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Astro-Nuts: An Intergalactic Drama
by Manjula PadmanabhanIt?s the General Assembly of the Galactic Union, and the first delegation from SOL-3 is desperate to present its case before it. The crazily assorted contingent of the third planet of the star SOL-aka Earth - carries with it all its baggage of opposing opinions, narrow views, squabbles, secrets and conspiracies. Toilets, whales, racism, food, body size...everything is cause for shouting matches and name-calling as the representatives ? 11 human and six non-human ? each wait to hold forth. To their shock and horror, they come to know that only one delegate will appear before the Assembly. Fuss and fireworks erupt among the elected leaders of the delegation, while five rebels plot a blow-up of a different kind. Uncertainty rules: Who is that one chosen speaker going to be and what is he, she or it going to say? Will SOL-3 be stuck with being `ecologically unfit for full membership to the Union?, or be seen as having `potential for change?? Is this interplanetary jamboree an insult, an opportunity, or a test? Among telepathic cookies and high-tech waste disposal, Manjula Padmanabhan sets up a colourfully cast, witty and thought-provoking stage spectacle sure to leave its audience and readers amused, inspired and applauding.
Asylum and Belonging through Collective Playwriting: "How much home does a person need?"
by Helene GrønThis book explores the notion of home in the wake of the so-called refugee crisis, and asks how home and belonging can be rethought through the act of creative practices and collective writing with refugees and asylum seekers. Where Giorgio Agamben calls the refugee ‘the figure of our time’, this study places the question of home among those who experience its ruptures. Veering away from treating the refugee as a conceptual figure, the lived experiences and creative expressions of seeking asylum in Denmark and the United Kingdom are explored instead. The study produces a theoretical framework around home by drawing from a cross-disciplinary field of existential and political philosophy, narratology, performance studies and anthropology. Moreover, it argues that theatre studies is uniquely positioned to understand the performative and storied aspects of seeking asylum and the compromises of belonging made through the asylum process.
At First Sight
by Anne PiéComedy / 3m, 4f / Fifty-one year old Julia Goldman thought she had experienced it all. Although she had been widowed for two years, she was left financially well-fixed with two grown children who were busy with their successful careers. Life was routine and uneventful for Julia in her Hollywood home. She thought she would just ease into the rest of her days without anything notable looming on the horizon. Suddenly, "Life with a Capital L" hands her what is to become the biggest decision of her life; the sort of occurrence to which many a younger woman would hardly be equal. An accidental encounter in the cocktail lounge of a posh hotel with a man who sweeps her off her feet and then disappears, leaves her with much more than just a fond memory. She is no longer able to conceal her predicament. The sibling rivalry of her children, plus her own with her flamboyant sister, Verna, add to the complexity, and to the resolution of her plight.
At Home at the Zoo: Homelife and the Zoo Story
by Edward Albee“I’ve been to the zoo.” These opening words usher the audience into one of the most iconic plays in American theater history: The Zoo Story. More than fifty years later, master playwright Edward Albee (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?) wrote a prequel to this classic. Home Story contains the events in Peter’s life immediately preceding his encounter with Jerry on the park bench and is every bit as powerful as the original. We meet Ann, Peter’s wife, and see the conversation that compelled Peter to go for that fateful walk in the park. For the first time collected in one volume, At Home at the Zoo is a must for any theater lover.
At Home at the Zoo: Homelife and the Zoo Story
by Edward Albee"I've been to the zoo." These opening words usher the audience into one of the most iconic plays in American theater history: The Zoo Story. More than fifty years later, master playwright Edward Albee (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?) wrote a prequel to this classic. Home Story contains the events in Peter's life immediately preceding his encounter with Jerry on the park bench and is every bit as powerful as the original. We meet Ann, Peter's wife, and see the conversation that compelled Peter to go for that fateful walk in the park. For the first time collected in one volume, At Home at the Zoo is a must for any theater lover.
At Home at the Zoo
by Edward AlbeeThese opening words usher the audience into one of the most iconic plays in American theatre history: The Zoo Story. More than fifty years later, master playwright Edward Albee (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?) wrote a prequel to his classic. Home Life contains the events in Peter's life immediately preceding his encounter with Jerry on the park bench and is every bit as powerful as the original. We meet Ann, Peter's wife, and see the conversation that compelled Peter to go for that fateful walk in the park. For the first time collected in one volume, Edward Albee's At Home at the Zoo is a must for any theatre lover.
