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ENGLISH

Kunqu - Chinaâ€™S Classical Song-Drama

by Dr Kim Hunter (Duke Kunshan University, China) Gordon

~~87,87€~~ 79,08€ 10% OFF

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 An authoritative guide to Kunqu, Chinaâ€™s classical song-drama, from its origins in the 16th century to its revival in the early 20th century.
ENGLISH

Nautanki - The Musical Theatre Of North India

by Devendra Sharma

~~77,51€~~ 69,76€ 10% OFF

 Drawing on more than 4 decades of experience working in Nautanki as a writer, director, singer, and actor, Sharma''s book is the first major study to analyse Nautanki not only through its literary bases, but also through live performances, considering it both in a historical vein and as contemporary theatre on the ground. What entertained India''s masses and elites before the arrival of cinema in India? When did "modern" theatre begin in India and how did Nautanki contribute to its rise? In this book, renowned theatre scholar and 7th-generation Nautanki artist Devendra Sharma examines the theatrical form of Nautanki-its history, organisational structure, narratives, poetics, musical structures, artists, and performance spaces-which flourished in North India in the 19th and the 20th centuries, and is still popular now. In a concise format, Sharma explores how this socially and politically relevant theatre, full of beautiful music, swashbuckling heroes, magic, romance, and contemporary themes, once charmed audiences throughout India''s cities and countryside towns and served as the continuation of elements of ancient Indian theatre. This book unravels a critical shift in the history of Indian theatre, the move from unbounded performance spaces to proscenium stages in big cities, and how this changed the meaning of theatre in India. It examines how forces of globalization and modernization have profoundly changed India''s theatrical landscape, arguably side-lining one of its most robust theatre forms of the 19th and 20th centuries. It also discusses the future of Nautanki, and how it is now being performed globally. Nautanki is essential reading for anybody interested in Indian theatre, world theatre, musical theatre, opera, and Bollywood.
ENGLISH

Kathakali - Tradition, Innovations And Transitions In The Dance Drama Of Kerala

by Sudha Gopalakrishnan

~~20,26€~~ 18,23€ 10% OFF

 Authored by a leading exponent of the form, this book provides a clear guide to Kathakali, exploring its origin, evolution, and characteristics and the ways it has adapted for a 21st-century audience. Kathakali is an introduction to this vibrant mode of dance drama, which comes from Kerala in southwest India and combines poetry, music, rhythm, and dance to represent stories of gods, demons, and humans. Originating in the latter part of the 16th century, today Kathakali commands attention and involves practitioners from around the world. Largely drawing its stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, it integrates music, dance, grand makeup, and costume to evoke the epic universe. This book illuminates how Kathakali combines associated literary texts, performative conventions, and practices from local and pan-Indian contexts. The actors use their whole body-deploying complex dance movements, interpretive gestures, and highly developed facial expressions-as a site to depict, elaborate, and interpret action. Encapsulating the world of Kathakali, its performative grammar, and the aesthetic theories that underpin it, this book examines its history as one of continual change. The book traces the distinctive features of Kathakali, which is sometimes tightly structured with fixed conventions, and sometimes fluid enough to incorporate imaginative flights of fancy. It assesses Kathakali''s cultural legacy and charts how the form has changed over the centuries. It also includes translations of extracts from poems, plays, and performance manuals, as well as interviews with actors and cultural historians.
ENGLISH

