- Table View
- List View
Surveillance and Film
by J. Macgregor WiseWinner of the Surveillance Studies Network Book Award: 2017Surveillance is a common feature of everyday life. But how are we to make sense of or understand what surveillance is, how we should feel about it, and what, if anything, can we do? Surveillance and Film is an engaging and accessible book that maps out important themes in how popular culture imagines surveillance by examining key feature films that prominently address the subject. Drawing on dozens of examples from around the world, J. Macgregor Wise analyzes films that focus on those who watch (like Rear Window, Peeping Tom, Disturbia, Gigante, and The Lives of Others), films that focus on those who are watched (like The Conversation, Caché, and Ed TV), films that feature surveillance societies (like 1984, THX 1138, V for Vendetta, The Handmaid's Tale, The Truman Show, and Minority Report), surveillance procedural films (from The Naked City, to Hong Kong's Eye in the Sky, The Infernal Affairs Trilogy, and the Overheard Trilogy of films), and films that interrogate the aesthetics of the surveillance image itself (like Sliver, Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries), Der Riese, and Look). Wise uses these films to describe key models of understanding surveillance (like Big Brother, Panopticism, or the Control Society) as well as to raise issues of voyeurism, trust, ethics, technology, visibility, identity, privacy, and control that are essential elements of today's culture of surveillance. The text features questions for further discussion as well as lists of additional films that engage these topics.
Surveillance and Terror in Post-9/11 British and American Television
by Darcie Rives-EastThis interdisciplinary study examines how state surveillance has preoccupied British and American television series in the twenty years since 9/11. Surveillance and Terror in Post-9/11 British and American Television illuminates how the U.S. and U.K., bound by an historical, cultural, and television partnership, have broadcast numerous programs centred on three state surveillance apparatuses tasked with protecting us from terrorism and criminal activity: the prison, the police, and the national intelligence agency. Drawing from a range of case studies, such as Sherlock, Orange is the New Black and The Night Manager, this book discusses how television allows viewers, writers, and producers to articulate fears about an increased erosion of privacy and civil liberties following 9/11, while simultaneously expressing a desire for a preventative mechanism that can stop such events occurring in the future. However, these concerns and desires are not new; encompassing surveillance narratives both past and present, this book demonstrates how television today builds on earlier narratives about panoptic power to construct our present understanding of government surveillance.
Surveillance in Asian Cinema: Under Eastern Eyes (Routledge Advances in Film Studies)
by Karen FangCritical theory and popular wisdom are rife with images of surveillance as an intrusive, repressive practice often suggestively attributed to eastern powers and opposed to western liberalism. Hollywood-dominated global media has long promulgated a geopoliticized east-west axis of freedom vs. control. This book focuses on Asian and Asia-based films and cinematic traditions obscured by lopsided western hegemonic discourse and—more specifically—probes these films’ treatments of a phenomenon that western film often portrays with neo-orientalist hysteria. Exploring recent and historical movies made in post-social and anti-Communist societies such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam and South Korea, the book picks up on the political and economic concerns implicitly underlying Sinophobic and anti-Communist Asian images in Hollywood films while also considering how these societies and states depict the issues of centralization, militarization and technological innovation so often figured as distinctive of the difference between eastern despotism and western liberalism.
Surveillance in Asian Cinema: Under Eastern Eyes (Routledge Advances in Film Studies)
by Karen FangCritical theory and popular wisdom are rife with images of surveillance as an intrusive, repressive practice often suggestively attributed to eastern powers and opposed to western liberalism. Hollywood-dominated global media has long promulgated a geopoliticized east-west axis of freedom vs. control. This book focuses on Asian and Asia-based films and cinematic traditions obscured by lopsided western hegemonic discourse and—more specifically—probes these films’ treatments of a phenomenon that western film often portrays with neo-orientalist hysteria. Exploring recent and historical movies made in post-social and anti-Communist societies such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam and South Korea, the book picks up on the political and economic concerns implicitly underlying Sinophobic and anti-Communist Asian images in Hollywood films while also considering how these societies and states depict the issues of centralization, militarization and technological innovation so often figured as distinctive of the difference between eastern despotism and western liberalism.
