The Grotesque in Contemporary Anglophone Drama

The Grotesque in Contemporary Anglophone Drama PDF Author: Ondřej Pilný
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137513187
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 181

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Book Description
Grotesque features have been among the chief characteristics of drama in English since the 1990s. This new book examines the varieties of the grotesque in the work of some of the most original playwrights of the last three decades (including Enda Walsh, Philip Ridley, Tim Crouch and Suzan-Lori Parks), focusing in particular on ethical and political issues that arise from the use of the grotesque.

The Grotesque in Contemporary Anglophone Drama

The Grotesque in Contemporary Anglophone Drama PDF Author: Ondřej Pilný
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137513187
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 181

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Book Description
Grotesque features have been among the chief characteristics of drama in English since the 1990s. This new book examines the varieties of the grotesque in the work of some of the most original playwrights of the last three decades (including Enda Walsh, Philip Ridley, Tim Crouch and Suzan-Lori Parks), focusing in particular on ethical and political issues that arise from the use of the grotesque.

Over There

Over There PDF Author: Mark Ravenhill
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1408141450
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 66

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Book Description
A programme text edition published to coincide with the world premiere at the Royal Court Theatre, London, on 25 February 2009 "I found you. You're here. And I was over there. But now I'm over here. I'm here. You're my brother. I love you" When Franz's mother escaped to the West with one of her identical twin boys, she left the other behind. Now, 25 years later, Karl crosses the border in search of his other half. As history takes an unexpected turn, the brothers must struggle to reconnect. Mark Ravenhill's visceral new play examines the hungers released when two countries, separated by a common language, meet again.

The Fastest Clock in the Universe

The Fastest Clock in the Universe PDF Author: Philip Ridley
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1408135841
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 113

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Book Description
It's Cougar's birthday. He's having a party. And the gift he'd kill for is youth... In a strange room in East London the party preparations are under way. Everything has been planned to the last detail. Surely nothing can go wrong? After all, there's the specially made birthday cake, the specially written cards, the specially chosen guest of honour... and a very, very sharp knife. Philip Ridley's edgy and provocative drama caused a sensation when it premiered at Hampstead Theatre in 1992, winning the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Newcomer to the Stage and the Meyer Whitworth Prize. It is now regarded as a contemporary classic. 'A bit like a ride on a ghost train... you find yourself shuddering with shock and laughing uproariously... horror has rarely been so much fun' Daily Telegraph 'Scorchingly nasty... fingers an age and its icons with terrifying accuracy' Guardian

Pinter Et Cetera

Pinter Et Cetera PDF Author: Craig N. Owens
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527556603
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
PINTER ET CETERA, edited by Craig N. Owens, is among the first volumes published since playwright Harold Pinter's death to account for the many ways his poems, plays, fiction, screenwriting, and public statements have have influenced the creative work of artists and writers worldwide. It collects nine essays by nine scholars from five nations, each approaching Pinter's work from a different perspective. Together, these essays offer a compelling argument for thinking of Pinter not merely as a unique writer whose individual genius has introduced the world to a particular aesthetic, but more importantly, as an artist working within numerous traditions, influencing and influenced by the work of painters, installation artists, film directors, photographers, poets and, of course, theatre-makers. PINTER ET CETERA is a bold step toward expanding our understanding of Pinter and establishing its importance beyond the absurdist stage. Contributors include Judith Roof, Ubiratan Paiva de Oliveira, Kyounghye Kwon, Mark Taylor-Batty, Michael Stuart Lynch, Jeanne Colleran, Andrew Wyllie, Christopher Wixson, and Lance Norman.

Sex on Stage

Sex on Stage PDF Author: Andrew Wyllie
Publisher: Intellect Books
ISBN: 1841502928
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 162

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Book Description
In the years just after World War II, theater provided an important critique of British society’s engagement with gender and sexual politics. Sex on Stage examines how British playwrights, actors, and directors brought women’s sexuality and gay and lesbian issues to the cutting edge of drama after World War II. Through a close reading of playwrights such as John Osborne, Harold Pinter, and Terence Rattigan, alongside accounts of their sociopolitical context and public reception, Andrew Wyllie reveals that this more progressive age was also one of reactionary statements and industry-wide anxiety.