Kathakali - Tradition, Innovations And Transitions In The Dance Drama Of Kerala

by Sudha Gopalakrishnan

~~20,26€~~ 18,23€ 10% OFF

 Authored by a leading exponent of the form, this book provides a clear guide to Kathakali, exploring its origin, evolution, and characteristics and the ways it has adapted for a 21st-century audience. Kathakali is an introduction to this vibrant mode of dance drama, which comes from Kerala in southwest India and combines poetry, music, rhythm, and dance to represent stories of gods, demons, and humans. Originating in the latter part of the 16th century, today Kathakali commands attention and involves practitioners from around the world. Largely drawing its stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, it integrates music, dance, grand makeup, and costume to evoke the epic universe. This book illuminates how Kathakali combines associated literary texts, performative conventions, and practices from local and pan-Indian contexts. The actors use their whole body-deploying complex dance movements, interpretive gestures, and highly developed facial expressions-as a site to depict, elaborate, and interpret action. Encapsulating the world of Kathakali, its performative grammar, and the aesthetic theories that underpin it, this book examines its history as one of continual change. The book traces the distinctive features of Kathakali, which is sometimes tightly structured with fixed conventions, and sometimes fluid enough to incorporate imaginative flights of fancy. It assesses Kathakali''s cultural legacy and charts how the form has changed over the centuries. It also includes translations of extracts from poems, plays, and performance manuals, as well as interviews with actors and cultural historians.
ENGLISH

Noh - Japanese Classical Dance-Drama

by Diego Pellecchia e Kaoru Nakao

~~77,51€~~ 69,76€ 10% OFF

 This volume provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of the rich traditions of noh, classical Japanese dance-drama. Drawing from specialized scholarship in English and in Japanese, it takes an accessible approach useful for a range of readers, including students and researchers of Japanese culture and performing arts, as well as theatre practitioners. The introduction provides an overview, describing noh from the point of view of both the audience and the practitioner. Chapter One traces the history of noh from its origins through stages of development and formalization to the present day. Chapter Two explores the different plays in the repertoire, discussing their structures, themes, and sources. Chapter Three delves into the staging conventions of noh, introducing aspects of movement, music, and chant, as well as costumes, masks, and stage properties. To conclude, this book raises questions about the current situation of noh and explores its potential future. Since its emergence in the 14th century, noh has been appreciated by audiences ranging from the intellectual elites to the warrior class, from the Buddhist clergy to commoners. Throughout its history, noh has influenced other traditional performing arts and, since the early 20th century, it has also been a source of inspiration for theatre practitioners outside of Japan.
ENGLISH

Noh - Japanese Classical Dance-Drama

by Diego Pellecchia e Kaoru Nakao

~~77,51€~~ 69,76€ 10% OFF

 This volume provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of the rich traditions of noh, classical Japanese dance-drama. Drawing from specialized scholarship in English and in Japanese, it takes an accessible approach useful for a range of readers, including students and researchers of Japanese culture and performing arts, as well as theatre practitioners. The introduction provides an overview, describing noh from the point of view of both the audience and the practitioner. Chapter One traces the history of noh from its origins through stages of development and formalization to the present day. Chapter Two explores the different plays in the repertoire, discussing their structures, themes, and sources. Chapter Three delves into the staging conventions of noh, introducing aspects of movement, music, and chant, as well as costumes, masks, and stage properties. To conclude, this book raises questions about the current situation of noh and explores its potential future. Since its emergence in the 14th century, noh has been appreciated by audiences ranging from the intellectual elites to the warrior class, from the Buddhist clergy to commoners. Throughout its history, noh has influenced other traditional performing arts and, since the early 20th century, it has also been a source of inspiration for theatre practitioners outside of Japan.
Jingju - Beijing/Peking Opera - History, Practice, And Aesthetics

by Xing (University Of Toronto, Canada) Fan

~~87,87€~~ 79,08€ 10% OFF

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 An introduction to the cultural history of jingju, from its origin to the present, with case studies demonstrating its practice and aesthetics.
ENGLISH

Documentary Theatre And Performance

by Andy Lavender

~~21,45€~~ 19,31€ 10% OFF

 What distinguishes documentary theatre from other forms of drama? How has it integrated different media across the years, and to what effect? What is its relationship to truth and reality, and defining moments of civic unrest and political change? In this short, authoritative book, Andy Lavender surveys a century of documentary theatre and performance and analyses key productions. Arranged in 3 sections that take a broadly chronological approach, the volume considers the nature of documenting, forms of intervention through theatre, the presentation of lived experience, and issues of truth, reality and representation. The book includes a variety of case studies, beginning with Piscator''s In Spite of Everything! (1925) and tracing the work that followed in Europe and America, including the tribunal and testimony plays of the 1990s and 2000s. It examines the relationship of 3 key productions to moments of civic and political crisis: Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights Brooklyn and Other Identities (1992), Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (1993) and The Colour of Justice: The Stephen Lawrence Enquiry (1999). Finally, it looks at the impact of digital technologies, social media and hybrid artforms in the 21st century, to explore the engagement of documentary performance with mediations and experiences of cultural change and shifting identities across a range of case studies.
ENGLISH

