Or for the intimacy and tenderness you feel as you hold the hand of a suffering friend.A generation after the height of the AIDS crisis, what is it like to be a young gay man in New York? How many words are there now for the different kinds of pain, the different kinds of love?Matthew Lopez's The Inheritance premiered in two parts at the Young Vic Theatre, London, in March 2018, and on Broadway, Oct. 2019.

    Mike Nichols' 2003 HBO adaptation starring Meryl Streep, Mary-Louise Parker, and Al Pacino was itself a tour de force, winning 11 Emmys and introducing the play to an even wider public. This generation-defining classic continues to shock, move, and inspire viewers worldwide.Now, on the 25th anniversary of that Broadway premiere, Isaac Butler and Dan Kois offer the definitive account of Angels in America in the most fitting way possible: through oral history, nearly 200 voices in vibrant conversation and debate. The intimate storytelling of actors (including Streep, Parker, Jeffrey Wright, and Nathan Lane), directors, producers, and Kushner himself reveals the turmoil of the play's birth-a hard-won miracle in the face of artistic roadblocks, technical disasters, and disputes both legal and creative. And historians and critics help to situate the play in the arc of American culture, from the staunch activism of the AIDS crisis through civil-rights triumphs to our current era, whose politics are a dark echo of the Reagan '80s. The World Only Spins Forward is both a rollicking theater saga and an uplifting testament to one of the great works of American art of the past century, from its gritty San Francisco premiere to the starry revival that electrified London in 2017.

    Even before they joined forces, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II had written dozens of Broadway shows, but together they pioneered a new art form: the serious musical play. Their songs and dance numbers served to advance the drama and reveal character, a sharp break from the past and the template on which all future musicals would be built.Though different in personality and often emotionally distant from each other, Rodgers and Hammerstein presented an unbroken front to the world and forged much more than a songwriting team; their partnership was also one of the most profitable and powerful entertainment businesses of their era. They were cultural powerhouses whose work came to define postwar America on stage, screen, television, and radio. But they also had their failures and flops, and more than once they feared they had lost their touch.Todd S. Purdum’s portrait of these two men, their creative process, and their groundbreaking innovations will captivate lovers of musical theater, lovers of the classic American songbook, and young lovers wherever they are. He shows that what Rodgers and Hammerstein wrought was truly something wonderful.

    I mean the happy satiety that comes from being in the hands of a real right-brain/left-brain author who channels her ineffable instincts with a master artisan’s practical skills … Ms. Baker has established herself as one of the freshest voices in American theater. Here she also provides evidence of her peerless ear for contemporary language.” —New York Times“Tantalizing … In John, a play set in a quaintly eerie bed and breakfast, Baker flirted with occult suspense. Here, in a drama confined to a fluorescent room … she edges into symbolist territory. Baker’s signature hyper-realism makes room for an irrational dimension that lightly evokes the supernatural enigmas of Maurice Maeterlinck and August Strindberg.” —Los Angeles Times“A paradoxical, puzzling, compellingly hypnotic work.” —Village VoiceIn Annie Baker’s The Antipodes, a group of people sit around a table telling, cataloging, and theorizing stories. Their purpose is never clear: are they brainstorming ideas for a TV show? A film? A mythology? This is a world where ghostly fables co-exist with mundane discussions of snacks and sexual exploits, where the vague instruction to tell stories about “something monstrous” though “it might not be a literal monster” becomes maddeningly impossible. Part satire, part sacred rite, The Antipodes asks what value stories have for a world in crisis. (TCG)

