Diaries, Letters and Essays – serie

"The most informal - and in some ways the most delightful - of all Stanislavski books" - Sir Michael Redgrave No one has had a greater influence on acting as we know it than Stanislavski. His "method" - or interpretations of it - has become the central force determining almost every performance we see on stage or screen.Stanislavski's Legacy is a companion volume to his three great teaching books, An Actor Prepares, Building a Character and Creating a Role. It is a carefully arranged selection of the articles, speeches, notes and memoirs written between 1898, when the Moscow Art Theatre opened, and his death in 1938. Among the items are a series of brilliant letters on the interpretation of Othello, the long and affectionate article "Memories of Chekhov" and a final section in which Stanislavski envisages the theatre and the actors of the future."The legacy which Stanislavski and his collaborators have left us is, in all truth, magnificent; and its benefits are available not only to the actor and actress but to everyone who aspires to become a rounded human being" - Observer

"Those who dismiss Brecht as a yea-sayer to Stalinism are advised to read these journals and moderate their opinion." (Paul Bailey, Weekend Telegraph) Brecht's "Work Journals" cover the period from 1938 to 1955, the years of exile in Denmark, Sweden, Finland and America, and his return via Switzerland to East Berlin. His criticisms of the work of other writers and intellectuals are perceptive and polemic, and the accounts of his own writing practice provide insight into the creation of his dramatic works of the period, the development of his political thinking and his theories about epic theatre. Also integrated into the journals are Brecht's immediate reactions to and commentary upon the events of the period: his political exile's view of the course of World War II and his account of the House Un-American Activities committee."A marvellous, motley collage of political ideas, domestic detail, artistic debate, poems, photographs and cuttings from newspapers and magazines, assembled, undoubtedly for posterity by one of the great writers of the century" (New Statesman and Society)

The legendary Moscow Art theatre was born of a dream to reform and forge a new dramatic and production style which would revitalize the Russian stage. Its impact has enduringly changed acting and theatre around the world. The book contains the correspondences of the founders (Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko) and key talents (e.g. Chekhov, Gorki, Isadora Duncan) of the legendary Art Theatre, from its turn of the century origins through its first 40 years, as selected, edited, and translated with commentary by Benedetti.

One of the most frank and authentic accounts yet written of the pressures placed on today's stars King Lear is perhaps the most challenging role in the Shakespearian canon. In 1991, directed by Deborah Warner, Brian Cox gave a highly-acclaimed performance. In this compulsive account of a theatrical journey, Cox describes the rehearsal room investigation in the possibilities of the text in performance as the production toured to Bucharest and Tokyo, Cairo and Paris in the wake of Perestroika and with the Gulf War gathering momentum in the early '90s. But this is also a personal story; for Lear, like Hamlet is a part notorious for consuming it's players and Cox is not only separated from his family for months, but also trying to negotiate a window in the storm to get married as he plays the character of an old man, rejected by his daughters and friends and sunk in madness...

From his emergence as a young writer at London's Royal Court Theatre to being hailed as "the greatest living English playwright" (The Independent), this first volume of the notebooks of Edward Bond reveals the mind behind some of the most provoc Exploring the meeting point between politics and the art of the writer, Bond's notes offer a rare insight into one of the theatre's foremost thinkers whilst charting the creative progress of his work between 1959 and 1980. As well as providing a detailed commentary on his plays, the notebooks also contain early play drafts, poems and stories, his thoughts on life, art, Brecht, dramatic method and censorship."1 August 1965: I would do almost anything to prevent my play [Saved] being banned except alter one comma at the request of the Lord Chamberlain."Edward Bond is "a great playwright - many, particularly in continental Europe, would say the greatest living English playwright" (Independent)

This volume gathers together, for the first time in English translation, Brecht's own writings on the new film and broadcast technologies that revolutionised arts and communication in the early part of the twentieth century This book includes all of Brecht's theoretical writing about film, radio, broadcasting and the new media written between 1919 and 1956 as well as all of his important screenplays produced during the 1920s and 1930s. Screenplays written during this time include an early sound-film adaptation of The Threepenny Opera, and a collaboration with Fritz Lang, Hangmen Also Die. Brecht's writings on the new media document his fascination with it from Weimar Germany to Hollywood and the movie industry.A must for students of Brecht and film studies alike.

