Laurence Senelick - Böcker

In this monumental work, Laurence Senelick and Sergei Ostrovsky offer a panoramic history of Soviet theater from the Bolshevik Revolution to the eventual collapse of the USSR. Making use of more than eighty years’ worth of archival documentation, the authors celebrate in words and pictures a vital, living art form that remained innovative and exciting, growing, adapting, and flourishing despite harsh, often illogical pressures inflicted upon its creators by a totalitarian government. It is the first comprehensive analysis of the subject ever to be published in the English language.

This Norton Critical Edition includes five of Chekhov’s major plays—Ivanov, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard—and three early one-act farces that inform his later work—The Bear, The Wedding, and The Celebration. Laurence Senelick’s masterful translations closely preserve Chekhov’s singular style—his abundant jokes and literary allusions and his careful use of phrase repetition to bind the plays together."Letters" is the largest collection of Chekhov’s commentary on his plays ever to appear in an English-language edition."Criticism" includes eleven essays by leading European and Russian Chekhov scholars, most appearing in English for the first time, including those by Boris Zingerman, Maria Deppermann, and Lev Shestor. This volume also provides discussion of Chekhov’s plays by some of the twentieth century’s great directors, including Konstantin Stanislavsky, Peter Brook, and Mark Rozovsky.A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.

The answers to these questions - and much, much more - are to be found in The Changing Room , which traces the origins and variations of theatrical cross-dressing through the ages and across cultures. It examines:* tribal rituals and shamanic practices in the Balkans and Chinese-Tibet* the gender-bending elements of Greek and early Christian religion* the homosexual appeal of the boy actor on the traditional stage of China, Japan and England* the origins of the dame comedian, the principal boy, the glamour drag artiste and the male impersonator* artists such as David Bowie, Boy George, Charles Ludlam, Dame Edna Everage, Lily Savage, Candy Darling, Julian Clary and the New York Dolls.Lavishly illustrated with unusual and rare pictures, this is the first ever cross-cultural study of theatrical transvestism. It is a must for anyone interested in cross-dressing, theatre, and gender.

The answers to these questions - and much, much more - are to be found in The Changing Room , which traces the origins and variations of theatrical cross-dressing through the ages and across cultures. It examines:* tribal rituals and shamanic practices in the Balkans and Chinese-Tibet* the gender-bending elements of Greek and early Christian religion* the homosexual appeal of the boy actor on the traditional stage of China, Japan and England* the origins of the dame comedian, the principal boy, the glamour drag artiste and the male impersonator* artists such as David Bowie, Boy George, Charles Ludlam, Dame Edna Everage, Lily Savage, Candy Darling, Julian Clary and the New York Dolls.Lavishly illustrated with unusual and rare pictures, this is the first ever cross-cultural study of theatrical transvestism. It is a must for anyone interested in cross-dressing, theatre, and gender.

This volume makes available an international collection of plays, from Britain, the US, Germany, France and Russia, providing an essential and fascinating resource for anyone interested in the theatre culture of this period.Lovesick brings together six plays, each with individual introductions, including an author biography and a production history. The editor provides a contextual introduction to the volume offering valuable information about the ancestry of gay theatre and queer performance.The anthology reveals how 'sexual deviance' made its way into the drama of this time, and also how homosexual playwrights used comic or lyrical devices in order to celebrate a 'superior sensibility'.

This volume makes available an international collection of plays, from Britain, the US, Germany, France and Russia, providing an essential and fascinating resource for anyone interested in the theatre culture of this period.Lovesick brings together six plays, each with individual introductions, including an author biography and a production history. The editor provides a contextual introduction to the volume offering valuable information about the ancestry of gay theatre and queer performance.The anthology reveals how 'sexual deviance' made its way into the drama of this time, and also how homosexual playwrights used comic or lyrical devices in order to celebrate a 'superior sensibility'.

