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The Thiri Rama: Finding Ramayana in Myanmar
by Dawn RooneyThe Thiri Rama – or the Great Rama – was written for court performance and is the only known illustrated version of the Ramayana story in Myanmar. Based on palm-leaf manuscripts and scenes carved on over 300 sandstone plaques at a mid-nineteenth-century Buddhist pagoda west of Mandalay in Myanmar, this book presents an original translation of the Thiri Rama rendered in prose. The volume also includes essays on the history and tradition of the Ramayana in Myanmar as well as the cultural context in which the play was performed. It contains many helpful resources, incorporating a glossary and a list of characters and their corresponding personae in Valmiki’s Ramayana. With over 250 fascinating visuals and core text contributions by distinguished Burmese scholars, U Thaw Kaung, Tin Maung Kyi, and U Aung Thwin, this book will greatly interest scholars and researchers of South and Southeast Asian culture, literary forms, epics, art and art history, theatre and performance studies, religion, especially those concerned with Hinduism, as well as folklorists.
Thirteen Hands And Other Plays
by Carol ShieldsWith a Foreword by the Author"Before becoming a playwright I was a novelist, and one who was often impatient with the requisite description of weather or scenery or even with the business of moving people from room to room. I was more interested in the sound of people talking to each other, reacting to each other, or leaving silences for others to fall into." -- Carol ShieldsFrom one of Canada's most beloved authors comes a collection of four works written for the stage, including her most popular and highly acclaimed play Thirteen Hands. The theatrical form allows Carol Shields' strength as a master of dialogue to shine at its brightest, as she returns to themes she explores in her prose: love, family, friendship, and the hidden meanings and larger truths found beneath the surface of the minutiae of daily life. Thirteen Hands and Other Plays is an exhilarating introduction to Shields' considerable achievements as a playwright.Departures and Arrivals (1990) dramatizes how lives are heightened and enlarged when taken within the frame of public spaces -- airports, train stations, public streets -- so that we all become, in a sense, actors. Thirteen Hands (1993), a musical, valorizes a consistently overlooked group in our society, "the blue-rinse set" -- also known as "the white glove brigade" or "the bridge club biddies" -- and has had the strongest professional run of all Shields' plays. Fashion, Power, Guilt and the Charity of Families (1995), written with her daughter, Catherine Shields, interrogates the ambivalence felt towards families, the drive we all share to find or create some kind of family, and the equally strong desire to escape the family's fury. Anniversary (1998), written with Dave Williamson, is a domestic drama of discontented, middle class suburbanites. One couple in the play are married and pretending to be close to separation. Another couple, who are separated, are pretending to be married. The additional irony is that the separated couple are still emotionally together, while the married couple have already emotionally separated.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Thirty Pieces of Silver: A Play in Three Acts
by Howard FastA couple in Washington, DC, is torn apart when a friend is accused of treasonJane and David Graham live upper-middle-class lives in mid-century Washington, DC. Jane minds the home with the help of a fulltime maid, and David works at the Treasury Department. But when the FBI visits their house one evening to ask questions about a friend&’s political beliefs, the answers the two give separately cause them both to wonder whether they truly know each other. Soon nothing is certain as the ideological fears plaguing the nation threaten to destroy Jane and David&’s family. Howard Fast&’s first play, Thirty Pieces of Silver was performed in several countries, from Australia to Europe, and offers an insightful look at the destructive power of reactionary politics in America. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Howard Fast including rare photos from the author&’s estate.
This and Other Plays
by Melissa James Gibson"Beautifully conceived, confidently executed . . . not just her finest to date, but also the best new play to open Off Broadway this fall."-The New York TimesA witty, melancholy comedy about a group of friends pushing against middle age, This is a major new work for Melissa James Gibson, best known for her boundary-challenging, linguistically delectable pieces. This volume also includes downtown cult favorites [sic] and Suitcase, and Brooklyn Bridge, a play for young audiences.Melissa James Gibson's plays include [sic] (winner of the OBIE Award for playwriting and the Kesselring Prize), Suitcase: or those that resemble flies from a distance, Brooklyn Bridge, Given Fish, and Current Nobody.