    Shortly after, he came back to Stratford to play Richard III – a breakthrough performance that would transform his career, winning him the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Actor. Sher’s record of the making of this historic theatrical event, Year of the King, has become a classic of theatre writing, a unique insight into the creation of a landmark Shakespearean performance.More than thirty years later, Antony Sher returned to Lear, this time in the title role, for the 2016 RSC production directed by Gregory Doran. Sher’s performance was acclaimed by the Telegraph as ‘a crowning achievement in a major career’, and the show transferred from Stratford to London’s Barbican. Once again, he kept a diary, capturing every step of his personal and creative journey to opening night.Year of the Mad King: The Lear Diaries is Sher’s account of researching, rehearsing and performing what is arguably Shakespeare’s most challenging role, known as the Everest of Acting. His strikingly honest, illuminating and witty commentary provides an intimate, first-hand look at the development of his Lear and of the production as a whole. Also included is a selection of his paintings and sketches, many reproduced in full colour.Like his Year of the King and Year of the Fat Knight: The Falstaff Diaries, this book, Year of the Mad King, offers a fascinating perspective on the process of one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of his generation.'One of the finest books I have ever read on the process of acting' Time Out on Year of the King'Antony Sher's insider journal is a brilliant exploded view of a great actor at work – modest and gifted, self-centred and selfless – a genius capable of transporting us backstage' Craig Raine, The Spectator (Books of the Year) on Year of the Fat Knight

    In this book you will discover: • The ins and outs of auditioning • Vocal warm-ups and exercises • Tips for reading copy to maximum effect • Hints to help you stand out • Advice for setting up your own home studio • Keys to marketing yourself: demo > agent > job • What to expect when you book the job • A bonus workbook to hone your skills • Performance capture, podcasting, & more! Filled with anecdotes from some of the industry's best voice actors, directors, engineers, and more, Voice-Over Voice Actor is filled with tips and exercises to guide you toward your VO goals.

    Right is much easier said than done. While surrounding himself with his close group of girlfriends it comes to pass that the only thing harder than looking for love is supporting the loved ones around you. From the critically acclaimed writer who brought you Bad Jews.

    This short but impressively in-depth book will take you from a nervous amateur to a seasoned pro who will have a much better chance at success when your interview comes around.Written by someone with years of experience in the business, with it you can nail that Skype interview and set yourself up for your dream career in show business.The Skype interview is common in the US and in I’m a F***ing Star – Get on Reality TV, you can learn how to avoid the pitfalls and common mistakes that will prevent you from being successful, with advice on:¬Casting opportunities¬Preparation¬Understanding the interviewer¬Doing some homework¬How to communicate properly

    But things get complicated when Lorenzo de’ Medici commissions Botticelli to paint a portrait of his wife, Clarice. What emerges is the famed The Birth of Venus and a love triangle involving Botticelli’s young assistant Leonardo that risks setting their world alight. For while Florence of 1497 is a liberal city, civil unrest is stoked by the charismatic friar Girolamo Savonarola who begins calling for sodomites to be burned at the pyre.In the Bible she is unnamed, referred to simply as “Lot’s wife.” In Sunday in Sodom, Edith recounts how her husband welcomed two American soldiers into their house, the fury this sparked in their village, and the chain of events that led to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. But most importantly, Edith sets the record straight as to why, after being told not to, she looked back upon the destruction of her hometown and turned into a pillar of salt.

    An epic, lyrical journey through the pulsating heart and underground soul of inner-city London.Arinzé Kene's Misty is an inventive blend of gig theatre, spoken word, live art and direct address, confronting the assumptions and expectations underpinning the act of telling a story.Misty premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2018, performed by the author and directed by Omar Elerian.

    In a way that is the point. Some people say that it is the body, but I think the body is more of a channel that leads us home. Ultimate reality is our home. It is here and now.In 2016, two artists embarked a cargo ship and retraced a route of the Transatlantic Slave Triangle - Europe, Africa, the Caribbean - all the while contemplating the notion of home. Both real and imagined, it was a journey to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, propelled by questions and grief; a journey backwards in order to go forwards, a diaspora. This show is what they brought back. Selina Thompson's Salt premiered at Southbank Centre in July 2017, and went on to tour in the UK, Australia, Canada and Brazil.Winner of The Stage Edinburgh Award, The Total Theatre Award for Experimentation, Innovation and Playing with Form, and The Filipa Bragan�a Award. Shortlisted for the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award.

