Readings in Theatre Practice – serie

In this sophisticated and compelling introduction to puppet theatre, Penny Francis offers engaging contemporary perspectives on this universal art-form. She provides an account of puppetry's different facets, from its demands and techniques, through its uses and abuses, to its history and philosophy. Now recognized as a valuable and powerful medium used in the making of most forms of theatre and filmed work, those referring to Puppetry will discover something of the roots, dramaturgy, literature and techniques of this visual art form. The book gathers together material from an international selection of sources, bringing puppet theatre to life for the student, practitioner and amateur alike.

Is directing an art? Do directors need to be trained? What do directors actually do? These questions and more are answered in this accessibly written survey of the art of theatre direction. Its broad scope ranges across the theatres of both America and Europe, looking at practices from Stanislavski up to the present day.

This rich collection of readings offers a wide-ranging and authoritative survey of clown practices, history and theory, from the origins of the word clown through to contemporary clowning. Covering clowns in theatre, circus, cinema, TV, street and elsewhere, the author's stimulating narrative challenges assumptions and turns orthodoxy on its head.

This rich collection of readings offers a wide-ranging and authoritative survey of clown practices, history and theory, from the origins of the word clown through to contemporary clowning. Covering clowns in theatre, circus, cinema, TV, street and elsewhere, the author's stimulating narrative challenges assumptions and turns orthodoxy on its head.

Brown explores relationships between sound and theatre, focusing on sound's interdependence and interaction with human performance and drama. Suggesting different ways in which sound may be interpreted to create meaning, it includes key writings on sound design, as well as perspectives from beyond the discipline.

Brown explores relationships between sound and theatre, focusing on sound's interdependence and interaction with human performance and drama. Suggesting different ways in which sound may be interpreted to create meaning, it includes key writings on sound design, as well as perspectives from beyond the discipline.

How has light influenced the staging of theatre throughout history?What does light contribute to performance?How does it make meaning?This collection explores the creative potential of light in the theatre. Through a wide range of extracts from historical accounts, new research and rare documents, some presented for the first time in English, Scott Palmer provides new ways of thinking about lighting as a creative performance practice. Focusing on elements such as:- The emergence of lighting design in the theatre- Equipment and techniques- The dramaturgy of light- Its impact on actor, audience and playhouse- The semiotics and phenomenology of light in performanceThe book reveals why light has such a profound effect on the audience's experience of a theatrical event.

How has light influenced the staging of theatre throughout history?What does light contribute to performance?How does it make meaning?This collection explores the creative potential of light in the theatre. Through a wide range of extracts from historical accounts, new research and rare documents, some presented for the first time in English, Scott Palmer provides new ways of thinking about lighting as a creative performance practice. Focusing on elements such as:- The emergence of lighting design in the theatre- Equipment and techniques- The dramaturgy of light- Its impact on actor, audience and playhouse- The semiotics and phenomenology of light in performanceThe book reveals why light has such a profound effect on the audience's experience of a theatrical event.

Focussing on costume in performance, this reader brings together key texts, case studies and interviews. Exploring costume's role and function in a variety of theoretical, historical, conceptual and practical contexts, this exciting volume also reflects on the broader relationship between costume and visual culture throughout.

Focussing on costume in performance, this reader brings together key texts, case studies and interviews. Exploring costume's role and function in a variety of theoretical, historical, conceptual and practical contexts, this exciting volume also reflects on the broader relationship between costume and visual culture throughout.

This wide-ranging volume explores the technical and physical aspects of voice as a craft, questioning its definitions, its historical presence, training practices and its publications. Drawing on a wealth of experience, Jane Boston presents a selection of readings that demonstrate and contextualize some of the defining moments of voice throughout history. This clear and accessible text examines the relationship between voice and aesthetics and poetics, against the backdrop of class, race and gender politics, demonstrating how vocal training has been and still is inevitably connected to such issues.Underpinned by theory, voice practitioner accounts, and cultural and historical contextualization, this comprehensive resource will be invaluable for practitioners, researchers and students of voice studies, physical theatre and theatre history.

This wide-ranging volume explores the technical and physical aspects of voice as a craft, questioning its definitions, its historical presence, training practices and its publications. Drawing on a wealth of experience, Jane Boston presents a selection of readings that demonstrate and contextualize some of the defining moments of voice throughout history. This clear and accessible text examines the relationship between voice and aesthetics and poetics, against the backdrop of class, race and gender politics, demonstrating how vocal training has been and still is inevitably connected to such issues.Underpinned by theory, voice practitioner accounts, and cultural and historical contextualization, this comprehensive resource will be invaluable for practitioners, researchers and students of voice studies, physical theatre and theatre history.

This diverse book brings together theoretical and practical viewpoints on objects in performance, how they can be part of theatre scenery, equal partners in performance, or autonomous things. Through close analysis of specific performances, Eleanor Margolies examines actor training, scenography, materials, construction techniques and object theatre. The text investigates a number of critical questions, including: what the difference is between a theatre prop and an everyday object; how audiences respond to the various ways that props are used by actors and designers; and whether devising with ‘stuff’ affect the making process or the attitudes to materiality embodied in performance.With discussions of papier mâché and collapsing chairs, fake food and stage blood, Props is an essential sourcebook for students, practitioners and researchers of theatre, design and prop-making.

This diverse book brings together theoretical and practical viewpoints on objects in performance, how they can be part of theatre scenery, equal partners in performance, or autonomous things. Through close analysis of specific performances, Eleanor Margolies examines actor training, scenography, materials, construction techniques and object theatre. The text investigates a number of critical questions, including: what the difference is between a theatre prop and an everyday object; how audiences respond to the various ways that props are used by actors and designers; and whether devising with ‘stuff’ affect the making process or the attitudes to materiality embodied in performance.With discussions of papier mâché and collapsing chairs, fake food and stage blood, Props is an essential sourcebook for students, practitioners and researchers of theatre, design and prop-making.

