Book picks similar to
Scenarios of the Commedia Dell'arte: Flaminio Scala's Il Teatro Delle Favole Rappresentative by Flaminio Scala
classics
plays
plays-theatre
read-non-fiction
Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales
Guy de Maupassant - 2004
You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
Everything in the Garden
Edward Albee - 1968
Albee there is a theme beneath the surface, in this case the corruption of money and the rottenness of this bigoted exurbia where conformity to its illiberal standards and its hypocritical show of respectability is all that counts. The scene is the suburban home of Jenny and Richard, beautifully played by Barbara Bel Geddes and Barry Nelson. The only thing that seems to stand in the way of their happiness is a lack of money. The action starts in an entertaining comedy of manners style. Then abruptly there enters a Mrs. Toothe in the menacing and fascinating person of Beatrice Straight who offers Jenny the opportunity to make more money than they have ever had, to buy a greenhouse and all the other luxuries that they require for their garden and their lives. Richard's realization that their newfound money is being earned by his wife's whoring comes almost simultaneously with the return of their fourteen-year-old son from school and a champagne cocktail party which they are giving to impress their country club friends. As a result, his horror, disgust and rage has to be kept under wraps in order to keep up essential appearances until tragedy strikes, and Richard realizes that the assembled wives are all involved and their husbands are aware and condoning." More than that, they are prepared not merely to justify but defend the ends through which their means are attained and the devastated Richard, left in agonized despair by the ironic events that charge the final moments of the play, must face the fact of his own share in their communal guilt.
Chekhov: The Cherry Orchard
James N. Loehlin - 2006
In the century since its first performance, The Cherry Orchard has undergone a wide range of conflicting interpretations: tragic and comic, naturalistic and symbolic, reactionary and radical. Beginning with the 1904 premiere at Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theatre, this study traces the performance history of one of the landmark plays of the modern theatre. Considering the work of such directors as Anatoly Efros, Giorgio Strehler, Peter Brook, and Peter Stein, Chekhov: The Cherry Orchard explores the way different artists, periods and cultures have reinvented Chekhov's poignant comedy of failure and hope.
An Inspector Calls
John Scicluna - 1990
York Notes author John Scicluna discusses all aspect of An Inspector Calls --a thorough run-down very helpful to anyone studying the famous Priestley play.
The Odyssey
Mary Zimmerman - 2003
A classical muse appears, and the young woman becomes the goddess Athena--a tireless advocate for Odysseus in his struggle to get home. With her trademark irreverent and witty twist on classic works, Zimmerman brings to life the story of Odysseus's ten-year journey, depicting his encounters with characters such as Circe, the Cyclops, Poseidon, Calypso, the Sirens, and others.
Earthquakes in London
Mike Bartlett - 2010
It is a fast and furious metropolitan crash of people, scenes and decades, as three sisters attempt to navigate their dislocated lives and loves, while their dysfunctional father, a brilliant scientist, predicts global catastrophe.Mike Bartlett's contemporary and directed dialogue combines a strong sense of humanity with epic ambition, as well as finely-aimed shafts of political comment embedded effortlessly into every scene. Earthquakes in London represents modern playwriting at its most exciting and ambitious.It's Cabaret, we've got our heads down and we're dancing and drinking as fast as we can. The enemy is on its way, but this time it doesn't have guns and gas it has storms and earthquakes, fire and brimstone…. You were the glimmer. At the end of the tunnel. And you went out.
Endymion
John Lyly - 1979
Lyly’s Endymion (1588) represents his famous Euphuistic style at its best and also gives us vintage Lyly as courtier and dramatist. In this love comedy, Lyly retells an ancient legend of the prolonged sleep of the man with whom the moon (Cynthia) fell in love. The fable is piquantly relevant to Queen Elizabeth and her exasperated if adoring courtiers. This edition makes a new and compelling argument for the relevance of Endymion to the threat of the Spanish Armada invasion of 1588 and to the role of the Earl of Oxford in England’s politics of that troubled decade. Full commentary is provided on every aspect of the play, including its philosophical allegory about the relation of the moon to mortal life on earth.
Investigative Medium - the Awakening
Laine Crosby - 2013
Who knew Laine Crosby, former marketing executive at The Weather Channel, had the gift of being an Investigative Medium? Not even Laine, that is, until she moved from Atlanta to the property of an eighteenth century Maryland plantation and woke up talking to a former slave buried in her backyard! Investigative Medium - the Awakening, examines the gift that was thrust upon Laine who was at first surprised, and then upset, and over time and through experience, embracing of this new way of life. Laine’s husband, Chris, twins Annie and Caleb, and even her Jack Russell terrier “Steve” have peripheral ghostly involvement, so it is a family affair, although at first an unsettling one.Along Laine’s journey, she meets an unlikely friend, the spirit of Jannette, once nanny to the children on the plantation where she lives. Laine becomes Jannette's voice, bringing her back from the antebellum South to tell the incredible story of her life as a slave, and a tender romance is revealed. Interwoven with Laine’s personal story, are the first hand accounts of former slaves Jannette and Bill, and others.Laine finds similarities in her own life and Jannette's, and with Jannette's friendship, Laine begins her journey down a path of self discovery. Once Laine accepts her gift, it is her mother who, from beyond the grave, helps Laine find a way to surrender, and at long last give up on the life she dreamed of having, in order to have the life she was meant to live. Investigative Medium - the Awakening is first in the Investigative Medium series, a preface to future books about Laine's adventures with law enforcement, historians and archaeologists. It is a fast read and an uplifting and hopeful book for anyone who has lost a loved one. But, put on your seat belts; It's a thriller along the way!Now available as an ebook on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords. Paperback available July 2013 (ISBN 978-1-940261-00-3)on LaineCrosby.com among other stores.
Emily Bronte: Wuthering Heights
Jonathan Francis Goodridge
The Last Yankee
Arthur Miller - 1994
Leroy Hamilton, the younger man, shocks Frick, a successful businessman in his 60s, by revealing that, though descended from one of the Founding Fathers of the USA, Alexander Hamilton, he is by profession a carpenter.