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Ben Jonson (Routledge Revivals)
by John PalmerOriginally published in 1934, Palmer’s biography of famous playwright Ben Jonson delves into his life and works and what he achieved in both. As first poet laureate of England, Jonson’s life presents a fascinating look into the state of literature and theatre in renaissance Britain which Palmer presents in great detail. This title will be of interest to students of literature.
Ben Jonson (Routledge Revivals)
by John PalmerOriginally published in 1934, Palmer’s biography of famous playwright Ben Jonson delves into his life and works and what he achieved in both. As first poet laureate of England, Jonson’s life presents a fascinating look into the state of literature and theatre in renaissance Britain which Palmer presents in great detail. This title will be of interest to students of literature.
Ben Jonson
by David RiggsBen Jonson’s contemporaries admired him above all other playwrights and poets of the English Renaissance. He was the “great refiner” who alchemized the bleakest aspects of everyday life into brilliant images of folly and deceit. He was also a celebrated reprobate and an ambitious entrepreneur. David Riggs illuminates every facet of this extraordinary career, giving us the first major biography of Jonson in over sixty years. The story of Jonson’s life provides a broad view of the literary procession in early modern England and the milieu in which Elizabethan drama was produced. Beginning as a journeyman actor, Jonson was soon a novice playwright; his first important play was staged in 1598, with Shakespeare in the cast. He was by turns the self-styled leader of a literary elite, a writer of court masques, the first dramatist to publish his own Works, a royal pensioner, and a genteel poet. As Jonson transformed himself from an artisan into a gentleman, his need to transcend his class origins led him to murder, to his notorious quarrels with Thomas Dekker, John Marston, and Inigo Jones, and to his lifelong rivalry with Shakespeare. Riggs traces the roots of Jonson’s aggressiveness back to the turmoil of his childhood and adolescence. He offers new and convincing accounts of Jonson’s latent hostility toward his bricklayer stepfather, his reckless marriage to Anne Lewis, and his conflicted relationships with his children. This vivid portrait synthesizes six decades of scholarship and new historical evidence. Sixty halftones beautifully illustrate the story and capture the spirit of the age. With Riggs’ original interpretations of Jonson’s masterpieces and lesser known works, Ben Jonson: A Life will prove the standard account of this complex man’s life and works for many years to come.
The Beloved (Modern Plays)
by Amir Nizar ZuabiWhen Abraham returns home from a journey with his son, his wife is troubled by the boy's state of mind. What took place on the mountain that day is the beginning of a lifetime of suffering for his son and the dawn of a new age for millions.A haunting and heartbreaking twist on the story of Abraham and Isaac, which reminds us that this historic tale of sacrifice began with just one family. The Beloved follows writer Amir Nizar Zuabi's previous successes with I Am Yusuf and This Is My Brother and In the Penal Colony. The publication coincided with a co- production by Palestinian theatre company ShiberHur with the Bush Theatre and KVS Brussels.
The Beloved (Modern Plays)
by Amir Nizar ZuabiWhen Abraham returns home from a journey with his son, his wife is troubled by the boy's state of mind. What took place on the mountain that day is the beginning of a lifetime of suffering for his son and the dawn of a new age for millions.A haunting and heartbreaking twist on the story of Abraham and Isaac, which reminds us that this historic tale of sacrifice began with just one family. The Beloved follows writer Amir Nizar Zuabi's previous successes with I Am Yusuf and This Is My Brother and In the Penal Colony. The publication coincided with a co- production by Palestinian theatre company ShiberHur with the Bush Theatre and KVS Brussels.
