PROFESSOR KENNETH PICKERING successfully combines the careers of playwright/librettist, theatre director, academic, examiner and writer. With over twenty published plays to his credit and a similar number of books on aspects of theatre he has been Professor of Theatre at Universities on both sides of the Atlantic and Chief Examiner for a number of major awarding bodies. He has made a special study of ensuring that Theatre Studies is an accessible discipline for a wide variety of undergraduate courses.MARK WOOLGAR is Head of Performing Arts, Richmond Adult Community College, UK.

'The authors jointly draw on considerable experience of practice and employ their knowledge to maximum effect.' - Emma Brodzinski, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK 'No other book I know attempts to embrace the practical and the theoretical to the extent this book intends.' - Susan Mason, University of California, USA 'This is one of those all-encompasing and highly accessible companions to undergraduate and diploma courses that you can tell will be covered with highlighter marks and coffee stains by students within a week. Its super-neat layout - lots of white space, bold headings and bullet points - makes it a great introduction and handy for revision. Clear and informative, Pickering and Woolgar outline challenges in defining theatre, summarise the ideas of key practitioners, and provide reassuring advice on how to undertake a research project' - What's On Stage.com

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsInitial ExplorationsExploring Theatre SpacesDeveloping Theatre SkillsApproaches to ActingVarieties of Theatre PerformanceTheatre in Context and Understanding the ZeitgeistDevising and Writing for the TheatreUndertaking a Research ProjectAudiences and SpectatorsThe Study of Theatre: Reflection and AnalysisList of Plays CitedIndex.