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All My Sons (Paperback)
Arthur Miller; Introduction by Christopher Bigsby
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In Joe and Kate Keller's family garden, an apple tree - a memorial
to their son Larry, lost in the Second World War - has been torn
down by a storm. But his loss is not the only part of the family's
past they can't put behind them. Not everybody's forgotten the
court case that put Joe's partner in jail, or the cracked engine
heads his factory produced which caused it and dropped twenty-one
pilots out of the sky ...
First published in 1990, this book presents a discussion with
Arthur Miller, in conversation with Christopher Bigsby. Miller
talks openly and extensively about his own life and experiences,
events and environments which provide material for his plays: his
New York childhood, the Depression, the McCarthy witch-hunts. He
discusses in depth both the technique of his writing and the moral
and political questions which his plays address, and argues
passionately for the importance of maintaining respect for human
values in a world where they are so frequently transgressed.
Interwoven with these conversations are contributions from actors,
directors, designers, reviewers, and writers who have encountered
Miller over the years - whether in person or through his plays -
which attest to the universal and enduring importance of his work.
First published in 1985, C.W.E Bigsby examines the career and work
of playwright David Mamet. Bigsby shows that Mamet is a fierce
social critic, indicting an America corrupted at its core by myths
of frontier individualism and competitive capitalism. Mamet has
created plays whose bleak social vision and ironic metaphysics are
redeemed, if at all, by the power of imagination. No American
playwright before him has displayed the same sensitivity to
language, detecting lyricism in the brutal incoherencies of every
day speech and investing with meaning a contemporary aphasia. Few
have offered dramatic metaphors of such startling and disturbing
originality. Bigsby's study is the first book to provide a thorough
account of David Mamet's life and career, as well as close analyses
of individual plays.
A New Introduction to American Studies provides a coherent portrait
of American history, literature, politics, culture and society, and
also deals with some of the central themes and preoccupations of
American life. It will provoke students into thinking about what it
actually means to study a culture. Ideals such as the commitment to
liberty, equality and material progress are fully examined and new
light is shed on the sometimes contradictory ways in which these
ideals have informed the nation's history and culture. For
introductory undergraduate courses in American Studies, American
History and American Literature.
First published in 1990, this book presents a discussion with
Arthur Miller, in conversation with Christopher Bigsby. Miller
talks openly and extensively about his own life and experiences,
events and environments which provide material for his plays: his
New York childhood, the Depression, the McCarthy witch-hunts. He
discusses in depth both the technique of his writing and the moral
and political questions which his plays address, and argues
passionately for the importance of maintaining respect for human
values in a world where they are so frequently transgressed.
Interwoven with these conversations are contributions from actors,
directors, designers, reviewers, and writers who have encountered
Miller over the years - whether in person or through his plays -
which attest to the universal and enduring importance of his work.
First published in 1985, C.W.E Bigsby examines the career and work
of playwright David Mamet. Bigsby shows that Mamet is a fierce
social critic, indicting an America corrupted at its core by myths
of frontier individualism and competitive capitalism. Mamet has
created plays whose bleak social vision and ironic metaphysics are
redeemed, if at all, by the power of imagination. No American
playwright before him has displayed the same sensitivity to
language, detecting lyricism in the brutal incoherencies of every
day speech and investing with meaning a contemporary aphasia. Few
have offered dramatic metaphors of such startling and disturbing
originality. Bigsby's study is the first book to provide a thorough
account of David Mamet's life and career, as well as close analyses
of individual plays.
One of America's most powerful and original dramatists, August
Wilson offered an alternative history of the twentieth century, as
seen from the perspective of black Americans. He celebrated the
lives of those seemingly pushed to the margins of national life,
but who were simultaneously protagonists of their own drama and
evidence of a vital and compelling community. Decade by decade, he
told the story of a people with a distinctive history who forged
their own future, aware of their roots in another time and place,
but doing something more than just survive. Wilson deliberately
addressed black America, but in doing so discovered an
international audience. Alongside chapters addressing Wilson??'s
life and career, and the wider context of his plays, this Companion
dedicates individual chapters to each play in his ten-play cycle,
which are ordered chronologically, demonstrating Wilson's notion of
an unfolding history of the twentieth century.