Belongings (Oberon Modern Plays)
by Morgan Lloyd MalcolmJust because you appear to have secrets don't mean your secrets are all that interestin'.A young female soldier returns from Afghanistan to a home she no longer recognises or connects with. She has proved herself in combat but her hardest battle is yet to come, as she navigates family politics, old relationships, and the memory of betrayal. From the deserts of a modern war to the battleground of a family kitchen, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm's explosive new play delves into one woman's quest for identity and a place she can call home.Nominated for Charles Wintour Most Promising Playwright Award (Evening Standard Awards) ‘If this outstanding debut from Morgan Lloyd Malcolm doesn’t feature [in the end of year awards] I’ll be staggered, as it packs - and elegantly - into 75 minutes what most dramas could only dream of fitting into double the time… a terrific addition to the West End.’ 4 stars – Evening Standard‘A major find… she writes with such lightness of touch and such depth of feeling that the evening never slackens its grip. It packs a huge amount in… recommended.’ 4 stars – Daily Telegraph‘There are great lines and powerful moments... Writing of this calibre is a pleasure to good to spoil.’ – The Times
Belong (Modern Plays)
by Bola Agbaje'Supporters keh. Forget this country. How many year have you lived here...? Your English is better than the Queen's and they still call you...'When Kayode's election campaign for a seat in parliament fails, the Nigerian born MP falls into a pit of depression. Angry and confused, he blames his loss on his ethnicity, despite being beaten by another black candidate. His subsequent remarks to the press force him into hiding. Disgraced and, according to his friend, 'in need of a holiday', he returns to his native Nigeria hoping to escape politics. But here he meets his adopted brother, who is deeply involved in the corrupt politics of his homeland. Kayode's determination to change things emerges with fierce vehemence, as he becomes dangerously involved in a political power struggle. Bola Agbaje's satirical new play questions our notion of home. It examines what it is to be both a British and African citizen, and what happens when corruption in the two nations seems impossible to overcome.
Belong (Modern Plays)
by Bola Agbaje'Supporters keh. Forget this country. How many year have you lived here...? Your English is better than the Queen's and they still call you...'When Kayode's election campaign for a seat in parliament fails, the Nigerian born MP falls into a pit of depression. Angry and confused, he blames his loss on his ethnicity, despite being beaten by another black candidate. His subsequent remarks to the press force him into hiding. Disgraced and, according to his friend, 'in need of a holiday', he returns to his native Nigeria hoping to escape politics. But here he meets his adopted brother, who is deeply involved in the corrupt politics of his homeland. Kayode's determination to change things emerges with fierce vehemence, as he becomes dangerously involved in a political power struggle. Bola Agbaje's satirical new play questions our notion of home. It examines what it is to be both a British and African citizen, and what happens when corruption in the two nations seems impossible to overcome.
Belly Dance, Pilgrimage and Identity
by Barbara Sellers-YoungThis book examines the globalization of belly dance and the distinct dancing communities that have evolved from it. The history of belly dance has taken place within the global flow of sojourners, immigrants, entrepreneurs, and tourists from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century. In some cases, the dance is transferred to new communities within the gender normative structure of its original location in North Africa and the Middle East. Belly dance also has become part of popular culture’s Orientalist infused discourse. The consequence of this discourse has been a global revision of the solo dances of North Africa and the Middle East into new genres that are still part of the larger belly dance community but are distinct in form and meaning from the dance as practiced within communities in North Africa and the Middle East.
The Belle Vue (Oberon Modern Plays)
by Ödön Von Horvath Kenneth McLeishHorváth's setting for this black political farce is a seedy hotel in Central Europe in the 1920s where the only guest is a drunken, ageing nymphomaniac - wealthy and despotic. Under her sole occupancy the hotel is falling apart and sliding even deeper into decadence. There is no future and no hope until a young woman arrives with a fortune to spend. What follows is a riot of confusion and mistaken identities, satirising the despair and futility of a continent poised on the brink of fascism. Horváth (1901-1938) was accidentally killed in Paris after fleeing from the Nazis. The Belle Vue, one of 16 plays, was not performed until 1969. This translation marked the British premiere, in a production by the Actors Touring Company.
Bella Heesom: Two Plays (Oberon Modern Plays)
by Bella HeesomMy World Has Exploded A Little Bit, Bella Heesom's debut play, is part true story, part farcical performance lecture. An autobiographical piece exploring how we deal with grief, it mixes tender intimacy with philosophical debate and clownish silliness. It received acclaim from audience, industry and critics at the Edinburgh Fringe 2016, went on an ACE supported national tour, and was Highly Commended by the awards committee at VAULT Festival 2017. Rejoicing At Her Wondrous Vulva The Young Woman Applauded Herself is a piece celebrating female sexuality and exploring the impact of the internalised male gaze on a woman’s relationship with her own pleasure.