Documentary Theatre And Performance

by Andy Lavender

~~21,45€~~ 19,31€ 10% OFF

 What distinguishes documentary theatre from other forms of drama? How has it integrated different media across the years, and to what effect? What is its relationship to truth and reality, and defining moments of civic unrest and political change? In this short, authoritative book, Andy Lavender surveys a century of documentary theatre and performance and analyses key productions. Arranged in 3 sections that take a broadly chronological approach, the volume considers the nature of documenting, forms of intervention through theatre, the presentation of lived experience, and issues of truth, reality and representation. The book includes a variety of case studies, beginning with Piscator''s In Spite of Everything! (1925) and tracing the work that followed in Europe and America, including the tribunal and testimony plays of the 1990s and 2000s. It examines the relationship of 3 key productions to moments of civic and political crisis: Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights Brooklyn and Other Identities (1992), Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (1993) and The Colour of Justice: The Stephen Lawrence Enquiry (1999). Finally, it looks at the impact of digital technologies, social media and hybrid artforms in the 21st century, to explore the engagement of documentary performance with mediations and experiences of cultural change and shifting identities across a range of case studies.
ENGLISH

Korean Pansori As Voice Theatre - History, Theory, Practice

by Chan E. Park

34,57€ + 10% CARD

 This book introduces readers to the historical, performative, and cultural context of pansori, a traditional Korean oral story-singing art. Written by a scholar-practitioner of the form, this study is structured in three parts and begins by introducing readers to the technical, aesthetic, and theoretical components of pansori, as well as the synthesis of vocal and percussive elements that stage the narrative. It moves on to reflect on the historical contexts of pansori, alongside Korea''s transformation from Joseon monarchy to modern statehood. It argues that with colonial annexation came modernist influences that Korean dramatists and audiences used to create new genres of performance, using the common thread of pansori. The book''s third part explores the interplay of preservation and innovation, beginning in the post-war period and continuing with developments in the 20th and 21st centuries that coincide with Korea''s imprint on cultural globalization. Along with Korea''s growth as a world economic center, a growing enthusiasm for Korean culture around the world has increased the transmission and visibility of pansori. This study argues that tradition and innovation are not as divergent as they are sometimes imagined to be and that tradition is the force that enables innovation. Drawing on Chan E. Park''s ethnographic work and performance practice, this book interweaves expert knowledge of both the textual and performative aspects of pansori, rendering legible this dramatic tradition.
ENGLISH

Korean Pansori As Voice Theatre - History, Theory, Practice

by Chan E. Park

34,57€ + 10% CARD

 This book introduces readers to the historical, performative, and cultural context of pansori, a traditional Korean oral story-singing art. Written by a scholar-practitioner of the form, this study is structured in three parts and begins by introducing readers to the technical, aesthetic, and theoretical components of pansori, as well as the synthesis of vocal and percussive elements that stage the narrative. It moves on to reflect on the historical contexts of pansori, alongside Korea''s transformation from Joseon monarchy to modern statehood. It argues that with colonial annexation came modernist influences that Korean dramatists and audiences used to create new genres of performance, using the common thread of pansori. The book''s third part explores the interplay of preservation and innovation, beginning in the post-war period and continuing with developments in the 20th and 21st centuries that coincide with Korea''s imprint on cultural globalization. Along with Korea''s growth as a world economic center, a growing enthusiasm for Korean culture around the world has increased the transmission and visibility of pansori. This study argues that tradition and innovation are not as divergent as they are sometimes imagined to be and that tradition is the force that enables innovation. Drawing on Chan E. Park''s ethnographic work and performance practice, this book interweaves expert knowledge of both the textual and performative aspects of pansori, rendering legible this dramatic tradition.
ENGLISH

