The book relates to the study of spirit and spirituality; mind, intelligence, consciousness and epistemology; literature and theatre. From a basis in recorded experience it rethinks the nature of spirit and relates spirit to the human mind, and it questions the unprovable assumptions underlying contemporary objectivist and scientific approaches to intelligence, language and knowledge. It develops a model of the mind and extended states of consciousness and uses this to explore the rhythmical structures fundamental to literature and theatre.

Improvisation is a tool for many things: performance training, rehearsal practice, playwriting, therapeutic interaction and somatic discovery. This book opens up the significance of improvisation across cultures, histories and ways of performing our life, offering key insights into the what, the how and the why of performance. It traces the origins of improvisation and its influences, both as a social and political phenomenon and its position in performance training. Including history, theory and practice, this new edition encompasses Theatre and performance studies as well as drama, acknowledging the rapid reconfiguration of these fields in recent years. Its coverage also now extends to improvisation in the USA, cinema, LARPing, street events and the improvising audience, while also looking at improv's relationship to stand-up comedy, jazz, poetry and free movement practices. With an index of exercises and an extensive bibliography, this book is indispensable to students of improvisation.

Regarded by Augusto Boal as the international icon of his vision, Jana Sanskriti are the leading practitioners of Theatre of the Oppressed and Forum Theatre in India and the East. The group has worked continuously with rural communities in West Bengal since its beginnings in 1985 to reconfigure social and political relationships through theatre, achieving both a solid regional presence and an international reputation. This book combines: a biography of the group, charting their history, methodology and modes of operation an examination of Jana Sanskriti through the writings of their founder, Sanjoy Ganguly a detailed analysis of their performance events and practices, including the plays collected in Ganguly's Where We Stand (2009) practical exercises and games, taken from Jana Sanskriti's workshops and festivals. 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.

Jana Sanskriti is internationally recognised as the most iconic post-Boalian Theatre of the Oppressed operation in the world today. This fully illustrated book by the Bengali company's founder and artistic director Sanjoy Ganguly, edited by Ralph Yarrow, collects and explains their programme of workshop exercises, placing them in the context of their social and activist work. A set of interviews with Ganguly complements these practical sequences, drawing in topics such as the role of the joker, the nature of development, participation and agency, aesthetics as transformation, and Theatre of the Oppressed in the context of a market economy.

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor and Francis, an informa company.

This issue of "Contemporary Theatre Review" focuses on the "pre-expressive" and a range of related concepts: "score", "underscore", or "subscore", text and performance-text, the body and mind of the performer, cultural and linguistic embedding, and "presence" or the "pre-performative". Authors include performers, directors and actor-trainers, a physicist, a theatre semiotician, and "bio-aesthetician", academics, and drama and dance teachers.

This book sets out from the question: why have so many western theatre workers come to India and what were they looking for? What is it that seemed to be lacking in western performance and understanding of the nature and function of theatre? Locating Indian theatre as a major site of reappraisal and renewal both in India and in the world of performance, the book presents both a picture of traditional and contemporary theatre in India and an examination of its processes and practice. This study questions the generative processes which impel theatre, the 'transformation' of individuals and groups through performance and the performative dynamics of 'self' and 'other'.

The notion of the sacred has long informed the work of British dramatists like Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard. Ralph Yarrow's "Sacred Theatre" is the first book to examine the role of the sacred in the practice, process, and performance of drama. While leaving enough room for the personal and experiential, Yarrow draws on concepts from sociology, anthropology, and critical theory as well as analytical readings of plays and performance events to examine how theater interacts with the otherworldly. This volume is essential reading for anyone intrigued by the intersection of drama and consciousness. "This book takes on the enormous task of identifying not only the sacred in theatre but also questions ideas of sacred across the spectrum. It offers a great deal of material for discussion within performance and theatre theory courses."--Jade Rosina McCutcheon, Department of Theatre and Dance, University of California, Davis

The book relates to the study of spirit and spirituality; mind, intelligence, consciousness and epistemology; literature and theatre. From a basis in recorded experience it rethinks the nature of spirit and relates spirit to the human mind, and it questions the unprovable assumptions underlying contemporary objectivist and scientific approaches to intelligence, language and knowledge. It develops a model of the mind and extended states of consciousness and uses this to explore the rhythmical structures fundamental to literature and theatre.

This handbook not only provides a very wide-ranging introduction and orientation to the world of the Theatre of the Oppressed, but Birgit Fritz also presents concrete and practical assistance for structuring basic workshops in process-oriented theatre work and in developing Forum Theatre plays.

Birgit Fritz explores the working principles of emancipatory theatre work and somatic learning in depth. She gives numerous examples of the work and life of theatre groups and reveals fascinating possibilities of how theatre for social change can be successfully linked with social and political commitment, so that artistic process can bring about cross-generational collaboration, develop social democracy, and operate as an active force for peace.

Jacques Lecoq and the British Theatre brings together the first collection of essays in English to focus on Lecoq's school of mime and physical theatre. For four decades, at his school in Paris, Jacques Lecoq trained performers from all over the world and effected a quiet evolution in the theatre.
The work of such highly successful Lecoq graduates as Theatre de Complicite (The Winter's Tale with the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Visit, The Street of Crocodiles and The Causcasian Chalk Circle with the Royal National Theatre) has brought Lecoq's work to the attention of mainstream critics and audiences in Britain. Yet Complicte is just the tip of the Iceberg. The contributors to this volume, most of them engaged in applying Lecoq's work, chart some of the diverse ways in which it has had an impact on our conceptions of mime, physical theatre, actor training, devising street theatre and interculturalism.
This lively - even provocative - collection of essays focuses academic debate and raises awareness of the impact of Lecoq's work in Britain today.

Jacques Lecoq and the British Theatre brings together the first collection of essays in English to focus on Lecoq's school of mime and physical theatre. For four decades, at his school in Paris, Jacques Lecoq trained performers from all over the world and effected a quiet evolution in the theatre.
The work of such highly successful Lecoq graduates as Theatre de Complicite (The Winter's Tale with the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Visit, The Street of Crocodiles and The Causcasian Chalk Circle with the Royal National Theatre) has brought Lecoq's work to the attention of mainstream critics and audiences in Britain. Yet Complicte is just the tip of the Iceberg. The contributors to this volume, most of them engaged in applying Lecoq's work, chart some of the diverse ways in which it has had an impact on our conceptions of mime, physical theatre, actor training, devising street theatre and interculturalism.
This lively - even provocative - collection of essays focuses academic debate and raises awareness of the impact of Lecoq's work in Britain today.
Franc Chamberlain is Senior Lecturer in Performance Studies at University College Northampton. He is performer, director and writer.

Improvisation is a tool for many things: performance training, rehearsal practice, playwriting, therapeutic interaction and somatic discovery. This book opens up the significance of improvisation across cultures, histories and ways of performing our life, offering key insights into the what, the how and the why of performance. It traces the origins of improvisation and its influences, both as a social and political phenomenon and its position in performance training. Including history, theory and practice, this new edition encompasses Theatre and performance studies as well as drama, acknowledging the rapid reconfiguration of these fields in recent years. Its coverage also now extends to improvisation in the USA, cinema, LARPing, street events and the improvising audience, while also looking at improv's relationship to stand-up comedy, jazz, poetry and free movement practices. With an index of exercises and an extensive bibliography, this book is indispensable to students of improvisation.