Arthur Miller is regarded as one of the most important playwrights
of the twentieth century, and his work continues to be widely
performed and studied around the world. This updated Companion
includes Miller's work since the publication of the first edition
in 1997 - the plays Mr Peters' Connections, Resurrection Blues, and
Finishing the Picture - and key productions of his plays since his
death in 2005. The chapter on Miller and the cinema has been
completely revised to include new films, and demonstrates that
Miller's work remains an important source for filmmakers. In
addition to detailed analyses of plays including Death of a
Salesman and The Crucible, Miller's work is also placed within the
context of the social and political climate of the time. The volume
closes with a bibliographic essay which reviews the key studies of
Miller and also contains a detailed chronology of the work of this
influential dramatist.
Neil LaBute is one of the most exciting new talents in theatre and
film to have emerged in the 1990s. Influenced and inspired by such
writers as David Mamet, Edward Bond and Harold Pinter, he is
equally at home writing for the screen as for the stage, and the
list of films he has written and directed includes The Wicker Man
(2006), Possession (2002) and In the Company of Men (1998). As a
playwright, screenwriter, director, and author of short stories, he
has staked out a distinctive, and disturbing, territory. In the
first full-length study on LaBute, Christopher Bigsby examines his
darkly funny work which explores the cruelties, self-concern and
manipulative powers of individuals who inhabit a seemingly
uncommunal world. Individual chapters are dedicated to particular
works, and the book also includes an interview with LaBute,
providing a fascinating insight into the life of this influential
and often controversial figure.
Neil LaBute is one of the most exciting new talents in theatre and
film to have emerged in the 1990s. Influenced and inspired by such
writers as David Mamet, Edward Bond and Harold Pinter, he is
equally at home writing for the screen as for the stage, and the
list of films he has written and directed includes The Wicker Man
(2006), Possession (2002) and In the Company of Men (1998). As a
playwright, screenwriter, director, and author of short stories, he
has staked out a distinctive, and disturbing, territory. In the
first full-length study on LaBute, Christopher Bigsby examines his
darkly funny work which explores the cruelties, self-concern and
manipulative powers of individuals who inhabit a seemingly
uncommunal world. Individual chapters are dedicated to particular
works, and the book also includes an interview with LaBute,
providing a fascinating insight into the life of this influential
and often controversial figure.
One of America's most powerful and original dramatists, August
Wilson offered an alternative history of the twentieth century, as
seen from the perspective of black Americans. He celebrated the
lives of those seemingly pushed to the margins of national life,
but who were simultaneously protagonists of their own drama and
evidence of a vital and compelling community. Decade by decade, he
told the story of a people with a distinctive history who forged
their own future, aware of their roots in another time and place,
but doing something more than just survive. Wilson deliberately
addressed black America, but in doing so discovered an
international audience. Alongside chapters addressing Wilson's life
and career, and the wider context of his plays, this 2007 Companion
dedicates individual chapters to each play in his ten-play cycle,
which are ordered chronologically, demonstrating Wilson's notion of
an unfolding history of the twentieth century.
This book is open access and available on
www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by Knowledge Unlatched.
Many of the American playwrights who dominated the 20th century are
no longer with us: Edward Albee, Arthur Miller, Sam Shepard, Neil
Simon, August Wilson and Wendy Wasserstein. A new generation, whose
careers began in this century, has emerged, and done so when the
theatre itself, along with the society with which it engages, was
changing. Capturing the cultural shifts of 21st-century America,
Staging America explores the lives and works of 8 award-winning
playwrights – including Ayad Akhtar, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Young
Jean Lee and Quiara AlllegrÃa Hudes – whose backgrounds reflect
the social, religious, sexual and national diversity of American
society. Each chapter is devoted to a single playwright and
provides an overview of their career, a description and critical
evaluation of their work, as well as a sense of their reception.
