Product Description: Insightful, in-depth and evocative, this book is a collection of conversations with nine of the most innovative theatre directors of our time in Europe and North America: • Eugenio Barba • Lev Dodin • Declan Donnellan • Elizabeth LeCompte • Robert LePage • Simon McBurney • Katie Mitchell • Peter Sellars • Max Stafford-Clark...read more

Product Description: Since Hedda Gabler exploded on to European and American stages in the 1890s, the play and its title character have troubled and transfixed audiences, performers and critics the world over. In this sourcebook, Christopher Innes balances essential reprinted texts with clear, incisive commentary to:*set the play within the contexts of Norwegian nationalism, the women's movement and the cultural movement of Naturalism *examine and emphasize the links between the performance and criticism of the play, from 1890 to the present *offer the ideal guide to key passages in the play, showing how a knowledge of the play's contexts, performance history and critical fortunes can give rise to exciting new readings of the text *prepare readers for further study of the play, with suggestions for reading on specific issues of interest...read more

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Edward Gordon Craig's ideas regarding set and lighting have had an enormous impact on the development of the theatre we know today. In this new and updated edition of his well-known study of Edward Gordon Craig, Professor Christopher Innes shows how Craig's stage work and theoretical writings were crucial to the development of modern theatre. This book contains extensive documentation and re-evaluates his significance as an artist, actor, director and writer. Craig is placed in historical context, and his productions are reconstituted from unpublished prompt-books, sketches, journals and correspondence. Most of the designs and photographs, and many of Craig's writings cited, are not available elsewhere in print. Readers will gain insight into a key period of theatrical history, the life of one of its most fascinating individuals, the nature of stage performance, and into revolutionary ideas that are still challenging today.

Examining the development of avant garde theatre from its inception in the 1890s right up to the present day, Christopher Innes exposes a central paradox of modern theatre; that the motivating force of theatrical experimentation is primitivism. What links the work of Strindberg, Artaud, Brook and Mnouchkine is an idealisation of the elemental and a desire to find ritual in archaic traditions. This widespread primitivism is the key to understanding both the political and aesthetic aspects of modern theatre and provides fresh insights into contemporary social trends. The original text, first published in 1981 as Holy Theatre, has been fully revised and up-dated to take account of the most recent theoretical developments in anthropology, critical theory and psychotherapy. New sections on Heiner Muller, Robert Wilson, Eugenio Barba, Ariane Mnouchkine and Sam Shepard have been added. As a result, the book now deals with all the major avant garde theatre practitioners, in Europe and North America. Avant Garde Theatre will be essential reading for anyone attempting to understand contemporary drama.

This is the first one-volume analysis of British drama, from 1890-1990, covering the most dynamic and exciting period in its history since Shakespeare. Starting with George Bernard Shaw, Christopher Innes traces the evolution of modernism from the close of the nineteenth century right up to the present. The unparalleled breadth of this critical study shows patterns of development in naturalistic social drama, comedy, poetic drama, and feminist theatre. This provides a coherent theoretical frame for understanding individual writers and their work. The book gives detailed discussions of all the major dramatists; analysis of over 200 plays; information on the social and political context; facts about first productions and critical reception; a comprehensive chronology, and illustrations from seminal productions. The wide focus, unique coverage, and wealth of detail make this book an invaluable guide for students, theatre-goers, and theatre historians alike. (view table of contents)

Product Description: Book by Innes, Christopher