    Together, they reveal the stories behind some of the most lavish, triumphant, daring and disastrous productions in the theatre's history, including Amadeus, Romans in Britain, Laurence Olivier's Othello, Closer, The History Boys and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.A rich collection of correspondence like no other, this book offers a fascinating and celebratory look at the world of theatre and beyond.

    American soldiers return home to ticker tape parades and overjoyed families; Private First Class Donny Novitski, singer and songwriter, returns with the hope of rebuilding his life with just the shirt on his back and a dream in his heart.When NBC announces a national competition to find the nation's next swing band sensation, Donny joins forces with a motley group of fellow veterans, and together they form a band unlike any the nation has ever seen. However, complicated relationships, the demands of the competition, and the challenging after-effects of war may break these musicians. But, when Donny meets a beautiful, young singer named Julia, he finds the perfect harmony in words and music that could take this band of brothers all the way to the live radio broadcast finale in New York City. Victory will require every ounce of talent, stamina, and raw nerve that these musicians possess.

    This Kindle ebook contains Shakespeare's complete plays and complete poems in a new, easy-to-read and easy-to-navigate format. What's included: COMEDIES All's Well That Ends Well As You Like It The Comedy of Errors Cymbeline Love's Labours Lost Measure for Measure The Merry Wives of Windsor The Merchant of Venice A Midsummer Night's Dream Much Ado About Nothing Pericles, Prince of Tyre Taming of the Shrew The Tempest Troilus and Cressida Twelfth Night Two Gentlemen of Verona Winter's Tale HISTORIES Henry IV, part 1 Henry IV, part 2 Henry V Henry VI, part 1 Henry VI, part 2 Henry VI, part 3 Henry VIII King John Richard II Richard III TRAGEDIES Antony and Cleopatra Coriolanus Hamlet Julius Caesar King Lear Macbeth Othello Romeo and Juliet Timon of Athens Titus Andronicus THE COMPLETE POEMS 154 Sonnets A Lover's Complaint The Rape of Lucrece Venus and Adonis A Funeral Elegy This version has been optimized for readability on the Kindle and includes: BEAUTIFUL FORMATTING Character names are offset from the dialogue so it is easy to discern who is speaking. There is plenty of white-space which makes reading easy on the eyes. FULLY FEATURED TABLE OF CONTENTS The full TOC appears at the beginning of the book and can be accessed through the MENU or GO TO button.

    When she finds out that God has created delicate new creatures called “humans,” she crafts a plan for revenge and betrayal on the Almighty.Erin Shields turns Heaven and Hell upside down in this witty, modern, feminist retelling of John Milton’s epic poem about the first battle between good and evil. Shields’s wickedly smart and funny script questions the reasons of the universe, the slow process of evolution and the freedom of knowledge. The debate over right and wrong has never been so satisfying.

    Contains the plays The Roommate, The Moors and Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties.Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties - Five different women named Betty collide at the intersection of anger, sex, and the “thea-tah.”The Moors - Two sisters and a dog live out their lives on the bleak English moors, and dream of love and power. A dark comedy about love, desperation, and visibility.The Roommate - A dark comedy about what it takes to re-route your life - and what happens when the wheels come off.

    A Play by Evan Dara

    It will be an essential tool for artists seeking monologues for auditions or training; a comprehensive guide through the hidden histories of queer theatre; and a celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community.Curated by award-winning artist Scottee.

    Believe me. I don't know what's happened, but something has. He's changed. He . . . And I'm wondering if . . . To be absolutely honest with you . . . I'm even wondering if . . . Nicolas, just two years ago a smiling boy, is going through a difficult phase after his parents' divorce. He's listless, skipping classes, lying. He believes moving in with his father and his new family may help. And a different school, a fresh start. When he doesn't feel comfortable there, when he senses he isn't wanted, he decides that going back to his mother's may be the answer. But at some point, options are going to dry up. And then what?I'm telling you. I don't understand what's happening to me. Florian Zeller's The Son forms the final part in a trilogy with The Mother and The Father, all of which are translated by Christopher Hampton. The Son premieres at the Kiln Theatre, London, in February 2019.