Drawing on primary sources, including the playwrights’ own
commentaries and notes, and contemporary reviews, Christopher
Bigsby enters into a dialogue with plays which are as various as
the individuals who generated them. An essential read for theatre
scholars and students, Staging America is a sharp and landmark
study of the contemporary American playwright.
The Cambridge Companion to Modern American Culture offers a
comprehensive, authoritative and accessible overview of the
cultural themes and intellectual issues that drive the dominant
culture of the twentieth century. This companion explores the
social, political and economic forces that have made America what
it is today. It shows how these contexts impact upon
twentieth-century American literature, cinema and art. An
international team of contributors examines the special
contribution of African Americans and of immigrant communities to
the variety and vibrancy of modern America. The essays range from
art to politics, popular culture to sport, immigration and race to
religion and war. Varied, extensive and challenging, this Companion
is essential reading for students and teachers of American studies
around the world. It is the most accessible and useful introduction
available to an exciting range of topics in modern American
culture.
The Cambridge Companion to Modern American Culture offers a
comprehensive, authoritative and accessible overview of the
cultural themes and intellectual issues that drive the dominant
culture of the twentieth century. This companion explores the
social, political and economic forces that have made America what
it is today. It shows how these contexts impact upon
twentieth-century American literature, cinema and art. An
international team of contributors examines the special
contribution of African Americans and of immigrant communities to
the variety and vibrancy of modern America. The essays range from
art to politics, popular culture to sport, immigration and race to
religion and war. Varied, extensive and challenging, this Companion
is essential reading for students and teachers of American studies
around the world. It is the most accessible and useful introduction
available to an exciting range of topics in modern American
culture.
The second volume of the authoritative, multi-volume Cambridge
History of American Theatre, first published in 1999, begins in the
post-Civil War period and traces the development of American
theatre up to 1945. It covers all aspects of theatre from plays and
playwrights, through actors and acting, to theatre groups and
directors. Topics examined include vaudeville and popular
entertainment, European influences, theatre in and beyond New York,
the rise of the Little Theatre movement, changing audiences,
modernism, the Federal Theatre movement, scenography, stagecraft,
and architecture. Contextualising chapters explore the role of
theatre within the context of American social and cultural history,
and the role of American theatre in relation to theatre in Europe
and beyond. This definitive history of American theatre includes
contributions from the following distinguished academics - Thomas
Postlewait, John Frick, Tice L. Miller, Ronald Wainscott, Brenda
Murphy, Mark Fearnow, Brooks McNamara, Thomas Riis, Daniel J.
Watermeier, Mary C. Henderson, and Warren Kliewer.
This is an authoritative and wide-ranging history of American
theatre in all its dimensions, from theatre building to
playwriting, directors, performers, and designers. Engaging the
theatre as a performance art, a cultural institution, and a fact of
American social and political life, the history addresses the
economic context that conditioned the drama presented. The history
approaches its subject with a full awareness of relevant
developments in literary criticism, cultural analysis, and
performance theory. At the same time, it is designed to be an
accessible, challenging narrative. All volumes include an extensive
overview and timeline, followed by chapters on specific aspects of
theatre. Volume Three examines the development of the theatre after
World War II, through the productions of Broadway and beyond and
into regional theatre across the country. Contributors also analyze
new directions in theatre design, directing, and acting, as well as
key plays and playwrights through the 1990s.
The Cambridge History of American Theatre is an authoritative and
wide-ranging history of American theatre in all its dimensions,
from theatre building to play writing, directors, performers, and
designers. Engaging the theatre as a performance art, a cultural
institution, and a fact of American social and political life, the
History recognizes changing styles of presentation and performance
and addresses the economic context that conditions the drama
presented. The History approaches its subject with a full awareness
of relevant developments in literary criticism, cultural analysis,
and performance theory. At the same time, it is designed to be an
accessible, challenging narrative. Volume One deals with the
colonial inceptions of American theatre through the post-Civil War
period: the European antecedents, the New World influences of the
French and Spanish colonists, and the development of uniquely
American traditions in tandem with the emergence of national
identity.