This Distracted Globe: Attending to Distraction in Shakespeare's Theatre (Elements in Shakespeare Performance)
by Jennifer J. EdwardsThis Element attends to attention drawn away. That the Globe is a 'distracted' space is a sentiment common to both Hamlet's original audience and attendees at the reconstructed theatre on London's Bankside. But what role does distraction play in this modern performance space? What do attitudes to 'distraction' reveal about how this theatre space asks and invites us to pay attention? Drawing on scholarly research, artist experience, and audience behaviour, This Distracted Globe considers the disruptive, affective, phenomenological, and generative potential of distraction in contemporary performance at the Globe.
This Is How It Goes: A Play
by Neil LaButeBelinda and Cody Phipps appear a typical Midwestern couple: teenage sweethearts, children, luxurious home. Typical except that Cody is black--"rich, black, and different," in the words of Belinda, who finds herself attracted to a former (white) classmate. As the battle for her affections is waged, Belinda and Cody frankly doubt the foundation of their initial attraction, opening the door wide to a swath of bigotry and betrayal. Staged on continually shifting moral ground that challenges our received notions about gender, ethnicity, and even love itself, This Is How It Goes unblinkingly explores the myriad ways in which the wild card of race is played by both black and white in America.
This Is How We Got Here
by Keith BarkerIt’s been a year since Paul and Lucille’s son Craig committed suicide, and their once-solid family bonds are starting to break down. While the now-separated couple tries to honour their son, Lucille’s sister Liset and her husband Jim refuse to discuss their nephew. The ties that keep the four together as sisters, best friends, and spouses are strained by grief and guilt… until a visit from a fox changes everything.
This Is Modern Art: A Play
by Idris Goodwin Kevin CovalGraffiti crews are willing to risk anything for their art. Called vandals, criminals, even creative terrorists, graffiti artists set out to make their voices heard and alter the way people view the world. But when one crew finishes the biggest graffiti bomb of their careers, the consequences get serious and spark a public debate asking, "Where does art belong?"Kevin Coval is the author of Schtick, L-vis Lives, the American Library Association "Book of the Year" Finalist Slingshots: A Hip-Hop Poetica, and an editor of The BreakBeat Poets.Idris Goodwin is a playwright, spoken-word performer, and essayist recognized across mediums by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation.
This Is Not My Memoir
by André Gregory Todd LondonThe autobiography-of-sorts of André Gregory, an iconic figure in American theater and the star of My Dinner with AndréThis is Not My Memoir tells the life story of André Gregory, iconic theatre director, writer, and actor. For the first time, Gregory shares memories from a life lived for art, including stories from the making of My Dinner with André. Taking on the dizzying, wondrous nature of a fever dream, This is Not My Memoir includes fantastic and fantastical stories that take the reader from wartime Paris to golden-age Hollywood, from avant-garde theaters to monasteries in India. Along the way we meet Jerzy Grotowski, Helene Weigel, Gregory Peck, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, Wallace Shawn, and many other larger-than-life personalities.This is Not My Memoir is a collaboration between Gregory and Todd London who create a portrait of an artist confronting his later years. Here, too, are the reflections of a man who only recently learned how to love. What does it mean to create art in a world that often places little value on the process of creating it? And what does it mean to confront the process of aging when your greatest work of art may well be your own life?