The Believers are But Brothers (Oberon Modern Plays)
by Javaad AlipoorWe live in a time where old orders are collapsing: from the postcolonial nation states of the Middle East, to the EU and the American election. Through it all, tech savvy and extremist groups rip up political certainties.Amidst this, a generation of young men find themselves burning with resentment, without the money, power and sex they think they deserve. This crisis of masculinity leads them into an online world of fantasy, violence and reality.The Believers Are But Brothers envelops its audience in this digital realm, weaving us into the webs of resentment, violence and power networks that are eating away at the structures of the twentieth century. This bold one-man show explores the smoke and mirrors world of online extremism, anonymity and hate speech.
The Believers
by Bryony LaveryName one certainty . . . one sure thing . . . one thing you truly believe . . .Two families are flung together on a night of cataclysmic weather. Bruised, tired and seduced by the flow of alcohol, they wrestle with their differences until, suddenly, the unthinkable happens. Something unbelievable. As their versions of what happened begin to fall apart and their perspectives become clouded by suspicion, they turn on each other in a desperate fight to understand the truth.Frantic Assembly and Bryony Lavery follow the success of their previous collaborations (Stockholm and Beautiful Burnout) with this thrilling and highly visceral exploration of love and loss.Bryony Lavery's The Believers premiered at The Drum Theatre in February 2014, before touring the UK in a co-production between Frantic Assembly and Theatre Royal Plymouth, in association with Curve Theatre, Leicester.
Believe It or Not (Oberon Classics Ser.)
by Ranjit Bolt Eugène ScribeIn Scribe's Le Puff (1848) - translated here as Believe It or Not - an honourable cavalry officer returns to Paris after five years abroad to find his countrymen happily addicted to exaggeration, dissimulation and downright lying. Can he find happiness and keep his integrity in a world where nothing is what it seems? The enduring qualities of Scribe's work - the complex yet elegant plotting, the quirky characters, the sharply-written dialogue - are all very much in evidence, as with bouyant cynicism he skewers the worlds of letters, finance and politics.
Belarus Free Theatre: New Plays From Eastern Europe (Oberon Modern Playwrights)
by Belarus Free TheatreIncluding: The Women and the Sniper By Tatiana Kitsenko / Diprosopus, A Story in Two Faces By Lyudmila Zaytseva / Onyx By Maxim Dosko / Herman, Franz and Gregor By Julia Tupikina / The Time Wardrobe or the New Adventures of D’Artagnan By Yuri Harin / Same Thing By Olga Prusak The International Contest of Contemporary Drama (ICCD ) is a biannual playwriting competition run by Belarus Free Theatre since its foundation in 2005. It is open to submissions in Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian and has produced playwrights such as Anna Yablonskaya, Aleksey Shcherbak, and Pavel Pryazhko – whose plays have been produced at the Royal Court Theatre – and Vyatcheslav Durnenekov who has written for the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 2016, 543 plays were submitted from 14 countries including Belarus, UK, Russia, Poland, Germany, Italy, Israel, Estonia, and Georgia. The winning plays in this collection are in six categories: Best Play, Best Play on a Social or Political Topic, Best Short Play or Experimental Writing for Theatre, Best Adaptation, Best Play for Children and The Tom Stoppard Award for Best Debut. This publication is dedicated to promoting the works of the winning playwrights, and is published to coincide with prizegiving ceremonies taking place in London, Minsk, Kiev and Moscow.