Konstantin Stanislavsky transformed theatre in the West and was indisputably one of the twentieth century’s greatest innovators. His life and work mark some of the most significant artistic and political milestones of that tumultuous century, from the emancipation of the serfs to the Russian Revolution. Little wonder, then, that his correspondence contains gripping exchanges with the famous and infamous of his day: men such as Tolstoy, Chekhov, Trotsky and Stalin, among others.Laurence Senelick, one of the world’s foremost scholars of Russian literature, mines the Moscow archives and the definitive Russian edition of Stanislavsky’s letters, to produce the fullest collection of the letters in any language other than Russian. He sheds new light on this fascinating field. Senelick takes us from the earliest extant letter of an eleven-year-old Konstantin in 1874, through his work as actor, director and actor trainer with the Moscow Art Theatre, to messages written just before his death in 1938 at the age of seventy-five. We discover Stanislavsky as son, brother and father, as lover and husband, as businessman and "internal emigre." He is seen as a wealthy tourist and an impoverished touring actor, a privileged subject of the Tsar and a harried victim of the Bolsheviks.Senelick shares key insights into Stanislavsky's work on such important productions as The Seagull, The Cherry Orchard, Hamlet, Othello, and The Marriage of Figaro. The letters also reveal the steps that led up to the publication of his writings My Life in Art and An Actor’s Work on Himself. This handsome edition is also comprehensively annotated and fully illustrated.

Konstantin Stanislavsky transformed theatre in the West and was indisputably one of the twentieth century’s greatest innovators. His life and work mark some of the most significant artistic and political milestones of that tumultuous century, from the emancipation of the serfs to the Russian Revolution. Little wonder, then, that his correspondence contains gripping exchanges with the famous and infamous of his day: men such as Tolstoy, Chekhov, Trotsky and Stalin, among others.Laurence Senelick, one of the world’s foremost scholars of Russian literature, mines the Moscow archives and the definitive Russian edition of Stanislavsky’s letters, to produce the fullest collection of the letters in any language other than Russian. He sheds new light on this fascinating field. Senelick takes us from the earliest extant letter of an eleven-year-old Konstantin in 1874, through his work as actor, director and actor trainer with the Moscow Art Theatre, to messages written just before his death in 1938 at the age of seventy-five. We discover Stanislavsky as son, brother and father, as lover and husband, as businessman and "internal emigre." He is seen as a wealthy tourist and an impoverished touring actor, a privileged subject of the Tsar and a harried victim of the Bolsheviks.Senelick shares key insights into Stanislavsky's work on such important productions as The Seagull, The Cherry Orchard, Hamlet, Othello, and The Marriage of Figaro. The letters also reveal the steps that led up to the publication of his writings My Life in Art and An Actor’s Work on Himself. This handsome edition is also comprehensively annotated and fully illustrated.

During its fifty year run, Theatre Arts Magazine was a bustling forum for the foremost names in the performing arts, including Stanislavski, Laurence Olivier, Lee Strasberg, John Gielgud and Shelley Winters. Renowned theatre historian Laurence Senelick has plundered its stunning archives to assemble a stellar collection of articles on every aspect of acting and theatrical life.

During its fifty year run, Theatre Arts Magazine was a bustling forum for the foremost names in the performing arts, including Stanislavski, Laurence Olivier, Lee Strasberg, John Gielgud and Shelley Winters. Renowned theatre historian Laurence Senelick has plundered its stunning archives to assemble a stellar collection of articles on every aspect of acting and theatrical life.

This book chronicles the emergence of a national feeling in the theatres of Northern and Eastern Europe from the mid-eighteenth to the late nineteenth centuries. Using original documents and sources, including architects' plans, royal edicts, censors' reports, contemporary journalism, directors' blocking notes, memoirs and letters, this volume provides a chronological exploration of theatrical trends in eight countries. The documents reveal that in Denmark, Sweden and Norway the gradual development from royal patent houses and municipal theatres led to a genuinely public and Scandinavian institution. In Poland, Hungary, Bohemia and Romania, theatrical records reveal the evolution of distinctly national repertoires and organizations removed from foreign influences. Similar sources demonstrate that Russia pursued native concepts of acting and playwriting after the retreat of Napoleon that culminated in the foundation of the Moscow Art Theatre. The volume contains numerous illustrations, the source location for each document, and a substantial bibliography.