Rewriting the Nation

Rewriting the Nation PDF Author: Aleks Sierz
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1408145707
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
This is an essential guide for anyone interested in the best new British stage plays to emerge in the new millennium. For students of theatre studies and theatre-goers Rewriting the Nation: British Theatre Today is a perfect companion to Britain's burgeoning theatre writing scene. It explores the context from which new plays have emerged and charts the way that playwrights have responded to the key concerns of the decade and helped shape our sense of who we are. In recent years British theatre has seen a renaissance in playwriting accompanied by a proliferation of writing awards and new writing groups. The book provides an in-depth exploration of the industry and of the key plays and playwrights. It opens by defining what is meant by 'new writing' and providing a study of the leading theatres, such as the Royal Court, the Traverse, the Bush, the Hampstead and the National theatres, together with the London fringe and the work of touring companies. In the second part, Sierz provides a fascinating survey of the main issues that have characterised new plays in the first decade of the new century, such as foreign policy and war overseas, economic boom and bust, divided communities and questions of identity and race. It considers too how playwrights have re-examined domestic issues of family, of love, of growing up, and the fantasies and nightmares of the mind. Against the backdrop of economic, political and social change under New Labour, Sierz shows how British theatre responded to these changes and in doing so has been and remains deeply involved in the project of rewriting the nation.

Leaves of Glass

Leaves of Glass PDF Author: Philip Ridley
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350421839
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 113

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Book Description
'That's the way it works in this family. Believe what you wanna believe. Twist this. Ignore the other. That's how we survive.' Steven has always tried to be a good person. He works hard. He looks after his family. But, suddenly, everyone starts accusing him of things. His wife accuses him of being unfaithful. His mother accuses him of being coercive. And his brother, Barry, accuses him of...what exactly? Barry won't say. Or can't. Or perhaps... Steven hasn't done anything at all. Following its critically acclaimed premiere at Soho Theatre in 2007, Philip Ridley's gripping narrative of memory, manipulation, and power – now regarded as a modern classic – returns in a new production by long-time collaborators, Lidless Theatre. This edition was published alongside the production at the Park Theatre, London, in May 2023.

The Vespers

The Vespers PDF Author: Philip Ridley
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350181676
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 316

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Book Description
Have you ever struggled to find the perfect monologue? Do you want to lose yourself in an unforgettable story? Do you want to be...transported? Philip Ridley's The Vespers is a major work by a major writer. 100 original, self-contained monologues for actors (and readers) of all genders, all ages, and all levels of experience. Varying in length, style and structure – from the surreally comic to the heartbreakingly tragic – this is an essential toolkit for any actor (or anyone who enjoys a good story) with an introduction by Cath Badham, Lecturer in Performance at the University of Derby, UK.

The Pitchfork Disney

The Pitchfork Disney PDF Author: Philip Ridley
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 147251047X
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 124

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Book Description
The Pitchfork Disney heralded the arrival of a unique and disturbing voice in the world of contemporary drama. Manifesting Ridley's vivid and visionary imagination and the dark beauty of his outlook, the play resonates with his trademark themes: East London, storytelling, moments of shocking violence, memories of the past, fantastical monologues, and that strange mix of the barbaric and the beautiful he has made all his own. The Pitchfork Disney was Ridley's first play and is now seen as launching a new generation of playwrights who were unafraid to shock and court controversy. This unsettling, dreamlike piece has surreal undertones and thematically explores fear, dreams and story-telling. First produced in 1991, it has gone on to be recognised as the annunciation of Ridley's dark and seductive world.

Sublime Drama

Sublime Drama PDF Author: Elzbieta Iwona Baraniecka
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110309939
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
British drama of the 1990s is most commonly associated with the term in-yer-face theatre, which was coined by Aleks Sierz to describe the shocking and provocative work of emerging playwrights such as Mark Ravenhill or Sarah Kane. Taking a cue from Sierz’s own suggestion that what still remains to be researched more thoroughly in this field is the particular relationship between the stage and the audience, this monograph undertakes precisely that task. Rather than use the term offered by Sierz, however, the study proposes a different concept to account for the dynamics of communication within the particular theatre of the 1990s, namely the aesthetic category of the sublime. Coupled with elements of Reader Response Theory, the sublime proves to be a more fruitful term, as it provides more precise tools for the analysis of the audience’s aesthetic response than does in-yer-face theatre. With the help of four representative plays by four key playwrights of that time, Closer by Patrick Marber, Normal by Anthony Neilson, Faust is Dead by Mark Ravenhill and 4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane, the book details the consecutive stages in the process of the plays’ reception that the members of the audience go through while forming their aesthetic response to them. Looking through the prism of the sublime, the study not only offers a detailed analysis of each play but also suggests an entirely new approach to British drama of the 1990s.