This book shows how the totalitarian ideology of the Soviet period shaped the practices of Soviet theatre for youth. It weaves together politics, pedagogy and aesthetics to reveal the complex intersections between theatre and its socio-historical conditions. It paints a picture of the theatrical developments from 1917 through to the new millennium.
A latecomer continually hampered by government control and interference, the Russian theatre seems an unlikely source of innovation and creativity. Yet, by the middle of the nineteenth century, it had given rise to a number of outstanding playwrights and actors, and by the start of the twentieth century, it was in the vanguard of progressive thinking in the realms of directing and design. Its influence throughout the world was pervasive: Nikolai Gogol', Anton Chekhov and Maksim Gor'kii remain staples of repertories in every language, the ideas of Konstantin Stanislavskii, Vsevolod Meierkhol'd and Mikhail Chekhov continue to inspire actors and directors, while designers still draw on the graphics of the World of Art group and the Constructivists. What distinguishes Russian theater from almost any other is the way in which these achievements evolved and survived in ongoing conflict or cooperation with the State. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Russian Theatre covers the history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1000 cross-referenced entries on individual actors, directors, designers, entrepreneurs, plays, playhouses and institutions, Censorship, Children’s Theater, Émigré Theater, and Shakespeare in Russia. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Russian Theatre.
There is a complex relationship between performance, youth, and the shifting material circumstances (social, cultural, economic, ideological, and political) under which theatre for children and youth is generated and perceived. This book explores different aspect of theatre for young audiences using examples from theatrical events globally.
This collection of new essays explores the role played by women practitioners in the arts during the period often referred to as the Belle Epoque, a turn of the century period in which the modern media (audio and film recording, broadcasting, etc.) began to become a reality. Exploring the careers and creative lives of both the famous (Sarah Bernhardt) and the less so (Pauline Townsend) across a remarkable range of artistic activity from composition through oratory to fine art and film directing, these essays attempt to reveal, in some cases for the first time, women's true impact on the arts at the turn of the 19th century.
Amidst the turmoil of political revolution, the stage directors of twentieth-century Russia rewrote the rules of theatre making. From realism to the avant-garde, politics to postmodernism, and revolution to repression, these practitioners shaped perceptions of theatre direction across the world. This edited volume introduces students and practitioners alike to the innovations of Russia's directors, from Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vsevolod Meyerhold to Anatoly Efros, Oleg Efremov and Genrietta Ianovskaia. Strongly practical in its approach, Russian Theatre in Practice: The Director's Guide equips readers with an understanding of the varying approaches of each director, as well as the opportunity to participate and explore their ideas in practice. The full range of the director's role is covered, including work on text, rehearsal technique, space and proxemics, audience theory and characterization. Each chapter focuses on one director, exploring their historical context, and combining an examination of their directing theory and technique with practical exercises for use in classroom or rehearsal settings. Through their ground-breaking ideas and techniques, Russia's directors still demand our attention, and in this volume they come to life as a powerful resource for today's theatre makers.
Nationalism and Youth in Theatre and Performance explores how children and young people fit into national political theatre and, moreover, how youth enact interrogative, patriotic, and/or antagonistic performances as they develop their own relationship with nationhood. Children are often seen as excluded from public discourse or political action. However, this idea of exclusion is false both because adults place children at the center of political debates (with the rhetoric of future generations) and because children actively insert themselves into public discourse. Whether performing a national anthem for visiting heads of state, creating a school play about a country’s birth, or marching in protest of a change in public policy, young people use theatre and performance as a means of publicly staking a claim in national politics, directly engaging with ideas of nationalism around the world. This collection explores the issues of how children fit into national discourse on international stages. The authors focus on national performances by/for/with youth and examine a wide range of performances from across the globe, from parades and protests to devised and traditional theatre. Nationalism and Youth in Theatre and Performance rethinks how national performance is defined and offers previously unexplored historical and theoretical discussions of political youth performance.
In the first conceptual overview of current practices and debates in theatre education, Helen Nicholson explores the contribution that professional theatre practitioners make to the education of young people. She maps the environments in which theatre and learning meet, and looks at how the educational concerns and artistic inventiveness of people living in different times and places have inflected theatre and changed education. This inspiring book tells the story of ground-breaking developments of twentieth century theatre education, and explores the ways in which current theatre practitioners have upheld these radical traditions. Helen Nicholson investigates the effects on theatre education of a newly globalised economy, and asks pertinent questions such as: how can theatre education continue to encourage debates about social justice in the political landscape of the twenty-first century? How do the practices, policies and principles of theatre speak to different generations? Offering diverse illustrations of practice from around the world, Helen Nicholson draws on much personal experience and expert knowledge to demonstrate how cutting edge performance practices continue to engage young people today.
Building on Robert J. Landy's seminal text, Handbook of Educational Drama and Theatre, Landy and Montgomery revisit this richly diverse and ever-changing field, identifying some of the best international practices in Applied Drama and Theatre. Through interviews with leading practitioners and educators such as Dorothy Heathcote, Jan Cohen Cruz, James Thompson, and Johnny Saldaña, the authors lucidly present the key concepts, theories and reflective praxis of Applied Drama and Theatre. As they discuss the changes brought about by practitioners in venues such as schools, community centres, village squares and prisons, Landy and Montgomery explore the field's ability to make meaning of a vast range of personal and social issues through the application of drama and theatre.
Children have been exploited as performers and wooed energetically as consumers throughout history. These essays offer scholarly investigations into the employment and participation of children in the entertainment industry with examples drawn from historical and contemporary contexts.