At the Threshold: Contemporary Theatre, Art, and Music of Iran (Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies)
by Rana EsfandiaryThis book examines the performance strategies used by contemporary Iranian artists and activists to reimagine “Iranian-ness” in the context of Iran’s local, regional, and global position. This study identifies the important social and political interventions made by theatrical and performance pieces, visual art, and electronic music that articulate and reformulate Iranian-ness by breaking away from fixed and constructed stereotypes projected on them by both the Islamic regime and Western power. This book explores the reception and context within which artworks become meaningful performative acts. Looking closely at the works of a notable female Iranian photographer, Shadi Ghadirian, in conjunction with the new generation of Iranian nonconformist artists/activists such as Tahmineh Monzavi and Hedieh Ahmadi; the visionary theatre productions of Ali Akbar Alizad; and radically untraditional sound/noise of the electronic music movement in Tehran, this book calls attention to the Iran-based artists who are tirelessly trying to raise awareness regarding the political violence imposed on Iranian identity at the legal (top-down) and everyday (bottom-up) levels. This volume will be of great interest to student and scholars in theatre and performance, photography, art, music, sociology, and politics.
At Work with Grotowski on Physical Actions
by Thomas Richards`I consider this book a precious report that permits one to assimilate some of those simple and basic principles which the self-taught at times come to know, yet only after years of groping and errors. The book furnishes information regarding discoveries which the actor can understand in practice, without having to start each time from zero. Thomas Richards has worked with me systematically since 1985. Today he is my essential collaborator in the research dedicated to Art as Vehicle.' - from the Preface by Jerzy Grotowski
The Attempted Murder of Peggy Sweetware: A One-act Comedy
by John RustanFarce, 7m, 4f; 1930's. In this light hearted tale of attempted murder on a banana plantation in South America. in the British potboiler a la Monte Python style, three bumbling upper class twits attempt to solve a gaggle of murder attempts. "Illegitimate triplets, poisoned crumpets, unregistered Liberian freighters and ancient Siamese bone china all work themselves into the silliest of funny plots."-- Pacesetter/Highlander. "A double barreled blast of pure nonsensical comedy."-- L.A. Times.
Attic Oratory and Performance (Routledge Monographs in Classical Studies)
by Andreas SerafimIn a society where public speech was integral to the decision-making process, and where all affairs pertaining to the community were the subject of democratic debate, the communication between the speaker and his audience in the public forum, whether the law-court or the Assembly, cannot be separated from the notion of performance. Attic Oratory and Performance seeks to make modern Performance Studies productive for, and so make a significant contribution to, the understanding of Greek oratory. Although quite a lot of ink has been spilt over the performance dimension of oratory, the focus of nearly all of the scholarship in this area has been relatively narrow, understanding performance as only encompassing 'delivery' – the use of gestures and vocal ploys – and the convergences and divergences between oratory and theatre. Serafim seeks to move beyond this relatively narrow focus to offer a holistic perspective on performance and oratory. Using examples from selected forensic speeches, in particular four interconnected speeches by Aeschines (2, 3) and Demosthenes (18, 19), he argues that oratorical performance encompassed subtle communication between the speaker and the audience beyond mere delivery, and that the surviving texts offer numerous glimpses of the performative dimension of these speeches, and their links to contemporary theatre.
Audience as Performer: The changing role of theatre audiences in the twenty-first century
by Caroline Heim'Actors always talk about what the audience does. I don’t understand, we are just sitting here.' Audience as Performer proposes that in the theatre, there are two troupes of performers: the actors and the audience. Although academics have scrutinised how audiences respond, make meaning and co-create while watching a performance, little research has considered the behaviour of the theatre audience as a performance in and of itself. This insightful book describes how an audience performs through its myriad gestural, vocal and paralingual actions, and considers the following questions: If the audience are performers, who are their audiences? How have audiences’ roles changed throughout history? How do talkbacks and technology influence the audience’s role as critics? What influence does the audience have on the creation of community in theatre? How can the audience function as both consumer and co-creator? Drawing from over 140 interviews with audience members, actors and ushers in the UK, USA and Austrialia, Heim reveals the lived experience of audience members at the theatrical event. It is a fresh reading of mainstream audiences’ activities, bringing their voices to the fore and exploring their emerging new roles in the theatre of the Twenty-First Century.
