Six Dramatists in Search of a Language

Six Dramatists in Search of a Language PDF Author: Andrew K. Kennedy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521204927
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
In this penetrating study Andrew Kennedy sets out to analyse the modern movement in drama through the theatrical language of six key figures writing in English - Shaw, Eliot, Beckett, Pinter, Osborne and Arden. Dr Kennedy argues that a study of theatrical language should be an exercise in 'practical criticism' and not merely narrowly linguistic. The whole range of theatrical expressiveness must be examined in detail from play text and performance alike and the conclusions correlated with the author's known intentions if a full evaluative judgement is to be attempted. Dr Kennedy shows how the modern movement in drama reveals a growing difficulty in creating any type of fully expressive dramatic language. He has written a work with an unusual breadth of reference, which should prove of value to all students of modern drama, modern English and European literature and to the theatre-going public.

Six Dramatists in Search of a Language

Six Dramatists in Search of a Language PDF Author: Andrew K. Kennedy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521204927
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 294

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this penetrating study Andrew Kennedy sets out to analyse the modern movement in drama through the theatrical language of six key figures writing in English - Shaw, Eliot, Beckett, Pinter, Osborne and Arden. Dr Kennedy argues that a study of theatrical language should be an exercise in 'practical criticism' and not merely narrowly linguistic. The whole range of theatrical expressiveness must be examined in detail from play text and performance alike and the conclusions correlated with the author's known intentions if a full evaluative judgement is to be attempted. Dr Kennedy shows how the modern movement in drama reveals a growing difficulty in creating any type of fully expressive dramatic language. He has written a work with an unusual breadth of reference, which should prove of value to all students of modern drama, modern English and European literature and to the theatre-going public.

English Drama of the Early Modern Period 1890-1940

English Drama of the Early Modern Period 1890-1940 PDF Author: Jean Chothia
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315504200
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
The period 1890-1940 was a particularly rich and influential phase in the development of modern English theatre: the age of Wilde and Shaw and a generation of influential actors and managers from Irving and Terry to Guilgud and Olivier. Jean Chothia's study is in two parts beginning with a portrait of the period, setting the narrative context and considering the dramatic social and cultural changes at work during this time. It then focuses on some of the main themes in the theatre, from Shaw and comedy, to the rise of political and radio drama, providing an interpretative framework for the period. This volume will be of great benefit to students and academics of English literature and drama, as it covers the work of the major dramatists of the period as well as considering the dramatic output of literary figures, such as James, Eliot and Lawrence.

English Drama Since 1940

English Drama Since 1940 PDF Author: David Ian Rabey
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317875389
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 307

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Book Description
English Drama Since 1940 considers the bids of successive post-war dramatists to find language and images of remorseless disclosure, appropriate to the public manifestation of sensed crisis and the interrogation of the ideal of renewal. This book introduces the period and its discourse whilst redefining them, to give proper consideration to developments of themes, styles, concerns and contexts from the 80s to the present. The book offers succinct and analytical introductions to the work of 60 dramatists, whilst arguing for (re)appraisal of many dates critical perspectives, in order to stimulate further argument in the field.

Towards a Poetics of Postmodern Drama

Towards a Poetics of Postmodern Drama PDF Author: Mufti Mudasir
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443862932
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 135

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Book Description
The book is a study of Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard, arguably the two most eminent British playwrights of the past sixty years or so, from a perspective of what it describes as a poetics of postmodern drama. Arguing for the application of Linda Hutcheon’s model of postmodernism to the study of drama, Towards a Poetics of Postmodern Drama shows that postmodern drama should be seen as a self-consciously contradictory and double-coded phenomenon, one which simultaneously inscribes and subverts the conventional categories of dramatic representation. In spite of its indebtedness to Beckett’s Absurdist and Brecht’s Epic theaters, postmodern drama should not be conflated with either. This is primarily because postmodern drama retains a critical edge towards contemporary reality in a manner which Hutcheon very aptly terms as a ‘complicitous critique’. The book demonstrates that both Pinter and Stoppard are pre-eminently postmodern in their treatment of issues such as the human subject, the notion of truth, historical verifiability and linguistic reference. Pinter’s preoccupation with non-referential modes of language-use, the role of power in the construction of the subject, and unreliable memories is as potent a way of disrupting the representational status of drama as Stoppard’s repeated recourse to devices such as parody, theater-within-theater and the fictional treatment of history.

John Osborne

John Osborne PDF Author: Patricia D. Denison
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136546677
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
For British playwright, John Osborne, there are no brave causes; only people who muddle through life, who hurt, and are often hurt in return. This study deals with Osborne's complete oeuvre and critically examines its form and technique; the function of the gaze; its construction of gender; and the relationship between Osborne's life and work. Gilleman has also traced the evolution of Osborne's reception by turning to critical reviews at the beginning of each chapter.