Surviving Images: Cinema, War, and Cultural Memory in the Middle East
by Kamran RastegarSurviving Images explores the prominent role of cinema in the development of cultural memory around war and conflict in colonial and postcolonial contexts. It does so through a study of three historical eras: the colonial period, the national-independence struggle, and the postcolonial. Beginning with a study of British colonial cinema on the Sudan, then exploring anti-colonial cinema in Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia, followed by case studies of films emerging from postcolonial contexts in Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, and Israel, this work aims to fill a gap in the critical literature on both Middle Eastern cinemas, and to contribute more broadly to scholarship on social trauma and cultural memory in colonial and postcolonial contexts. This work treats the concept of trauma critically, however, and posits that social trauma must be understood as a framework for producing social and political meaning out of these historical events. Social trauma thus sets out a productive process of historical interpretation, and cultural texts such as cinematic works both illuminate and contribute to this process. Through these discussions, Surviving Images illustrates cinema's productive role in contributing to the changing dynamics of cultural memory of war and social conflict in the modern world.
SURVIVING IMAGES C: Cinema, War, and Cultural Memory in the Middle East
by Kamran RastegarSurviving Images explores the prominent role of cinema in the development of cultural memory around war and conflict in colonial and postcolonial contexts. It does so through a study of three historical eras: the colonial period, the national-independence struggle, and the postcolonial. Beginning with a study of British colonial cinema on the Sudan, then exploring anti-colonial cinema in Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia, followed by case studies of films emerging from postcolonial contexts in Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, and Israel, this work aims to fill a gap in the critical literature on both Middle Eastern cinemas, and to contribute more broadly to scholarship on social trauma and cultural memory in colonial and postcolonial contexts. This work treats the concept of trauma critically, however, and posits that social trauma must be understood as a framework for producing social and political meaning out of these historical events. Social trauma thus sets out a productive process of historical interpretation, and cultural texts such as cinematic works both illuminate and contribute to this process. Through these discussions, Surviving Images illustrates cinema's productive role in contributing to the changing dynamics of cultural memory of war and social conflict in the modern world.
Surviving Michael Winner: A Thirty-Year Odyssey
by Dinah MayThey say you can tell a lot about a person from how they treat their employees. In the case of Michael Winner, the relationship with his personal assistant, Dinah May, tells us a great deal indeed. In his life, Winner was known publicly as many things: a director, producer and the outspoken food critic who could make or break a restaurant with just a few choice words in his compelling Sunday Times 'Winner's Dinners' column. But behind the opulence and charm, the glamour and the glitz, lies the explosive untold story of fiery outbursts and scorching tirades, brought to life here in vivid colour by the one woman who remained a constant in his life. Impulsive, unpredictable and obsessed with the spotlight, though generous, witty and unshakably loyal - if life alongside Winner was to be at the centre of a storm, on a constant roller coaster, then Dinah May was at its epicentre and holding on for dear life. For thirty years the former Miss Great Britain was by Winner's side, on film sets, studios, abroad with famous friends or at his home, witnessing first-hand the two very different sides of his life, character and temperament. It was with Michael's blessing, and, indeed, encouragement, that she leave nothing out from their story ('Tell them everything') and in this affectionate but candid, no-holds-barred exposé, Dinah certainly doesn't disappoint...
Surviving Theatre: The Living Archive of Spectatorship (Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies)
by Marco PustianazWritten soon before and in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic when theatre ground to a halt and spectatorship was suspended, this book takes stock of spectatorship as theatre’s living archive and affirms its value in the midst of the present crisis. Drawing from a manifold affective archive of performances and installations by Marina Abramović, Ron Athey, Forced Entertainment, Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio, Blast Theory, LIGNA, Doris Salcedo, Graeme Miller, Lenz Rifrazioni, Cristina Rizzo ..., and expanding on the work of many theorists and scholars like Roland Barthes and Jacques Rancière, Giorgio Agamben and Alain Badiou, Nicholas Ridout and Alan Read, among others, the book focuses on the spectator as the subject, rather than the object, of investigation. This is the right time to remember their secret power and theorise their collective time in the theatre. This book is an archive of their adventure and a manifesto rooted in their potentiality. It boldly posits the spectator as the inaugurator of theatre, the surplus that survives it. The book will be of great interest to spectators all and sundry, to scholars and students of theatre and performance studies, of spectatorship and politics.
