Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe – författare

For centuries the theatre has been one of the major forms of art. How did acting, and its institutionalization in the theatre, begin in the first place? In some cultures complex stories relate the origin of acting and the theatre. And over time, approaches to acting have changed considerably. In the West, until the end of the 19th century, those changes occurred within the realm of acting itself, focusing on the question of whether acting should be 'natural' or 'formal.' Approaches to acting were closely related to the trends in culture at large. Acting became more and more professional and sophisticated as philosophical theories developed and knowledge in the human sciences increased. In the 20th century, the director was established as the most important force in the theater--able to lead actors to pinnacles of their art which they could not have achieved on their own. Approaches to acting in non-Western cultures follow quite different patterns. This book provides a clear overview of different approaches to acting, both historical and contemporary, Western and non-Western, and concludes with a challenge to the future of the art.

For centuries the theatre has been one of the major forms of art. How did acting, and its institutionalization in the theatre, begin in the first place? In some cultures complex stories relate the origin of acting and the theatre. And over time, approaches to acting have changed considerably. In the West, until the end of the 19th century, those changes occurred within the realm of acting itself, focusing on the question of whether acting should be 'natural' or 'formal.' Approaches to acting were closely related to the trends in culture at large. Acting became more and more professional and sophisticated as philosophical theories developed and knowledge in the human sciences increased. In the 20th century, the director was established as the most important force in the theater--able to lead actors to pinnacles of their art which they could not have achieved on their own. Approaches to acting in non-Western cultures follow quite different patterns. This book provides a clear overview of different approaches to acting, both historical and contemporary, Western and non-Western, and concludes with a challenge to the future of the art.

Numerous plays have professionals as major characters, but academia has ignored them to a large extent.The Professions in Contemporary British Drama fills this extraordinary gap with a series of nine papers discussing the educational professions (Bennett, Mangan), the medical profession (Shields, Buse, ), priests (Kurdi), archaeologists (Forsyth) and artists (Di Benedetto, Meyer-Dinkgräfe, Edwards).The book is of relevance to theatre academics and students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is based on a conference organised in conjunction with the Centre for English Studies, School of Advanced Studies, University of London, 6 March 1998.

For the last ten to fifteen years, many disciplines of scholarship have been involved in the study of consciousness, often on an interdisciplinary basis. They include philosophy, neurosciences, psychology, physics and biology, and approaches focusing on human experience. The Centre for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona in Tucson spearheaded this development with its bi-annual conferences since 1994, and a wide range of associations, journals and book publications bear witness to its importance. Over the same number of years, scholarly interest in the relationship of consciousness to theatre has equally grown. The book discusses a range of questions relevant to understanding the phenomenon of theatre against a consciousness studies background. ‘By placing theatre at the centre of human experience, a vital contributor to our mental, emotional and spiritual health rather than mere mindless entertainment, Daniel Meyer-Dinkgrafe does a vital service to the artform.', – Total Theatre Magazine,