Best of
Theatre

1977

Theatre of the Oppressed


Augusto Boal - 1977
    Twice exiled, Boal is 'at home' now wherever he finds himself to be. He makes a skeptical, comic, inquisitive and finally optimistic theatre involving spectators and performers in the search for community and integrity. This is a good book to be used even more than to be read." - Richard Schechner"Augusto Boal's achievement is so remarkable, so original and so groundbreaking that I have no hesitation in describing the book as the most important theoretical work in the theatre in modern times - a statement I make with having suffered any memory lapse with respect to Stanislavsky, Artaud or Grotowski." - Goerge E. WellwarthOriginally basing himself at the Arena Stage in Sao Paolo, Brazil, Augusto Boal developed a series of imaginative theatre exercises which promote awareness of one's social situation and its limitations, individual attitudes, and even how our bodies are bound by tradition. Boal is continued his explorations in Paris, where he directed Le CEDITADE (Centre d'Etude et de Diffusion des Techniques Actives d'Expression - Methode Boal), in addition to traveling and lecturing extensively in other countries. On May 2, 2009, Boal died at age 78 in Rio de Janeiro.

Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty


Albert Bermel - 1977
    In this incisive study, Albert Bermel looks closely at Artaud's work as a playwright, director, actor, designer, producer and critic, and provides a fresh insight into his ideas, innovations and, above all, his writings.Tracing the theatre of cruelty's origins in earlier dramatic conventions, tribal rituals of cleansing, transfiguration and exaltation, and in related arts such as film and dance, Bermel examines each of Artaud's six plays for form and meaning, as well as surveying the application of Artaud's theories and techniques to the international theatre of recent years.

Plays 4: Betrayal / Monologue / One for the Road / Mountain Language / Family Voices / A Kind of Alaska / Victoria Station / Precisely / The New World Order / Party Time / Moonlight / Ashes to Ashes / Celebration


Harold Pinter - 1977
    

Conference of the Birds: The Story of Peter Brook in Africa


John Heilpern - 1977
    In December 1972, the director Peter Brook and an international troupe of actors (Helen Mirren and Yoshi Oida among them) left their Paris base to emerge again in the Sahara desert. It was the start of an 8,500-mile expedition through Africa without precedent in the history of theater. Brook was in search of a new beginning that has since been revealed in all his work--from Conference of the Birds and Carmen to The Mahabharata and beyond. At the heart of John Heilpern's brilliant account of the African experiment is a story that became a search for the miraculous.

Michael Chekhov's To the Director and Playwright


Michael Chekhov - 1977
    

And The Soul Shall Dance


Wakako Yamauchi - 1977
    Written in 1977, the story involves a young Japanese American girl and her parents as they struggle to live in a white America during The Great Depression.

The Complete Singer-Actor: Training for Music Theater


H. Wesley Balk - 1977
    His training program consists of a set of exercises to develop each of the skills required of a singer-actor: energizing, concentrating, structuring, imagining, stylizing, and coordinating.

King Lear, The Space of Tragedy: The Diary of a Film Director


Grigori Kozintsev - 1977
    Grigori Kozintsev's powerful film of Lear, first shown in the West in 1972, made a profound impression on all those who saw it, casting a new light on many facets of the play.King Lear: The Space of Tragedy is the diary Kozintsev kept during the shooting of the film, describing the chronological thought process behind the production. There are three strands running through the book. Firstly, there is the theme of Lear and the author's day-to-day meditations on the characters and the play. Secondly, there are the author's reminiscences of the early days of the cinema in Russia in the twenties and Sergei Eisenstein, with constant reference to the development of European theatre and the influence of Meyerhold, Artaud, Gordon Craig and Peter Brook. Finally, there is the story of how the film was actually made, with all the adverse weather conditions, and, last but not least, how Dmitri Shostakovich collaborated to compose the music.There is no single correct interpretation of the play, Kozintsev asserts; each realization must be colored by personal feelings and traditions. His own is deeply Russian, influenced as it is by the legacy of the nineteenth century -- Gogol, Dostoyevsky, and Tolstoy. For him, the play symbolizes man on the edge of catastrophe. Lear, the emotionless despot, renounces his power, and in so doing, becomes a human being. In his wanderings he joins the ranks of humanity, the tramps and beggars, who are caught up on the tide of events which sweeps them inevitably towards ruin and destruction. It is the ultimate irony that Lear, having become human in his poverty, eventually finds happiness in his reunion with Cordelia, only to have it snatched away from him almost immediately.This book will be of great interest to all those concerned with Shakespeare criticism and also to cinema enthusiasts and to the theatre world.

Voice and Speech in the Theatre


J. Clifford Turner - 1977
    One of the great voice teachers of his day, J. Clifford Turner here uses simple and direct language to impart the necessary technical 'basics' of speech and voice.

Vagabond Stars: A World History of Yiddish Theater


Nahma Sandrow - 1977
    A lavishly illustrated world history of the Yiddish theater covering five continents and more than 300 years.

Ned's Girl: The Authorised Biography Of Dame Edith Evans


Bryan Forbes - 1977
    

The Woman


Edward Bond - 1977
    

Wild Oats


John O'Keeffe - 1977
    He wrote a number of farces, amusing dramatic pieces and librettos for pasticcio operas, many of which had great success.Wild oats: or, the strolling gentlemen. A comedy, in five acts, as performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent-Garden. By John O'Keefe, Esq. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.