Surviving Theatre: The Living Archive of Spectatorship (Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies)
by Marco PustianazWritten soon before and in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic when theatre ground to a halt and spectatorship was suspended, this book takes stock of spectatorship as theatre’s living archive and affirms its value in the midst of the present crisis. Drawing from a manifold affective archive of performances and installations by Marina Abramović, Ron Athey, Forced Entertainment, Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio, Blast Theory, LIGNA, Doris Salcedo, Graeme Miller, Lenz Rifrazioni, Cristina Rizzo ..., and expanding on the work of many theorists and scholars like Roland Barthes and Jacques Rancière, Giorgio Agamben and Alain Badiou, Nicholas Ridout and Alan Read, among others, the book focuses on the spectator as the subject, rather than the object, of investigation. This is the right time to remember their secret power and theorise their collective time in the theatre. This book is an archive of their adventure and a manifesto rooted in their potentiality. It boldly posits the spectator as the inaugurator of theatre, the surplus that survives it. The book will be of great interest to spectators all and sundry, to scholars and students of theatre and performance studies, of spectatorship and politics.
Survivors: Our Story
by The NolansFour sisters, four very different characters. But they have always been there for each other, through the hard times as well as the good. Now they describe growing up performing from as young as two, what it was like when fame suddenly hit and how it caused rifts in their close-knit family. Linda opens up about her devastation when her beloved husband died just as she was coping with breast cancer. Bernie tells how she suffered through the hearbreak of losing her unborn child and recently faced her own cancer battle, Coleen talks about her marriages and reveals new secrets, and Maureen describes her sadness at the devastating family feud that saw her much loved older sisters fall out with her, Linda, Bernie and Coleen. And they share the joy of getting back on stage for their thirtieth anniversary tour - four survivors who found that age doesn't matter when it comes to having a great time.
Susan Boyle: Dreams Can Come True
by Alice MontgomeryFrom that moment when Susan Boyle burst onto our screens on Britain's Got Talent, she has become an unexpected phenomenon, and has gone on to become the creator of the fastest selling female debut album of all time - in the UK and worldwide - hitting the number one spot in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Ireland. Susan's own personal dream has finally come true, but the phenomenal success story doesn't end here - Susan has arrived and she's here to stay.This book will be the first to tell the full story of Susan's incredible journey from rags to riches, from West Lothian to Times Square. Ever since her mesmerising, historic performance on Britain's Got Talent, Susan has captured the heart of millions. Hers is a very modern fairytale that is at once uplifting and compelling. Bestselling biographer Alice Montgomery charts her meteoric rise from humble beginnings to global superstardom, exploring the relationships, events and people that have played a role in her astonishing story - a 21st century fairytale that became reality.
Susan Glaspell in Context: American Theater, Culture, and Politics, 1915-48 (Theater: Theory/text/performance Ser.)
by J. Ellen GainorSusan Glaspell in Context not only discusses the dramatic work of this key American author -- perhaps best known for her short story "A Jury of Her Peers" and its dramatic counterpart, Trifles -- but also places it within the theatrical, cultural, political, social, historical, and biographical climates in which Glaspell's dramas were created: the worlds of Greenwich Village and Provincetown bohemia, of the American frontier, and of American modernism. J. Ellen Gainor is Professor of Theatre, Women's Studies, and American Studies, Cornell University. Her other books include Performing America: Cultural Nationalism in American Theater (co-edited with Jeffrey D. Mason) from the University of Michigan Press.
The Suspect Culture Book
by Dan Rebellato Graham Eatough David Grieg‘Considering its track record in collaborative and interdisciplinary work, its international status, and its reputation for innovative practice […] Suspect Culture has been and remains one of our most innovative arts companies and as such it is among our most precious.’ Trish Reid Suspect Culture was one of the UK’s leading experimental theatre companies between 1993 and 2009. Over the course of its 16-year history the company, based in Glasgow, worked with some of the most respected artists and organizations in the UK and internationally, and is seen to have made a significant contribution to the British theatre scene of the 1990s and 2000s. Described by Scotland on Sunday as Scottish theatre’s major creative powerhouse and by The Times as the most adventurous, most in-tune-with-the-times theatre company in Britain, Suspect Culture have had a quietly decisive impact on British theatre. The Suspect Culture Book offers a comprehensive survey of the company’s history and ideas and features contributions from its most important artists and critics. Edited by Artistic Director Graham Eatough and playwright/academic Dan Rebellato and lavishly illustrated throughout, the book offers multiple international perspectives on Suspect Culture alongside previously-unpublished playtexts of three of its most celebrated shows, Timeless, Mainstream and Lament (all created by the company with text by David Greig).
