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Coward Plays: Hay Fever; The Vortex; Fallen Angels; Easy Virtue (World Classics)
by Noël CowardThis first volume in the Coward Collection contains four plays written within a two year period when Cowardand the century were still in their 20s. The volume is introduced by Sheridan Morley,Coward's first biographer. Hay Fever, a comedy of badmanners, concerns a weekend with friends of the Bliss family, who haveall been invited independently for a weekend at their country housenear Maidenhead. The Vortexwas a controversial drama in its time, introducing drug-addiction ontothe stage at a time when alcoholism was barely mentioned. Fallen Angels, which is written for two star actresseswas described as 'degenerate', 'vile', 'obscene', 'shocking' - thesecond half of the play is entirely taken up with an alcoholic duologuebetween the two women. Easy Virtue is an elegant, laconic tribute to alost world of drawing-room dramas, no other writer went more directlyto the jugular of that moralistic, tight-lipped but fundamentallyhypocritical 20s society. "He is simply a phenomenon, and one that is unlikely to occur everagain in theatre history" Terence Rattigan
Coward Plays: Design for Living; Cavalcade; Conversation Piece; Tonight at 8.30 (i); Still Life (World Classics)
by Noël CowardThe third volume of Coward's plays contains some of his best work fromthe thirties. Design for Living - is about a triangular alliancebetween two men and a woman, based on friends of Coward's, which hewaited to write "until she and he and I had arrived by different roadsin our careers at a time and a place when we felt we could all threeplay together with a more or less equal degree of success." Cavalcadewas Coward's most ambitious stage project, set during the Boer War,which cost £30,000 in its day and which includes scenes of the reliefof the sinking of the Titanic and the coming of the Jazz Age. Conversation Piece is a musical comedy that Noël wrote for the Parisianstar Yvonne Printemps and includes the song "I'll Follow My SecretHeart". Also in the volume are three short plays including Tonight at 8.30 -Hands Across the Sea, a gentle satire of colonials and London Society;Still Life which became the film Brief Encounter and Fumed Oak a suburbancomedy about a 'worm who turns'. The volume is introduced by SheridanMorley.
Coward Plays: Semi-Monde; Point Valaine; South Sea Bubble; Nude With Violin (World Classics)
by Noël CowardPhilip Hoare, in his biography of Coward described Semi-Monde as his "most daring play to date. In a chic Parisian hotel, a series of sexualpairings take place through rendezvous, arguments, infidelities andreconciliations: sexual deviance is undisguised...set in the bisexual1920s, the play could easily be populated by characters of Coward'ssociety". Point Valaine is "thedrama of a lurid episode of lust in the semi-tropics.. unmistakably thework of a master of the stage" (New York Times); South Sea Bubble whichconcerns "the Governor's lady in the Isle of Samolo who plays withnative fire, nearly gets her wings singed, bashes her native admirerwith a bottle and at one of those Coward next-morning-at breakfastscenes slips her way out of the scrape with feline grace." (ManchesterGuardian) whilst Nude With Violin is a witty comedy about art fraud.
Coward Plays: Quadrille; 'Peace in Our Time'; Tonight at 8.30 (iii) (World Classics)
by Noël CowardThe Seventh volume in the Coward Collection. On Quadrille: "Miss Fontanne plays the madcap Marchioness with thecrackle and sheen of a five-pound note. Her eyes mock marvelously, hervoice cuts like a knife into a wedding cake, and the scene in ActThree, on the eve of her elopement with Mr. Lung, is as delicious ascrushed ice." Evening Standard, 1952. "The idea of Peace in Our Time",Coward wrote "was conceived in Paris shortly after the Liberation. . .I began to suspect that the physical effect of four years intermittentbombing is far less damaging to the intrinsic character of a nationthan the spiritual effect of four years enemy occupation."Thevolume also contains four pieces from the Tonight at 8.30 sequence: WeWere Dancing "provides a marvelously compact illustration of the waythe English public school spirit prevails even in moments of strenuouspassion." "Shadow Play is a musical fantasy. . . which gave Gertie andme a chance to sing as romantically as we could, dance in the moonlightand, we hoped, convince the audience that we were very fascinatingindeed"; and "Family Album - a sly satire on Victorian hypocrisy,adorned with an unobtrusive but agreeable musical score. It wasstylised both in its decor and its performance, was a joy to play andprovided the whole talented company with good parts." Star Chamber,closely based on Coward's experiences trying to co-ordinate his Actors'Orphanage charity committee, is published here for the first time.
