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Performing Blackness: Enactments of African-American Modernism
by Kimberley W. BenstonPerforming Blackness offers a challenging interpretation of black cultural expression since the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s. Exploring drama, music, poetry, sermons, and criticism, Benston offers an exciting meditation on modern black performance's role in realising African-American aspirations for autonomy and authority. Artists covered include: * John Coltrane* Ntozake Shange * Ed Bullins * Amiri Baraka * Adrienne Kennedy * Michael Harper. Performing Blackness is an exciting contribution to the ongoing debate about the vitality and importance of black culture.
Prick Up Your Ears (Oberon Modern Plays)
by Simon BentA new play by Simon Bent. Inspired by John Lahr's biography and the diaries of Joe Orton. 1962. Kenneth Halliwell and Joe Orton - RADA graduates, aspiring playwrights, and sometime lovers - plot their rightful place at the centre of London’s literary scene. But after a short interlude at Her Majesty’s pleasure, Joe is about to become the greatest, and most notorious comic playwright since Oscar Wilde, whilst Ken stays indoors re-decorating, reduced to sharing Joe’s success with their neighbour, Mrs Corden, over tea and a slice of battenburg.Prick Up Your Ears - a darkly funny and moving play imagines what really happened when, after years of creative collaboration, the door slammed shut and Kenneth was home alone. It tells the sensational story behind the domestic life of Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell, holed up in a tiny flat in Islington, trading well-trodden insults and hilarious put-downs like any old married couple.Prick Up Your Ears opened at the Comedy Theatre, London in September 2009, with a cast including Little Britain’s Matt Lucas and Chris New.
The Theatre of Commitment: And Other Essays on Drama in Our Society (Routledge Revivals)
by Eric BentleyFirst published in 1967 The Theatre of Commitment presents miscellaneous collection of seven essays written over fifteen years. Eric Bentley deals with themes like is the drama an extinct species; the American drama; what is theatre; the pro and con of political theatre; letter to a would-be playwright and the theatre of commitment. For most people, theatre of commitment is political theater, though Bentley indicates that the word commitment is broad enough to embrace the work of any serious writer even if the commitment is to non-commitment. This is an interesting read for students of theatre and performance studies.
The Theatre of Commitment: And Other Essays on Drama in Our Society (Routledge Revivals)
by Eric BentleyFirst published in 1967 The Theatre of Commitment presents miscellaneous collection of seven essays written over fifteen years. Eric Bentley deals with themes like is the drama an extinct species; the American drama; what is theatre; the pro and con of political theatre; letter to a would-be playwright and the theatre of commitment. For most people, theatre of commitment is political theater, though Bentley indicates that the word commitment is broad enough to embrace the work of any serious writer even if the commitment is to non-commitment. This is an interesting read for students of theatre and performance studies.
The Theory of the Modern Stage: An Introduction To Modern Theatre And Drama (Penguin Modern Classics)
by Eric BentleyIn The Theory of the Modern Stage, leading drama critic, Eric Bentley, brings together landmark writings by dramatists, directors and thinkers who have had a profound effect on the theatre since the mid nineteenth century, from Adolphe Appia to Émile Zola. Here, Antonin Artaud sets out a manifesto for a Theatre of Cruelty, Bertolt Brecht discusses the tension between entertainment and instruction in experimental drama and Bernard Shaw defends himself as a realist, while W. B. Yeats describes the creation of a People’s Theatre. The ideas of theatre’s great makers are revealed by their best expositors, as Eric Bentley writes about Stanislavsky belief in the importance of emotional memory when creating a dramatic role and Arthur Symons considers Richard Wagner and the relationship between genius, art and nature.
Profession of Dramatist in Shakespeare's Time, 1590-1642
by Gerald Eades BentleyGerald Eades Bentley assembles and analyzes the extant theatrical materials of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. His discussion of the working conditions of professional dramatists like Thomas Heywood, John Fletcher, and Philip Massinger as well as William Shakespeare rounds out the fascinating picture of the professionalism that developed in the great days of Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre.Originally published in 1972.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Finding Balance: Fitness, Training, and Health for a Lifetime in Dance
by Gigi BerardiFinding Balance: Fitness, Health, and Training for a Lifetime in Dance gives an overview of issues faced by all performing dancers: injury and treatment; technique and training; fitness; nutrition and diet; and career management. The text includes both easy-to-read overviews of each topic and "profiles" of well known dancers and how they have coped with these issues. The new edition includes: Updated and new profiles. Expanded injury and injury treatment information. Updated dance science and physiology findings, and new references. Updated diet guidelines, Expanded and updated "Taking Control" section. It concludes with a list of selected dance/arts medicine clinics, a bibliography, glossary, and text notes.