Kattaikkuttu - A Rural Theatre Tradition In South India

by Hanne M. De Bruin

21,45€ + 10% CARD

 This is the first book to offer a clear introduction to Kattaikkuttu (or Terukkuttu), a vibrant, vocal and physical outdoor Tamil theatre tradition from India. It describes the theatre''s characteristic heroic nature as expressed through its principal, male kattai characters, explores its history, social status and ritual context, and examines the production of all-night plays. After placing Kattaikkuttu in the wider, competitive context of the performing arts in India, Hanne M. de Bruin introduces readers to some of the debates about the form and provides an overview of the different elements that make up a Kattaikkuttu performance. It considers its performance spaces and the way the form has changed, such as its transition towards an independent and more professional theatre genre, as well as the opening up of the form to different castes and to women. It covers the production and frameworks of all-night performances, uses the Mahabharata play Karna Moksam as a case study and examines recent changes in the Kattaikkuttu repertory. In addition, the book looks in more detail at the role of the performer, including the training of a Kattaikkuttu novice, the performance score of actor-singers that underlie a specific role or vesam, and a seasoned performer''s agency in interpreting well-known roles. Finally, the study turns to recent innovations, in particular the creation of new work and the Kattaikkuttu Gurukulam.
ENGLISH

Kattaikkuttu - A Rural Theatre Tradition In South India

by Hanne M. De Bruin

21,45€ + 10% CARD

 This is the first book to offer a clear introduction to Kattaikkuttu (or Terukkuttu), a vibrant, vocal and physical outdoor Tamil theatre tradition from India. It describes the theatre''s characteristic heroic nature as expressed through its principal, male kattai characters, explores its history, social status and ritual context, and examines the production of all-night plays. After placing Kattaikkuttu in the wider, competitive context of the performing arts in India, Hanne M. de Bruin introduces readers to some of the debates about the form and provides an overview of the different elements that make up a Kattaikkuttu performance. It considers its performance spaces and the way the form has changed, such as its transition towards an independent and more professional theatre genre, as well as the opening up of the form to different castes and to women. It covers the production and frameworks of all-night performances, uses the Mahabharata play Karna Moksam as a case study and examines recent changes in the Kattaikkuttu repertory. In addition, the book looks in more detail at the role of the performer, including the training of a Kattaikkuttu novice, the performance score of actor-singers that underlie a specific role or vesam, and a seasoned performer''s agency in interpreting well-known roles. Finally, the study turns to recent innovations, in particular the creation of new work and the Kattaikkuttu Gurukulam.
ENGLISH

Classical Greek Tragedy

by Judith Fletcher

20,26€ + 10% CARD

 Classical Greek Tragedy offers a comprehensive survey of the development of classical Greek tragedy combined with close readings of exemplary texts. Reconstructing how audiences in fifth-century BCE Athens created meaning from the performance of tragedy at the dramatic festivals sponsored by the city-state and its wealthiest citizens, it considers the context of Athenian political and legal structures, gender ideology, religious beliefs, and other social forces that contributed to spectators'' reception of the drama. In doing so it focuses on the relationship between performers and watchers, not only Athenian male citizens, but also women and audiences throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. This book traces the historical development of these dynamics through three representative tragedies that span a 50 year period: Aeschylus'' Seven Against Thebes, Sophocles'' Oedipus Tyrannus, and Euripides'' Helen. Topics include the role of the chorus; the tragic hero; recurring mythical characters and subject matter; Aristotelian assessments of the components of tragedy; developments in the architecture of the theater and their impact on the interactions of characters, and the spaces they occupy. Unifying these discussions is the observation that the genre articulates a reality beyond the visible stage action that intersects with the characters'' existence in the present moment and resonates with the audience''s religious beliefs and collective psychology. Human voices within the performance space articulate powerful forces from an invisible dimension that are activated by oaths, hymns, curses and prayers, and respond in the form of oracles and prophecies, forms of discourse which were profoundly meaningful to those who watched the original productions of tragedy.
ENGLISH

