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Barnes Plays: Red Noses, The Spirit of Man, Nobody Here But Us Chickens, Sunsets and Glories, Bye Bye Columbus (Contemporary Dramatists)
by Peter BarnesA selection of plays by "one of the most original and biting comic writers working in Britain" (The Times)The Spirit of Man is "an ingenious triple-bill exploring Man's need for faith through three short satires based in medieval France, Protectorate England and nineteenth-century Eastern Europe" (Independent); Nobody Here But Us Chickens is a linked trilogy of satires on New Age, corporate and bedroom politics. Red Noses is a political satire about the plague and takes place in 1348. Set in medieval Italy during a crisis in the Church, Sunsets and Glories is "a work of the highest and most thrilling theatrical energy" (Independent on Sunday), whilst Bye Bye Columbus is a "highly entertaining" (Guardian) television play."Peter Barnes is one of the unrecognised geniuses of the English theatre" (Plays and Players)
Barnes Plays: Clap Hands; Heaven's Blessings; Revolutionary Witness (Contemporary Dramatists)
by Peter BarnesA selection of plays by "one of the most original and biting comic writers working in Britain" (The Times)Clap Hands Here Comes Charlie is a riotous, scabrous comedy concerning a demonic figure, a destroyer and giver of life, who is always trying to jump, with both feet into his left trouser leg. Heaven's Blessings, taken from the grim pages of the Bible is a charming epic comedy of Tobit, his wife, their son and a cantankerous guardian angel, who set out to reclaim an outstanding IOU, overcoming many dangers which test their faith to breaking point. Revolutionary Witness, about the French Revolution, is a series of four monologues televised by the BBC in 1989."Peter Barnes is one of the unrecognised geniuses of the English theatre" (Plays and Players)
Dreaming (Modern Plays)
by Peter BarnesA haunting and brutally funny story of heroism and human valuesIn the bloody aftermath of the Wars of the Roses, Captain John Mallory leads a band of renegades across a war-torn landscape on a breathtaking quest in search of a dream - a dream of home. Dreaming premiered at the Royal Exchange Theatre in March 1999 before moving to the West End."Peter Barnes is one of the unrecognised geniuses of the English theatre" (Plays and Players)
Dreaming: Dreaming For A Better World (Modern Plays)
by Peter BarnesA haunting and brutally funny story of heroism and human valuesIn the bloody aftermath of the Wars of the Roses, Captain John Mallory leads a band of renegades across a war-torn landscape on a breathtaking quest in search of a dream - a dream of home. Dreaming premiered at the Royal Exchange Theatre in March 1999 before moving to the West End."Peter Barnes is one of the unrecognised geniuses of the English theatre" (Plays and Players)
Jubilee (Modern Plays)
by Peter BarnesAn RSC commission to commemorate the first celebration of Shakespeare's life and worksA mischievous satire on the foundation of the Shakespeare industry: In 1769, when David Garrick staged the first theatre festival to celebrate the life of Stratford's most famous son, little did he realise the impact it would have on the future livelihood of the small Warwickshire market town. Peter Barnes' ironic and irreverent new comedy dissects the cult of the theatrical personality, with guest appearances from the Bard himself, Ben Jonson, David Garrick, Samuel Johnson, Sir Peter Hall and Peter Barnes."Peter Barnes is one of the unrecognised geniuses of the English theatre" (Plays and Players)
Jubilee (Modern Plays)
by Peter BarnesAn RSC commission to commemorate the first celebration of Shakespeare's life and worksA mischievous satire on the foundation of the Shakespeare industry: In 1769, when David Garrick staged the first theatre festival to celebrate the life of Stratford's most famous son, little did he realise the impact it would have on the future livelihood of the small Warwickshire market town. Peter Barnes' ironic and irreverent new comedy dissects the cult of the theatrical personality, with guest appearances from the Bard himself, Ben Jonson, David Garrick, Samuel Johnson, Sir Peter Hall and Peter Barnes."Peter Barnes is one of the unrecognised geniuses of the English theatre" (Plays and Players)
The Ruling Class (Modern Plays)
by Peter BarnesEtonians aren't exactly noted for their grey matter, but I've always found them perfectly adjusted to society. Jack, a possible paranoid schizophrenic with a Messiah complex, inherits the title of the 14th Earl of Gurney after his father passes away in a bizarre accident. Singularly unsuited to a life in the upper echelons of elite society, Jack finds himself at the centre of a ruthless power struggle as his scheming family strives to uphold their reputation. Bubbling with acerbic wit and feverish energy, Olivier Award-winning and Oscar-nominated-writer Peter Barnes's razor-sharp satire combines a ferocious mix of hilarity and horror whilst mercilessly exposing the foibles of the English nobility. This edition of the play is published to coincide with the first-ever revival of this classic cult comedy at the Trafalgar Studios, London, on 16 January 2015.