Coward Plays: I'll Leave it to You; The Young Idea; This Was a Man (World Classics)
by Noël CowardThe eighth volume in the Coward Collection includes I'llLeave It To You and The Young Idea, the first of Coward's plays ever tobe produced. These were, as he said, "enthusiastically acclaimed by thecritics and ran five weeks and eight weeks respectively. In both ofthem I appeared with the utmost determination." This Was a Man, aslightly later play, was written in 1926, after the successes whichmade his name. It was originally banned by the Lord Chamberlain "forfacetious adultery".
Coward The Playwright (Biography and Autobiography)
by John LahrA reissue in hardback of critic John Lahr's famous 1982 study of Noël Coward's plays"Noël Coward," said Terence Rattigan, "is simply a phenomenon, and one that is unlikely to occur ever again in theatre history." A phenomenon he certainly was, and it is part of John Lahr's purpose in this book to show how that phenomenon called "Noël Coward" was largely Coward's own careful creation. Lahr's penetrating critical study of Coward's drama investigates all the major and minor plays of "The Master". Private Lives, Design for Living and Hay Fever make a fascinating group of "Comedies of Bad Manners". Blithe Spirit and Relative Values raise the "Ghost in the Fun Machine". Lahr then goes on to explore the "politics of charm" oozing through The Vortex, Easy Virtue and Present Laughter. In all Coward's plays Lahr uncovers a coherent philosophy in which charm is both the subject of Coward's comedies and the trap which made his very public life a perpetual performance."A smashing, thoughtful and very good guide to Coward's plays" (Sheridan Morley)
Coward Revue Sketches (World Classics)
by Noël CowardIn the 1920s and 1930s Noël Coward mastered and defined the art of the revue sketch - short and often topical or satirical stage pieces, many of which were a lead-in to his famous songs. He wrote these sketches for the top revues of the 1920s and 1930s, including London Calling! (1923) and Cochrane's Revue of 1931. This volume collects Coward's best and most witty pieces, including Rain Before Seven, the only sketch he performed with Gertrude Lawrence, and the hilarious parody, Some Other Private Lives, in which Coward burlesques his own famous play, Private Lives. Also included are short one-act plays never before published.The collection includes an Introduction by Coward scholar Barry Day, setting the work in the context of its time and its dramatic form. A forgotten area of Coward's writing is now back in print.
Coward Revue Sketches (World Classics)
by Noël CowardIn the 1920s and 1930s Noël Coward mastered and defined the art of the revue sketch - short and often topical or satirical stage pieces, many of which were a lead-in to his famous songs. He wrote these sketches for the top revues of the 1920s and 1930s, including London Calling! (1923) and Cochrane's Revue of 1931. This volume collects Coward's best and most witty pieces, including Rain Before Seven, the only sketch he performed with Gertrude Lawrence, and the hilarious parody, Some Other Private Lives, in which Coward burlesques his own famous play, Private Lives. Also included are short one-act plays never before published.The collection includes an Introduction by Coward scholar Barry Day, setting the work in the context of its time and its dramatic form. A forgotten area of Coward's writing is now back in print.
Coward the Dramatist: Morals and Manners (Bernard Shaw and His Contemporaries)
by Roger KojeckyDiscussions of Coward’s achievement in the theatre between 1920 and 1966 have tended to stay with the colourful biography. The more analytical literary approach adopted here places Coward’s success in its wider theatrical context, making the connections with the work of other dramatists. He developed his technique according to what worked with theatre audiences. Taking up the well-made play, he brought in a more colloquial dialogue, explored, for instance, the morality and psychology of marriage and free love, and frequently exploited the dramatic possibilities of characters grouped into two camps. The book considers both the ‘pleasant’ and ‘unpleasant’ plays (to use the Shavian terms), and the episodic patriotic plays. It Includes Coward’s ambivalent approach to the ‘theatre of war’ in the 20th century. (123)
Cowboy Hamlets and zombie Romeos: Shakespeare in genre film (Manchester University Press)
by Kinga FöldváryThe book presents a systematic method of interpreting Shakespeare film adaptations based on their cinematic genres. Its approach is both scholarly and reader-friendly, and its subject is fundamentally interdisciplinary, combining the findings of Shakespeare scholarship with film and media studies, particularly genre theory. The book is organised into six large chapters, discussing films that form broad generic groups. Part I looks at three genres from the classical Hollywood era (western, melodrama and gangster-noir), while Part II deals with three contemporary blockbuster genres (teen film, undead horror and biopic). Beside a few better-known examples of mainstream cinema, the volume also highlights the Shakespearean elements in several nearly forgotten films, bringing them back to critical attention.
