Reading the Material Theatre
Reading the Material Theatre
£38.00
GBPReading the Material Theatre develops and demonstrates a method of theatrical performance analysis that takes into account the entire theatre experience, from production to reception. Beginning with semiotic and cultural materialist theory, Knowles quickly moves into detailed politicized analysis of the ways in which specific aspects of theatrical production, and specific contexts of reception, shape the audience's understanding of what they experience in the theatre. It concludes with five case studies of the cultural work performed by a major Shakespearean repertory theatre, a small nationalist theatre devoted to new play development, a major New York-based avant-garde touring theatre company, a British socialist company dedicated to the work of Shakespeare, and a range of international festivals. This accessible 2004 volume provides a first-step introduction to key terms and areas of performance theory, including reception history, performance analysis, and production analysis.
- Develops and applies a fully-contextualized method for the analysis of contemporary theatre
- Includes detailed case studies of specific productions
- Author is a leading scholar in the field and is well-known for his work on reception, staging, and Shakespeare
Product details
May 2004Paperback
9780521644167
248 pages
214 × 138 × 17 mm
0.345kg
10 b/w illus.
Available
Table of Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I. Theory and Practice:
- 1. Theory: towards a materialist semiotics
- 2. Practice: conditions of production and reception
- Conclusion to Part I
- Part II. Case Studies:
- 3. The Stratford Festival
- 4. Tarragon Theatre
- 5. The Wooster Group
- 6. The English Shakespeare Company
- 7. International festivals
- Conclusion
- Index.