Belarus Free Theatre: The VII International Contest of Contemporary Drama
by Belarus Free Theatre Oleg Mikhailov Maxim Dosko Marina Krapivina Oleg KaninThe International Contest of Contemporary Drama (ICCD) was set up by Belarus Free Theatre to encourage new writing and to promote Belarusian cultural identity on an international stage with the participation of artists around Europe. Belarusian playwrights, banned within their own country but recognised for their work outside, have the opportunity to show their work in Belarus. It also includes the work of foreign playwrights in an international cultural context, and in which Belarus would have its place for the first time. The ICCD has produced playwrights such as Anna Yablonskaya, Aleksey Shcherbak, and Pavel Pryazhko – whose plays have been produced at the Royal Court Theatre – and brothers Mikhail and Vyatcheslav Durnenekov who have written for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The contest, one of the top three of its kind in central Europe, has enjoyed success since its conception in 2005, garnering critical acclaim, but was discontinued in 2010 due to a lack of funds. 2014 is the first year it has been held in a free country. In previous years it was held underground in Belarus, hidden from the authorities. BFT have now reinstated this contest, and increased the diversity of participants in order to include Belarusians who remain isolated because of the state policy on internet censorship and media control. This publication is dedicated to promoting the works of the winning playwrights, and is published to coincide with an award ceremony at the Young Vic Theatre in London. In 2014, BFT received 523 submissions from 12 participating countries: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, USA, Germany, UK, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Estonia. The winning plays in this collection are in 3 main categories: Best Full-Length Play; Best Experimental Writing for Theatre/Short Play; Best Adaptation of a Classic Text; plus a special award, The Tom Stoppard Award for Best Debut. The ICCD, and Belarus Free Theatre: New Plays from Central Europe, reconnects the Belarusian people with their independent artistic voice and their cultural identity within a European context. This dual language edition (Russian and English) will be distributed free of charge within Belarus.
Being And Having In Shakespeare
by Katharine Eisaman MausWhat is the relation between who a person is, and what he or she has? A number of Shakespeare's plays engage with this question, elaborating a 'poetics of property' centering on questions of authority and entitlement, of inheritance and prodigality, and of the different opportunities afforded by access to land and to chattel property. Being and Having in Shakespeare considers these presentations of ownership and authority. Richard II and the Henry IV plays construe sovereignty as a form of property right, largely construing imperium, or the authority over persons in a polity, as a form of dominium, the authority of the propertyholder. Nonetheless, what property means changes considerably from Richard's reign to Henry's, as the imagined world of the plays is reconfigured to include an urban economy of chattel consumables. The Merchant of Venice, written between Richard II and Henry IV, part 1, reimagines, in comic terms, some of the same issues broached in the history plays. It focuses in particular on the problem of the daughter's inheritance and on the different property obligations among kin, friends, business associates, and spouses. In the figure of the 'vagabond king', theoretically entitled but actually dispossessed, Henry VI, part 2 and King Lear both coordinate problems of entitlement with conundrums about distributive justice, raising fundamental questions about property relations and social organization.
Being a Director: A Life in Theatre
by Di TrevisDi Trevis is a world-renowned director, whose work with Britain’s National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, and directing productions worldwide, has deeply informed her knowledge of the director’s craft. In Being a Director, she draws on a wealth of first-hand experience to present an immersive, engaging and vital insight into the role of a director. The book elegantly blends the personal and the pedagogical, illustrating how the parameters of Time, Space and Motion are essential when creating a successful production. Throughout, the author explores and recycles her own formative life experiences in order to demonstrate that who you are is as integral to being a director as what you do.
Being a Director: A Life in Theatre
by Di TrevisDi Trevis is a world-renowned director, whose work with Britain’s National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, and directing productions worldwide, has deeply informed her knowledge of the director’s craft. In Being a Director, she draws on a wealth of first-hand experience to present an immersive, engaging and vital insight into the role of a director. The book elegantly blends the personal and the pedagogical, illustrating how the parameters of Time, Space and Motion are essential when creating a successful production. Throughout, the author explores and recycles her own formative life experiences in order to demonstrate that who you are is as integral to being a director as what you do.