An important, urgent book of essays from Britain's most challenging dramatist: "...a great playwright - many, particularly in continental Europe, would say the greatest living English playwright." (The Independent) This collection of passionate and polemical essays deals with drama from its origin in the human mind to its use in history and the present. It explains the hidden working of drama behind the state, religion, family, crime and war. It is a revolutionary understanding of the human world with drama at its centre. A ruthless critique of the theatre's present state and its trivialisation as entertainment by the media, it reveals and sees a radical new theatre for the future. Edward Bond is internationally recognised as a major playwright and a leading theoretician of drama. He is the most performed British dramatist abroad. This is his latest and most important account of the meaning and practice of theatre as we start a new millennium.

From Weimar Germany to Hollywood to East Berlin, Brecht on Film and Radio gathers together a selection of Bertolt Brecht's own writings on the new film and broadcast media that revolutionised arts and communication in the twentieth century. Bertolt Brecht's hugely influential views on drama, acting and stage production have long been widely recognised. Less familiar, but of profound importance, are his writings on film and radio. From Weimar Germany to Hollywood to East Berlin, Brecht on Film and Radio gathers together for the first time a selection of Brecht's own writings on the new film and broadcast media that fascinated him throughout his life and revolutionised arts and communication in the twentieth century. Marc Silberman's full editorial commentary sets Brecht's ideas in the context of his other work."I strongly wish that after their invention of the radio the bourgeoisie would make a further invention that enables us to fix for all time what the radio communicates. Later generations would then have the opportunity to marvel how a caste was able to tell the whole planet what it had to say and at the same time how it enabled the planet to see that it had nothing to say."(Bertolt Brecht)

This second volume of Edward Bond's notebooks covers the period from Restoration, his historic drama with songs, to Eleven Vests, his play for young people written for Big Brum Theatre-in-Education "There is a cliche - which is also false - that all creative writing is autobiographical. If I were to be asked when you write do you write about your life I would answer when I write I am living my life."Including first drafts of plays, ideas and thoughts on characters, themes, actions and dramatic technique, this selection of notes provides a glimpse into the working mind of one of the world's most provocative playwrights. Alongside the commentaries on the plays, Bond's notes also contain stories and poems. His philosophy on theatre and art and his views on the role of the writer in society are included. Emphasis is given to Bond's critical response to political and moral issues such as Thatcherism, the monarchy, nuclear war, Britain's social classes and our definitions of good and evil.

A captivating study of the plays, literature and writings about private and public theatrical spectacle during the Victorian Age By the 1890s the British theatre had transformed itself into a world where spectacles and public shows were aimed at the widest audience possible. The theatre had become big business. This anthology brings together a variety of plays and prose which sets this phenomenon in perspective and traces the development of Victorian theatricals from private home events in the late-Georgian period to full-scale Gilbert and Sullivan operettas in the 1890s. The section 'Theatrical Behaviour' looks at the world of the audience and includes extracts from Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park; Thackeray's Vanity Fair; an anonymous playlet called Acting Proverbs; and an extract from Marie Corelli's novel Sorrows of Satan. In 'Fun and Freaks' we explore the world of popular, sensationalist entertainment through the eyes of Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Dion Boucicault and others. In the final section, 'Society', we have the scripts for four principal melodramas and serious plays of the age: The Factory Lad by John Walker; Society by T.W. Robertson; The Mikado by W.S.Gilbert and The Second Mrs Tanqueray by Arthur Wing Pinero.

The first single-volume anthology of Brecht's writings on both art and politics This volume contains new translations to extend our image of one of the twentieth century's most entertaining and thought provoking writers on culture, aesthetics and politics. Here are a cross-section of Brecht's wide-ranging thoughts which offer us an extraordinary window onto the concerns of a modern world in four decades of economic and political disorder. The book is designed to give wider access to the experience of a dynamic intellect, radically engaged with social, political and cultural processes. Each section begins with a short essay by the editors introducing and summarising Brecht's thought in the relevant year.