Cowboy Hamlets and zombie Romeos: Shakespeare in genre film (Manchester University Press)
by Kinga FöldváryThe book presents a systematic method of interpreting Shakespeare film adaptations based on their cinematic genres. Its approach is both scholarly and reader-friendly, and its subject is fundamentally interdisciplinary, combining the findings of Shakespeare scholarship with film and media studies, particularly genre theory. The book is organised into six large chapters, discussing films that form broad generic groups. Part I looks at three genres from the classical Hollywood era (western, melodrama and gangster-noir), while Part II deals with three contemporary blockbuster genres (teen film, undead horror and biopic). Beside a few better-known examples of mainstream cinema, the volume also highlights the Shakespearean elements in several nearly forgotten films, bringing them back to critical attention.
Cracking (Modern Plays)
by Shôn Dale-JonesAs I walk past the funeral parlour, I see a poster next to their two-for-one offer. It's a wanted poster with my name on it.A completely made-up true story. When the world goes mad, do we inevitably go mad too?When Shôn playfully cracks an egg on his mother's head, he has no idea real-life internet trolls will appear on his doorstep. Cracking takes on the battle between love and hate, asking what's funny and where we draw the line. Part stand-up, part theatre, Cracking is a funny, touching and thought-provoking solo performance that sews together fact and fiction into one seamless whole making us wonder what's real, what's not and what's gone wrong. This story about love and hatred celebrates how searching for connection beats disconnecting. This edition was published to coincide with the UK tour starting in February 2024.
Cracking (Modern Plays)
by Shôn Dale-JonesAs I walk past the funeral parlour, I see a poster next to their two-for-one offer. It's a wanted poster with my name on it.A completely made-up true story. When the world goes mad, do we inevitably go mad too?When Shôn playfully cracks an egg on his mother's head, he has no idea real-life internet trolls will appear on his doorstep. Cracking takes on the battle between love and hate, asking what's funny and where we draw the line. Part stand-up, part theatre, Cracking is a funny, touching and thought-provoking solo performance that sews together fact and fiction into one seamless whole making us wonder what's real, what's not and what's gone wrong. This story about love and hatred celebrates how searching for connection beats disconnecting. This edition was published to coincide with the UK tour starting in February 2024.
The Cracks in my Skin (Oberon Modern Plays)
by Phil PorterDo you find it hard? Getting close? I want to get close but I can't stop blowing things apart. Vexing people like a bomb' Janie's a force of nature, like some considerable disaster zone. It's baking hot, her mouth is peeling away and now she's got horns. Been on her head for yonks apparently, growing... Roper can feel his grandson Linden pulling away from him, pushing him away... like his eyes are mini pebbles all suddenly. Like everyone, Josefa needs a bit of a miracle to happen. One summer's night, with the help of a paddling pool, a baby dragon and a bottle of gin, it does. But how long can anything perfect last? Funny, open-hearted, surprising and strange, The Cracks in My Skin is a new kind of love story...a new kind of family. It opened at The Studio at Manchester Royal Exchange, in February 2008.
Cradle Me (Modern Plays)
by Simon VinnicombePublished as a programme text for the world premiere at the Finborough Theatre in October 2008, Cradle Me is a tender, powerful play about the aftermath of a family tragedy. Following an unspeakable yet avoidable tragedy, a family findsthemselves torn apart by grief and turning for comfort to Daniel, thetroubled teenage boy who lives next door. Having experienced their tragedy first hand, Daniel shares intheir grief in a way that creates an individual bond with each memberof the family. Louise is the prepubescent daughter whose burgeoningsexuality makes Daniel an obvious target for her affections. Graham isthe grieving father who recognises Daniel as knowing his dead son in away that he never could and now never will. However, it is Marion, the dead boy's mother, who expresses hergrief through Daniel in a way that will ultimately lead both he and herfamily on a path that will irrevocably alter the course of their livesforever.
Cradle Me (Modern Plays)
by Simon VinnicombePublished as a programme text for the world premiere at the Finborough Theatre in October 2008, Cradle Me is a tender, powerful play about the aftermath of a family tragedy. Following an unspeakable yet avoidable tragedy, a family findsthemselves torn apart by grief and turning for comfort to Daniel, thetroubled teenage boy who lives next door. Having experienced their tragedy first hand, Daniel shares intheir grief in a way that creates an individual bond with each memberof the family. Louise is the prepubescent daughter whose burgeoningsexuality makes Daniel an obvious target for her affections. Graham isthe grieving father who recognises Daniel as knowing his dead son in away that he never could and now never will. However, it is Marion, the dead boy's mother, who expresses hergrief through Daniel in a way that will ultimately lead both he and herfamily on a path that will irrevocably alter the course of their livesforever.