The Ruling Class: A Baroque Comedy (Modern Plays)
by Peter BarnesEtonians aren't exactly noted for their grey matter, but I've always found them perfectly adjusted to society. Jack, a possible paranoid schizophrenic with a Messiah complex, inherits the title of the 14th Earl of Gurney after his father passes away in a bizarre accident. Singularly unsuited to a life in the upper echelons of elite society, Jack finds himself at the centre of a ruthless power struggle as his scheming family strives to uphold their reputation. Bubbling with acerbic wit and feverish energy, Olivier Award-winning and Oscar-nominated-writer Peter Barnes's razor-sharp satire combines a ferocious mix of hilarity and horror whilst mercilessly exposing the foibles of the English nobility. This edition of the play is published to coincide with the first-ever revival of this classic cult comedy at the Trafalgar Studios, London, on 16 January 2015.
Sunsets And Glories (Modern Plays)
by Peter BarnesSet in medieval Italy during a crisis in the Church, Sunsets and Glories is "a work of the highest and most thrilling theatrical energy" (Independent on Sunday)Sunsets and Glories is set in the late thirteenth-century Italy where power struggles between Church and State inspire such characters as the spineless Charles 11, paid killer Montefelto and 'madwoman' Maifreda. Into this maelstrom steps Peter de Morrone, the saintly Pope Celestine V, provoking a bitter crisis of faith in the abiding values of violence and corruption. Once again, Peter Barnes' mordant wit takes history and imbues it with a savage humour."Peter Barnes is one of the unrecognised geniuses of the English theatre" (Plays and Players)
Sunsets And Glories (Modern Plays)
by Peter BarnesSet in medieval Italy during a crisis in the Church, Sunsets and Glories is "a work of the highest and most thrilling theatrical energy" (Independent on Sunday)Sunsets and Glories is set in the late thirteenth-century Italy where power struggles between Church and State inspire such characters as the spineless Charles 11, paid killer Montefelto and 'madwoman' Maifreda. Into this maelstrom steps Peter de Morrone, the saintly Pope Celestine V, provoking a bitter crisis of faith in the abiding values of violence and corruption. Once again, Peter Barnes' mordant wit takes history and imbues it with a savage humour."Peter Barnes is one of the unrecognised geniuses of the English theatre" (Plays and Players)
Wendy Wasserstein: A Casebook (Casebooks on Modern Dramatists)
by Claudia BarnettWendy Wasserstein: A Casebook contains in-depth discussions of the playwright's major works, including her recent play 1 An American Daughter. Wasserstein's plays and essays are explored within diverse traditions, including Jewish storytelling, women's writing, and classical comedy. Critical perspectives include feminist, Bakhtinian, and actor/director. Comparisons with other playwrights, such as Rachel Crothers, Caryl Churchill, and Anton Chekhov, provide context and understanding. An interview with the playwright and an annotated bibliography are included.