    The company had been a fixture on the national opera scene--as the populist antithesis of the grand Metropolitan Opera, a nurturing home for young American talent, and a place where new, lively ideas shook up a venerable art form. But NYCO's demise represented more than the loss of a cherished organization: it was a harbinger of massive upheaval in the performing arts--and a warning about how cultural institutions would need to change in order to survive.Drawing on extensive research and reporting, Heidi Waleson, one of the foremost American opera critics, recounts the history of this scrappy company and reveals how, from the beginning, it precariously balanced an ambitious artistic program on fragile financial supports. Waleson also looks forward and considers some better-managed, more visionary opera companies that have taken City Opera's lessons to heart.Above all, Mad Scenes and Exit Arias is a story of money, ego, changes in institutional identity, competing forces of populism and elitism, and the ongoing debate about the role of the arts in society. It serves as a detailed case study not only for an American arts organization, but also for the sustainability and management of nonprofit organizations across the country.

    

    

    Because these two women are beheading him - did I not mention that?”Fringe First and Total Theatre Award- winning Breach (Tank, The Beanfield) restage the 1612 trial of Agostino Tassi for the rape of baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi.Based on surviving court transcripts, this new play dramatises the seven-month trial that gripped Renaissance Rome, and asks how much has changed in the last four centuries.Blending myth, history and contemporary commentary, this is the story of how a woman took revenge through her art to become one of the most successful painters of her generation.

    This play is a cocommission by Clean Break Theatre Company and NationalTheatre Connections.As part of her research process, Alice Birch undertook a week’s residency at the former Holloway Women’s Prison. From spending time with the women there, Alice was struck by the impact the criminal justice system had on families and how, often, children are the silent victims of crime.[ BLANK ] isn’t simply a playtext, but a theatrical provocation; a blueprint from which theatre-makers can shape their own narratives and build their own productions. Indeed, no two versions of [ BLANK ] are ever likely to be the same, yet every single production will have an indelible bond with the next.This text contains the script for [ BLANK ] along with imaginative production notes and exercises and a short introduction to the writing process by Alice Birch.Connections is supported by The Mohn Westlake Foundation, The Buffini Chao Foundation, Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, Delta Air Lines, Jacqueline and Richard Worswick, Peter Cundill Foundation, Mactaggart Third Fund, The EBM Charitable Trust, Samantha and Richard Campbell-Breeden, The Garvey Family Trust, Susan Miller and Byron Grote, Anthony P. Skyrme, The Derrill Allatt Foundation, Hays Travel Foundation, Faithorn Farrell Timms and supporters of the Connections Appeal.The National Theatre’s Partner for Learning is Bank of America Merrill Lynch.Includes forewords by Bryony Kimmings (Performance Artist) and Joanne Majauskis (Safer Places).

    Jon Lien is a risk-taker and respected researcher, working for over twenty years in the dangerous waters off Newfoundland to rescue massive humpback whales and save the fishing gear in which they’re trapped. With his head down in freezing waters and armed only with a snorkel and knife, Lien saves the lives of over five hundred animals and earns the hard-won respect of Newfoundland’s fishermen. But his toughest battle comes at the end, as his body is slowly conquered by a relentlessly progressing paralysis and dementia.Between Breaths moves backward in time, from Lien’s final moments to his very first whale intervention. As his life becomes further and further confined, his mind stretches back in memories of release and salvation. Based on a true story, Robert Chafe crafts a raw portrayal Newfoundland’s “Whale Man” in this beautiful and poignant play about the parts of ourselves we hold on to after everything else has gone.

