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Moving Performances: Divas, Iconicity, and Remembering the Modern Stage
by Jeanne ScheperFabulous yet fierce, imperious yet impetuous, boss yet bitchy—divas are figures of paradox. Their place in culture is equally contradictory, as they are simultaneously venerated and marginalized, hailed as timeless but then frequently forgotten or exhumed as cult icons by future generations. Focusing on four early twentieth-century divas—Aida Overton Walker, Loïe Fuller, Libby Holman, and Josephine Baker—who were icons in their own time, Moving Performances considers what their past and current reception reveals about changing ideas of race and gender. Jeanne Scheper examines how iconicity can actually work to the diva’s detriment, reducing her to a fetish object, a grotesque, or a figure of nostalgia. Yet she also locates more productive modes of reception that reach to revive the diva’s moving performances, imbuing her with an affective afterlife. As it offers innovative theorizations of performance, reception, and affect, Moving Performances also introduces readers to four remarkable women who worked as both cultural producers and critics, deftly subverting the tropes of exoticism, orientalism, and primitivism commonly used to dismiss women of color. Rejecting iconic depictions of these divas as frozen in a past moment, Scheper vividly demonstrates how their performances continue to inspire ongoing movements.
Moving Relation: Touch in Contemporary Dance (Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies)
by Gerko EgertMoving Relation explores the notion of touch in the realm of contemporary dance. By closely analyzing performances by well-known European and American choreographers such as Meg Stuart, William Forsythe, Xavier Le Roy, Jared Gradinger and Angela Schubot, this book investigates their usage of touch on the level of movement, experience and affect. Building on the proposition that touch is more than the moment of bodily contact, the author demonstrates the concept of touch as an interplay of movements and multiple relations of proximity. Egert employs both depth, using close descriptions and analyses of dance performances with theoretical investigations of touch, with breadth, working across the fields of performance and dance studies, philosophy and cultural theory. Suitable for scholars and practitioners in the fields of dance and performance studies, Moving Relation uses a process-oriented notion of touch to reevaluate key concepts such as the body, rhythm, emotional expression, subjectivity and audience perception.
Moving Shakespeare Indoors
by Andrew Gurr Farah Karim-CooperShakespeare's Company, the King's Men, played at the Globe, and also in an indoor theatre, the Blackfriars. The year 2014 witnesses the opening of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, based on seventeenth-century designs of an indoor London theatre and built within the precincts of the current Globe on Bankside. This volume, edited by Andrew Gurr and Farah Karim-Cooper, asks what prompted the move to indoor theatres, and considers the effects that more intimate staging, lighting and music had on performance and repertory. It discusses what knowledge is required when attempting to build an archetype of such a theatre, and looks at the effects of the theatre on audience behaviour and reception. Exploring the ways in which indoor theatre shaped the writing of Shakespeare and his contemporaries in the late Jacobean and early Caroline periods, this book will find a substantial readership among scholars of Shakespeare and Jacobean theatre history.
Moving Sites: Investigating Site-Specific Dance Performance
by Victoria HunterMoving Sites explores site-specific dance practice through a combination of analytical essays and practitioner accounts of their working processes. In offering this joint effort of theory and practice, it aims to provide dance academics, students and practitioners with a series of discussions that shed light both on approaches to making this type of dance practice, and evaluating and reflecting on it. The edited volume combines critical thinking from a range of perspectives including commentary and observation from the fields of dance studies, human geography and spatial theory in order to present interdisciplinary discourse and a range of critical and practice-led lenses through which this type of work can be considered and explored. In so doing, this book addresses the following questions: · How do choreographers make site-specific dance performance? · What occurs when a moving body engages with site, place and environment? · How might we interpret, analyse and evaluate this type of dance practice through a range of theoretical lenses? · How can this type of practice inform wider discussions of embodiment, site, space, place and environment? This innovative and exciting book seeks to move beyond description and discussion of site-specific dance as a spectacle or novelty and considers site-dance as a valid and vital form of contemporary dance practice that explores, reflects, disrupts, contests and develops understandings and practices of inhabiting and engaging with a range of sites and environments. Dr Victoria Hunter is Senior Lecturer in Dance at the University of Chichester.