Wendy Wasserstein: A Casebook (Casebooks on Modern Dramatists #Vol. 26)
by Claudia BarnettWendy Wasserstein: A Casebook contains in-depth discussions of the playwright's major works, including her recent play 1 An American Daughter. Wasserstein's plays and essays are explored within diverse traditions, including Jewish storytelling, women's writing, and classical comedy. Critical perspectives include feminist, Bakhtinian, and actor/director. Comparisons with other playwrights, such as Rachel Crothers, Caryl Churchill, and Anton Chekhov, provide context and understanding. An interview with the playwright and an annotated bibliography are included.
The Great European Stage Directors Volume 2: Meyerhold, Piscator, Brecht (Great Stage Directors)
by David BarnettThis volume surveys and assesses the contributions of Vsevolod Meyerhold, Erwin Piscator and Bertolt Brecht to theatre-making, which richly exemplify the range of ways that directors address dramatic material, theatrical space and their audiences. Their directorial work marks an unmistakeable interest in developing the political potential of theatre in the early 20th century, although each director offered more to their actors, collaborators and spectators than simply the staging of politics and the political.
Heiner Müller's The Hamletmachine (The Fourth Wall)
by David Barnett"I’m good Hamlet gi’me a cause for grief" At first glance, readers of The Hamletmachine (1979) could be forgiven for wondering whether it is actually a play at all: it opens with a montage of texts that are not ascribed to a character, there is no vestige of a plot, and the whole piece lasts a total of ten pages. Yet, Heiner Müller’s play regularly features in theatres’ repertoires and is frequently staged by university theatre departments. In four short chapters, David Barnett unpicks the complexities of The Hamletmachine’s writing and frames its author as an experimental, politically committed writer who confronts the shortcomings of his age. In considering the problems Müller poses for the play’s performance, he also discusses two exemplary productions in order to show how the work can engage very different audiences. This book examines why such a compact, radically open, and yet seemingly obscure play has proved so popular.
Heiner Müller's The Hamletmachine (The Fourth Wall)
by David Barnett"I’m good Hamlet gi’me a cause for grief" At first glance, readers of The Hamletmachine (1979) could be forgiven for wondering whether it is actually a play at all: it opens with a montage of texts that are not ascribed to a character, there is no vestige of a plot, and the whole piece lasts a total of ten pages. Yet, Heiner Müller’s play regularly features in theatres’ repertoires and is frequently staged by university theatre departments. In four short chapters, David Barnett unpicks the complexities of The Hamletmachine’s writing and frames its author as an experimental, politically committed writer who confronts the shortcomings of his age. In considering the problems Müller poses for the play’s performance, he also discusses two exemplary productions in order to show how the work can engage very different audiences. This book examines why such a compact, radically open, and yet seemingly obscure play has proved so popular.
Brecht in Practice: Theatre, Theory and Performance (Methuen Drama Engage)
by David Barnett Enoch Brater Mark Taylor-BattyDavid Barnett invites readers, students and theatre-makers to discover new ways of apprehending and making use of Brecht in this clear and accessible study of Brecht's theories and practices. The book analyses how Brecht's ideas can come alive in rehearsal and performance, and reveals just how carefully Brecht realized his vision of a politicized, interventionist theatre. What emerges is a nuanced understanding of Brecht's concepts, his work with actors and his approaches to directing. The reader is encouraged to engage with his method which sought to 'make theatre politically', in order to appreciate the innovations he introduced into his stagecraft. Barnett provides many examples of how Brecht's ideas can be staged, and the final chapter takes a closer look at two very different plays: one written by Brecht and one by a playwright with no acknowledged connection to Brecht. Through an interrogation of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and Patrick Marber's Closer, Barnett asks how a Brechtian approach can enliven and illuminate production.
