English Theatre History

Here is a diverse and fascinating story of the Theatre, from the first tragedies and comedies of Ancient Greece to the high-tech mega-musicals of the late 20th century. It is an absorbing listen, encompassing ancient tales, medieval theatre, Commedia dell'Arte, the great dramas of the Elizabethan age, and more.

In The English and their History, the first full-length account to appear in one volume for many decades, Robert Tombs gives us the history of the English people and of how the stories they have told about themselves have shaped them, from the prehistoric 'dreamtime' through to the present day.

Burlesque: A Living History captures the spirit of this unique art form through hundreds of photographs and stories from many who were a part of America's most colorful past. This audiobook highlights the careers and contributions of selected artists, many of whom were the nuts and bolts of burlesque. It also acknowledges just some of the young performers of today who are diligently working to remember the days of old. When burlesque theatres and clubs went dark, a whole world went dark with them.

An immersive collection of radio plays from the ‘Godmother of black British playwrights’ Multiple award-winning playwright Winsome Pinnock was the first Black woman to have a play performed at the National Theatre in 1994 (Leave Taking), where she later became a writer in residence. This...

In this audio-original production, author Richard Fawkes traces the development of the musical, highlighting composers and lyricists including Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Sondheim. Presented by the vivacious singer Kim Criswell, star of Cats, and including nearly 100 famous musical extracts.

'Visually stunning...it's gone straight to the top of my Christmas present list.' The Bookseller 'I remember how well I liked to turn the pages of my childhood atlas and travel the world to find out where countries and cities were. But there was never anything about why the maps were created -...

The Theatrical Event discusses the objectives of theater studies by focusing on the communicative encounter between performer and spectator - the theatrical event. A theatrical event includes the presentation of a performance and the attention of an audience; in this sense, every performance - on stage or in the street, historical or contemporary - that is watched by an audience is a theatrical event. The concept underlines the "eventness" of all encounters between performers and spectators.

Since it first opened on Broadway in September 1964, Fiddler on the Roof has constantly been onstage somewhere, including five Broadway revivals, four productions on London's West End, and thousands of schools, army bases, and countries from Argentina to Japan. Barbara Isenberg interviewed the men and women behind the original production, the film, and significant revivals.

From Broadway debuts to landmark productions. Score a front row seat to hear hundreds of stories about the most important stages in the world, seen through the eyes of the producers, actors, stage hands, writers, musicians, company managers, dressers, designers, directors, ushers, and door men who bring The Great White Way to life each night. You'll never look at Broadway the same way again.

Nobody's Daughter is a gripping and moving saga from beloved author, Annie Murray and is the third book in the Children of Birmingham series after The Pearl Button Girl and Dora's Dream. Stourbridge, 1864. Raised in a joyless, puritanical home, Ruth Mountford hungers for more. When her mother...

For as long as anyone could remember, the Carlisles had been caretakers of Castlemartin, a sprawling estate perched atop Scotland’s Isle of Skye. Its latest caretaker, the mysterious historian Lord M. Nigel Carlisle, was rumored to work tirelessly within its book-filled confines, endlessly refining his secretive research on imperialism.

Dangerous Theatre records the activities of the various organizations of the Federal Theatre Project involved with fostering the writing and production of new plays during the FTP's existence (1935-39). It presents a comprehensive and thorough picture of how playwrights actually worked and how their work was received by general audiences and critics.

In 1974, 47 members of Roy Hart Theatre began their move from the gentile Hampstead suburb of London to a huge bankrupt ruin of a chateau in the south of France, filled with wild ideas and an idealistic passion for theatre and life.

Country music grew up in the mountains of Appalachia, in the cotton fields of Georgia and Mississippi, the car and truck plants in Detroit, and in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. It was - and is - the music of the people. Hairl Hensley tells of Jimmy Rodgers and the Carter Family; of Bob Wills and Ernest Tubb, whose music played in honky tonks...and Roy Acuff , whose music was heard in Madison Square Garden; of the Girls of the Golden West, but also of Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire.

Theatre and Race centers on the interrelationship of the words on either side of the ampersand. It offers an accessible overview of how race is performed and how western theatrical practice has wrestled with the topic, question, and “problem” of racial difference over centuries. This study...

The world of musical theater has a rich and diverse history, spanning multiple genres and styles. One genre that has significantly influenced the landscape of musical theater is the rock musical. Combining the energy, rebelliousness, and catchy melodies of rock music with the storytelling and theatricality of the stage, the rock musical has captured the hearts of audiences around the world.

With his ongoing exploration into actor behavior and an ever-innovative body of work, Richard Maxwell has written a study guide to the art of making theater. This illuminating volume provides a deeper understanding of his work, aesthetic philosophy, and process for creating theater.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW NOTABLE BOOK Finalist for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography The forgotten story of a pioneering group of five Black ballerinas and their fifty-year sisterhood, a legacy erased from history—until now. “This is the kind of history I wish...

The American theater was not ignorant of the developments brought on by World War II, and actively addressed and debated timely, controversial topics for the duration of the war, including neutrality and isolationism, racism and genocide, and heroism and battle fatigue. McLaughlin and Parry's work fills a significant gap in the history of theater and popular culture, showing that American society was more divided and less idealistic than the received histories of the WWII home front and the entertainment industry recognize.

Is theater really dead? Does the theater, as its champions insist, really provide a more intimate experience than film? If so, how have changes in cinematic techniques and technologies altered the relationship between stage and film? What are the inherent limitations of representing three-dimensional spaces in a two-dimensional one, and vice versa? American Drama in the Age of Film examines the strengths and weaknesses of both the dramatic and cinematic arts to confront the standard arguments in the film-versus-theater debate.