Modern Tragedy

by James Moran

19,07€ + 10% CARD

 What distinguishes modern tragedy from other forms of drama? How does it relate to contemporary political and social conditions? To what ends have artists employed the tragic form in different locations during the 20th century? Partly motivated by the urgency of our current situation in an age of ecocidal crisis, Modern Tragedy encompasses a variety of drama from throughout the 20th century. James Moran begins this book with John Millington Synge''s Riders to the Sea (1904), which shows how environmental awareness might be expressed through tragic drama. Moran also looks at Brecht''s reworking of Synge''s drama in the 1937 play Señora Carrar''s Rifles, and situates Brecht''s script in the light of the theatre practitioner''s broader ideas about tragedy. Brecht''s tragic thinking - informed by Hegel and Marx - is contrasted with the Schopenhauerian approach of Samuel Beckett. The volume goes on to examine theatre makers whose ideas were partly motivated by applying an understanding of the tragic narrative of Synge''s Riders to the Sea to postcolonial contexts. Looking at Derek Walcott''s The Sea at Dauphin (1954), and J.P. Clark''s The Goat (1961), Modern Tragedy explores how tragedy, a form that is often associated with regressive assumptions about hegemony, might be rethought, and how aspects of the tragic may coincide with the experiences and concerns of authors and audiences of colour.
ENGLISH

Modern Tragedy

by James Moran

19,07€ + 10% CARD

 What distinguishes modern tragedy from other forms of drama? How does it relate to contemporary political and social conditions? To what ends have artists employed the tragic form in different locations during the 20th century? Partly motivated by the urgency of our current situation in an age of ecocidal crisis, Modern Tragedy encompasses a variety of drama from throughout the 20th century. James Moran begins this book with John Millington Synge''s Riders to the Sea (1904), which shows how environmental awareness might be expressed through tragic drama. Moran also looks at Brecht''s reworking of Synge''s drama in the 1937 play Señora Carrar''s Rifles, and situates Brecht''s script in the light of the theatre practitioner''s broader ideas about tragedy. Brecht''s tragic thinking - informed by Hegel and Marx - is contrasted with the Schopenhauerian approach of Samuel Beckett. The volume goes on to examine theatre makers whose ideas were partly motivated by applying an understanding of the tragic narrative of Synge''s Riders to the Sea to postcolonial contexts. Looking at Derek Walcott''s The Sea at Dauphin (1954), and J.P. Clark''s The Goat (1961), Modern Tragedy explores how tragedy, a form that is often associated with regressive assumptions about hegemony, might be rethought, and how aspects of the tragic may coincide with the experiences and concerns of authors and audiences of colour.
ENGLISH

Liyuanxi - Chinese 'Pear Garden Theatre'

by Josh Stenberg

35,76€ + 10% CARD

 This book offers a stimulating introduction to the Hokkien music drama known as liyuanxi (''pear garden theatre''), heir and current expression of one of China''s oldest unbroken xiqu (''Chinese opera'') traditions. It considers the genre''s history prior to the 20th century, its signal successes before and after the Cultural Revolution, and its national prominence today. Beginning with an analysis of the form''s aesthetics and techniques, it proceeds to an overview of its rich and distinctive narrative repertoire, including several dramas unique to the genre. Josh Stenberg illustrates liyuanxi''s distinctive musical and narrative qualities and presents the performance art''s place, not only in Chinese drama and theatre history, but also in the culture of the historic port city of Quanzhou and the broader Hokkien region and diaspora. This study focuses on the work of the only professional theatre troupe in the genre, the Fujian Province Liyuanxi Experimental Theatre (FPLET), and examines the practice of director and leading actor Zeng Jingping, whose performances have focused attention on the genre''s expression of women''s desires and ambitions, and on her colleague, playwright Wang Renjie. It argues that new scripts engage with the issues of contemporary China while respecting the genre''s traditions and conventions, and have led to rewritings of traditional repertoire by younger female authors. Stenberg''s book skilfully demonstrates how a traditional theatre can adapt and thrive in a contemporary society, providing an indispensable introduction while whetting the appetite for the genre''s exhilarating live performances.
ENGLISH