Drawing on interview material from more than 20 leading stage managers from the UK, USA and Australia, this book situates the contemporary practice of stage management within its historical and social contexts.Questioning the notions of the invisible stage manager and a linear production process, it argues for a broader conception of stage management lying at the intersections of administration, management and artistry.This volume places stage management practice within key theories drawn from the diverse fields of performance studies, semiotics, phenomenology, distributed cognition, management and scenography. It champions the creative agency of stage management and details the properties of communication which stage managers manipulate and the objectives they set out to achieve as a guide for decision making. While it considers the different approaches necessitated by productions from different cultures, genres, and so on, it offers a view of stage management which is not bound by these differences.

Drawing on interview material from more than 20 leading stage managers from the UK, USA and Australia, this book situates the contemporary practice of stage management within its historical and social contexts.Questioning the notions of the invisible stage manager and a linear production process, it argues for a broader conception of stage management lying at the intersections of administration, management and artistry.This volume places stage management practice within key theories drawn from the diverse fields of performance studies, semiotics, phenomenology, distributed cognition, management and scenography. It champions the creative agency of stage management and details the properties of communication which stage managers manipulate and the objectives they set out to achieve as a guide for decision making. While it considers the different approaches necessitated by productions from different cultures, genres, and so on, it offers a view of stage management which is not bound by these differences.

An accessible and authoritative compendium of key concepts in acting, this book reveals how the craft has been understood by the world’s leading practitioners and theorists.What is ‘truthful’ acting? Am I ‘freeing the voice’ and being ‘authentic’ in my performance? The idioms of acting can both delight and confound. While enthusiastic theatregoers and aspiring actors may be attracted to studio slang, theorists and practitioners of the craft will argue fiercely over the meaning and use of professional terms, while academics dispute the very philosophical basis of concepts such as ‘emotion’ and ‘imagination’, ‘believability’ and ‘character’. Acting: Keywords and Concepts is for readers from all these communities of interest and it provides a practical and reliable evidence-based account of the most significant ideas about acting in circulation today.It is the first book in the field to use innovative computational analysis to produce a comprehensive critical investigation of concepts and terms from a vast corpus of over 1,000 books on acting. By mining the world’s largest digitized database of literary sources on the craft, it provides the most complete and wide-ranging account of the ideas and ideals that define the craft of acting. Organized in digestible sections with pithy ‘keyword’ sub­headings, this book makes key concepts easily referenceable and reveals the politics and ideologies at play in both dominant and niche acting schools and traditions, indicating how ideas and practices have developed over time as well as where acting theory and practice is heading.Acting: Keywords and Concepts will prove an indispensable companion to anyone interested in the craft of acting and the meaning of its key ideas.

An accessible and authoritative compendium of key concepts in acting, this book reveals how the craft has been understood by the world’s leading practitioners and theorists.What is ‘truthful’ acting? Am I ‘freeing the voice’ and being ‘authentic’ in my performance? The idioms of acting can both delight and confound. While enthusiastic theatregoers and aspiring actors may be attracted to studio slang, theorists and practitioners of the craft will argue fiercely over the meaning and use of professional terms, while academics dispute the very philosophical basis of concepts such as ‘emotion’ and ‘imagination’, ‘believability’ and ‘character’. Acting: Keywords and Concepts is for readers from all these communities of interest and it provides a practical and reliable evidence-based account of the most significant ideas about acting in circulation today.It is the first book in the field to use innovative computational analysis to produce a comprehensive critical investigation of concepts and terms from a vast corpus of over 1,000 books on acting. By mining the world’s largest digitized database of literary sources on the craft, it provides the most complete and wide-ranging account of the ideas and ideals that define the craft of acting. Organized in digestible sections with pithy ‘keyword’ sub­headings, this book makes key concepts easily referenceable and reveals the politics and ideologies at play in both dominant and niche acting schools and traditions, indicating how ideas and practices have developed over time as well as where acting theory and practice is heading.Acting: Keywords and Concepts will prove an indispensable companion to anyone interested in the craft of acting and the meaning of its key ideas.

This open access book is the first to provide a detailed and historical account of what it means to make theatre out-doors, in the open air. Supplemented throughout with case studies of practice and interviews with theatre makers, this study traverses themes of the environment, climate, community, performance design, the performer's body and audience dynamics.Spanning practices from antiquity to the present day, from Greek and Roman amphitheatre performances to al-fresco seaside entertainments, large-scale spectacle, street theatre, site-specific performance and contemporary live art, theatrical performance in the open-air has a rich past that underpins its vibrant present. Open-Air Theatre draws on extensive interviews with contemporary practitioners from Britain and Ireland, contextualizing their experiences of making performance within these diverse histories and situating them in a global context. In doing so it addresses a range of questions: What are the sensible properties of the open-air and how do its textures or perceived moods affect a performance? In what ways is a body’s capacity to perform shaped by the open-air? How does performance in the open air gather its audience together and create (or dissipate) a sense of community? How do chance events impinge upon or enhance the work? How do the places of performance, open to the sky, differ from the enclosed spaces of theatre buildings, or even the enclosed rooms of immersive work? The book responds to these questions by uniting varied practices that are presented outdoors, highlighting their shared aesthetics, technologies of production, embodied experiences, effects, and responses as well as attending to their formal and material differences. Chapters conclude with a set of questions and suggestions for thinking about practice and making performance in the open-air, and the book ends with a series of provocations about the nature of the ‘open’ air and the function of performance within it.The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by UKRI.