    . . a finely tuned ear and eye for the hidden--and not always noble--calibrations of the human heart." --Jay Reiner, The Hollywood Reporter"Letts is a keen observer of the way the past oozes into the present and future. And while each of his characters has a vivid identity, each also has a dozen richly contradictory aspects to his or her nature. . . . The playwright also serves up some blackly comic laughs, too, just to clear the air from time to time."--Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-TimesAt fifty years old, Wheeler is moving into an apartment of his own. Divorce and a dead-end job leave him faced with the challenge of building a brand new life as a middle-aged man. Wheeler's hilarious, tangled journey in Linda Vista is punctuated with complications, both painful and joyful, as he forges a new path. With a deftly crafted blend of humor and humanity, Pulitzer Prizewinning playwright Tracy Letts demonstrates the ultimate midlife crisis: the bewildering search for self-discovery once you've already grown up.Tracy Letts is a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright and actor. His works include August: Osage County, Mary Page Marlowe, Superior Donuts, The Man from Nebraska, Killer Joe, and Bug, among others.

    to duck1. a quick lowering of the head (to avoid a blow or so as not to be seen)2. depart quickly3. avoidnoun. wild duck (more commonly known as mallard duck or anas platyrhynchos) – an undomesticated duck.note. Due to its beautiful feathers, the mallard duck is one of the most popular ducks for hunters. When injured or threatened, ducks have been alleged to commit suicide, by diving to the bottom of the water, never returning to the surface. Almeida Associate Director Robert Icke stages a new version of The Wild Duck, Ibsen’s masterpiece about the nature of truth.

    Imaginary friends don’t normally stay with their person until that person is a teenager. Imaginary friends don’t suddenly become visible to their person’s mom and then go on a date with them, either. This darkly comedic bedtime story by Canadian theatre’s indie darling Kat Sandler blurs imagination with reality in order to save a family from its own destruction.

    Like the book, Reines’ play operates like a switchboard, connecting people and places across time and space.

    Reiko survives while Hanako is lost to the sea. Their mother, however, can't shake the feeling her missing daughter is still alive, and soon family tragedy takes on a global political dimension.

    Two hours later, he was said to have left with a spring in his step--and without the cane. This "miracle" is just one of many recounted in the lavish book The American Theatre Wing, an Oral History: 100 Years, 100 Voices, 100 Million Miracles.The other miracles are more commonplace, if no less remarkable, told by the impassioned artists and theater advocates who created and sustained this preeminent theatrical organization, including Angela Lansbury, Rosie O'Donnell, Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Harold Prince, Kenny Leon, Neil Patrick Harris, David Henry Hwang, Harvey Fierstein, and James Corden. These oral histories trace the American Theatre Wing's dedication to supporting and fostering American theater and the burgeoning and veteran artists in their stories--from Broadway, Off Broadway, and regional theater.

    Jail was considered a place for the criminal, the disabled, the mentally ill, and the marginalized.In the basement prison below Toronto’s largest market, two women named Mary—one a shunned, pregnant Irish immigrant, the other a vilified Mississauga woman—become an unlikely pair as they form a friendship within their cold, shared cell. Their bond threatens fellow inmate Sophia—who calls herself the first Black woman in Canada and the leader of the prisoners—and she plots to use the women to gain better treatment for herself. But as melting ice water pours into the prison from Lake Ontario, the forgotten women of Toronto must come together to survive.Inspired by true accounts and the history of Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market, The Flood gives voice to the little-known stories of early female prisoners in Canada.

    Discovering the Clown, or The Funny Book of Good Acting is a unique glimpse into the wild world of the Clown, unveiling “the playful self, the unsocialized self, the naive self…the big stupid who just wants to have some fun with the audience.” An essential guide for artists and actors wanting to set free the messy and hilarious Clown within.

    The result is this funny, raw and angry show about a service created, in its founder's words "in place of fear", which is now threatened by lack of funding. Through the interviews and hospital scenes recreated in the show, we see a service held together by dedicated staff, crippled by government policy which has created an internal market and indebted by PFI contracts from which private companies have made millions. This informative show toured venues throughout the UK in 2018, and is a strong wake-up call for those who want to see the NHS survive.