This book chronicles the emergence of a national feeling in the theatres of Northern and Eastern Europe from the mid-eighteenth to the late nineteenth centuries. Using original documents and sources, including architects' plans, royal edicts, censors' reports, contemporary journalism, directors' blocking notes, memoirs and letters, this volume provides a chronological exploration of theatrical trends in eight countries. The documents reveal that in Denmark, Sweden and Norway the gradual development from royal patent houses and municipal theatres led to a genuinely public and Scandinavian institution. In Poland, Hungary, Bohemia and Romania, theatrical records reveal the evolution of distinctly national repertoires and organizations removed from foreign influences. Similar sources demonstrate that Russia pursued native concepts of acting and playwriting after the retreat of Napoleon that culminated in the foundation of the Moscow Art Theatre. The volume contains numerous illustrations, the source location for each document, and a substantial bibliography.

This is the first cross-cultural study of Chekhov's plays in production. Many now consider Chekhov a playwright equal to Shakespeare, and this book studies how the reputation evolved, and how the presentation of his plays varied and altered from their initial productions in Russia to the most recent postmodern deconstructions of them. In the process, Laurence Senelick analyses the ways in which the reception of Chekhov's plays reflects social, political and aesthetic attitudes in specific countries. Particular attention is given to the staging of Chekhov in Russia before and after the Revolution, and under different regimes; in the English-speaking world, in Western and Eastern Europe, as well as in Japan. Senelick also includes interpretations of Chekhov by the century's most influential directors and designers with valuable and informative illustrations of key productions also a feature of the book.

Offenbach's operas were a significant force for cultural change, both in his own time and in the decades to follow. In this book, Laurence Senelick demonstrates the ways in which this musical phenomenon took hold globally, with Offenbach's work offering an alternative, irreverent, sexualized view of life which audiences found liberating, both personally and socially. In the theatre, the composer also inspired cutting-edge innovations in stagecraft and design, and in this book, he is recognized as a major cultural influence, with an extensive impact on the spheres of literature, art, film, and even politics. Senelick argues that Offenbach's importance spread far beyond France, and that his provocative and entertaining works, often seen as being more style than substance, influenced numerous key artists, writers, and thinkers, and made a major contribution to the development of modern society.

An anthology of plays from the Crooked Mirror, the leading Russian cabaret of the Silver Age“Don’t blame the mirror if your mug is crooked!”Parody dominated early twentieth-century Russian cabaret, but the Crooked Mirror extended its lampooning to theatrical practice itself. Eclectic in its targets, the Saint Petersburg theater mocked not only naturalism but also symbolism, futurism, and “Meyerholditis.” Its shows parodied both the stale conventions of melodrama and opera and the stylized trends in staging, wielding satire to provoke artistic and social reform. Though the theater was liquidated in 1931, many of its innovations would become standard techniques in cabaret repertoires and improv revues.As a cultural phenomenon of the Silver Age, the Crooked Mirror deserves critical attention, yet it has received only fleeting mention in histories of Russian theater and biographies of its major figures. This anthology fills a critical gap in our understanding of that heady era by bringing together key plays—most appearing in English here for the first time—together with short biographies of their authors and robust commentary and annotations. Laurence Senelick guides readers through the artistic and ideological evolution of the Crooked Mirror and provides performers with the material to bring its innovations back to the stage.