This Is Not My World: Art and Public Space in Socialist Zagreb
by Adair RounthwaiteA close-up history of the Yugoslav artists who broke down the boundaries between public and private In the decades leading up to the dissolution of socialist Yugoslavia, a collective of young artists based in Zagreb took to using the city&’s public spaces as a platform for radical individual expression. This Is Not My World presents a detailed account of the Group of Six Authors and their circle in the prolific and experimental period from 1975 to 1985, highlighting the friction between public and private that underlied their innovative practices. Looking to circumvent the rigid bureaucracy of official art institutions, this freewheeling group of conceptual artists and their peers brought artistic activities directly to an unwitting public by staging provocative performances, exhibiting artworks, and interacting with passersby on the streets. Exploring artworks such as Vlasta Delimar&’s act of tying herself to a tree in a busy pedestrian area, Željko Jerman&’s production of a giant banner declaring &“Intimate Inscription&” in the city&’s central square, and Vlado Martek&’s creation of an artwork on a seaside beach using women&’s underwear, Adair Rounthwaite examines the work of these artists as a site of tension between the intimacy of artistic expression and the political structure of the public sphere under state socialism. Whereas many histories of modern and contemporary art in formerly socialist countries tend to be dominated by discussions of ideology and resistance, This Is Not My World focuses its attention on the affective aspects of the group&’s activities, using artist interviews and extensive documentation to bring the reader closer to the felt experience of their public interventions. Situating the group&’s work within the context of broader developments in conceptualism and theories of the avant-garde, Rounthwaite provides a fresh consideration and newly detailed account of this marginalized episode in global art history.
This Is Not That Dawn Jhootha Sach
by Yashpal Translated from the Hindi AnandJhootha Sach is arguably the most outstanding piece of Hindi literature written about the Partition. Reviving life in Lahore as it was before 1947, the book opens on a nostalgic note, with vivid descriptions of the people that lived in the city’s streets and lanes like Bhola Pandhe Ki Gali. Tara, who wanted an education above marriage; Puri, whose ideology and principles often came in the way of his impoverished circumstances; Asad, who was ready to sacrifice his love for the sake of communal harmony. Their lives—and those of other memorable characters—are forever altered as the carnage that ensues on the eve of Independence shatters the beauty and peace of the land, killing millions of Hindus and Muslims, and forcing others to leave their homes forever. Published in English translation for the first time, Yashpal’s controversial novel is a politically charged, powerful tale of human suffering.
This Is Not What I Ordered
by Stephen FifeComedy / 4m. 4f. flexible casting from 4-16 actors / Unit Set / Ever walked into a restaurant and seen an attractive couple in the back talking excitedly, their hands gesturing wildly, their expressions changing swiftly from joy to sadness and back again? Ever wondered what they were saying? Well, we have no clue about that, but if you want a really funny and touching play about men and women in restaurants and bars looking for love and finding much more than they bargained for, then check out THIS IS NOT WHAT I ORDERED. The LA Weekly raved that it "mines the bottomless pit of male-female partnering." Backstage West chimed in that "a startled deer in an SUV's headlights has nothing on these love-phobic characters. In the sure hands of a relationship-savvy playwright, an evening of charm and humor is bound to follow."
This is Our Youth
by Kenneth LonerganThis Is Our Youth, Kenneth Lonergan’s lacerating look at affluent young Manhattanites of the 1980s, depicts two days in the lives of three college-age Upper West Siders who are from wealthy families but living in doped-up squalor. Dennis—with a famous painter father and social activist mother—is a small-time drug dealer and total mess. His hero-worshipping friend Warren has just impulsively stolen $15,000 from his father, an abusive lingerie tycoon. When Jessica, a mixed-up prep school girl, shows up for a date, Warren pulls out a wad of bills and takes her off, awkwardly, for a night of seduction. A wildly funny, bittersweet, and moving story, This Is Our Youth is as trenchant as it was upon its acclaimed premiere in 1996.
This is Our Youth
by Kenneth LonerganThis Is Our Youth, Kenneth Lonergan's lacerating look at affluent young Manhattanites of the 1980s, depicts two days in the lives of three college-age Upper West Siders who are from wealthy families but living in doped-up squalor. Dennis--with a famous painter father and social activist mother--is a small-time drug dealer and total mess. His hero-worshipping friend Warren has just impulsively stolen $15,000 from his father, an abusive lingerie tycoon. When Jessica, a mixed-up prep school girl, shows up for a date, Warren pulls out a wad of bills and takes her off, awkwardly, for a night of seduction. A wildly funny, bittersweet, and moving story, This Is Our Youth is as trenchant as it was upon its acclaimed premiere in 1996.