Moving Toward Life: Five Decades of Transformational Dance
by Rachel Kaplan Anna HalprinAnna Halprin is one of the most important innovators in the history of modern dance, performance art, and post-modern dance. Moving Toward Life brings together for the first time her essays, interviews, manifestos, and teaching materials, along with over 100 illustrations, providing a rich account of the work that radicalized an entire generation of performers.Since the late 1950s, Halprin has been at the forefront of experiments in dance, from improvisation and street theatre to dances in the environment and healing dances. A brief overview of Halprin's career shows how her work has prefigured -- and transfigured -- crucial developments in postmodern dance. In the 1960s, Halprin invented the "workshop," and in the wake of the Watts riots, her multiracial company broke boundaries in their confrontational political performances. In the 1970s, she organized "community rituals" to explore how individual creativity feeds positively into group dynamics. These healing social events led to her current work with cancer survivors and people challenging AIDS and their caregivers.Depicting Halprin's deep commitment to social change, Moving Toward Life presents an engaging, critical document of the life of one of the most influential and least known luminaries of American dance. Sally Banes and Janice Ross join Rachel Kaplan in providing introductory essays to sections of the book.
Moving Words: Re-Writing Dance
by Gay MorrisMoving Words provides a direct line into the most pressing issues in contemporary dance scholarship, as well as insights into ways in which dance contributes to and creates culture. Instead of representing a single viewpoint, the essays in this volume reflect a range of perspectives and represent the debates swirling within dance. The contributors confront basic questions of definition and interpretation within dance studies, while at the same time examining broader issues, such as the body, gender, class, race, nationalism and cross-cultural exchange. Specific essays address such topics as the black male body in dance, gender and subversions in the dances of Mark Morris, race and nationalism in Martha Graham's 'American Document', and the history of oriental dance.
Mr. Bundy
by Jane MartinThis powerful drama examines the fears of parents driven to do "the right thing" when the safety of their daughter is in doubt. A mother and father who learn that the next door neighbor is a convicted child molester consider both vigilance and vigilantism before being forced into action by a pair of child advocacy crusaders. The shocking climax hits a raw nerve, leaving the audience to consider where the line between right and wrong lies. Mr. Bundy was a hit at the 1998 Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville.
Mr. Peters' Connections
by Arthur MillerProduced in May 1998 in New York and starring Peter Falk, Mr. Peters' Connections takes place, in Miller's own words, in "that suspended state of consciousness when the mind is freed to roam from real memories to conjectures, from trivialities to tragic insights, from terror of death to glorying in one's being alive." Within the confines of his mind, Mr. Peters interacts with the living members of his family and his long-deceased brother and lover, as well as the imaginary Adele, a black bag lady, who is a figment of Peters' imagination and one of Miller's most original characters. "A work of rare honesty and dignity" (Fintan O'Toole, New York Daily News), Mr. Peters' Connections uncoils with ferocious, life-affirming intensity.
Mr Price, or Tropical Madness and Metaphysics of a Two- Headed Calf
by Stanislaw Ignacy WitkiewiczThe Polish playwright and artist Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, known as Witkacy, is now recognized as Poland's leading theatrical innovator of the interwar years and one of the outstanding creative personalities of the European avant-garde. This volume contains two of Witkacy's "tropical" plays inspired by the playwright's trip to Ceylon and Australia in 1914 with his close friend, the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski. Mr. Price, or Tropical Madness is a drama of heightened passion and greed among British colonists in Rangoon who seem to have stepped out of Joseph Conrad's tales of the South Seas. Metaphysics of a Two headed Calf, set in New Guinea and Australia, pits savage European imperialists against a native tribal Australia and pits savage European imperialists against a native tribal chieftain whose fetish of a great golden frog offers greater insight into the mystery of existence than the Westerners' shallow rationalism. Both plays puncture the white rulers' poses of superiority and parody their images of the tropical Other. Also included in the volume are Witkacy's Foreword to Metaphysics of a Two-Headed Calf in which the playwright defends his concept of theatre as an autonomous art with a scenic language of its own and an appendix containing a documentary itinerary of Witkacy's journey to Ceylon.
Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting
by Ed SchmidtDrama / 6m / Interior / Joe Louis, Paul Robeson, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Jackie Robinson, and Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey meet in 1947 to discuss a strategy for dropping a baseball bombshell: promoting a black to the major leagues. That is the premise of this brilliant and timely play. Issues raised include compensation for the possible demise of the Negro leagues and the advisability of one at a time integration. If you want freedom of opportunity, do you play by the white's rules or do you demand that he play by yours?