The Craft and Art of Scenic Design: Strategies, Concepts, and Resources
by Robert KlingelhoeferThe Craft and Art of Scenic Design: Strategies, Concepts, and Resources explores how to design stage scenery from a practical and conceptual perspective. Discussion of conceptualizing the design through script analysis and research is followed by a comprehensive overview of execution: collaboration with directors and other designers, working with spaces, developing an effective design process, and the aesthetics of stage design. This book features case studies, key words, tip boxes, definitions, and chapter exercises. Additionally, it provides advice on portfolio and career development, contracts, and working with a union. This book was written for university-level Scenic Design courses.
The Craft and Art of Scenic Design: Strategies, Concepts, and Resources
by Robert KlingelhoeferThe Craft and Art of Scenic Design: Strategies, Concepts, and Resources explores how to design stage scenery from a practical and conceptual perspective. Discussion of conceptualizing the design through script analysis and research is followed by a comprehensive overview of execution: collaboration with directors and other designers, working with spaces, developing an effective design process, and the aesthetics of stage design. This book features case studies, key words, tip boxes, definitions, and chapter exercises. Additionally, it provides advice on portfolio and career development, contracts, and working with a union. This book was written for university-level Scenic Design courses.
The Craft of Comedy
by Athene Seyler Stephen Haggard"a work on the art and craft of comedy as important in its own way as works by Stanislavski and Chekhov" – Oxford Theatre Companion In 1939, a young, inexperienced actor wrote to a famous actress of his acquaintance, asking for advice on playing comedy. She responded enthusiastically, and they corresponded variously over the next year. The Craft of Comedy, a record of these exchanges, soon emerged as one of the few classic texts in the field of comedy acting. This major new edition takes a brilliant book and makes it better. Editor Robert Barton has devised extensive supplementary material, including: An introduction to the correspondents, the culture of the time, and the evolution of their book; Summaries, definitions, and exercises and practice scenes for readers wishing to explore Athene Seyler’s invaluable advice; Photographs, additional essays by Seyler, and a guide to easily accessed video clips of her performing. Seyler’s lucid guidance, and Barton’s scrupulous editorship, ensure this legendary work’s rightful status is restored: as one of the great practical guides to the craft of comedy, and an essential resource for actors and students of acting.
The Craft of Comedy: The 21st Century Edition
by Athene Seyler Stephen Haggard"a work on the art and craft of comedy as important in its own way as works by Stanislavski and Chekhov" – Oxford Theatre Companion In 1939, a young, inexperienced actor wrote to a famous actress of his acquaintance, asking for advice on playing comedy. She responded enthusiastically, and they corresponded variously over the next year. The Craft of Comedy, a record of these exchanges, soon emerged as one of the few classic texts in the field of comedy acting. This major new edition takes a brilliant book and makes it better. Editor Robert Barton has devised extensive supplementary material, including: An introduction to the correspondents, the culture of the time, and the evolution of their book; Summaries, definitions, and exercises and practice scenes for readers wishing to explore Athene Seyler’s invaluable advice; Photographs, additional essays by Seyler, and a guide to easily accessed video clips of her performing. Seyler’s lucid guidance, and Barton’s scrupulous editorship, ensure this legendary work’s rightful status is restored: as one of the great practical guides to the craft of comedy, and an essential resource for actors and students of acting.
The Craft of Screen Acting
by Amanda BrennanHave you been working as an actor, but want to refine your craft and take your performance to the next level? Or do you want to transition from stage to screen acting and would like to better understand the skills required? In this essential book for actors, Amanda Brennan offers a specifically psychophysical approach to screen acting, which provides an understanding of the body as the springboard for creative exploration. Starting with understanding your own instrument, you will learn how to prepare and tune the body for creative work. This is followed by strategies for the refinement of craft, including exercises on voice, movement, character development and rehearsal processes for screen. Experienced actors, directors, casting directors and industry professionals, such as Asa Butterfield (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Hugo, Sex Education), Noah Jupe (Honey Boy, The Quiet Place,The UnDoing), Janis Pugh (Chuck Chuck Baby) and James Kent (Testament of Youth, The Aftermath) and Rebecca Lloyd offer their comments and share invaluable experiences throughout the book.