Despite constant hindrance from government interference and control, the Russian theater has produced many memorable playwrights, schools of thought, and plays, whose influence can be seen throughout the world. Nikolai Gogol's The Inspector, Maksim Gor'kii's The Lower Depths, and Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard remain staples of repertories in every language. The ideas of Konstantin Stanislavskii, Vsevolod Meierkhol'd, and Mikhail Chekhov continue to inspire actors and directors, and designers still draw on the graphics of the World of Art group and the Constructivists.The A to Z of Russian Theater is the only reference work in English devoted exclusively to Russian theater and drama. It provides information on the popular plays and playwrights while also offering information on many persons, works, and phenomena omitted from standard encyclopedias. Through the use of a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, an appendix, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on directors, stage designers, actors, plays, playwrights, concepts, theater buildings, and troupes, this reference provides an unrivaled account of Russian theater.

This is a history of circus clowning in the long nineteenth century, told through original documents. It demonstrates how particular types, acts and stunts originated, were performed and underwent variation over time. The equestrian and acrobatic clown, the august and the eccentric all receive attention. This constitutes a genealogy or “gagography” of clowning, told through eye-witness accounts, memoirs, contemporary reportage and interviews, accompanied by commentary and annotation. The coverage is international, moving beyond the anglophone world via translations from French, German, Swedish, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese sources. Although it covers the “usual suspects” from Ducrow to Grock, this book introduces the reader to many important and overlooked clowns.

Offenbach's operas were a significant force for cultural change, both in his own time and in the decades to follow. In this book, Laurence Senelick demonstrates the ways in which this musical phenomenon took hold globally, with Offenbach's work offering an alternative, irreverent, sexualized view of life which audiences found liberating, both personally and socially. In the theatre, the composer also inspired cutting-edge innovations in stagecraft and design, and in this book, he is recognized as a major cultural influence, with an extensive impact on the spheres of literature, art, film, and even politics. Senelick argues that Offenbach's importance spread far beyond France, and that his provocative and entertaining works, often seen as being more style than substance, influenced numerous key artists, writers, and thinkers, and made a major contribution to the development of modern society.

A latecomer continually hampered by government control and interference, the Russian theatre seems an unlikely source of innovation and creativity. Yet, by the middle of the nineteenth century, it had given rise to a number of outstanding playwrights and actors, and by the start of the twentieth century, it was in the vanguard of progressive thinking in the realms of directing and design. Its influence throughout the world was pervasive: Nikolai Gogol', Anton Chekhov and Maksim Gor'kii remain staples of repertories in every language, the ideas of Konstantin Stanislavskii, Vsevolod Meierkhol'd and Mikhail Chekhov continue to inspire actors and directors, while designers still draw on the graphics of the World of Art group and the Constructivists. What distinguishes Russian theater from almost any other is the way in which these achievements evolved and survived in ongoing conflict or cooperation with the State.This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Russian Theatre covers the history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1000 cross-referenced entries on individual actors, directors, designers, entrepreneurs, plays, playhouses and institutions, Censorship, Children’s Theater, Émigré Theater, and Shakespeare in Russia. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Russian Theatre.

It is a book about dying, or, more accurately, about the representation of dying in the theatre. Its chief concern is how actors undertook to translate words and concepts into forms legible and significant to an audience. It deals with the ways in which playwrights wrote about death and attitudes towards death in their cultures. Nevertheless, the emphasis is on the practice of acting. This “death spectacle” runs the gamut. From the Greek tragic stage which was highly selective in determining which deaths it (re)enacted to the elaborately stylized murders and suicides in the Kabuki to the lavish blood-letting of the Elizabethans to the deathbed visitations of the modern era, what was acceptable and/or enjoyable fluctuates wildly.

It is a book about dying, or, more accurately, about the representation of dying in the theatre. Its chief concern is how actors undertook to translate words and concepts into forms legible and significant to an audience. It deals with the ways in which playwrights wrote about death and attitudes towards death in their cultures. Nevertheless, the emphasis is on the practice of acting. This “death spectacle” runs the gamut. From the Greek tragic stage which was highly selective in determining which deaths it (re)enacted to the elaborately stylized murders and suicides in the Kabuki to the lavish blood-letting of the Elizabethans to the deathbed visitations of the modern era, what was acceptable and/or enjoyable fluctuates wildly.