Badhai - Hijra-Khwaja Sira-Trans Performance Across Borders In South Asia

by Adnan Hossain, Claire Pamment e Jeff Roy

35,76€ + 10% CARD

 This is the first full-length book to provide an introduction to badhai performances throughout South Asia, examining their characteristics and relationships to differing contexts in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Badhai''s repertoires of songs, dances, prayers, and comic repartee are performed by socially marginalised hijra, khwaja sira, and trans communities. They commemorate weddings, births and other celebratory heteronormative events. The form is improvisational and responds to particular contexts, but also moves across borders, including those of nation, religion, genre, and identity. This collaboratively authored book draws from anthropology, theatre and performance studies, music and sound studies, ethnomusicology, queer and transgender studies, and sustained ethnographic fieldwork to examine badhai''s place-based dynamics, transcultural features, and communications across the hijrascape. This vital study explores the form''s changing status and analyses these performances'' layered, scalar, and sensorial practices, to extend ways of understanding hijra-khwaja sira-trans performance.
ENGLISH

Badhai - Hijra-Khwaja Sira-Trans Performance Across Borders In South Asia

by Adnan Hossain, Claire Pamment e Jeff Roy

35,76€ + 10% CARD

 This is the first full-length book to provide an introduction to badhai performances throughout South Asia, examining their characteristics and relationships to differing contexts in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Badhai''s repertoires of songs, dances, prayers, and comic repartee are performed by socially marginalised hijra, khwaja sira, and trans communities. They commemorate weddings, births and other celebratory heteronormative events. The form is improvisational and responds to particular contexts, but also moves across borders, including those of nation, religion, genre, and identity. This collaboratively authored book draws from anthropology, theatre and performance studies, music and sound studies, ethnomusicology, queer and transgender studies, and sustained ethnographic fieldwork to examine badhai''s place-based dynamics, transcultural features, and communications across the hijrascape. This vital study explores the form''s changing status and analyses these performances'' layered, scalar, and sensorial practices, to extend ways of understanding hijra-khwaja sira-trans performance.
ENGLISH

Liyuanxi - Chinese 'Pear Garden Theatre'

by Josh Stenberg

35,76€ + 10% CARD

 This book offers a stimulating introduction to the Hokkien music drama known as liyuanxi (''pear garden theatre''), heir and current expression of one of China''s oldest unbroken xiqu (''Chinese opera'') traditions. It considers the genre''s history prior to the 20th century, its signal successes before and after the Cultural Revolution, and its national prominence today. Beginning with an analysis of the form''s aesthetics and techniques, it proceeds to an overview of its rich and distinctive narrative repertoire, including several dramas unique to the genre. Josh Stenberg illustrates liyuanxi''s distinctive musical and narrative qualities and presents the performance art''s place, not only in Chinese drama and theatre history, but also in the culture of the historic port city of Quanzhou and the broader Hokkien region and diaspora. This study focuses on the work of the only professional theatre troupe in the genre, the Fujian Province Liyuanxi Experimental Theatre (FPLET), and examines the practice of director and leading actor Zeng Jingping, whose performances have focused attention on the genre''s expression of women''s desires and ambitions, and on her colleague, playwright Wang Renjie. It argues that new scripts engage with the issues of contemporary China while respecting the genre''s traditions and conventions, and have led to rewritings of traditional repertoire by younger female authors. Stenberg''s book skilfully demonstrates how a traditional theatre can adapt and thrive in a contemporary society, providing an indispensable introduction while whetting the appetite for the genre''s exhilarating live performances.
ENGLISH

