actor trainers. Written for students and scholars of Theatre Studies, particularly acting, directing, European theatre and 20th Century theatre. By far the most comprehensive and up to date setting out of Meyerhold's role in theatre.

From Komisarjevsky in the 1920s, to Cheek by Jowl 's Russian sister company almost a century later, Russian actor training has had a unique influence on modern British theatre. Russians in Britain, edited by Jonathan Pitches, is the first work of its type to identify a relationship between both countries theatrical traditions as continuous as it is complex.

Unravelling new strands of transmission and translation linking the great Russian migr practitioners to the second and third generation artists who responded to their ideas, Russians in Britain takes in:

• Komisarjevsky and the British theatre establishment.
• Stanislavsky in the British conservatoire.
• Meyerhold in the academy.
• Michael Chekhov in the private studio.
• Littlewood 's Theatre Workshop and the Northern Stage Ensemble.
• Katie Mitchell, Declan Donnellan and Michael Boyd.

Charting a hitherto untold story with historical and contemporary implications, these nine essays present a compelling alternative history of theatrical practice in the UK.

Providing new insight into the well-known tradition of acting, Science and the Stanislavsky Tradition of Acting is the first book to contextualise the Stanislavsky tradition with reference to parallel developments in science. Rooted in practice, it presents an alternative perspective based on philosophy, physics, romantic science and theories of industrial management. Working from historical and archive material, as well as practical sources, Jonathan Pitches traces an evolutionary journey of actor training from the roots of the Russian tradition, Konstantin Stanislavsky, to the contemporary Muscovite director, Anatoly Vasiliev. The book explores two key developments that emerge from Stanislavsky's system - one linear, rational and empirical, while the other is fluid,organic and intuitive. The otherwise highly contrasting acting theories of Vsevolod Meyerhold (biomechanics) and Lee Strasberg (the Method) are dealt with under the banner of the rational or Newtonian paradigm; Michael Chekov's acting technique and the little known ideas of Anatoly Vasiliev form the centrepiece of the other Romantic, organic strain of practice. Science and the Stanislavsky Tradition of Acting opens up the theatre laboratories of five major practitioners in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and scrutinises their acting methodologies from a scientific perspective.

"Science and the Stanislavsky Tradition of Acting "offers new insight into the well-known tradition of acting. Rooted in practice this is the first book to contextualize the Stanislavsky tradition with reference to parallel developments in science, it presents an alternative perspective based on philosophy, physics, romantic science and theories of industrial management.
Working from practical sources, historical and archive material Jonathan Pitches traces an evolutionary journey of actor training from the roots of the Russian tradition, Konstantin Stanislavsky, to the contemporary Muscovite director, Anatoly Vasiliev. The book explores two key developments that emerge from Stanislavsky's system - one linear, rational and empirical, while the other is fluid, organic and intuitive. The otherwise highly contrasting acting theories of Vsevolod Meyerhold (biomechanics) and Lee Strasberg (the Method) are dealt with under the banner of the rational or Newtonian paradigm; Michael Chekov's acting technique and the little known ideas of Anatoly Vasiliev form the centerpiece of the other Romantic, organic strain of practice. "Science and the Stanislavsky Tradition of Acting" opens up the theatre laboratories of five major practitioners in the twentieth and twenty first centuries and scrutinizes their acting methodologies from a scientific perspective.

Vsevolod Meyerhold considers the life and work of the extraordinary twentieth-century director and theatre-maker. This compact, well-illustrated volume includes: a biographical introduction to Meyerhold's life a clear explanation of his theoretical writings an analysis of his masterpiece production Revisor, or The Government Inspector a comprehensive and usable description of the 'biomechanical' exercises he developed for training the actor. As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners offer unbeatable value for today's student.

Launching the landmark Performing Landscapes series, Performing Mountains brings together for the first time Mountain Studies and Performance Studies in order to examine an international selection of dramatic responses to mountain landscapes. Moving between different registers of writing, the book offers a critical assessment of how the cultural turn in landscape studies interacts with the practices of environmental theatre and performance. Conceived in three main parts, it begins by unpicking the layers of disciplinary complexity in both fields, before surveying the rich history and practice of rituals, playtexts and site specific works inspired by mountains. The last section moves to a unique analysis of mountains themselves using key concepts from performance: training, scenography, acting and spectatorship. Threaded throughout is a very personal tale of mountain research, offering a handrail or alternative guide through the book.

From Komisarjevsky in the 1920s, to Cheek by Jowl 's Russian sister company almost a century later, Russian actor training has had a unique influence on modern British theatre. Russians in Britain, edited by Jonathan Pitches, is the first work of its type to identify a relationship between both countries theatrical traditions as continuous as it is complex.

Unravelling new strands of transmission and translation linking the great Russian migr practitioners to the second and third generation artists who responded to their ideas, Russians in Britain takes in:

• Komisarjevsky and the British theatre establishment.
• Stanislavsky in the British conservatoire.
• Meyerhold in the academy.
• Michael Chekhov in the private studio.
• Littlewood 's Theatre Workshop and the Northern Stage Ensemble.
• Katie Mitchell, Declan Donnellan and Michael Boyd.