Beijing Opera Costumes: The Visual Communication of Character and Culture
by Alexandra B BondsBeijing Opera Costumes: The Visual Communication of Character and Culture illuminates the links between theatrical attire and social customs and aesthetics of China, covering both the theory and practice of stage dress. Distinguishing attributes include an introduction to the performance style, the delineation of the costume conventions, an analysis of the costumes through their historical precedents and theatrical modifications, and the use of garment shape, color, and embroidery for symbolic effect. Practical information covers dressing the performers and a costume plot, the design and creation of the make-up and hairstyles, and pattern drafts of the major garments. Photographs from live performances, as well as details of embroidery, and close-up photographs of the headdresses thoroughly portray the stunning beauty of this incomparable performance style. Presenting the brilliant colors of the elaborately embroidered silk costumes together with the intricate makeup and glittering headdresses, this volume embodies the elegance of the Beijing opera.
Beijing Opera Costumes: The Visual Communication of Character and Culture
by Alexandra B BondsBeijing Opera Costumes: The Visual Communication of Character and Culture illuminates the links between theatrical attire and social customs and aesthetics of China, covering both the theory and practice of stage dress. Distinguishing attributes include an introduction to the performance style, the delineation of the costume conventions, an analysis of the costumes through their historical precedents and theatrical modifications, and the use of garment shape, color, and embroidery for symbolic effect. Practical information covers dressing the performers and a costume plot, the design and creation of the make-up and hairstyles, and pattern drafts of the major garments. Photographs from live performances, as well as details of embroidery, and close-up photographs of the headdresses thoroughly portray the stunning beauty of this incomparable performance style. Presenting the brilliant colors of the elaborately embroidered silk costumes together with the intricate makeup and glittering headdresses, this volume embodies the elegance of the Beijing opera.
Behzti (Oberon Modern Plays Ser.)
by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti‘You think it is pleasant watching a fat virgin become infertile? I want to be seen and noticed and invited by people. I want anything... that is not this.’Past her prime, Min joyfully spends her life caring for her sick, foul-mouthed mother, Balbir. Today, for the first time in years, they´re off out. Mother and daughter head to the local Sikh Temple, but when Balbir encounters old friends, a past trauma rears its ugly head. Min and Balbir´s illusions are about to be shattered as they become immersed in a world of desperate aspiration and dangerous deals.In a community where public honour is paramount, is there any room for the truth? Behzti was scheduled to open at The Door (Birmingham Rep) in December 2004 but was cancelled due to protests by some members of the local Sikh community.
Behud (Oberon Modern Plays)
by Gurpreet Kaur BhattiBehud (Beyond Belief) is the latest play by controversial playwright Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti. In December 2004, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s play Behzti rocked the world of theatre when it was cancelled after protests in Birmingham. The closure of the play sparked a vehement debate about offence and freedom of speech, as well as death threats for the playwright forcing her to go into hiding.In Behud, a playwright attempts to make sense of the past by visiting the darkest corners of her imaginations. Set amidst the theatre establishment, politicians and protesters,Behud is an imaginative response, inspired by the events surrounding Behzti, and the compelling story of an artist struggling to be heard.‘…Bhatti writes poetically…’ – Michael Coveney, The Independent ‘Besides being remarkably even-handed in its approach to the various arguments swirling around the divisive play in question, what’s finally striking about the show is its humour, pricking pomposity on all sides.’ – Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph
Behsharam (Oberon Modern Plays Ser.)
by Gurpreet Kaur BhattiTwo daughters, two mothers, one father, a cardboard cut-out and a foul-mouthed granny – a household at war with itself, and a family which will do anything to protect its’ secrets. Behsharam (Shameless) follows second generation sisters, Jaspal and Sati, through the fantasies, dysfunctions and obsessions of their extraordinary extended family.Set in Birmingham, this is a bold, disturbing and at times hilarious exploration of the British Asian experience.
Behn Five Plays (World Classics)
by Aphra Behn Maureen DuffyAphra Behn was among the wittiest and most prolific playwrights of her dayThe Widow Ranter is a tragi-comedy, The False Count concerns the marriage of a young woman to a much older man whilst The Lucky Chance ran into instant criticism for immorality. The Rover is her most famous comedy and Abdelazar is her only tragedy."Masterpieces are not single and solitary births; they are the outcome of many years of thinking in common...All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn." (Virginia Woolf on Aphra Behn)