This Is Our Youth
by Kenneth LonerganThis is Our Youth, Kenneth Lonnergan's lacerating look at affluent young Manhattanites of the 1980s, was first produced by the New Group in New York in 1996 to great critical acclaim and a Drama Desk Award nomination for best new play. Set in 1982, the play depicts two days in the lives of three college-age Upper West Siders who are from wealthy families but are living in doped-up squalor. Dennis -- with a famous painter for a father and social activist mother -- is a small-time drug dealer and total mess. His hero-worshipping, indifferently adjusted friend Warren has just impulsively stolen $15,000 from his father, an abusive lingerie tycoon who is "not a criminal, just in business with criminals". When Jessica, a mixedup prep-school girl, shows up for a date, Warren pulls out a wad of bills and takes her off, awkwardly, for a night of New York seduction. How will Warren turn out -- will he follow Dennis into dissipation or discover a way out? A wildly funny, bittersweet, and ultimately quite moving story,,This Is Our Youth is remarkable in its understanding of contemporary urban youth.
This Is Shakespeare
by Emma SmithAn electrifying new study that investigates the challenges of the Bard&’s inconsistencies and flaws, and focuses on revealing—not resolving—the ambiguities of the plays and their changing topicality A genius and prophet whose timeless works encapsulate the human condition like no other. A writer who surpassed his contemporaries in vision, originality, and literary mastery. A man who wrote like an angel, putting it all so much better than anyone else. Is this Shakespeare? Well, sort of. But it doesn&’t tell us the whole truth. So much of what we say about Shakespeare is either not true, or just not relevant. In This Is Shakespeare, Emma Smith—an intellectually, theatrically, and ethically exciting writer—takes us into a world of politicking and copycatting, as we watch Shakespeare emulating the blockbusters of Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Kyd (the Spielberg and Tarantino of their day), flirting with and skirting around the cutthroat issues of succession politics, religious upheaval, and technological change. Smith writes in strikingly modern ways about individual agency, privacy, politics, celebrity, and sex. Instead of offering the answers, the Shakespeare she reveals poses awkward questions, always inviting the reader to ponder ambiguities.
This Is the Story of the Child Ruled by Fear
by David Gagnon WalkerDavid has written a play for himself and a gathering of friends and strangers to read together out loud. It tells the story of the rise and fall of an imaginary civilization in an imaginary land. Some of it is fact, some fiction. But at any point you may be part of a Greek chorus, playing a main character, or collectively confronting your fears about a world on the verge of collapse. Are you ready to take a leap of faith? It’s okay if you feel nervous. David is nervous too. With so much to be fearful of these days, it’s best to brave this thing together.An ingenious exercise in interactive storytelling, This Is the Story of the Child Ruled by Fear is a poetic and participatory fable about how to live with the slowly unfolding emergencies of our time. Playwright David Gagnon Walker guides us through an enchanting performance ritual that provides a communal, cathartic release for those prone to anxiety, fear, and depression. It’s an invitation to share the joys of creating a story together so that maybe we can all feel less alone.
This Is War
by Hannah MoscovitchMaster Corporal Tanya Young, Captain Stephen Hughes, Private Jonny Henderson, and Sergeant Chris Anders have lived through an atrocity while holding one of the most volatile regions in Afghanistan. As each of them is interviewed by an unseen broadcasting organization, they recount their version of events leading up to the horrific incident with painful, relenting replies. What begins to form is a picture of the effects of guilt and the psychological toll of violence in a war where the enemy is sometimes indiscernible.
This Is What Happens Next
by Daniel MacivorMost people hope for happy endings. For Warren, a gay divorcee, that means getting his stuff back; most importantly, his cherished John Denver CD. And then there's Warren's assortment of friends: Susan, a Percocet-fuelled divorce lawyer whose daughters are giving her a hard time; Tarot-reading Aaron, who is dating Susan and who secretly used to be known as Erin; Mike, an alcoholic who sometimes sees his son on Saturdays; and Kevin, Mike's kid who has an imaginary friend. Observing and directing all of their lives is the human will—or Will, as he prefers to be called—who doesn't quite believe in those happy endings. This Is What Happens Next is an intensely relatable, multi-character story that explores the anguish of addiction and divorce as it delves into the fundamentals of human desire and asks the philosophical question, "What happens next?"