Mr. Universe: And Other Plays
by Jim GrimsleyGeorge Oppenheimer Award for Best New American Playwright; Bryan Prize for Drama by the Fellowship of Southern Writers. In this collection, critically acclaimed novelist Jim Grimsley reveals his great gifts as a playwright in four powerful, award-winning plays presenting different worlds in collision and convergence. In "Mr. Universe," the rescue of a mute bodybuilder from the gritty streets of New Orleans by a couple of drag queens brings out the best and worst in them. In "The Lizard of Tarsus," an imprisoned Jesus (called J.) is interrogated by an ambitious follower, Paul of Tarsus. In "The Borderland," neighboring families representing two very different social classes are brought together during a storm. And in "Math and Aftermath," the two worlds of pornography and nuclear testing collide during a film shoot in the Marshall Islands. These plays (introduced by Romulus Linney, Reynolds Price, Kaye Gibbons, and Craig Lucas) demonstrate the differences that are matters of perception; together they establish Grimsley as a dramatist with imagination and nerve. A STAGE AND SCREEN BOOK CLUB selection.
Mr. Wayne's Masterpiece
by Patricia PolaccoIn this inspiring true story, beloved artist Patricia Polacco conquers her fear of public speaking, allowing her to discover her remarkable voice. A wonderful companion to Thank You, Mr. Falker and The Art of Miss Chew, it celebrates the lifelong impact of a great teacher. Speaking in front of an audience terrifies Trisha. Ending up in Mr. Wayne’s drama class is the last thing she wants! But Mr. Wayne gives her a backstage role painting scenery for the winter play. As she paints, she listens to the cast rehearse, memorizing their lines without even realizing it. Then, days before opening night, the lead actress suddenly moves away, and Trisha is the only other person who knows her part. Will the play have to be canceled? It won’t be an easy road—when Trisha tries to recite the lines in front of the cast, nothing comes out! But Mr. Wayne won’t let her give up, and with his coaching, Trisha is able to become one of his true masterpieces.
Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies: A Facsimile of the First Folio, 1623
by Doug MostonFor the first time, a photographic facsimile of the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays is available in one affordable volume. Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies gives actors, directors, and anyone interested in Shakespeare access to the plays as Shakespeare envisioned them. In returning to the original text, actors and directors can find answers to the many problems they find preparing a play of Shakespeare. Included is the introduction to acting from the First Folio and its accompanying acting guide and glossary, making this the most valuable tool for all who love the Bard.
Mrs. Packard
by Emily Mann"Emily Mann is one of our most urgently engaging, provocative and significant American playwrights."--Joyce Carol Oates"Elizabeth Packard emerges as a vibrant, passionate force of nature."--The New York TimesIllinois, 1861: Without proof of insanity, Elizabeth Packard is committed by her husband to an asylum. Based on historical events, Emily Mann's play tells of one woman's struggle to right a system gone wrong in this winner of the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award.Emily Mann is a playwright and director, now in her nineteenth season as artistic director of McCarter Theatre. Her award-winning plays have been produced throughout the world.
Mrs. Townley Had A Pomeranian
by Mark Dunn1 m, 1 f. / Interior / After a horrific bus crash kills most of a small Methodist congregation, Maddie Weathers is contacting grieving families and friends to be sure orphaned pets are being cared for. She and a fellow surviving church member who, like her, is wrestling with his faith, begin to hear a disembodied soprano voice singing hauntingly in the sanctuary. This play about profound loss, tested faith and the definition of God is by the popular author of Belles, Five Tellers Dancing in the Rain and other plays.