"I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else
whom I knew as well" Eschewing a conventional residence and
lifestyle, Thoreau set up home in the woods on the shore of Walden
Pond in Massachusetts, a mile from his nearest neighbor, and earned
his living by labor of his own hands. Most people, he says are so
occupied with the factitious care and toils of life that its finer
fruits remain unplucked. So he went to Walden in an attempt to
find, in the seemingly simple routines of life stripped to its
essentials, the shape beneath what is apparently chaotic. Walden
describes Thoreau's domestic economy, the wildlife, the few
visitors to his remote wooden hut, and his reflections on the
quality of human life in age of growing materialism and of
prevailing work ethic. It has become poignant critique of the
values of Thoreau's society which retains its relevance and
extraordinary power today. "A comprehensive paper edition, with an
introduction and chronology of Thoreau's life and times"
The playwrights covered in this study have among them won most of the available awards and experienced considerable success in the theater. They have not, however, found their way so easily into the academic canon. Christopher Bigsby examines, in some detail, the developing careers of some of America's most fascinating and original dramatic talent: John Guare, Tina Howe, Tony Kushner, Emily Mann, Richard Nelson, Marsha Norman, David Rabe, Paula Vogel, Wendy Wasserstein, and Lanford Wilson. In addition to the well-known works, Bigsby discusses some of their latest plays to reach the stage. This lively and accessible book will be of interest to students, scholars and general theatergoers alike.
The first multi-volume history of the American theater to have been published, The Cambridge History of American Theatre is an authoritative and wide-ranging history of American theater in all its dimensions. It recognizes changing styles of presentation and performance, and addresses the economic context that conditions the drama presented. Volume One brings together the work of ten major authorities on American theater and drama. Like each of the three volumes, Volume One includes an extensive overview and timeline followed by chapters on specific aspects of American theater up to c. 1870.
A New Introduction to American Studies provides a coherent portrait
of American history, literature, politics, culture and society, and
also deals with some of the central themes and preoccupations of
American life. It will provoke students into thinking about what it
actually means to study a culture. Ideals such as the commitment to
liberty, equality and material progress are fully examined and new
light is shed on the sometimes contradictory ways in which these
ideals have informed the nation's history and culture. For
introductory undergraduate courses in American Studies, American
History and American Literature.
The early years of the twenty-first century saw several losses for
the American theatre but also marked the emergence of a new
generation of exciting playwrights. In this book, Christopher
Bigsby explores the work of nine of these developing talents, and
the importance of issues including race, gender and politics for
their writing. Increasingly, these new figures are gaining their
reputations not on Broadway but in small theatres and small towns
or even abroad, bringing fresh and diverse perspectives to
contemporary American drama. With a focus on female writers and on
issues of personal and public identity in contemporary society,
this volume investigates the styles and techniques these
playwrights favour, the themes they raise, and their role in a
changing America and a changing world.
WRITERS IN CONVERSATION compiles Christopher Bigsby's interviews
with the world's greatest writers from a decade of the Arthur
Miller Centre's International Literary Festival at the University
of East Anglia. These often candid, in-depth, witty and
illuminating exchanges shine a light on the craft and profession of
the working writer today. Volume 3 features interviews with Martin
Amis, Alan Acykbourn, John Banville, John Banville, Cherie Blair,
William Boyd, Andre Brink, Geraldine Brooks, A. S. Byatt, Jung
Chang, Louis de Bernieres, Margaret Drabble, Richard Eyre, Richard
Flanagan, Richard Ford, Jonathan Franzen, David Guterson,
Christopher Hampton, David Hare, Michael Holroyd, Christopher Hope,
Clive James and Hanif Kureishi.
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