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Interviews | November 19, 2009

Dave: IMG Finding John Irving: The Powells.com Interview

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johnirving[Editor's note: The following is a reprint of our 2005 interview with John Irving, whose new novel, Last Night in Twisted River, has just come out... Continue »
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25 Remote Warehouse Drama- History and Criticism
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Other titles in the Contributions in Drama & Theatre Studies series:

  1. Playwright Versus Director: Authorial Intentions and Performance Interpretations
  2. The Actor Speaks: Actors Discuss Their Experiences and Careers
  3. The Age of Hair: Evolution and Impact of Broadway's First Rock Musical
  4. Theatre, Opera, and Audiences in Revolutionary Paris: Analysis and Repertory
  5. Vast Encyclopedia: The Theatre of Thornton Wilder
  6. From Belasco to Brook: Representative Directors of the English-Speaking Stage
  7. Israel Horovitz: A Collection of Critical Essays
  8. Where the Words Are Valid: T.S. Eliot's Communities of Drama
  9. Maria Irene Fornes and Her Critics
  10. Assessing the Achievement of J. M. Synge
  11. David Hare: Moral and Historical Perspectives
  12. Sam Shepard and the American Theatre
  13. Sam Shepard and the American Theatre
  14. The Theatre Team: Playwright, Producer, Director, Designers, and Actors
  15. Tony Pastor Presents: Afterpieces from the Vaudeville Stage
  16. Rethinking Folk Drama
  17. Yiddish Proletarian Theatre: The Art and Politics of the Artef, 1925-1940
  18. Shakespearean Intertextuality: Studies in Selected Sources and Plays
  19. Thatcher's Theatre: British Theatre and Drama in the Eighties
  20. Documentary Theatre in the United States: An Historical Survey and Analysis of Its Content, Form, and Stagecraft
  21. Dramatists and the Bomb: American and British Playwrights Confront the Nuclear Age, 1945-1964

Contributions in Drama & Theatre Studies #81: The Contemporary British History Play

by Richard H. Palmer

Contributions in Drama & Theatre Studies #81: The Contemporary British History Play Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Contemporary British historical plays demonstrate different agendas for history itself. Marxist plays, for example, illustrate an historical dialectic leading to the emergence of Communism, while feminist historians expose the biases of a male dominated hegemony and confront the role of gender in history. This book investigates how British history plays since 1956 reflect the methods and values of New History, in contrast to traditional biographical dramas that depict the lives of great men in the past. The volume discusses more than 50 British playwrights, including John Osborne, John Arden, Edward Bond, Robert Bolt, Pam Gems, Howard Brenton, Caryl Churchill, Howard Barker, and Peter Shaffer. Both playwrights and critics confront the implications of the idea that history is constructed and not simply found, and new approaches to history demand innovations in the staging and structuring of plays.

Book News Annotation:

A survey of Britain's history plays since 1950. Palmer (theatre, College of William and Mary) covers many types of history plays: biographical; social; oppositional; Marxist and socialist; feminist; deconstructionist and postmodern; and satirical. The works of some 50 playwrights are covered, including those by John Arden, Christopher Fry, David Pinner, Tom Stoppard, and Nicholas Wright. Appends a listing of performance locales for many of the plays.
Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Review:

Useful in any collection.Choice

Synopsis:

Investigates how British history plays since 1956 reflect the methods and values of New History, including Marxism, Social History, Feminism, Deconstructionism, and Postmodernism.
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About the Author

RICHARD H. PALMER is Professor of Theatre at the College of William and Mary, where he balances an interest in theatre history and literature with practical work as a stage director and designer.
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Table of Contents

Introduction

Biographical History Plays

Social History Plays

Oppositional History Plays

Marxist and Socialist History Plays

Feminist History Plays

Deconstructionist and Postmodern History Plays and Satire

The Search for a Theatrical Form

Appendix A: Performance Dates of Contemporary British History Plays

Appendix B: Performance Locales of Contemporary British History Plays

Bibliography

Index

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780313304972
Author:
Palmer, Richard H.
Publisher:
Praeger Publishers
Location:
Westport, Conn. :
Subject:
Great britain
Subject:
History
Subject:
Drama
Subject:
Literature and history -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century.
Subject:
English drama -- 20th century.
Subject:
Historical drama, English
Series:
Contributions in Drama & Theatre Studies
Series Volume:
81
Publication Date:
June 1998
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
Professional and scholarly
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Yes
Pages:
272
Dimensions:
9.59x6.46x1.11 in. 1.45 lbs.
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