Finding Balance: Fitness, Training, and Health for a Lifetime in Dance
by Gigi BerardiFinding Balance: Fitness, Health, and Training for a Lifetime in Dance gives an overview of issues faced by all performing dancers: injury and treatment; technique and training; fitness; nutrition and diet; and career management. The text includes both easy-to-read overviews of each topic and "profiles" of well known dancers and how they have coped with these issues. The new edition includes: Updated and new profiles. Expanded injury and injury treatment information. Updated dance science and physiology findings, and new references. Updated diet guidelines, Expanded and updated "Taking Control" section. It concludes with a list of selected dance/arts medicine clinics, a bibliography, glossary, and text notes.
Jenseits der Vernunft: Form und Bedeutung in Wagners Musikdramen
by Karol BergerKarol Berger setzt Wagners Musikdramen in Beziehung zu den philosophischen und kulturellen Ideen seiner Zeit und konzentriert sich dabei in einer ausführlichen und gut verständlichen Analyse auf die vier Werke, die dieser in der zweiten Hälfte seiner Karriere schuf: „Der Ring des Nibelungen“, „Tristan und Isolde“, „Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg“ und „Parsifal“. Der Autor versucht, in das Geheimnis der Großform von Wagners Musikdramen einzudringen und erzielt überraschende Ergebnisse wie die Nähe Wagners zur italienischen Oper. Bei seiner Einordnung der Musikdramen auf der ideologischen Landkarte seiner Zeit relativieren sich, ganz gegen des Autors ursprüngliche Absicht, viele Einwände von Wagners Kritikern, allen voran Nietzsche.
Shakespeare's London 1613
by David M. BergeronShakespeare’s London 1613 offers for the first time a comprehensive ‘biography’ of this crucial year in English history. The book examines political and cultural life in London, including the Jacobean court and the city, which together witnessed an exceptional outpouring of cultural experiences and transformative political events. The royal family had to confront the sudden death of Prince Henry, heir apparent to the throne, which provoked unparalleled grief. Meanwhile, an unprecedented number of plays performed at court helped move the country away from sadness to the happy occasion of Princess Elizabeth’s marriage to a German prince. Shakespeare’s productions dominated London’s cultural landscape, while other playwrights, writers and printers produced an extraordinary number of books. Readers interested in literature, cultural history, and the royal family will find in this book a rich and accessible account of this monumental year.
Avant-garde Performance
by G. BerghausHow did the concept of the avant-garde come into existence? How did it impact on the performing arts? How did the avant-garde challenge the artistic establishment and avoid the pull of commercial theatre, gallery and concert-hall circuits? How did performance artists respond to new technological developments? Placing key figures and performances in their historical, social and aesthetic context, Günter Berghaus offers an accessible introduction to post-war avant-garde performance. Written in a clear, engaging style, and supported by text boxes and illustrations throughout, this volume explains the complex ideas behind avant-garde art and evocatively brings to life the work of some of its most influential performance artists.Covering hot topics such as multi-media and body art performances, this text is essential reading for students of theatre studies and performance.
Avant-garde Performance: Live Events And Electronic Technologies (PDF)
by Günter BerghausHow did the concept of the avant-garde come into existence? How did it impact on the performing arts? How did the avant-garde challenge the artistic establishment and avoid the pull of commercial theatre, gallery and concert-hall circuits? How did performance artists respond to new technological developments? Placing key figures and performances in their historical, social and aesthetic context, G#65533;nter Berghaus offers an accessible introduction to post-war avant-garde performance. Written in a clear, engaging style, and supported by text boxes and illustrations throughout, this volume explains the complex ideas behind avant-garde art and evocatively brings to life the work of some of its most influential performance artists. Covering hot topics such as multi-media and body art performances, this text is essential reading for students of theatre studies and performance.
Fascism and Theatre: Comparative Studies on the Aesthetics and Politics of Performance in Europe, 1925-1945
by Günter BerghausSince the 1920s, an endless flow of studies has analyzed the political systems of fascism, theseizure of power, the nature of the regimes, the atrocities committed, and, finally, the wars waged against other countries. However, much less attention has been paid to the strategies of persuasion employed by the regimes to win over the masses for their cause. Among these, fascist propaganda has traditionally been seen as the key means of influencing public opinion. Only recently has the "fascination with Fascism" become a topic of enquiry that has also formed the guiding interest of this volume: it offers, for the first time, a comparative analysis of the forms and functions of theater in countries governed by fascist or para-fascist regimes. By examining a wide spectrum of theatrical manifestations in a number of States with a varying degree of fascistization, these studies establish some of the similarities and differences between the theatrical cultures of several cultures in the interwar period.