Suspiria (Devil's Advocates)
by Alexandra Heller-NicholasAs one of the most globally recognisable instances of 20th century Eurohorror, Dario Argento's Suspiria (1976) is poetic, chaotic, and intriguing. The cult reputation of Argento's baroque nightmare is reflected in the critical praise it continues to receive almost 40 years after its original release, and it appears regularly on lists of the greatest horror films ever. For fans and critics alike, Suspiria is as mesmerising as it is impenetrable: the impact of Argento's notorious disinterest in matters of plot and characterisation combines with Suspiria's aggressive stylistic hyperactivity to render it a movie that needs to be experienced through the body as much as through emotion or the intellect. For its many fans, Suspiria is synonymous with European horror more broadly, and Argento himself is by far the most famous of all the Italian horror directors. If there was any doubt of his status as one of the great horror auteurs, Argento's international reputation was solidified well beyond the realms of cult fandom in the 1990s with retrospectives at both the American Museum of the Moving Image and the British Film Institute. This book considers the complex ways that Argento weaves together light, sound and cinema history to construct one of the most breathtaking horror movies of all time, a film as fascinating as it is ultimately unfathomable.
Suspiria (Devil's Advocates)
by Alexandra Heller-NicholasAs one of the most globally recognisable instances of 20th century Eurohorror, Dario Argento's Suspiria (1976) is poetic, chaotic, and intriguing. The cult reputation of Argento's baroque nightmare is reflected in the critical praise it continues to receive almost 40 years after its original release, and it appears regularly on lists of the greatest horror films ever. For fans and critics alike, Suspiria is as mesmerising as it is impenetrable: the impact of Argento's notorious disinterest in matters of plot and characterisation combines with Suspiria's aggressive stylistic hyperactivity to render it a movie that needs to be experienced through the body as much as through emotion or the intellect. For its many fans, Suspiria is synonymous with European horror more broadly, and Argento himself is by far the most famous of all the Italian horror directors. If there was any doubt of his status as one of the great horror auteurs, Argento's international reputation was solidified well beyond the realms of cult fandom in the 1990s with retrospectives at both the American Museum of the Moving Image and the British Film Institute. This book considers the complex ways that Argento weaves together light, sound and cinema history to construct one of the most breathtaking horror movies of all time, a film as fascinating as it is ultimately unfathomable.
The Sustainable Legacy of Agnès Varda: Feminist Practice and Pedagogy
by Colleen Kennedy-Karpat and Feride ÇiçekoğluDrawing especially on the encounters and relationships that defined her exceptional career, The Sustainable Legacy of Agnès Varda outlines a sustainable legacy for the celebrated director and visual artist. Over nine chapters, it unpacks how creation, connection, and environment form the core of Varda's artistry, which centers foremost on relationships with her family, with other artists, even with passersby she would meet in her travels around the world. Also celebrating her feminist legacy, the chapters cover a wide range, from the classic Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962) to documentaries The Beaches of Agnès (2008) and Faces Places (2017) as well as selected art installations. The book's final section is dedicated to teaching Varda's work; here, ten scholars from around the world consider how Varda's art and feminist pedagogies offer unique ways to bring crucial concepts into the classroom. By seeking a sustainable praxis to discuss and teach Varda's work, and by making pedagogical concerns an explicit part of this approach, this book argues that Varda's insights about the nature of creative work will inspire new generations of viewers and audiences.
The Sustainable Legacy of Agnès Varda: Feminist Practice and Pedagogy
Drawing especially on the encounters and relationships that defined her exceptional career, The Sustainable Legacy of Agnès Varda outlines a sustainable legacy for the celebrated director and visual artist. Over nine chapters, it unpacks how creation, connection, and environment form the core of Varda's artistry, which centers foremost on relationships with her family, with other artists, even with passersby she would meet in her travels around the world. Also celebrating her feminist legacy, the chapters cover a wide range, from the classic Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962) to documentaries The Beaches of Agnès (2008) and Faces Places (2017) as well as selected art installations. The book's final section is dedicated to teaching Varda's work; here, ten scholars from around the world consider how Varda's art and feminist pedagogies offer unique ways to bring crucial concepts into the classroom. By seeking a sustainable praxis to discuss and teach Varda's work, and by making pedagogical concerns an explicit part of this approach, this book argues that Varda's insights about the nature of creative work will inspire new generations of viewers and audiences.
