The Drama, Theatre and Performance Companion

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This complete companion to the study of drama, theatre and performance studies is an essential reference point for students undertaking or preparing to undertake a course either at university or at drama school. Designed as a single reference resource, it introduces the main components of the subject, the key theories and thinkers, as well as vital study skills. Written by a highly regarded academic and practitioner with a wealth of expertise and experience in teaching, Mangan takes students from studio to stage, from lecture theatre to workshop, covering practice as well as theory and history.Reliable and comprehensive, this guide is invaluable throughout a degree or course at various levels. It is essential reading for undergraduate students of Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies at universities, drama schools and conservatoires, as well as AS and A Level students studying Drama and Theatre who are considering studying the subject at degree level.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction: this book and how to use it (p. ix)
• Acknowledgements (p. xiii)
• 1 Drama, Theatre and Performance: the subject and its study (p. 1)
• 1.1 The context of the subject (p. 3)
• A dramatized society (p. 3)
• Two traditions (p. 4)
• A degree in 'Drama' (p. 6)
• Curriculum developments (p. 7)
• 1.2 Your course and what to expect from it (p. 11)
• Course structures (p. 11)
• Strands and pedagogies (p. 12)
• Teaching and assessment (p. 14)
• Workshop practice and practical work (p. 15)
• Ensemble and group work (p. 16)
• Researching (p. 18)
• 1.3 Study skills for drama, theatre and performance students (p. 22)
• A range of skills (p. 22)
• Self-organization and time management (p. 23)
• Using the library (p. 25)
• Essay writing 1: using your reading intelligently (p. 26)
• Essay writing 2: practicalities (p. 27)
• Writing a dissertation (p. 29)
• Logbooks and reflective portfolios (p. 30)
• A productive tension (p. 33)
• 2 Core topics in Drama, Theatre and Performance (p. 37)
• 2.1 Developments and directions (p. 39)
• Dramas, Theatres and Performances as the objects of study (p. 39)
• 'How much practical work do you do?': making - and learning how to make - performance (p. 42)
• 2.2 Working practically 1: acting (p. 45)
• Introduction: 'what do you mean by practical?' (p. 45)
• Acting, not-acting and actor training (p. 46)
• Systems and methods (p. 48)
• Vitality (breath) (p. 50)
• Connectedness (body) (p. 50)
• Expression (voice) (p. 51)
• Imagination and emotion (p. 53)
• 2.3 Working practically 2: devising (p. 56)
• Communal endeavour (p. 56)
• Some starting points (p. 58)
• Rules and rapport (p. 59)
• Improvisation and devising (p. 62)
• Why? (p. 63)
• 2.4 Working practically 3: directing (p. 64)
• Directing and other specialist skills (p. 64)
• Better directions? (p. 65)
• Working with actors (p. 68)
• Technical processes (p. 68)
• Artistic choices (p. 70)
• Models and examples (p. 71)
• Conclusions? (p. 72)
• 2.5 Theatre histories (p. 73)
• Prehistories: roots, origins and essences (p. 73)
• Standard maps: theatre history and theatre historiography (p. 78)
• Western theatre's origins in the religious and civic ceremonies of Athens and Attic Greece in the fourth and fifth centuries BC (p. 79)
• The revival of theatre and drama in Europe during the middle ages (p. 80)
• In England, Puritan-led Parliamentarians closed all the theatres at the time of the English Civil War (p. 81)
• Historiography (p. 83)