Audience Experience and Contemporary Classical Music: Negotiating the Experimental and the Accessible in a High Art Subculture (Audience Research)
by Gina EmersonThis book responds to recent debates on cultural participation and the relevance of music composed today with the first large-scale audience experience study on contemporary classical music. Through analysing how existing audience members experience live contemporary classical music, this book seeks to make data-informed contributions to future discussions on audience diversity and accessibility. The author takes a multidimensional view of audience experience, looking at how sociodemographic factors and the frames of social context and concert format shape aesthetic responses and experiences in the concert hall. The book presents quantitative and qualitative audience data collected at twelve concerts in ten different European countries, analysing general trends alongside case studies. It also offers the first large-scale comparisons between the concert experiences and tastes of contemporary classical and classical music audiences. Contemporary classical music is critically discussed as a ‘high art subculture’ rife with contradictions and conflicts around its cultural value. This book sheds light on how audiences negotiate the tensions between experimentalism and accessibility that currently define this genre. It provides insights relevant to academics from audience research in the performing arts and from musicology, as well as to institutions, practitioners and artists.
Audience Participation in Theatre
by Gareth WhiteThis book asks that we consider the practices that facilitate audience participation on equal terms with other elements of the theatre maker's art; it offers a theoretical basis for this new approach, illustrated by examples from diverse participatory performances.
Audience Revolution: Dispatches from the Field
by Alison Carey Caridad Svich Bill RauchA collection of thoughtful and provocative reflections on how theatre practitioners think about and engage with audiences, as well as define and explore sites for performance. Through shared experience and ritual, live performance functions as a catalytic medium for progress and evolution. In the hands of artists and audience, the stage is set for the re-makings of commonwealth, or necessary revolution.Caridad Svich received a 2012 OBIE Award for Lifetime Achievement in the theater, a 2012 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award for GUAPA, and the 2011 American Theatre Critics Association Primus Prize for her play The House of the Spirits, based on the Isabel Allende novel.
Audition Speeches for Women (Stage And Costume Ser.)
by Jean MarlowAudition Speeches for Women is an invaluable resource for acting classes, competitions, auditions, and rehearsals, and an affordable and necessary tool for serious actors everywhere.
Audition Speeches for Young Actors 16+: For All Ages And Accents (Audition Speeches Ser.)
by Jean MarlowAudition Speeches for 6-16 Year Olds offers a generous helping of carefully selected speeches that children can prepare for auditions. Each speech is introduced with commentary to set the scene and help the young actor.
Audition Speeches for Younger Actors 16+: For All Ages And Accents (Audition Speeches Ser.)
by Jean MarlowAudition speeches for actors aged 16-18, selected by Jean Marlow. Includes advice from actors, casting directors and teachers
Audition Success (A\theatre Arts Book Ser.)
by Don GreeneAudition Success presents a groundbreaking method that has already made Don Greene one of the country's leading audition trainers. Combining specially designed self-tests and real-life examples from the careers of two performers, Audition Success will help performers understand what prevents them from nailing an audition and give them the tools to reach their goals.
Auditioning for Musical Theatre
by Denny BerryAuditioning for Musical Theatre demystifies the process of giving the best possible professional audition for a role in a musical. It is the result of Denny Berry’s own experience, sitting "behind the audition desk" for 30 years of professional Broadway auditions, as well as teaching newcomers and coaching established actors. The book coaches performers on how to be their best selves—and avoid the pitfalls of nerves and poor preparation. To do so, it offers: An in-depth, practical approach to a professional audition that gives readers detailed suggestions about how to identify their vocal strengths, choose the material most suited to it, and present the entirety of their "product" with confidence. Rules to guide the actor through the audition process, along with sample homework assignments. A comprehensive list of musical material, genres, and commonly-referred-to categories of songs designed to help auditioners select the right material for any given audition. The book is intended for the talented newcomer as well as the experienced actor who wants to deliver a more effective audition. Ultimately, Auditioning for Musical Theatre takes the reader through the parts of auditioning that they can control, and helps them tailor every situation to show their individual best.