Theatre, Performance, and the Historical Avant-garde (PDF)
by Gunter BerghausThis comprehensive study traces the origins of European modernism in nineteenth-century Paris, then branches out to examine four major movements of the theatrical avant-garde that sprung from this epicenter in the early twentieth-century: Expressionism, Futurism, Dadaism, and Constructivism.
Shuck ’n’ Jive (Oberon Modern Plays)
by Cassiopeia Berkeley-Agyepong Simone Ibbett-BrownOpera singer Simone very quickly discovers that London is not the BNP-free utopia she’d always dreamed of. Meanwhile, actress Cassi battles it out for the illustrious roles of ‘Sassy Friend’, ‘Spunky Slave’ and ‘Third Crack Whore From The Left’ at every audition. Desperate to be seen as they are, not as the colour of their skin, they decide to take control and write their own story. With songs and searing honesty, Shuck ’n’ Jive is the laugh-out-loud story of two friends trying to break out of racist typecasting and create a story for themselves.
The Secret Love Life of Ophelia
by Steven BerkoffHamlet and Ophelia express the infinite variety of their passion in a work which takes the form of an epistolary play in verse. Steven Berkoff's startlingly original drama charts the lovers' story beneath the surface of Shakespeare's play. With a muscularity of language tempered with tenderness, Berkoff's play is shot through with images of courtly love, sexual desire and intimations of future tragedy. The chill of the ending perfectly offsets the preceding violent heat in what is another unique piece of work from the individual talent that is Steven Berkoff.The Secret Love Life of Ophelia was first performed at the King's Head Theatre, London, on 25 June 2001.
Sit and Shiver
by Steven BerkoffHow a certain Jewish family mourns a dead patriarch. The term is 'sitting Shiva' (mourning for seven days), when friends and relatives commiserate, usually in the home of the deceased. As children, we always understood this to be 'sit and shiver', which also seemed most appropriate. While death has claimed the old man and triggered the usual inflated eulogies - 'how important a man becomes when they die' - it has also brought to the surface hidden anxieties and grievances, only exacerbated when a visitor shows up bearing strange news that threatens to tear the family apart.A Jewish black comedy in the Berkoff tradition.Sit and Shiver was first presented at the Odyssey Theater, Los Angeles, in March 2004. The European premiere was held at the New End Theatre, London, in association with Saw Productions, in May 2006.
Steven Berkoff: One Act Plays (Play Anthologies)
by Steven BerkoffSteven Berkoff has been variously described as controversial, thrilling, electric and dynamic. A Renaissance man of the theatre, he is known equally for his writing, directing and acting. Collecting together nineteen one-act plays, this volume presents never-before-published material. Abusive, shocking and endlessly surprising, these sharply written pieces showcase Berkoff's trademark controversy, black humour and dramatic dialectics.Themes that haunt much of his work are present: his luxurious verbosity; his counterpoint of crude street-patter and elegiac proclamation; sex wars; class wars; dislocation and abandonment of love in a thankless and unyielding world. The selection of plays allows the performer and reader to experience Berkoff's fluid anarchic poetry at its most profane within the complete and pithy structure of the one-act play. Established plays such as The Biblical Tales (which enjoyed success in their 2010 run at the New End Theatre, Hampstead) stand alongside previously unpublished material, giving the range of Berkoff's work full expression, from his established thematic concerns to his new and unseen work.Perfect for student and amateur performances, this volume contains a full introduction by Geoffrey Colman, Head of Acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Steven Berkoff: One Act Plays (Play Anthologies)
by Steven BerkoffSteven Berkoff has been variously described as controversial, thrilling, electric and dynamic. A Renaissance man of the theatre, he is known equally for his writing, directing and acting. Collecting together nineteen one-act plays, this volume presents never-before-published material. Abusive, shocking and endlessly surprising, these sharply written pieces showcase Berkoff's trademark controversy, black humour and dramatic dialectics.Themes that haunt much of his work are present: his luxurious verbosity; his counterpoint of crude street-patter and elegiac proclamation; sex wars; class wars; dislocation and abandonment of love in a thankless and unyielding world. The selection of plays allows the performer and reader to experience Berkoff's fluid anarchic poetry at its most profane within the complete and pithy structure of the one-act play. Established plays such as The Biblical Tales (which enjoyed success in their 2010 run at the New End Theatre, Hampstead) stand alongside previously unpublished material, giving the range of Berkoff's work full expression, from his established thematic concerns to his new and unseen work.Perfect for student and amateur performances, this volume contains a full introduction by Geoffrey Colman, Head of Acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Steven Berkoff - Plays 1: East; West; Greek; Sink The Belgrano!; Massage Lunch; The Bow Of Ulysses; Sturm Und Drang
by Steven BerkoffSteven Berkoff is a phenomenon. Among the artists working in the theatre today he is probably the most theatrical - his special combination of speech, movement and spectacle is uniquely powerful. This first collection of his plays includes East, described by Berkoff as 'an outburst or revolt against the sloth of my youth and a desire to turn a welter of undirected passion and frustration into a positive form'. Also included in this collection are the plays West and Sink the Belgrano!
