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3 books match the query 'Chambers, Jonathan'
Theatre History Studies 2015, Vol. 34
Elizabeth Reitz Mullenix
University of Alabama Press, 2015
The five essays are arranged chronologically, starting with Alan Sikes’s discussion of the Abydos Passion Play. Sikes challenges the long-held interpretation of that ritualized annual reenactment of the death, dismemberment, and return to life of Egyptian god-king Osiris as the world’s first recorded dramatic production. In analyzing the “Passion Play”—Sikes argues the term is not apt—he applies semiotic theory using "sign and referent" to revise general concepts of mimesis, and in so doing clarifies the fundamental answer to the question, “What is theatre?”
In a pair of essays, Andrew Gibb and Nicole Berkin both explore theatre during America’s antebellum period. Gibb examines minstrelsy in antebellum California, exploding narrow definitions of minstrelsy as a primarily Eastern phenomenon and one reflecting a stark interaction of two races. Following the story of Jewish African Caribbean immigrant William Alexander Leidesdorff, Gibb demonstrates that national forms are always affected by their local productions and audiences. Berkin’s essay focuses on the struggles over cultural power that took place between popular entertainers and theatre managers. She examines how both parties used touring strategically to engage with antebellum notions of deception and fraud.
The last two essays, by Megan Geigner and Heide Nees, present findings from performance studies which, by examining a wide array of dramatic and performative texts, expands the interdisciplinary foundations of theatre history studies. This fascinating collection is rounded out by an expanded selection of insightful reviews of recent literature in the area.
Theatre History Studies 2020, Vol. 39
Edited by Lisa Jackson-Schebetta
University of Alabama Press, 2020
Theatre History Studies (THS) is a peer-reviewed journal of theatre history and scholarship published annually since 1981 by the Mid-America Theatre Conference
Reframing the past to illuminate the future of performance.
Theatre History Studies is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to excellence in theatre historiography. Volume 38, edited by Lisa Jackson-Schebetta, features three distinct sections: foundational studies in theatre history, a special section on hemispheric historiographies, and award-winning essays from the Mid-America Theatre Conference. Contributors examine topics ranging from Shakespeare and racial antagonism to systemic dramaturgy, labor unions in regional theatre, and digital diasporic activism. The volume also includes visual histories and decolonial methodologies that challenge Eurocentric narratives and foreground Latinx, feminist, and socialist performance traditions. With 272 pages and 18 black-and-white figures, this edition is a rich resource for scholars seeking to expand the scope and methods of theatre history.
Theatre Symposium, Vol. 9
Theatre and Politics in the Twentieth CenturyJohn C. Countryman
University of Alabama Press, 2001
This collection of essays explores how drama can teach political principles and entertain at the same time.
Political commentary is possible through "variety" theatre, this volume contends. Compiled from the April 2000 Theatre Symposium held on the campus of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, this collection of essays presents a compelling mix of theoretical and practical viewpoints from a broad diversity of scholars from around the country.
What remains to be learned about the political objectives of Brecht's Lehrstriucke? What political power is resident in the satirical humor of Dario Fo's drama? What can we learn from Mordecai Gorelik's political/artistic philosophy that might inform contemporary practice? What was the impact of political theatre on Broadway between the wars? Is Thornton Wilder's Our Town the play we've always imagined it to be, or does it challenge the politics of its time? What is the role of theatre activism in raising consciousness about gender politics? These are only some of the questions addressed by this lively, informative discussion.