Brecht in Practice: Theatre, Theory and Performance (Methuen Drama Engage)
by David Barnett Mark Taylor-BattyDavid Barnett invites readers, students and theatre-makers to discover new ways of apprehending and making use of Brecht in this clear and accessible study of Brecht's theories and practices. The book analyses how Brecht's ideas can come alive in rehearsal and performance, and reveals just how carefully Brecht realized his vision of a politicized, interventionist theatre. What emerges is a nuanced understanding of Brecht's concepts, his work with actors and his approaches to directing. The reader is encouraged to engage with his method which sought to 'make theatre politically', in order to appreciate the innovations he introduced into his stagecraft. Barnett provides many examples of how Brecht's ideas can be staged, and the final chapter takes a closer look at two very different plays: one written by Brecht and one by a playwright with no acknowledged connection to Brecht. Through an interrogation of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and Patrick Marber's Closer, Barnett asks how a Brechtian approach can enliven and illuminate production.
Theatricality, Playtexts and Society (Elements in Contemporary Performance Texts)
by null David BarnettThis Element proposes a novel way of defining, understanding and approaching theatricality, a term that exists both in the theatre and, more broadly, in everyday life. It argues that four foundational, material processes of theatre-making manifest themselves in all playtexts in both overt and covert forms. Each of the four sections defines a different theatrical process, explores its functions in two chosen playtexts and examines its implications for the wider experience of the spectators outside the theatre. The Element concludes with a supplementary reflection on performance to show how even seemingly untheatrical playtexts can be analysed and staged to reveal their unspoken theatricality. It also argues that this new understanding of theatricality has a politics, that the artifice of any theatre and the constructedness of any society are analogous and that both, consequently, can be fundamentally changed. This Element is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Witch Fulfillment: Adaptation Dramaturgy and Casting the Witch for Stage and Screen
by Jane BarnetteWitch Fulfillment: Adaptation Dramaturgy and Casting the Witch for Stage and Screen addresses the Witch as a theatrical type on twenty-first-century-North American stages and screens, seen through the lenses of casting, design, and adaptation, with attention paid to why these patterns persist, and what wishes they fulfil. Witch Fulfillment examines the Witch in performance, considering how actors embody iconic roles designated as witches (casting), and how dramaturgical choices (adaptation) heighten their witchy power. Through analysis of Witch characters ranging from Elphaba to Medea, classic plays such as The Crucible and Macbeth, feminist adaptations - including Sycorax, Obeah Opera, and Jen Silverman’s Witch - and popular culture offerings, like the Scarlet Witch and Jinkx Monsoon, this book examines the dramaturgical meanings of adapting and embodying witchy roles in the twenty-first century. This book contends that the Witch represents a crucial category of analysis for inclusive theatre and performance and will be of interest to theatre practitioners and designers, along with theatre, witchcraft, and occult studies scholars.
Witch Fulfillment: Adaptation Dramaturgy and Casting the Witch for Stage and Screen
by Jane BarnetteWitch Fulfillment: Adaptation Dramaturgy and Casting the Witch for Stage and Screen addresses the Witch as a theatrical type on twenty-first-century-North American stages and screens, seen through the lenses of casting, design, and adaptation, with attention paid to why these patterns persist, and what wishes they fulfil. Witch Fulfillment examines the Witch in performance, considering how actors embody iconic roles designated as witches (casting), and how dramaturgical choices (adaptation) heighten their witchy power. Through analysis of Witch characters ranging from Elphaba to Medea, classic plays such as The Crucible and Macbeth, feminist adaptations - including Sycorax, Obeah Opera, and Jen Silverman’s Witch - and popular culture offerings, like the Scarlet Witch and Jinkx Monsoon, this book examines the dramaturgical meanings of adapting and embodying witchy roles in the twenty-first century. This book contends that the Witch represents a crucial category of analysis for inclusive theatre and performance and will be of interest to theatre practitioners and designers, along with theatre, witchcraft, and occult studies scholars.
The Life of P.T. Barnum: Written By Himself, Including His Golden Rules For Money-making. Brought Up To 1888 (Collins Classics)
by P. T. BarnumHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.