Sustainable Play: 60+ cardboard crafts and games for an earth-kind home
by Sydney Piercey'I adore Sydney's approach to play... good for our planet, and good for our souls too.' - Daisy Upton, author of Five Minute Mum'For some serious playtime inspiration follow Sydney Piercey. She does it with zero fuss or show off. She is just brilliant'. -Clover StroudParenting blogger and mother-of-three, Sydney Piercey, gained traction online with her environmentally friendly DIY toys made entirely out of cardboard.Filled with 60+ creative, accessible and plastic-free projects and play ideas, Sustainable Play is packed with crafts and games to enjoy with your children on slow, rainy or drawbridge days at home. Sydney provides you with budget-friendly, easy-to-follow ideas to play and create in this handbook, inspired by her family's love of the simple things. From step-by-step projects to create magical toys from your leftover cereal boxes to joy-filled games using everyday objects from around your home, Sustainable Play will equip you with the inspiration you need to entertain your children in a creative, stimulating and sustainable way - being kind to the planet in the process.
Sustainable Resilience in Women's Film and Video Organizations: A Counter-Lineage in Moving Image History (Routledge Research in Cultural and Media Studies)
by Rosanna MauleThis book illustrates a distinctive lineage of critical interventions in moving image culture and in the public sphere through the trajectories of a small number of film and video organizations established between the 1970s and the early 1980s in Western Europe and North America mainly by women and still operative today. The six case studies examined (Drac Màgic, Women Make Movies, Groupe Intervention Vidéo, Leeds Animation Workshop, bildwechsel, Centre Audiovisuel Simone de Beauvoir) have maintained a discrete yet continuing presence within an audiovisual industry and a cultural system dominated by institutionalized, state-funded, and corporate forms of audiovisual production and distribution. Their longevity—quite a rarity in the independent circuit—makes a strong case for the sustainability of feminist/LGBTQ media activism in the public sphere, in spite of its low-key profile. This volume will be of interest to academicians of history and communication studies, feminist and LGBTQ topics and gender-related cinematic culture.
Sustainable Resilience in Women's Film and Video Organizations: A Counter-Lineage in Moving Image History (Routledge Research in Cultural and Media Studies)
by Rosanna MauleThis book illustrates a distinctive lineage of critical interventions in moving image culture and in the public sphere through the trajectories of a small number of film and video organizations established between the 1970s and the early 1980s in Western Europe and North America mainly by women and still operative today. The six case studies examined (Drac Màgic, Women Make Movies, Groupe Intervention Vidéo, Leeds Animation Workshop, bildwechsel, Centre Audiovisuel Simone de Beauvoir) have maintained a discrete yet continuing presence within an audiovisual industry and a cultural system dominated by institutionalized, state-funded, and corporate forms of audiovisual production and distribution. Their longevity—quite a rarity in the independent circuit—makes a strong case for the sustainability of feminist/LGBTQ media activism in the public sphere, in spite of its low-key profile. This volume will be of interest to academicians of history and communication studies, feminist and LGBTQ topics and gender-related cinematic culture.
A Sustainable Theatre: Jasper Deeter at Hedgerow (Palgrave Studies in Theatre and Performance History)
by B. WithamBegun as an audacious experiment, for thirty years the Hedgerow Theatre prospered as America's most successful repertory company. While known for its famous alumnae (Ann Harding and Richard Basehart), Hedgerow's legacy is a living library of over 200 productions created by Jasper Deeter's idealistic and determined pursuit of 'truth and beauty.'