This Must Be The Place
by Monk FerrisFarce / 4m, 5f / Interior / When world famous portrait artist Bob Zachary plans a romantic evening to propose to April March, he doesn't figure on his plumber chum posing as him to lure a Las Vegas chorine to the house for a tryst, fashion designer Pomona Beaumont showing up seeking her niece debutante who is a client of Bob's, the niece ecstatically thinking that Bob is going to propose to her, a monstrous rejected suitor of April's showing up to wreak vengeance, Gloria's mother arriving to look for the missing Desmond diamonds (which vanished while in the custody of Pomona's long missing daughter Clorinda) or the arrival of the weirdest private detective ever to stride onto a stage with drawn gun and an erroneous notion of who's who and what's what. This show is three acts of nonstop hilarity, a chaotic riot that barely gives audiences time to breathe between guffaws.
This One Thing I Do
by Claire Braz ValentineDrama / 4 m., 4 f., to play var. roles / Unit set / This play about Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the suffrage movement in the United States is a moving portrayal of struggles, successes and failures. Thoroughly researched, the play takes these women from the pages of history and makes them living crusaders for women's issues. From their decision to be the first women in bloomers to their invasion of male bastions to cast illegal ballots, as they are shot at and driven from cities, audiences hear their message to all women throughout the ages: "Failure is impossible." / "A glittering piece of artistry.... A unique contribution to theatre.... Clear and exciting characters... remain consistent and grow in depth over the period of the drama. Add to this a delightful and occasionally gutsy sense of humor, and the end result is a theatrical tour de force." Green Sheet.
This Restless House: An Adaptation of Aeschlyus' Oresteia (Faber Drama Ser.)
by Zinnie HarrisAeschylus' Oresteia opens with Agamemnon sacrificing his daughter to the gods; an act which sets in motion a bloody cycle of revenge and counter-revenge. When he in turn is killed at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra, their son Orestes takes up the mantle of avenging his father, continuing the bloodshed until peace is ultimately found in the rule of law. Zinnie Harris reimagines this ancient drama, using a contemporary sensibility to rework the stories, placing the women in the center. Orestes' leading role is replaced by his sister Electra, who as a young child witnesses her father's murder and is compelled to take justice into her own hands until she too must flee the Furies. This Restless House premiered at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, in April 2016 in a co-production with the National Theatre of Scotland.
This School is Driving Me Nuts: And Other Funny Plans for Kids
by Craig Smith Fiona Mcdonald Duncan BallThis hilarious collection of nine short plays for kids, written by popular author Duncan Ball, ranges from a comic monologue to a play that can involve a whole class, and everything in between. It will suit use both in the classroom and on stage, as well as being lots of fun to read at home. Capturing the imagination and tickling the funny bones of young readers and actors, the plays range from spoof mystery to fantasy to school capers, all with a great zing of humour. The book also includes tips on staging the plays. Originally published as Comedies for Kids in 1988, this fabulous collection has been fully revised and updated by the author, with a brand new play, The Teeth of a Vampire, added. The lively cover and internal illustrations are by well-known illustrator Craig Smith. Cover and internal design by Fiona McDonald. Recommended for children aged 7-12.
This Tiny Perfect World
by Lauren GibaldiThe big-hearted story of a small-town girl who discovers how wide the world really is during one transformative summer. Perfect for fans of Susane Colasanti and Sarah Dessen.Penny loves her small-town Florida life, and she has her future mapped out. She’s going to community college after graduation to stay close to home and her best friend, Faye. She’ll take over the family diner that her dad has been managing since her mother died. And one day, she’ll marry her high school sweetheart, Logan. But when she unexpectedly lands a scholarship to a prestigious summer theater camp, she is thrust into a world of competition and self-doubt. And suddenly, her future gets a little hazy. As she meets new friends, including Chase, a talented young actor with big-city dreams, she begins to realize that maybe the life everyone (including her) expects her to lead is not the one she was meant to have.From the acclaimed author of The Night We Said Yes and Autofocus.
This Was Burlesque
by Ann Corio Joseph DiMonaA rollicking, colorfully illustrated history of burlesque as seen through the eyes of its first lady, Ann Corio.