Modern Acting: The Lost Chapter of American Film and Theatre (Palgrave Studies in Screen Industries and Performance)
by Cynthia BaronEveryone has heard of Method acting . . . but what about Modern acting? This book makes the simple but radical proposal that we acknowledge the Modern acting principles that continue to guide actors’ work in the twenty-first century. Developments in modern drama and new stagecraft led Modern acting strategies to coalesce by the 1930s – and Hollywood’s new role as America’s primary performing arts provider ensured these techniques circulated widely as the migration of Broadway talent and the demands of sound cinema created a rich exchange of ideas among actors. Decades after Strasberg’s death in 1982, he and his Method are still famous, while accounts of American acting tend to overlook the contributions of Modern acting teachers such as Josephine Dillon, Charles Jehlinger, and Sophie Rosenstein. Baron’s examination of acting manuals, workshop notes, and oral histories illustrates the shared vision of Modern acting that connects these little-known teachers to the landmark work of Stanislavsky. It reveals that Stella Adler, long associated with the Method, is best understood as a Modern acting teacher and that Modern acting, not Method, might be seen as central to American performing arts if the Actors’ Lab in Hollywood (1941-1950) had survived the Cold War.
The Ugly Spirit (Oberon Modern Plays)
by Russell BarrBerlin. 1973.A soprano lies dead on a blanket.The human mind will not function when it is hot. Only when it is cool and dispassionate.If you are not careful you will no longer be human. If you are not careful you will become animals covered in sand. You are our descendants. You are very special.Some of you are to be precisely registered and preserved. You will become our most important historical monument.’Bessie and Jessie have been stuck in a bombed ballroom. They are also stuck together. There appears to be no escape. Bessie is happy to be stuck. Surely it is better than being alone? Jessie often went blue as a child.Jessie clutches the last unopened Christmas present.They are instructed by a voice, The Special Detachment, who only eats strawberries, and keeps the world in order.Bessie and Jessie have a model train set. The train is driven by a live rodent. The train has been moving for too many years.The train is about to fall off its tracks.
A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson (Oberon Modern Plays Ser.)
by Russell Barr Ian Redford Max Stafford-ClarkOut of Joint Presents: A Dish of Tea With Dr JohnsonIrritable, generous, seriously depressed yet a great wit: meet Samuel Johnson – poet, essayist and lexicographer. This evening of stories and conversation brings to life some of the most colourful figures of the eighteenth century. The host of characters bringing detail to this fascinating portrait includes biographer James Boswell, painter Joshua Reynolds, King George III, Bonnie Prince Charlie’s saviour Lady Flora MacDonald, and Mrs Thrale, the society hostess who was Johnson’s final, unrequited love.‘With A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson we return to the fascinating world of the great Dr Johnson. Until the middle of the 19th Century only the two patent houses, Drury Lane and Covent Garden, were permitted to present drama. So when Samuel Foote, Johnson’s contemporary, presented his evening of comic impersonations and vignettes it was billed as An Invitation to a Dish of Chocolate with Samuel Foote. From him we have purloined our title.’ - Max Stafford-Clark
Japanese Horror Cinema and Deleuze: Interrogating and Reconceptualizing Dominant Modes of Thought
by Rachel Elizabeth BarracloughUsing theories of national, transnational and world cinema, and genre theories and psychoanlaysis as the basis of its argument, Japanese Horror Cinema and Deleuze argues that these understandings of Japanese horror films can be extended in new ways through the philosophy of Deleuze. In particular, the complexities and nuances of how films like Ju-On: The Grudge (2002), Audition (1999) and Kairo (2001) (and beyond) form dynamic, transformative global networks between industries, directors and audiences can be considered. Furthermore, understandings of how key horror tropes and motifs apply to these films (and others more broadly), such as the idea of the “monstrous-feminine”, can be transformed, allowing these models to become more flexible.