• 2.6 Analysing texts (p. 85)
• The dramatic text (p. 86)
• Stage-centred criticism (p. 89)
• The theatrical text: analysing the performance (p. 91)
• 2.7 Questions of 'theory' (p. 94)
• The rise of critical theory (p. 94)
• Postmodernism (p. 99)
• Applying theories (p. 102)
• 2.8 Theatre and gender (p. 106)
• Sex and gender (p. 106)
• Feminisms (p. 106)
• Explicit bodies (p. 109)
• Two key concepts: gender as performance and the male gaze (p. 110)
• Spectators, presence and desire (p. 113)
• Tm not a feminist, but...Æ (p. 114)
• 2.9 Theatre and the world: globalization, interculturalism and postcolonialism (p. 115)
• Crossroads of cultures (p. 115)
• Intercultural theatre practice (p. 118)
• Globalization (p. 119)
• Postcolonial theatres (p. 121)
• 2.10 The uses of drama: applying performance (p. 123)
• Augusto Boal (1931-2009) (p. 125)
• Healing (p. 127)
• The use of theatre within the prison and probation service (p. 129)
• 2.11 Mediating performance: from the machine age to the digital age (p. 134)
• Mechanical reproductions (p. 134)
• Screens, robots and laboratories (p. 139)
• 3 Key concepts (p. 145)
• 4 Landmarks: key practitioners, theorists and performances (p. 205)
• 4.1 The beginnings of the Western canon (p. 207)
• 4.2 Theatrical origins, dramatic categories and performance reception (p. 208)
• 4.3 Performance and performance theory in the Middle Ages (p. 211)
• 4.4 The spirit of Noh theatre (p. 214)
• 4.5 Dialogues between fantasy and reality (p. 217)
• 4.6 Eighteenth-century acting (p. 221)
• 4.7 Research and realism (p. 223)
• 4.8 Savage gods and stuffed crocodiles (p. 226)
• 4.9 Creative misreading (p. 228)
• 4.10 Building a system (p. 231)
• 4.11 The director as author (p. 234)
• 4.12 Theory and practice (p. 238)
• 4.13 'A man who is astounded and contradicts' (p. 241)
• 4.14 Art into performance (p. 245)
• 4.15 Theatre as counter-culture (p. 247)
• 4.16 Dance as theatre, theatre as dance (p. 250)
• 4.17 The imperialized strike back (p. 251)
• 4.18 Personal and political (p. 253)
• 4.19 Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Bezhti (2004) (p. 254)
• 4.20 The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton and the opening ceremony of the London Olympics (p. 256)
• 5 Frameworks for research: key writings on Drama, Theatre and Performance (p. 261)
• 5.1 Jerzy Grotowski, Towards a Poor Theatre (1969) (p. 263)
• 5.2 Peter Brook, The Empty Space (1968) (p. 266)
• 5.3 Cicely Berry, Voice and the Actor (1973) and The Actor and The Text (1991) (p. 269)
• 5.4 Anne Bogart (with Tina Landau), The Viewpoints Book (2005) (p. 271)
• 5.5 Keir Elam, The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama (1980) (p. 274)
• 5.6 Patrice Pavis, Theatre at the Crossroads of Culture (1992) (p. 276)
• 5.7 Tracy C. Davis, Actresses as Working Women (1991) (p. 277)
• 5.8 Susan Bennett: Theatre Audiences (1990) (p. 279)
• 5.9 Philip Auslander, Liveness (1999) (p. 282)
• 5.10 Hans-Thies Lehmann, Postdramatic Theatre (2006) (p. 286)
• 5.11 Bruce McConachie, Engaging Audiences (2008) (p. 289)
• 6 What next? (p. 293)
• 6.1 The creative industries: a few facts and figures, and a comic song (p. 295)
• 6.2 Graduate destinations, employers and transferable skills: making the most of your knowledge (p. 298)
• 6.3 Applying for a job: the CV (p. 301)
• 6.4 Further study (p. 303)
• 6.5 Conclusions (p. 304)
• 7 Resources for studying Drama, Theatre and Performance (p. 305)
• 7.1 Online learning (p. 307)
• 7.2 Libraries (p. 312)
• 7.3 Journals (p. 314)
• 7.4 And of course... (p. 317)
• Bibliography (p. 318)
• Index (p. 333)