Auditioning On Camera: An Actor's Guide
by Joseph HackerTo win a screen role, an actor must learn to contend with an on-camera audition. Understanding how to make the crucial adjustments to one’s craft that this kind of audition requires is vital to the career of any screen actor. Auditioning On Camera sets out the key elements of a successful on-camera audition and explains how to put them into practice. Joseph Hacker draws on 35 years of acting experience to guide the reader through the screen auditioning process with an engaging and undaunting approach. Key elements examined include: textual analysis knowing where to look dealing with nerves on-camera interviews using the environment retaining the camera’s focus The book also features point-by-point chapter summaries, as well as a glossary of acting and technical terms, and is a comprehensive and enlightening resource for screen actors of all levels.
Auditions: The Complete Guide
by Richard EvansAuditions are an integral part of every performer's life. From getting into drama school through to a successful career in an overcrowded industry, Auditions: The Complete Guide offers crucial advice, resources and tried and tested techniques to maximise success before, during and after each audition. Written by an established casting director and former actor, with over 35 years of experience on a wide range of productions, this book offers a wealth of personal and professional insights, covering: • drama and theatre schools • showcases • amateur and professional auditions • contemporary, classical, physical and musical theatre • television and commercial castings, movie screen tests and self taping • voice-overs and radio drama • networking • recalls and workshops • handling job offers, and rejection From training to triumph, nerves to networking and camera to casting couch, Auditions: The Complete Guide is an entertaining, accessible and indispensable read for every performer. Richard Evans CDG has cast a wide variety of productions in all media since 1989 and, prior to this, worked as an actor for 10 years. He has devised and presented audition and career development workshops at many top drama and theatre schools worldwide, and at the Actors Centre, London and has written Auditions: A Practical Guide (Routledge, 2009) and 'A Casting Director’s Perspective' for The Actors’ Yearbook, 2005. He is a member of The Casting Directors’ Guild of Great Britain and Ireland. www.auditionsthecompleteguide.com
Audrey Wood and the Playwrights
by Milly S. BarrangerFrom Tennessee Williams and Carson McCullers to Arthur Kopit and Brian Friel, agent Audrey Wood encouraged and guided the unique talents of playwrights in the Broadway theatre of her day. Her quiet determination and burning enthusiasm brought America's finest mid-century playwrights to prominence and altered stage history.
August: Osage County
by Tracy LettsWinner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama"A tremendous achievement in American playwriting: a tragicomic populist portrait of a tough land and a tougher people."--Time Out New York"Tracy Letts' August: Osage County is what O'Neill would be writing in 2007. Letts has recaptured the nobility of American drama's mid-century heyday while still creating something entirely original."--New York magazineOne of the most bracing and critically acclaimed plays in recent Broadway history, August: Osage County is a portrait of the dysfunctional American family at its finest--and absolute worst. When the patriarch of the Weston clan disappears one hot summer night, the family reunites at the Oklahoma homestead, where long-held secrets are unflinchingly and uproariously revealed. The three-act, three-and-a-half-hour mammoth of a play combines epic tragedy with black comedy, dramatizing three generations of unfulfilled dreams and leaving not one of its thirteen characters unscathed. After its sold-out Chicago premiere, the play has electrified audiences in New York since its opening in November 2007.Tracy Letts is the author of Killer Joe, Bug, and Man from Nebraska, which was a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His plays have been performed throughout the country and internationally. A performer as well as a playwright, Letts is a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, where August: Osage County premiered.
August Strindberg (Routledge Modern and Contemporary Dramatists)
by Eszter SzalczerDramatist, theatre practitioner, novelist, and painter, August Strindberg’s diverse dramatic output embodied the modernist sensibility. He was above all one of the most radical innovators of Western theatre. This book provides an insightful assessment of Strindberg’s vital contribution to the dramatic arts, while placing his creative process and experimental approach within a wider cultural context. Eszter Szalczer explores Strindberg’s re-definition of drama as a fluid, constantly evolving form that profoundly influenced playwriting and theatrical production from the German Expressionists to the Theatre of the Absurd. Key productions of Strindberg’s plays are analysed, examining his theatre as a living voice that continues to challenge audiences, critics, and even the most innovative directors. August Strindberg provides an essential and accessible guide to the playwright’s work and illustrates the influence of his drama on our understanding of contemporary theatre.
August Wilson: A Casebook (Casebooks on Modern Dramatists #Vol. 15)
by Marilyn ElkinsFirst Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.