The Craft of Screen Acting
by Amanda BrennanHave you been working as an actor, but want to refine your craft and take your performance to the next level? Or do you want to transition from stage to screen acting and would like to better understand the skills required? In this essential book for actors, Amanda Brennan offers a specifically psychophysical approach to screen acting, which provides an understanding of the body as the springboard for creative exploration. Starting with understanding your own instrument, you will learn how to prepare and tune the body for creative work. This is followed by strategies for the refinement of craft, including exercises on voice, movement, character development and rehearsal processes for screen. Experienced actors, directors, casting directors and industry professionals, such as Asa Butterfield (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Hugo, Sex Education), Noah Jupe (Honey Boy, The Quiet Place,The UnDoing), Janis Pugh (Chuck Chuck Baby) and James Kent (Testament of Youth, The Aftermath) and Rebecca Lloyd offer their comments and share invaluable experiences throughout the book.
The Craft of Theatre: Seminars And Discussions In Brechtian Theatre (Biography And Autobiography Ser.)
by Ekkehard SchallThe Craft of Theatre is a first-hand account by one of the greatest actors and directors of the Berliner Ensemble, whose work with the company spanned over forty years. It offers an unparalleled insight to working on Brecht's texts and in some of the great Brechtian roles and will appeal to actors, directors and students of theatre. Ekkehard Schall's life was devoted to the theatre. In this autobiographical memoir, he offers a lifetime of experience, expertise and memories of working with some of the great German writers, actors and directors of the twentieth century. A member of the Berliner Ensemble established by Bertolt Brecht and his wife Helene Weigel in 1949, Ekkehard Schall worked on numerous productions of Brecht's plays and others with the Ensemble between 1952 and 1995. In the 1970s and 80s he combined the roles of leading actor and deputy director of the Ensemble. In all he played over sixty roles and achieved greatest success in the role as Arturo Ui, a role he played over 500 times.The Craft of Theatre: Seminars and Discussions in Brechtian Theatre offers the reader a lively account of Schall's work, of his insights and his appreciation of the Brechtian roles he assumed, and of the work of Germany's most important theatre. The Craft of Theatre is an important addition to Brechtian studies and to the biography of Germany's most totemic theatre.'When you see Schall at work during his two-hour performance, it's as if you were watching Brecht himself on stage. Schall's technical skills embody all of Brechtian dramatic theory and practice, just as Brecht's thoughts and opinions infuse his performances.' NewYork City Tribune
The Craft of Theatre: Seminars and Discussions in Brechtian Theatre
by Ekkehard Schall John DavisThe Craft of Theatre is a first-hand account by one of the greatest actors and directors of the Berliner Ensemble, whose work with the company spanned over forty years. It offers an unparalleled insight to working on Brecht's texts and in some of the great Brechtian roles and will appeal to actors, directors and students of theatre. Ekkehard Schall's life was devoted to the theatre. In this autobiographical memoir, he offers a lifetime of experience, expertise and memories of working with some of the great German writers, actors and directors of the twentieth century. A member of the Berliner Ensemble established by Bertolt Brecht and his wife Helene Weigel in 1949, Ekkehard Schall worked on numerous productions of Brecht's plays and others with the Ensemble between 1952 and 1995. In the 1970s and 80s he combined the roles of leading actor and deputy director of the Ensemble. In all he played over sixty roles and achieved greatest success in the role as Arturo Ui, a role he played over 500 times.The Craft of Theatre: Seminars and Discussions in Brechtian Theatre offers the reader a lively account of Schall's work, of his insights and his appreciation of the Brechtian roles he assumed, and of the work of Germany's most important theatre. The Craft of Theatre is an important addition to Brechtian studies and to the biography of Germany's most totemic theatre.'When you see Schall at work during his two-hour performance, it's as if you were watching Brecht himself on stage. Schall's technical skills embody all of Brechtian dramatic theory and practice, just as Brecht's thoughts and opinions infuse his performances.' NewYork City Tribune
The Crafty Art of Playmaking
by Alan AyckbournWith over sixty plays written and premièred at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough before going on to play in the West End or the Royal National Theatre, London, or Broadway, Alan Ayckbourn's expertise in writing and directing plays is unsurpassed.For the first time, here in The Crafty Art of Playmaking, he shares all his tricks of the trade. From helpful hints on writing (Where do you start? How do you continue? What is comedy and how do you write it? What is tragedy and how does it work?), to tips on directing (working with actors and technicians, when to listen to the other experts, how to cope with rehearsals), the book provides a complete primer for the tyro and a refresher for the more experienced. Written in an accessible and highly entertaining style, with anecdotes galore to illustrate the how, when, where and why, it's worth the cover price for the jokes alone.'A marvellously useful and enjoyably good-humoured book' Daily Telegraph