Shakespeare Dancing: A Theatrical Study of the Plays

ISBN-13: 9781403941954 / Angielski / Twarda / 2005 / 210 str.

John Russell Brown

Opis

The Dancing of the title was in Shakespeare's mind as he wrote: a physical and active imagination. This book explores the operation of the playwright's creative mind in his most frequently performed texts and encourages readers to seek out the performance possibilities of the works for themselves. Moving beyond the study of what has happened on stage in a number of specific productions, John Russell Brown examines the entire theatrical event in which performance occurs, as well as the meeting and interaction of actors and audience, and the social and cultural contexts of the plays' reception in the past and present.

Spis treści

Preface.- Introduction.- Present Laughter: Comedy in Performance (As You Like It, Much Ado about Nothing, Merchant of Venice).- Living with the Tragedies: A Progressive Experience (Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet).- Annotating Silence: Speechless Eloquence (Richard III, King Lear, Hamlet).- Accounting for Space: Choreography (Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, Henry V, Coriolanus).- Awakening the Senses: An Actor's Task (Hamlet, As You Like It).- Staging the Everyday: Actual Activity (King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra).- Seeing Double: Uncertainty and Choice (Love's Labour Lost, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, King Lear).- Criticism: Making the Plays One's Own.- Index.

O autorze

JOHN RUSSELL BROWN is Professor of Theatre at Middlesex University and was recently Visiting Professor at Columbia University, USA. He is an internationally known theatre director and author and a Former Associate Director of the National Theatre. His many books on theatre and Shakespeare include The Oxford Illustrated History of Theatre, New Sites for Shakespeare, Shakespeare: The Tragedies and Shakespeare and the Theatrical Event.

Blurb

The Dancing of the title was in Shakespeare's mind as he wrote: a physical and active imagination. This book studies its operation in his most frequently performed texts and encourages readers to seek out the performance possibilities of all the texts for themselves.

The need to study Shakespeare's plays as they come to life in a theatre is now widely recognised. John Russell Brown moves beyond an exploration of what has happened in a number of specific productions to examine the entire theatrical event in which a performance occurs: the meeting and interaction of actors and audience, and the social and cultural contexts of a play's reception in the past and at the present time. Assuming no prior knowledge of theatre practice and offering practical advice for further investigations, Shakespeare Dancing is written for all who study Shakespeare's work in search of a fuller understanding, or as a preparation for performance.