What makes young people care about themselves, others, their communities, and their futures? In Why Theatre Matters, Kathleen Gallagher uses the drama classroom as a window into the daily challenges of marginalized youth in Toronto, Boston, Taipei, and Lucknow. An ethnographic study which mixes quantitative and qualitative methodology in an international multi-site project, Why Theatre Matters ties together the issues of urban and arts education through the lens of student engagement. Gallagher’s research presents a framework for understanding student involvement at school in the context of students’ families and communities, as well as changing social, political, and economic realities around the world. Taking the reader into the classroom through the voices of the students themselves, Gallagher illustrates how creative expression through theatre can act as a rehearsal space for real, material struggles and for democratic participation. Why Theatre Matters is an invigorating challenge to the myths that surround urban youth and an impressive study of theatre’s transformative potential.
Earth Matters on Stage: Ecology and Environment in American Theater tells the story of how American theater has shaped popular understandings of the environment throughout the twentieth century as it argues for theater’s potential power in the age of climate change. Using cultural and environmental history, seven chapters interrogate key moments in American theater and American environmentalism over the course of the twentieth century in the United States. It focuses, in particular, on how drama has represented environmental injustice and how inequality has become part of the American environmental landscape. As the first book-length ecocritical study of American theater, Earth Matters examines both familiar dramas and lesser-known grassroots plays in an effort to show that theater can be a powerful force for social change from frontier drama of the late nineteenth century to the eco-theater movement. This book argues that theater has always and already been part of the history of environmental ideas and action in the United States. Earth Matters also maps the rise of an ecocritical thought and eco-theater practice – what the author calls ecodramaturgy – showing how theater has informed environmental perceptions and policies. Through key plays and productions, it identifies strategies for artists who want their work to contribute to cultural transformation in the face of climate change.
Does acting matter? David Thomson, one of our most respected and insightful writers on movies and theater, answers this question with intelligence and wit. In this fresh and thought-provoking essay, Thomson tackles this most elusive of subjects, examining the allure of the performing arts for both the artist and the audience member while addressing the paradoxes inherent in acting itself. He reflects on the casting process, on stage versus film acting, and on the cult of celebrity. The art and considerable craft of such gifted artists as Meryl Streep, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Daniel Day-Lewis, and others are scrupulously appraised here, as are notions of “good” and “bad” acting. Thomson’s exploration is at once a meditation on and a celebration of a unique and much beloved, often misunderstood, and occasionally derided art form. He argues that acting not only “matters” but is essential and inescapable, as well as dangerous, chronic, transformative, and exhilarating, be it on the theatrical stage, on the movie screen, or as part of our everyday lives.
Selected and edited by the award-winning American playwright Reginald Edmund, who produced Black Lives, Black Words across the US, which premiered in Chicago, July 2015. The international project has explored the black diaspora’s experiences in some of the largest multicultural cities in the world, Chicago, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Toronto and London. Over sixty Black writers from the UK, USA, and Canada have each written a short play to address Black issues today. "I started Black Lives, Black Words because I felt there needed to be an opportunity for me as a playwright to speak out against the sins committed in this world inflicted upon black bodies: Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Rekia Boyd, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, and the countless many others. This in turn caused me to wonder what other artists were out there that possess this overwhelming desire to speak out for the unheard voices. Companies in Minneapolis with Guthrie Theatre, Carlyle Brown and Company, Bedlam Theatre, Freestyle Theatre, the Million Artist Movement, in Maryland – Columbia Arts Festival, Chicago – Polarity Ensemble Theatre, Toronto – Obsidian Theatre, Buddies and Bad Times Theatre, and the National Arts Centre, along with many others joined us and now, two years later we have given voice to over sixty Black Playwrights and over a hundred performers. From city to city, Black Lives, Black Words has remained an event that is accessible and affordable to all. Embraced by a wide range of different theatres that vary in capacity, playing to houses from 70 to 300 audience members. Selling out in every venue. I collected these works showcased at BLBW events from all over in hopes that the narratives that have been placed in here speaks to the Black Struggle, Black Achievement, Black