Synopses & Reviews
What makes Tragedy tragic? What makes Comedy comic? What does Henry V have in common with The Sopranos? Seneca with Desperate Housewives? Goldoni with Frasier? In Genre Andrew Tidmarsh explores these questions and more in an entertaining and accessible book aimed at explaining the parameters of each form: how Greek Tragedy differs from Roman Tragedy and how Elizabethan Tragedy is a combination of both; or how Comedy of Manners is distinct from Farce.
A practical guide, each chapter includes exercises in writing, acting and devising in the various genres discussed. Genre is aimed at those with an interest in story and narrative and can be used by students, actors and directors alike.
A useful book for private study or as a classroom textbook for A-level and undergraduate students Genre changes the way we watch theatre, television and film, as we begin to appreciate that all stories are somehow linked to their evolutionary prototypes, and understand how we can contribute to these building blocks of traditional theatre.
Synopsis
Genre is a practical guide exploring the ingredients and history of the basic elements of all dramatic narrative.
Synopsis
What makes tragedy tragic? What makes comedy comic? What does Much Ado About Nothing have in common with When Harry Met Sally? Seneca with Desperate Housewives? Goldoni with Frasier?
In Genre: A Guide to Writing for Stage and Screen Andrew Tidmarsh explores these questions and more. Investigating how the relationship between form and content brings endless discoveries and illuminations about how narrative works, this entertaining and accessible book looks at how storytelling in film and theatre has evolved and how an appreciation of form can bring the writer, director or actor a solid foundation and a sense of security, which ultimately assists the creative process.
Including genre-specific exercises in every chapter helping the reader to write and devise, Genre: A Guide to Writing for Stage and Screen is for all those with an interest in story and can be used by writers, actors and directors alike - whether students or experienced professionals - to make the blank page appear less terrifying.
About the Author
Andrew Tidmarsh is a writer, theatre director and awardwinning film-maker. He has worked with undergraduate and postgraduate writers for nearly 20 years for various institutions: Goldsmiths, University of London, Drama Centre, University of the Arts, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He has also worked in the Philippines, Germany and Canada. He currently teaches and directs at RADA.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Building Blocks of Narrative
Chapter 2 Will Versus Fate: Greek Tragedy and the Fundamentals
Chapter 3 Lets See Blood: Roman Tragedy and Quentin Tarantino
Chapter 4 Revenge is Sweet: Elizabethan Tragedy
Chapter 5 Mashing It Up:
Desperate Housewives, Jacobean Tragedy and
BuffyChapter 6 The Plate of Sardines: New Greek Comedy, Menander and
FrasierChapter 7 Archetype or Stereotype? Plautus, Comedy of Contradictions
and The Sketch Show
Chapter 8 Happily Ever After: Romantic Comedy from Shakespeare
to
Sleepless in SeattleChapter 9 Minding Our Manners: The Country Wife and
Mean GirlsChapter 10 Nothing Ever Happens: Chekhov and the Contemporary
Independent Comedy
Chapter 11 Arrivals and Departures: The Chivalric Romance and the Pastoral
A Final Thought
Appendix 1: Miscellaneous Genres and Hybrids
Appendix 2: Other Theories and Other Approaches
Notes