The Royal Court Theatre is one of the primary forums in the development of postwar drama. Under the title of the English Stage Company the theater produced some of the most influential plays in modern history, including the works of Brenton, Churchill, Bond and Osborne. In this account of the theater, from 1956 to 1998, Philip Roberts draws on unpublished archives and a series of interviews with people prominent in the Court's life. The book also includes a Foreword by the former Director of the Royal Court, Max Stafford-Clark.

A detailed introduction to Moliere and his plays, this Companion evokes his own theatrical career, his theatres, patrons, the performers and theatre staff with whom he worked, and the various publics he and his troupes entertained with such success. It looks at his particular brands of comedy and satire. L'Ecole des femmes, Le Tartuffe, Dom Juan, Le Misanthrope, L'Avare and Les Femmes savantes are examined from a variety of different viewpoints, and through the eyes of different ages and cultures. The comedies-ballets, a genre invented by Moliere and his collaborators, are re-instated to the...

In this book Brian Crow and Chris Banfield provide an introduction to post-colonial theater by concentrating on the work of major dramatists from the third world and subordinated cultures in the first world. Crow and Banfield consider the plays of such writers as Wole Soyinka and Athol Fugard and his collaborators, Derek Walcott, August Wilson and Jack Davis, and Badal Sircar and Girish Karnad. Each chapter contains an informative list of primary source material and further reading about the dramatists. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of theater and cultural history.

This work gives an "inside" view of Chinese theater and the actor in performance for the first time. It challenges Western theater artists such as Brecht, Grotowski, Barba and Schechner, who have extracted from Chinese theater elements that might enrich their own theaters. It is based on personal observations of and dialogue with Chinese actors, experiences that were impossible before 1980. Riley's study is well illustrated with photographs and diagrams and is accessible to anyone interested in theater, even those with no knowledge of Chinese or Chinese theater.

David Bradby's study explores the impact of Waiting for Godot and its influence on acting, directing, design, and the role of theater in society. After discussing the first productions in France, Britain and America, he examines subsequent productions in Africa, Eastern Europe, Israel, America, China and Japan. The book assesses interpretations by Bert Lahr and Ben Kingsley, as well as such directors as Roger Blin, Susan Sontag, Sir Peter Hall, and Beckett himself. It also contains an extensive production chronology, bibliography and illustrations from major productions.

This book describes and analyzes theater productions performed in Israel, America, Poland, France, Italy and Germany that deal with the Holocaust. The collected essays trace the development of the realistic/documentary stagings of the 1950s-1970s through to today's very controversial avant-garde shows. This is the first book that deals with Holocaust plays "in performance," and provides many previously unpublished drawings and documents, as well as an important descriptive bibliography.

Theater, in a variety of forms and contexts, can make, and indeed has made, positive political and social interventions in a range of developing cultures around the world. In this book a distinguished team of theater historians and dramatists explore how theater has a dynamic and often difficult relationship with societies and states, arguing positively that theatrical activity can make a difference. The collection begins with a foreword by Wole Soyinka and, throughout the volume, specially chosen plays, projects and movements are examined in countries such as Brazil and Argentina, Nigeria,...

The Politics of Irish Drama analyzes some twenty-five of the best-known Irish plays from those of Dion Boucicault to Sebastian Barry, including works by Shaw, Yeats, Lady Gregory and Beckett. The book looks at political contexts for these plays and, in arguing for the outward-directed nature of dramatic representation of Ireland, shows Irish drama to be an international as much as national phenomenon.

Challenging prevailing views of Brecht's theater and politics, Loren Kruger focuses much of her analysis on regions where Brecht has had special resonance, including East Germany and South Africa. She also analyzes political interpretations of Brecht in light of other key dramatists, including Heiner MUller and Athol Fugard, as well as Brechtian influence on writers and philosophers such as Adorno, Benjamin, and Barthes.

Working from a multi-cultural perspective, this book explores the value of performance as an agent of social change, and makes its arguments through the close examination of the success--not always complete--of specific projects in their practical and cultural contexts. Practitioners and commentators inquire as to how performance in its broadest context can play a part in community activism by helping communities find their own creative voices.