    It provides the first full-scale, historical account of one of the world's foremost immersive theatre companies, drawn from unrivalled access to the collective memory and archives of their core creative team.The playful encyclopaedic format, much like a Punchdrunk masked show, invites readers to create their own journey through the ideas, aesthetics, contexts, and practices that underpin Punchdrunk's work. Interjections from Felix Barrett, Stephen Dobbie, Maxine Doyle, Peter Higgin, Beatrice Minns, Colin Nightingale and Livi Vaughan, among others, fill out the picture with in-depth reflections.Charting Punchdrunk's rise from the fringe to the mainstream, this encyclopaedia records the founding principles and mission of the company, documenting its evolving creative process and operational structures. It has been compiled to be useful to scholars and students from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines, from secondary level through to doctoral research, and is intended for those with a fascination for theatre in general and immersive work in particular. Ultimately it is written for those who have dared to come play with Punchdrunk across the years. It is also offered　to the curious; those adventurers ready and waiting to be immersed in Punchdrunk worlds.

    When RENT struck, Larson became a legend - and his work legendary.But legends and overnight successes are never spawned from nothing, and the story of how Jonathan Larson became a Tony Award winning composer and Pulitzer Prize winning dramatist has never been covered in depth - until now.By looking at Larson’s entire 16-year output, Boho Days looks at not just how RENT and tick, tick… BOOM! came to life but where they came from - and how they really fit into Larson’s work as a whole.Featuring new interviews with Larson’s creative and personal associates and extensive archival research, Boho Days demystifies the composer’s vision and advancement, offering fans new and old the full story of the man behind the musical which changed the world."I think Jonathan Larson would have really enjoyed reading this book. I wish he could have.”--Barry Singer (Author EVER AFTER: The Last Years of Musical Theater and Beyond)

    Dietrich, Garbo, Shearer, Stanwyck, and Hepburn eagerly awaited to be, as Shearer put it, “so thoroughly and convincingly loved” on screen. While many knew that Marshall had lost a leg in WWI, he preferred audiences to concentrate on his acting. Even so, he volunteered hundreds of hours to hospitals encouraging amputees during WWII. His legacy as a versatile actor, and morale booster is as compelling, as it is complicated. “Marshall’s personal story,” noted the late Robert Osborne, “is a fascinating one.” Herbert Marshall is Scott O'Brien's seventh biography of classic cinema legends. His books received positive reviews in such publications as Sight & Sound, SF Gate, and Classic Images. Three of O’Brien’s books have made the Huffington Post’s “Best Cinema Books of the Year.”

    Combined with the musical talent of Erin McKeown, Hudes artfully crafts a story of the barriers and the bonds of family, while also addressing the complexities of immigration in today's America.

    Toklas.Visiting the audience in the present day, Gertrude and Alice come to find out how history has treated them. The couple recounts stories of their forty-year relationship; of meetings with iconic artists and writers; and of Alice’s overwhelming, consuming devotion to Gertrude’s genius. Before they leave, they want to find out what has become of their artistic and cultural influence, and how their lives and work are—or are not—remembered.

    Each No Fear Shakespeare contains the complete text of the original play, a line-by-line translation, a complete list of characters, and plenty of helpful commentary. No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Antony and Cleopatra on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right. Each No Fear Shakespeare contains The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language A complete list of characters with descriptions Plenty of helpful commentary

    Then he told us an alien was coming to stay in his spare room. With the help of some historical abduction stories, a latex alien mask, and a bucket of fl ying saucers, we're working out whether to believe him.Maybe this is a good place to believe him?Maybe you can help?Developed in association with The North Wall, supported by New Diorama Theatre and The Yard Theatre.SAMUEL FRENCH NEW PLAY AWARD WINNER 2018 NSDF OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE 2018 NSDF COMMENDATION IN DIRECTING 2018

    Filled with probing questions, Fifty Playwrights on their Craft explores ideas such as how does playwriting help a global dialogue; where do dramatists find the ideas that become the stories and narratives within their plays; how can the stage inform the writer's creative process; how does crossing boundaries between art forms push the living art form of theatre-making forward; and will there be playwrights in another 50 years? Through these interrogating interviews we come to understand how and why playwrights write what they do and gain insight into their processes and motivations. Together, the interviews provide an inter-generational dialogue between dramatists whose work spans over six decades. Featuring interviews with playwrights such as Edward Bond, Katori Hall, Chris Goode, David Greig, Willy Russell, David Henry Hwang, Alecky Blythe, Anne Washburn and Simon Stephens, Jester and Svich offer an unprecedented view into the multiple perspectives and approaches of key playwrights on both sides of the Atlantic.