Love, Black Aspirations, Black Hopes, Black Dreams, BLACK EVERYTHING. I hope that the narratives amplify the importance of the Black Lives Matter Movement, that these plays find themselves in theatres both community and regional, in classrooms and libraries, church houses, and communal gathering serving as a rallying cry for those that are artists and even those who are not that OUR BLACK LIVES MATTER, individually, globally, and spiritually." - Reginald Edmund, Managing Curating Producer, Black Lives, Black Words Featured in this collection are: Reginald Edmund, Idris Goodwin, James Austin Williams, Rachel Dubose, Becca C. Browne, Marsha Estell, Aaron Holland, Loy A. Webb, Lisa Langford, Christina Ham, Harrison David Rivers, Dominique Morisseau, Winsome Pinnock, Trish Cooke, Mojisola Adebayo, Rachel De-Lahay, Max Kolaru, Yolanda Mercy, Somalia Seaton, Courttia Newland, Luke Reece, Tawiah BenEben M’Carthy, Jordan Laffrenier, Meghan Swaby, Mary Ann Anane, Allie Woodson, Elliot Sagay, Amira Danan, Cat Davidson, Noelle Fourte, Kori Alston
In 1926, radium was a miracle cure, Madame Curie an international celebrity, and luminous watches the latest rage- until the girls who painted them began to fall ill with a mysterious disease. Inspired by a true story, Radium Girls traces the efforts of Grace Fryer, a dial painter, as she fights for her day in court. Her chief adversary is her former employer, Arthur Roeder, an idealistic man who cannot bring himself to believe that the same element that shrinks tumors could have anything to do with the terrifying rash of illnesses among his employees. As the case goes on, however, Grace finds herself battling not only with the U.S. Radium Corporation, but also with her own family and friends, who fear that her campaign for justice will backfire.
From before history was recorded to the present day, theatre has been a major artistic form around the world. From puppetry to mimes and street theatre, this complex art has utilized all other art forms such as dance, literature, music, painting, sculpture, and architecture. Every aspect of human activity and human culture can be, and has been, incorporated into the creation of theatre. In this Very Short Introduction Marvin Carlson takes us through Ancient Greece and Rome, to Medieval Japan and Europe, to America and beyond, and looks at how the various forms of theatre have been interpreted and enjoyed. Exploring the role that theatre artists play — from the actor and director to the designer and puppet-master, as well as the audience — this is an engaging exploration of what theatre has meant, and still means, to people of all ages at all times. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
"Discover the cognitive, social, emotional, and other psychological benefits of learning how to act and perform. This book looks behind the curtain of theatre education to see how thinking on stage happens in real secondary classrooms. Reporting on the first large scale systematic qualitative analyses of acting classes for adolescents, the author introduces the discovery of the eight Acting Habits of Mind-thinking strategies to solve problems and creatively complete tasks. Each Habit is tied to current scientific research findings for related psychological constructs, including creativity, self-esteem, empathy, emotion regulation, and well-being. Connections are then made to individual student needs, future research, and the complexity of theatre education. Based in the science of development and actual theatre education as it happens in a variety of school types, with a diversity of students, this book provides an answer to the question "What, psychologically, is an acting class?" Every educator, administrator, and arts lover can use this book to better understand and advocate for their art form and demonstrate why theatre should be included in schools. Theatre educators, advocates, and performers have long theorized about the cognitive, social, emotional, and other psychological benefits of learning how to act and perform. However, a thorough, scientifically-based analyses of acting classes and the benefits of theatre has been missing- until now. This book looks behind the curtain of theatre education to see how thinking on stage happens - in real classroom. Reporting on the first large scale systematic qualitative analyses of actual acting classes for adolescents, this book introduces the discovery of the 8 "Acting Habits of Mind" - thinking strategies to solve problems and creatively complete tasks- that are used, integrated and fostered in acting classes. Each Acting Habit of Mind is tied to the current scientific research and findings for related psychological constructs, including creativity, self-esteem, empathy, and emotion regulation and health. Then, connections are made to individual student needs, future research, and the complexity of theatre education. Based in the science of development and actual theatre education as it happens in a variety of school types, with a diversity of students, this book provides an answer to the question "What, psychologically, is an acting class?" and can help every educator, administrator, and theatre lover advocate for their art form"--
This book rethinks historical and contemporary theatre, performance, and cultural events by scrutinizing and theorizing the objects and things that activate stages, venues, environments, and archives.
