Synopses & Reviews
Theatre in Crisis? Performance Manifestos for a New Century is a wide-ranging look at the state of contemporary theater practice, economics, and issues related to identity, politics, and technology. The volume offers a snapshot dissection of where theater is, where it has been and where it might be going through the voices of established and emerging theater artists and scholars from the UK, US, and elsewhere.
Contributors: Maria M. Delgado & Caridad Svich • Oliver Mayer, Jorge Cortiñas, Neena Beber, & Craig Lucas • Jim Carmody • Roberta Levitow • Peter Lichtenfels & Lynette Hunter • Michael Billington • Claire H. Macdonald • Anna Furse • Phyllis Nagy • Max Stafford-Clark • Len Berkman • DD Kugler • Tori Haring-Smith • John London • Kia Corthron • Alice Tuan • Ricardo Szwarcer • Peter Sellars • Dragan Klaic • Lisa DAmour • Paul Heritage • Matthew Causey • Andy Lavender • Jon Fosse • Erik Ehn • Matthew Maguire • Shelley Berc • Ruth Margraff • Martin Epstein • Mac Wellman • Goat Island
Review
"...an interesting look at British theater today."--Susan L. Peters, Library Journal
"The range of this book...is extraordinary, revealing the protean vitality of theatre. The forty or so manifestos...explode any misconception that theatre is out of date." --Professor David Bradby, Royal Holloway, University of London
Synopsis
A wide-ranging look at the state of contemporary theatre practice, economics, and issues related to identity, politics, and technology. Contains a snapshot dissection of where theatre is, where it has been and where it might be going through the voices of established and emerging theatre artists and scholars from the UK, US and elsewhere. Offers an examination of how to make theatre in a time of crisis and why it is a vital form of communication are at the heart of the book's mission. Asks questions such as: where is theatre now taking place?; what is the relationship between play and performance?; how does funding work?; what states does theatre flourish under?; and if there is a current 'crisis of theatre' should it not be seen as a welcome opportunity to develop a vigorous 'theatre of crisis'?. The international list of contributors includes Jim Carmody, Phyllis Nagy, Michael Billington, Max Stafford-Clark, Peter Sellars, Dragan Klaic, Goat Island, Erik Ehn and many others, making up a vast array of practising artists, thinkers, and scholars.
Synopsis
A wide-ranging look at the state of contemporary theatre practice, economics, and issues related to identity, politics, and technology.
Synopsis
Between 1960 and 2010, a new generation of British avant-garde theater companies, directors, designers, and performers emerged. Some of these companies and individuals have endured to become part of theater history while others have disappeared from the scene, mutated into new forms, or become part of the establishment. Reverberations across Small-Scale British Theatre at long last puts these small-scale British theater companies and personalities in the scholarly spotlight. By questioning what Britishness” meant in relation to the small-scale work of these practitioners, contributors articulate how it is reflected in the goals, manifestos, and aesthetics of these companies.
About the Author
Maria M. Delgado is Reader in Drama and Theatre Arts at Queen Mary, University of London.
Caridad Svich is a member playwright of New Dramatists in New York.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Setting the Scene: Introducing Reverberations
Patrick Duggan and Victor Ukaegbu
Chapter 1: Foco Novo: The Icarus of British Small-Scale Touring Theatre
Graham Saunders
Chapter 2: Insider Knowledge: The Evolution of Belfasts Tinderbox Theatre Company
David Grant
Chapter 3: Volcano: A Post-Punk Physical Theatre
Gareth Somers
Chapter 4: Tiata Fahodzi: Second-Generation Africans in British Theatre
Ekua Ekumah
Chapter 5: Keeping It Together: Talawa Theatre Company, Britishness, Aesthetics of Scale and Mainstreaming the Black-British Experience
Kene Igweonu
Chapter 6: Agitation and Entertainment: Rod Dixon and Red Ladder Theatre Company
Tony Gardner
Chapter 7: Intercultural to Cross-Cultural Theatre: Tara Arts and the Development of British Asian Theatre
Victor Ukaegbu
Chapter 8: Kind Acts: Lone Twin Theatre
Eirini Kartsaki
Chapter 9: Political Theatre ‘without Finger-Wagging: On the Paper Birds and Integrative Aesthetics
Patrick Duggan
Chapter 10: ‘Angels and Modern Myth: Grid Iron and the New Scottish Theatre
Trish Reid
Chapter 11: Acts of Poiesis: salamanda tandem
Mick Wallis and Isabel Jones
Coda
Franc Chamberlain
Notes on Contributors
Index