A vivid and passionate polemic about the importance of live theatre in a digital age, by a man at the cutting edge of drama and innovation For over thirty years Michael Kustow has been in the thick of innovative, international theatre. Passionate, combative and compelling, he tells us why we need live drama more than ever. Set against the extraordinary background of his efforts to produce Tantalus, a theatrical epic about the Trojan War, Kustow charts a story from the birth of the RSC to work with such pioneers as Jerzy Grotowski, Peter Brook and Theatre de Complicite. Moving from memoir to argument, from close theory to personal portrait, the result is an urgent and powerful case for theatre in our age of global screens and networks, and a book that speaks to anyone who cares about the humanity of our 'wired world'. This paperback edition includes updated material on the production of Tantalus and the difficulties that surrounded the project."Rare is the book that transforms the personal experiences of a theatregoer into the testimony of a pulsating polemic and a cultural statement of significance.Writers such as George Bernard Shaw, Kenneth Tynan and Charles Marowitz have managed this trick. Now Kustow, who knew those last two pretty well, has done it himself" - Michael Coveney, Daily Mail"It should be read by everyone who cares about our culture" - Simon Callow, Sunday Times

The extraordinary and revealing diaries of the revolutionary British film and theatre director who became one of the major cultural figures of his time As a director, critic, writer and actor, Lindsay Anderson established a reputation as one of the most innovative, impassioned and fiercely independent British artists of the twentieth century. In directing films such as If, This Sporting Life and O Lucky Man he championed a new wave of social responsiveness in British cinema, while as director at the Royal Court he was responsible for establishing the reputation of a number of groundbreaking plays. Throughout his life Anderson stood in opposition to the establishment of his day. Published for the first time, his diaries provide a uniquely personal document of his artistic integrity and vision, his work, and his personal and public struggles. Peopled by a myriad of artists and stars - Malcolm McDowell, Richard Harris, Albert Finney, Anthony Hopkins Brian Cox, Karel Reisz, Arthur Miller, George Michael - the Diaries provide a fascinating account of one of the most creative periods of British cultural life.Gripping Daily Express "Vicious and velvety in roughly equal measure ...Demands reading at a single sitting" Daily Telegraph "the reader of this book is richly rewarded" Daily Mail

'A uniquely charming and enticing journey through a remarkable life. Coward's own record is made all the more delightful by the wise and helpful interpolations of Barry Day, the soundest authority on the Master that there is.' Stephen Fry 'Precise, witty, remarkably observed and gloriously English' Dame Judi Dench 'Barry Day's analysis is both perceptive and irresistible' Lord Richard Attenborough With virtually all the letters in this volume previously unpublished - this is a revealing new insight into the private life of a legendary figure. Coward's multi-faceted talent as an actor, writer, composer, producer and even as a war-time spy(!), brought him into close contact with the great, the good and the merely ambitious in film, literature and politics.With letters to and from the likes of: George Bernard Shaw, Virginia Woolf, Winston Churchill, Greta Garbo (she wrote asking him to marry her), Marlene Dietriech, Ian Fleming, Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh, Fred Astaire, Charlie Chaplin, FD Roosevelt, the Queen Mother and many more, the picture that emerges is a series of vivid sketches of Noel Coward's private relationships, and a re-examination of the man himself.Deliciously insightful, witty, perfectly bitchy, wise, loving and often surprisingly moving, this extraordinary collection gives us Coward at his crackling best. A sublime portrait of a unique artist who made an indelible mark on the 20th century, from the Blitz to the Ritz and beyond.

The Complete Verse of Noël Coward brings together the three volumes of verse produced during his lifetime together with previously unpublished material for the very first time. For the legions of fans of The Master, this definitive collection of Coward's verse writings will prove irresistible. ‘Throughout most of the years of my life, since approximately 1908, I have derived a considerable amount of private pleasure from writing verse . . . It is an inherent instinct in the English character.' Beginning with his youthful verse experiments, The Complete Verse arranges in themed chapters Coward's prolific public and personal verse writings. Chapters bring together his verse on a wide variety of subjects including war, the theatre, love, friends, travel, and God and the infinite. It features the satirical ‘cod-pieces' - Chelsea Buns and Spangled Unicorn - and the verse collected in the 1967 volume Not Yet the Dodo. But alongside these are the verses sent to friends and family over many years, in letters, memos and cables, which paint a vivid portrait of his more private life and are published here for the first time. With a linking commentary by editor Barry Day and sprinkled with illustrations throughout, The Complete Verse offers to Coward readers further enjoyment and appreciation of his wit, insatiable interest in people and skilful rendering of his public and private lives.