Charting a hitherto untold story with historical and contemporary implications, these nine essays present a compelling alternative history of theatrical practice in the UK.

Vsevolod Meyerhold considers the life and work of the extraordinary twentieth-century director and theatre-maker. This compact, well-illustrated volume includes: a biographical introduction to Meyerhold's life a clear explanation of his theoretical writings an analysis of his masterpiece production Revisor, or The Government Inspector a comprehensive and usable description of the 'biomechanical' exercises he developed for training the actor. As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners offer unbeatable value for today's student.

Launching the landmark Performing Landscapes series, Performing Mountains brings together for the first time Mountain Studies and Performance Studies in order to examine an international selection of dramatic responses to mountain landscapes. Moving between different registers of writing, the book offers a critical assessment of how the cultural turn in landscape studies interacts with the practices of environmental theatre and performance. Conceived in three main parts, it begins by unpicking the layers of disciplinary complexity in both fields, before surveying the rich history and practice of rituals, playtexts and site specific works inspired by mountains. The last section moves to a unique analysis of mountains themselves using key concepts from performance: training, scenography, acting and spectatorship. Threaded throughout is a very personal tale of mountain research, offering a handrail or alternative guide through the book.

What is 'performance'? What are the boundaries of Performance Studies? How do we talk about contemporary performance practices today in simple but probing terms? What kinds of practices represent the field and how can we interpret them?
Combining the voices of academics, artists, cultural critics and teachers, "Performance Perspectives" answers these questions and provides a critical introduction to Performance Studies. Presenting an accessible way into key terminology and context, it offers a new model for analyzing contemporary performance based on six frames or perspectives:

• Body
• Space
• Time
• Technology
• Interactivity
• Organization

Drawing on examples from a wide range of practices across site specific performance, virtual reality, dance, applied theatre and everyday performance, "Performance Perspectives" addresses the binary of theory and practice and highlights the many meeting points between studio and seminar room. Each chapter takes the innovative form of a three-way conversation, bringing together theoretical introductions with artist interviews and practitioner statements. The book is supported by activities for discussion and practical devising work, as well as clear guidance for further reading and an extensive reference list across media
"Performance Perspectives" is essential reading for anyone studying, interpreting or making performance.

Stanislavsky in the World is an ambitious and ground-breaking work charting a fascinating story of the global dissemination and transformation of Stanislavsky's practices. Case studies written by local experts, historians and practitioners are brought together to introduce the reader to new routes of Stanislavskian transmission across the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and South (Latin) America. Such a diverse set of stories moves radically beyond linear understandings of transmission to embrace questions of transformation, translation, hybridisation, appropriation and resistance. This important work not only makes a significant contribution to Stanislavsky studies but also to recent research on theatre and interculturalism, theatre and globalisation, theatre and (post)colonialism and to the wider critical turn in performer training historiographies. This is a unique examination of Stanislavsky's work presenting a richly diverse range of examples and an international perspective on Stanislavsky's impact that has never been attempted before.

Meyerhold on Theatre brings together in one volume Vsevolod Meyerhold's most significant writings and utterances, and covers his entire career as a director from 1902 to 1939. It contains a comprehensive selection from all published material, unabridged and translated from the original Russian, updated and supplemented with a critical commentary relating Meyerhold to his period and eye-witness accounts describing all his productions. The book is illustrated with photographs of Meyerhold's designs and productions. Within this diverse collection of sometimes dense, sometimes lyrical, and always fascinating writings, Meyerhold emerges from this book as a forerunner of such directors as Brecht, Piscator, Planchon and Brook, a relentless enemy of naturalism and a supreme exponent of total theatre whose influence continues to be felt throughout the theatre of today. This fourth edition features a new introduction by Prof. Jonathan Pitches, which helps to demystify some of the terminology Meyerhold and his associates used, and indicates the fundamental connection between culture and politics represented in his life and art.

Meyerhold on Theatre brings together in one volume Vsevolod Meyerhold's most significant writings and utterances, and covers his entire career as a director from 1902 to 1939. It contains a comprehensive selection from all published material, unabridged and translated from the original Russian, updated and supplemented with a critical commentary relating Meyerhold to his period and eye-witness accounts describing all his productions. The book is illustrated with photographs of Meyerhold's designs and productions. Within this diverse collection of sometimes dense, sometimes lyrical, and always fascinating writings, Meyerhold emerges from this book as a forerunner of such directors as Brecht, Piscator, Planchon and Brook, a relentless enemy of naturalism and a supreme exponent of total theatre whose influence continues to be felt throughout the theatre of today. This fourth edition features a new introduction by Prof. Jonathan Pitches, which helps to demystify some of the terminology Meyerhold and his associates used, and indicates the fundamental connection between culture and politics represented in his life and art.