Steven Berkoff Plays 1: East; West; Greek; Sink the Belgrano!; Massage Lunch; The Bow of Ulysses; Sturm und Drang (Play Anthologies Ser.)
by Steven BerkoffSteven Berkoff is a phenomenon. Among the artists working in the theatre today he is probably the most theatrical - his special combination of speech, movement and spectacle is uniquely powerful. This first collection of his plays includes East, described by Berkoff as 'an outburst or revolt against the sloth of my youth and a desire to turn a welter of undirected passion and frustration into a positive form'. Also included in this collection are the plays West and Sink the Belgrano!
Steven Berkoff Plays 2: Decadence; Kvetch; Acapulco; Harry's Christmas; Brighton Beach Scumbags; Dahling You Were Marvelous; Dog; Actor
by Steven BerkoffWritten with characteristic Berkoff flair and an understanding of the subtle power and violence of the English language, this second collection of his plays includes Decadence, described by the Guardian as being 'enthused with Berkoff's violent, imagist, vivid wordplay'. The collection also includes Kvetch, Acapulco, Harry's Christmas, Brighton Beach Scumbags, Dahling You Were Marvellous, Dog and Actor, and is introduced by the author.
Steven Berkoff Plays 3
by Steven BerkoffThis is a collection of three history plays, each displaying the sparkling muscularity of language that marks Berkoff out as one of the foremost wordsmiths in the English language. Set in thirteenth-century England, Ritual in Blood looks at the persecution of the Jews. Messiah begins with the image of Christ on the cross and pits His humanity and transcendent goodness against the evil of those who would kill Him. Finally, Berkoff offers a sharp and accessible adaptation of Sophocles's Oedipus tragedy.
A World Elsewhere
by Steven BerkoffA World Elsewhere is Steven Berkoff’s bold attempt to describe his multifarious theatrical works. Berkoff outlines the methods that he uses, first of all as an actor, secondly as a playwright and thirdly as theatre director, as well as those subtle connections in between, when one discipline melds effortlessly into another. He examines the early impulses that generated his works and what drove him to give them form, as well as the challenges he faced when adapting the work of other authors. Berkoff discusses some of his most difficult, successful and unique creations, journeying through his long and varied career to examine how they were shaped by him, and how he was shaped by them. The sheer scale of this book offers a rare experience of an accomplished artist, combined with the honesty and insight of an autobiography, making this text a singular tool for teaching, inspiration and personal exploration. Suitable for anyone with an interest in Steven Berkoff and his illustrious career, A World Elsewhere is the part analysis and part confession of an artist whose work has been performed all over the world.
A World Elsewhere
by Steven BerkoffA World Elsewhere is Steven Berkoff’s bold attempt to describe his multifarious theatrical works. Berkoff outlines the methods that he uses, first of all as an actor, secondly as a playwright and thirdly as theatre director, as well as those subtle connections in between, when one discipline melds effortlessly into another. He examines the early impulses that generated his works and what drove him to give them form, as well as the challenges he faced when adapting the work of other authors. Berkoff discusses some of his most difficult, successful and unique creations, journeying through his long and varied career to examine how they were shaped by him, and how he was shaped by them. The sheer scale of this book offers a rare experience of an accomplished artist, combined with the honesty and insight of an autobiography, making this text a singular tool for teaching, inspiration and personal exploration. Suitable for anyone with an interest in Steven Berkoff and his illustrious career, A World Elsewhere is the part analysis and part confession of an artist whose work has been performed all over the world.