    Cocreated theater breaks down the traditional roles of writer, director, and performer in favor of a more egalitarian approach in which all participants contribute to the creation of original material. Each chapter offers a short history of a Chicago company, followed by detailed exercises that have been developed and used by that company to build ensemble and generate performances. Companies included range in age from two to fifty years, represent different Chicago neighborhoods, and reflect both the storefront tradition and established cultural institutions. The book pays special attention to the ways the fight for social justice has shaped the development of this aesthetic in Chicago.Assembled from interviews and firsthand observations, Ensemble-Made Chicago is written in a lively and accessible style and will serve as an invaluable guide for students and practitioners alike, as well as an important archive of Chicago’s vibrant ensemble traditions. Readers will find new creative methods to enrich their own practice and push their work in new directions.

    For the remainder of her life, she dedicated herself to medical research and social activism. As a cutting-edge pathologist, she contributed to the pre-penicillin treatment of syphilis at Columbia University, participated in the development of early cancer treatments at Caltech, and assisted Los Angeles physicians in oncology research. As a divorced woman in the 1940s, she adopted and raised two children on her own. She later helped find work for blacklisted Hollywood screenwriters and became a prominent participant in social and political causes. The first full-length biography of Johnstone chronicles her extraordinary success in two male-dominated fields—show business and medical science—and follows her remarkable journey into a fascinating and fulfilling life.

    Leigh is the ambitious director who will do anything to get noticed. Ruth is the Northern Irish playwright whose voice must be heard.The stage is set for great success, but when the three meet to discuss the play's challenges and provocations, a line is crossed and the heated discussion quickly escalates to a violent climax. Exploring consent, abuses of power and the confusions of cultural identity, Ulster American is confrontational, brutally funny and not for the faint of heart.David Ireland's recent plays include Cyprus Avenue which won the James Tait Black Award 2017 and Best Play at the Irish Times Theatre Awards 2017. This edition is published to coincide with the world premiere at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in summer 2018.

    In the revised and updated second edition of Defying Gravity, biographer Carol de Giere reveals how Schwartz's beloved musicals came to life, adding four new chapters that shed light on the continuing Wicked phenomenon and exciting projects that include stage adaptations of The Hunchback of Notre Dame with Alan Menken and The Prince of Egypt. A popular feature of the first edition remains intact for the second: the story of Schwartz's commercially unsuccessful shows, how he coped, and how he gave himself another chance. The new edition also features an acclaimed series of "Creativity Notes" with insights about the creative process. Wicked enthusiasts are treated to a revealing, in-depth account of the show's evolution that takes readers from developmental workshops, to the pre-Broadway tryout in San Francisco, through the arguments over changes for Broadway, and finally to productions around the world. Movie musical fans know that Disney's pairing of Stephen Schwartz (for lyrics) with composer Alan Menken (for music) led to award-winning movie musicals "Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Enchanted. Menken's revelatory "Foreword" that introduces the second edition of Defying Gravity explores their "wonderful chemistry" and creative challenges. The abundance of behind-the-scenes stories in this Stephen Schwartz biography came by way of the author's unprecedented access to this legendary songwriter for interviews. She also drew from conversations with his family members, friends, and colleagues (librettists, composers, directors, producers, and actors) to render a rich portrait of this complex and gifted artist. She rounds out the book with photographs, Schwartz's handwritten notes, and highlighted quotations. Performers and others involved in productions of Godspell, Pippin, Children of Eden, Working, Rags, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, will discover the intentions of the shows' creators. Singers, writers, fans, and anyone interested in the development of stage and film musicals will enjoy multiple insights from this backstage journey, from Godspell to Wicked, and beyond.