Much Ado About Nothing
by A. R. Braunmuller Peter Holland Stephen Orgel William ShakespeareThe acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series, now in a dazzling new series design The Pelican Shakespeare series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare’s time, an introduction to the individual play, and a detailed note on the text used. Updated by general editors Stephen Orgel and A. R. Braunmuller, these easy-to-read editions incorporate over thirty years of Shakespeare scholarship undertaken since the original series, edited by Alfred Harbage, appeared between 1956 and 1967. With stunning new covers designed by Manuja Waldia, definitive texts, and illuminating essays, the Pelican Shakespeare will remain a valued resource for students, teachers, and theater professionals for many years to come.This edition of Much Ado About Nothing is edited with an introduction by Peter Holland.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Much Ado About Nothing (Short, Sharp Shakespeare Stories #29)
by Anna ClaybourneAs merry as the day is long.Mistaken identities, jealous relatives, lovers' quarrels and a happy ending... Discover the entertaining story at the heart of Much Ado About Nothing, one of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies.As well as the story, this audiobook contains information about the background to Much Ado About Nothing, its major themes, language, and Shakespeare's life during the time he was writing the play. Gossip, and its role in society in 16th century England, is also examined, to give some context in which the play was written.The Short, Sharp Shakespeare series consists of six books that retell Shakespeare's most famous plays in modern English. Fun sound effects and atmospheric music accompany each narration, making them a great introduction to "the Bard" for children.(P) 2023 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Much Ado About Nothing: The 30-Minute Shakespeare
by Nick NewlinPlanning a school or amateur Shakespeare production? The best way to experience the plays is to perform them, but getting started can be a challenge: The complete plays are too long and complex, while scene selections or simplified language are too limited."The 30-Minute Shakespeare" is a new series of abridgements that tell the "story" of each play from start to finish while keeping the beauty of Shakespeare's language intact. Specific stage directions and character suggestions give even inexperienced actors the tools to perform Shakespeare with confidence, understanding, and fun!This cutting of Shakespeare's utterly charming and popular comedy MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING features five key scenes, including Beatrice and Benedick's classic initial word-battle, and the uproarious hide-and-seek deception of the two "lovers." The next scenes are the brutal rejection of Hero at the altar by a deceived Claudio and the timeless manhandling of the English language by the bumbling constable Dogberry. In the fifth and final scene, Shakespeare resolves the play's conflicts and confusions, and love reigns again. This cutting really tells the story, and includes some sidesplitting stage business, particularly the back-and-forth physical and verbal parrying between Benedick and Beatrice.The edition also includes an essay by editor Nick Newlin on how to produce a Shakespeare play with novice actors, and notes about the original production of this abridgement at the Folger Shakespeare Library's annual Student Shakespeare Festival.
Much Ado About Nothing
by William Shakespeare"Much Ado About Nothing" is the story of Leonato, an Italian nobleman, his daughter, Hero, and his niece, Beatrice. Following a war Leonato welcomes into his house Don Pedro, his good friend; fellow soldiers of Don Pedro, Claudio and Benedick; as well as Don Pedro's illegitimate brother, Don John. Quickly amorous relations develop between Claudio and Hero and later between Benedick and Beatrice. As wedding plans are being made for Claudio and Hero, Don John tricks Claudio into believing that Hero has been unfaithful. The wedding bliss is briefly interrupted until the truth is finally discovered and the play ends in a joyful double wedding.
Much Ado About Nothing
by William ShakespeareTwo couples—Benedick and Beatrice, and Hero and Claudio—must overcome deception, gossip, and, occasionally, their own misplaced pride if their love is to persevere.
Much Ado About Nothing: The RSC Shakespeare (Modern Library Classics)
by William ShakespeareFrom the Royal Shakespeare Company â " a fresh new edition of Shakespeare's much-loved comedy of the battle between the sexes THIS EDITION INCLUDES: â ¢ An illuminating introduction to Much Ado About Nothing by award-winning scholar Jonathan Bate â ¢ The play - with clear and authoritative explanatory notes on each page â ¢ A helpful scene-by-scene analysis and key facts about the play â ¢ An introduction to Shakespeare's career and the Elizabethan theatre â ¢ A rich exploration of approaches to staging the play featuring photographs of key productions The most enjoyable way to understand a Shakespeare play is to see it or participate in it. This unique edition presents a historical overview of Much Ado About Nothing in performance, recommends film versions, takes a detailed look at specific productions and includes interviews with two leading directors and an actor â " Nicholas Hytner , Marianne Elliott and Harriet Walter â " so that we may get a sense of the extraordinary variety of interpretations that are possible, a variety that gives Shakespeare his unique capacity to be reinvented and made â our contemporary' four centuries after his death. Ideal for students, theatre-goers, actors and general readers, the RSC Shakespeare editions offer an accessible and contemporary approach to reading and rediscovering Shakespeare's works for the twenty-first century.
Much Ado About Nothing
by William ShakespeareThis is a story of a lady wrongly accused of treachery, spurned by her bridegroom, and finally justified and reunited with him. Villainy, schemes, and deceits threaten to darken the humor and sparkling word play.
Much Ado about Nothing: A Comedy (First Avenue Classics ™)
by William ShakespeareWhile staying at his friend Leonato's home, Claudio falls in love with Hero, Leonato's beautiful daughter, and they agree to marry. In the meantime, they decide to trick their friends Benedick and Beatrice—who have nothing but insults for each other—into falling in love as well. However, Don John, the illegitimate brother of Leonato's close friend Don Pedro, won't stand for such happiness. He tricks Claudio into thinking Hero has been unfaithful. Claudio's hasty overreaction and Leonato's redemption of Hero wield all the tools of a romantic comedy, making a story that is, indeed, much ado about nothing. This unabridged version of William Shakespeare's delightful play was first published in England in 1600.