Sustainable Theatre: Theory, Context, Practice
by Iphigenia TaxopoulouHow does the world of theatre and the performing arts intersect with the climate and environmental crisis? This timely book is the first comprehensive account of the sector's response to the defining issue of our time.The book documents a sector in transition and presents theatre professionals, practitioners and organizations with a synthesis of information, knowledge and expertise to guide them to their own endorsement of sustainable thinking and practice. It is illustrated with inspiring case studies and interviews, from London's National Theatre, to Sydney Theatre Company, to the Göteborg Opera and the American Repertory Theatre. These foreground the work of pioneering institutions and individual practitioners whose artistic ingenuity, creative activism and sense of public mission have given shape, content and purpose to what we can now call 'sustainable theatre'.Spanning almost three decades, the book approaches the topic from multiple angles and through an international perspective, recording how climate and environmental concerns have been expressed in cultural policy, arts leadership and organizational ethics; in the greening of infrastructure and daily operations; in the individual and institutional practice of sustainable theatre-making; in performing arts education; and in touring practices and international collaboration. It investigates, too, how the climate crisis influences theatre as a story-teller – on stage and beyond.Written by a leading expert in the field of culture and environmental sustainability and distilling many years of research and hands-on experience, Sustainable Theatre: Theory, Context, Practice is intended to be relevant and useful to professionals involved in the theatre and performing arts sector in many different capacities: from policy-makers, arts leaders and managers to administrators, technicians, artists, scholars and educators.
Sustainable Theatre: Theory, Context, Practice
by Iphigenia TaxopoulouHow does the world of theatre and the performing arts intersect with the climate and environmental crisis? This timely book is the first comprehensive account of the sector's response to the defining issue of our time.The book documents a sector in transition and presents theatre professionals, practitioners and organizations with a synthesis of information, knowledge and expertise to guide them to their own endorsement of sustainable thinking and practice. It is illustrated with inspiring case studies and interviews, from London's National Theatre, to Sydney Theatre Company, to the Göteborg Opera and the American Repertory Theatre. These foreground the work of pioneering institutions and individual practitioners whose artistic ingenuity, creative activism and sense of public mission have given shape, content and purpose to what we can now call 'sustainable theatre'.Spanning almost three decades, the book approaches the topic from multiple angles and through an international perspective, recording how climate and environmental concerns have been expressed in cultural policy, arts leadership and organizational ethics; in the greening of infrastructure and daily operations; in the individual and institutional practice of sustainable theatre-making; in performing arts education; and in touring practices and international collaboration. It investigates, too, how the climate crisis influences theatre as a story-teller – on stage and beyond.Written by a leading expert in the field of culture and environmental sustainability and distilling many years of research and hands-on experience, Sustainable Theatre: Theory, Context, Practice is intended to be relevant and useful to professionals involved in the theatre and performing arts sector in many different capacities: from policy-makers, arts leaders and managers to administrators, technicians, artists, scholars and educators.
Sustainable Tools for Precarious Times: Performance Actions in the Americas (Contemporary Performance InterActions)
by Natalie Alvarez Claudette Lauzon Keren ZaiontzThis book charts the changing frontiers of activism in the Americas. Travelling Canada, the US, the US-Mexico border, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Colombia, and Indigenous territories on Turtle Island, it invites readers to identify networks, clusters, and continuities of art-activist tactics designed to exceed the event horizon of the performance protest. Essays feature Indigenous artists engaging in land-based activism and decolonial cyberactivism, grass-roots movements imagining possible futures through cross-sector alliance building, art-activists forwarding tactics of reinvention, and student groups in the throes of theatrical assembly. Artist pages, interspersed throughout the collection, serve as animated, first-person perspectives of those working on the front lines of interventionist art. Taken together, the contributions offer a vibrant picture of emergent tactics and strategies over the past decade that allow art-activists to sustain the energy and press of political resistance in the face of a whole host of rights emergencies across the Americas.
Suzan-Lori Parks in Person: Interviews and Commentaries
by Philip C. Kolin Harvey YoungThis collection of interviews offers unprecedented insight into the plays and creative works of Suzan-Lori Parks, as well as being an important commentary on contemporary theater and playwriting, from jazz and opera to politics and cultural memory. Suzan-Lori Parks in Person contains 18 interviews, some previously untranscribed or specially undertaken for this book, plus commentaries on her work by major directors and critics, including Liz Diamond, Richard Foreman, Bonnie Metzgar and Beth Schachter. These contributions combine to honor the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize in drama, and explore her ideas about theater, history, race, and gender. Material from a wide range of sources chronologically charts Parks’s career from the 1990s to the present. This is a major collection with immediate relevance to students of American/African-American theater, literature and culture. Parks’s engaging voice is brought to the fore, making the book essential for undergraduates as well as scholars.