    Six chapters cover different themes of performance art, such as beauty, global citizenship, and activism, as well as its intersection with other media including film and technology, dance, theater and architecture—interspersed with illustrated profiles of some of the world’s best-known performance artists, including Marina Abramovic, Matthew Barney, and Laurie Simmons. Extended captions assess the importance of specific works in context.At once a wonderful introduction to the medium and a must-have sourcebook for fans, Performance Now is the go-to reference for artists, students, and historians as well as lovers of avant-garde theater and film.

    William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, better known as The First Folio. In doing so they preserved literature's most dramatically vital and poetically rich account of our human world. Endlessly reinterpreted by critics and performers, Shakespeare's inexhaustible work has remained abreast of contemporary concerns ever since, and it continues to hold a mirror up to the nature of our troubled society and our contradictory selves. The plays accompany us through the ages of mankind, from comic springtime to wintry age, compressing our life in time into the three hours' traffic of the stage; the characters in them have shaped the way we think about politics and war, consciousness and morality, love and death. Peter Conrad examines the world-view of the plays, their generic originality and their astonishingly inventive language. He goes on to explore Shakespeare's global legacy as his characters migrate to every continent and are reinvented by later writers, painters, composers, choreographers and film-makers.

    Now he’s a failed LA lawyer, divorced, and working at his brother’s resort in the Muskokas. When a wedding conveniently brings Gloria to the resort for a weekend, Guy is determined to keep his distance. But their high-school friends Eva, Leslie, and Peggy, and Peggy’s mom Jessie—the crew’s former teacher—decide to play matchmakers and reconnect the long-split pair.Between the reunion of old friends, each with their own surprises, Gloria and Guy are pushed together, learning the power of forgiveness, the warmth of opening up to someone, and the possibilities of a rewritten future.

    Openly dismissive of ‘technical’ actors, or others who played The Bard as if ‘their finger was up their arse’, Williamson tore up the rule book to deliver a fast-talking canon of Shakespearean heroes, with portrayals marked by gut-wrenching passion. According to one co-star, Williamson was like a tornado on stage – ‘he felt he was paddling for his life’. Fiercely uncompromising, choosy about the roles he accepted, contemptuous of the ‘suits’ who made money off artists, and a perfectionist who never accepted second best from himself or others, Nicol alienated or fell out with many long-standing collaborators. But even his detractors still acknowledge his brilliance. After an extraordinary career on both stage and screen, Williamson was burnt out as an actor by the age of 60. But, as Gabriel Hershman explains in this authorised biography, a premature end was perhaps inevitable for an actor who always went the extra mile in every performance.

    Everyone, that is, but Anthony, who is determined to investigate.Tumulus by Christopher Adams is a chilling, queer play-noir set amongst the shadowy hills of Hampstead Heath.Critically acclaimed during its run at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Lucy Burke's Glitter Punch - set in Greater Manchester - charts a troubling new relationship between mysterious John and sixteen-year-old Molly, a love that will change their lives forever.Set in a Wigan taxi, Burkas and Bacon Butties by Shamia Chalabi and Sarah Henley is a heart-warming comedy about taxi-driver Ashraf and his twenty-something daughter, Shaz, as they negotiate the ups and downs of living in a mixed-culture family.When bereaved mother Mary finds a disembodied arm, a conspiracy builds: maybe her child isn't quite so dead after all. Shortlisted for Soho Theatre's Tony Craze Award, Sami Ibrahim's Wind Bit Bitter, Bit Bit Bit Her is an enthralling monologue about love and loss.The Strongbox by Stephanie Jacob is a story of domestic servitude and abuse of power, as authoritarian Kat, her ageing mother, Ma, and their teenaged slave, Maudie, jostle for power - and affection - in their dilapidated London home.