Commedia Dell Arte

by Domenico Pietropaolo

20,26€ + 10% CARD

 What were the origins of commedia dell''arte and how did it evolve as a dramatic form over time and as it spread from Italy? How did its relationship to the ruling ideology of the day change during the Enlightenment? What is its legacy today? These are just some of the questions addressed in this authoritative overview of the dramatic, ideological and aesthetic form of commedia dell''arte. The book''s 3 sections examine the changing role of performers and playwrights, improvisatory scenarios and scripted performance, and its function as a vehicle for social criticism, to offer readers a clear understanding of commedia dell''arte''s evolution in Renaissance Italy and beyond. This study throws new light on the role of women performers; on the changing ideological discourse of commedia dell''arte, which included social reform and, later, conservatism as well as the alienation of ethnic minorities in complicity with its audience; and on its later adaptation into hybrid forms including grotesque dance and the giullarata typified by the work of Dario Fo.
ENGLISH

Commedia Dell Arte

by Domenico Pietropaolo

20,26€ + 10% CARD

 What were the origins of commedia dell''arte and how did it evolve as a dramatic form over time and as it spread from Italy? How did its relationship to the ruling ideology of the day change during the Enlightenment? What is its legacy today? These are just some of the questions addressed in this authoritative overview of the dramatic, ideological and aesthetic form of commedia dell''arte. The book''s 3 sections examine the changing role of performers and playwrights, improvisatory scenarios and scripted performance, and its function as a vehicle for social criticism, to offer readers a clear understanding of commedia dell''arte''s evolution in Renaissance Italy and beyond. This study throws new light on the role of women performers; on the changing ideological discourse of commedia dell''arte, which included social reform and, later, conservatism as well as the alienation of ethnic minorities in complicity with its audience; and on its later adaptation into hybrid forms including grotesque dance and the giullarata typified by the work of Dario Fo.
ENGLISH

Romantic Comedy

by Trevor R. Griffiths

35,76€ + 10% CARD

 ''The course of true love never did run smooth'' - so says Lysander in A Midsummer Night''s Dream, and for more than 2000 years the problems faced by young men and women fighting to find and keep an appropriate sexual partner have been a theatrical staple. This book explores the shapes that Romantic Comedy has assumed from Greek New Comedy via Shakespeare to the present. Changing social values have helped to redefine the genre''s traditional hetero-normativity, while the recent trend towards more fluid casting has opened up many romantic comedies to radical reinterpretations. Organized chronologically to allow readers to trace the development of the form against changing societal norms, the book features a range of case studies of key works from the British tradition, including A Midsummer Night''s Dream, Twelfth Night, Susanna Centlivre''s A Bold Stroke for a Wife, Oliver Goldsmith''s She Stoops to Conquer, Stanley Houghton''s Hindle Wakes, Noël Coward''s Private Lives, Shelagh Delaney''s A Taste of Honey, Ayub Khan-Din''s East is East and David Eldridge''s Beginning.
ENGLISH

Romantic Comedy

by Trevor R. Griffiths

35,76€ + 10% CARD

 ''The course of true love never did run smooth'' - so says Lysander in A Midsummer Night''s Dream, and for more than 2000 years the problems faced by young men and women fighting to find and keep an appropriate sexual partner have been a theatrical staple. This book explores the shapes that Romantic Comedy has assumed from Greek New Comedy via Shakespeare to the present. Changing social values have helped to redefine the genre''s traditional hetero-normativity, while the recent trend towards more fluid casting has opened up many romantic comedies to radical reinterpretations. Organized chronologically to allow readers to trace the development of the form against changing societal norms, the book features a range of case studies of key works from the British tradition, including A Midsummer Night''s Dream, Twelfth Night, Susanna Centlivre''s A Bold Stroke for a Wife, Oliver Goldsmith''s She Stoops to Conquer, Stanley Houghton''s Hindle Wakes, Noël Coward''s Private Lives, Shelagh Delaney''s A Taste of Honey, Ayub Khan-Din''s East is East and David Eldridge''s Beginning.
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