Themes in Drama: Volume 3, Drama, Dance and Music

Themes in Drama: Volume 3, Drama, Dance and Music PDF Author: James Redmond
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521221801
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
This collection surveys madness in drama. It includes articles on "The Duchess of Malfi"; virginity and hysteria in "The Changeling"; the confined spectacle of madness in Beys's "The Illustrious Madmen"; The male gaze in "Woyzeck" - representing Marie and madness; and other drama examples.

The Poetics of Jacobean Drama

The Poetics of Jacobean Drama PDF Author: Coburn Freer
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 142143430X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 357

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Book Description
Originally published in 1982. The Poetics of Jacobean Drama argues for a rediscovered approach to the study of Renaissance drama. Coburn Freer observes that most modern criticism of this drama treats the plays as if they were written in prose, thus overlooking whole areas of dramatic meaning that were understood in the past. Such an understanding, he asserts, was common among writers, actors, audiences, and readers of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, and a knowledge of it is essential to a full appreciation of the characterization and dramatic structures in these plays. Freer explores the evolution of the modern reluctance to approach Renaissance drama as one would dramatic poetry—from the standpoint of a listener. Blank verse, the author shows, provided Jacobean dramatists with a poetic form against which they could work the pressures of experience within their characters. The writers' ability to work with and against this form provided infinite resources for delineating character and creating significant coherences in the structure of a play. The Poetics of Jacobean Drama offers insights into what the Renaissance writer, actor, and playgoer would have regarded as the domain of poetry in drama. Topics discussed include the conditions of stage performance and the style of acting, Elizabethan education, the rise of printed texts and collected editions, and the comments of Elizabethan audiences and readers. Freer's commentary and theoretical explanations suggest both why and how we should pay closer attention to the poetry of Renaissance drama.

Twentieth-Century Drama Dialogue as Ordinary Talk

Twentieth-Century Drama Dialogue as Ordinary Talk PDF Author: Susan Mandala
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351877240
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
In this book, Susan Mandala offers a series of in-depth investigations into how the dialogue of four modern plays 'works' with respect to the pragmatic and discoursal norms postulated for ordinary conversation. After an account of the often-heated debates between linguists and critics concerning the analysis of drama dialogue as talk, four plays are considered: Harold Pinter's The Homecoming, Arnold Wesker's Roots, Terence Rattigan's In Praise of Love, and Alan Ayckbourn's Just Between Ourselves. For readers unfamiliar with linguistic approaches to talk, a chapter outlining the major frameworks used in the analysis of the plays is also included. By considering both linguistic and literary perspectives, this book extends the boundaries of traditional criticism and shows how the linguistic study of conversation can contribute to our understanding of dramatic dialogue.

Shaw and Other Playwrights

Shaw and Other Playwrights PDF Author: John Anthony Bertolini
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 9780271009087
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
The early conclusion that Shaw was mainly a magpie following the trails of many thinkers has led to the further consequence of neglecting Shaw's relationship to other playwrights. This volume of SHAW explores Shaw's plays as inheritances and inspirations of dramatic art and also locates Shaw himself as a presence in the work of his contemporaries and successors. The volume concentrates on Shaw in relation to other modern British playwrights, notably Wilde, Bennett, Rattigan, the Court Theatre playwrights, and Shaw's successors from Coward to Stoppard. Gwyn Thomas's 1975 BBC play, The Ghost of Adelphi Terrace, puts Shaw and Barrie together on stage, and Shaw's 20 June 1937 Sunday Graphic obituary tribute to Barrie demonstrates Shaw's high regard for his contemporary and near neighbor. There are also essays on how Shaw came increasingly to resemble Strindberg as a dramatist, on the requirements of acting and directing Shaw alongside his contemporaries at the Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake, and on Heartbreak House as a complex dialogue with Chekhov, Shakespeare, and Strindberg. John R. Pfeiffer has prepared a special bibliography of sources relating to Shaw and other playwrights in addition to the Continuing Checklist of Shaviana, and Dan H. Laurence has provided Shaw's pronunciation guide for the more troublesome names of his stage characters. There are also reviews of four recent additions to Shavian scholarship. Contributors include John A. Bertolini, Fred D. Crawford, R. F. Dietrich, T. F. Evans, A. M. Gibbs, Leon H. Hugo, Christopher Newton, Sally Peters, John R. Pfeiffer, Evert Sprinchorn, and Stanley Weintraub.

British Playwrights, 1956-1995

British Playwrights, 1956-1995 PDF Author: William W. Demastes
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1567507433
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 515

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Book Description
The year 1956 marked a point when British drama and theater fell into the hands of a group of young playwrights who revolutionized the stage. During that time, playwrights such as Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter made the British theater as rich, varied, and vital as any national theater in history. This reference chronicles the history of British theater from 1956 to 1995 by providing detailed information about the playwrights of that period. Included are entries for some three dozen British playwrights active between 1956 and 1995. Entries are arranged alphabetically to facilitate use. Each entry supplies biographical information, the production history for particular plays, a survey of the playwright's critical reception, an assessment of the dramatist's work, and primary and secondary bibliographies. A selected, general bibliography at the end of the volume directs the reader to important sources of additional information about this period in theater history.