The Longman Anthology of Drama and Theater A Global Perspective, Compact Edition

by Greenwald, Michael L.; Schultz, Roger; Pomo, Roberto Dario

• ISBN13: 9780321088987
• ISBN10: 0321088980
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-12-06
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

Divided into three parts, this brief, chronologically-organized, fully-integrated drama anthology offers a global emphasis and extensive critical and historical material of 23 indispensable plays.No other anthology offers such a richly varied selection from the traditional Western canon, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. This anthology contains many examples of rituals, ceremonies, and folk customs. The role of the storyteller is examined and chronicled to illustrate the impulses that have prompted humans to create theater. Center Stage Essays present dramatic descriptions of special performances, in many cases, the first performance of a well-known play. Spotlight Essays identify and discuss the wide variety of staging conventions of particular theaters. Forum Essays present important critical documents by critics, theoreticians, and theater artists. Lavish maps and annotated timelines familiarize the reader with different cultures and periods. Each play is introduced by a thorough headnote; each includes in-depth biographical information about the playwright and the historical context of the play. Photographs and illustrations help the reader visualize the performance of the play they are reading.For anyone interested in drama and theater.

Table of Contents

I. THE THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE THEATER.

1. Stories, Rituals, and Theater: A Foundation for the Theatrical Arts.
The Theatrical Impulse.
The Storyteller.
Forum: “The Theater as It Was and Is” (Robert Edmund Jones).
The Balinese Barong.
A Broadway Musical.
Rituals vs. Theatre.
An American Football Game.
Center Stage: “The Abydos Passion Play.”
The Origins of Theatre.
Common Ground for Uncommon Cultures.
Reading a Play.
Susan Glaspell: TRIFLES.

2. From Theatre to Drama.
The Dramatic Impulse.
The Poetics of Aristotle.
Forum: “from The Poetics” by Aristotle.
The Elements of Drama.
The Principal Genres of Drama.
Spotlight: “Melodrama and Farce.”
Styles and Conventions.

II. AN ANTHOLOGY OF WESTERN DRAMA: FROM THE ANCIENT TO THE CONTEMPORARY THEATER.

3. The Theatre of Greece and Rome.
Greece.
The Origins of Theater in Greece.
Spotlight: “The Hellenistic Theatre.”
The Greek Mind.
Playwrights and Acting.
Spotlight: “The Conventions of Greek Theatre.”
Sophocles, OEDIPUS THE KING.
Spotlight: The Curse on the House of Thebes.
Center Stage: The First Performance of Oedipus the King.
Center Stage: Oedipus the King at the Teatro Olympico, 1585.
Forums: “Ode to Oedipus” by Tyrone Guthrie.
“Guthrie Directs 'Ritual' Performance of Oedipus Rex at Edinburgh Fete” by Patrick Gibbs.
Spotlight: “Greek Old Comedy and Aristophanes's Lysistrata.”
Rome.
The Development of Roman Theater.
Playwrights and Popular Entertainments.
Theaters and Acting.
The Fall of Rome.

4. The Early Modern Theater.
The Middle Ages.
Rites and Folk Drama.
Religious Drama.
Performance Conventions.
Anonymous, THE BROME PLAY OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC.
Anonymous, EVERYMAN.
The European Renaissance.
The Renaissance Mind.
Center Stage: “The Commedia dell'arte.”
The Need for Order.
Center Stage: The Masque.
Hierarchies on Stage and Off.
The Role of Tragedy.
Playhouses and Scenery.
Acting.
Playwriting: The Neoclassicists vs. the Romantics.
England.
William Shakespeare, HAMLET.
Spotlight: “Making Shakespeare's Language User-Friendly.”
Center Stage: “Shakespeare's Two Theatres.”
Center Stage: Hamlet at the Globe Theatre, 1601.
Forums: (Three Reviews).
“Hamlet: Picturesque and Refined” by Lucia Gilbert.
Calhoun.
“Theater: Richard Burton as Hamlet” by Howard Taubman.
“Shakespeare a la Russe: Kozintsev's Hamlet” by Arthur Knight.
Spain.
Spotlight: The Spanish Theater: The Corrales.
France.
Moliere, TARTUFFE.
Spotlight: The French Theater Tartuffe in Performance.
Center Stage: The (Third) Opening Night of Tartuffe.
Center Stage: Tartuffe at the Teatre du Soliel, 1995.
Spotlight: The Secret Life of a Con Man: Antony Sher on Playing.
Tartuffe (An Interview by Francesca Simon).
The Late-Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.
Spotlight: The Comedy of Manners.
Spotlight: The Conventions of Restoration Theater.
Sentimental Comedy.
Laughing Comedy.
Bouregois Tragedy.

5. The Modern Theatre.
Romanticism.
The Melodrama.
The Romantic Revolution and Hernani.
Spotlight: America's Greatest Hit: UNCLE TOM'S CABIN.
Spotlight: The Minstrel Show.
Realism and Naturalism.
The Well-Made Play.
Influences on Realism.
The Problem Play.
The Rise of the Director.
Naturalism.
The Fathers of Realism: Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov.
Intimate Theatres.
The Second Generation of Realists.
Henrik Ibsen , A DOLL'S HOUSE.
Center Stage: The Tarantella and Other Healing Dances.
Anton Chekhov, THE CHERRY ORCHARD.
Expressionism and the Epic Theatre.
Expressionism.
The Epic Theater.
Spotlight: Theater in the Industrial Age.
Bertolt Brecht, THE GOOD WOMAN OF SETZUAN.
Arthur Miller, DEATH OF A SALESMAN.
Forum: “Tragedy and the Common Man” by Arthur Miller.
Forums (Three Reviews).
“Death of a Salesman: Powerful Tragedy” by William Hawkins.
“Even as You and I” by John Mason Brown.
“Willy Loman Gets China Territory” by Christopher S. Wren.
Absurdism.
Spotlight: “Waiting for Godot: The Modern Masterpiece.”
Edward Albee, THE AMERICAN DREAM.

6. The Contemporary Theatre.
Influences on Contemporary Theater.
Postmodernism and the Theater.
Artaud and the Theater of Cruelty.
Theater Collectives and Aletrnative Theater.
Acting in Contemporary Plays.
Contemporary Dramatic Criticism: Deconstructionism and Others.
Caryl Churchill, TOP GIRLS.
Tony Kushner, ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART ONE: MILLENIUM APPROACHES.
Forum: “Embracing All Possibilities in Art and Life” by Frank Rich.
Forum: from “Tony Kushner Considers the Longstanding Problems of Virtue and Happiness” by David Savran.

III. AN INTRODUCTION TO NON-WESTERN THEATER: ASIA, AFRICA AND THE AFRICAN DIASPORA, AND LATIN AMERICA.

7. The Theatre of Asia.
India.
The Origins of Indian Drama.
The Types of Indian Drama.
The Conventions of the Classical Indian Theater.
Dance and Folk Drama in India.
The Modern Theater of India.
Spotlight: “The Recognition of Sakuntala: India's Masterpiece.”
China.
The History of Chinese Theatre The Peking Opera.
Center Stage: “Spring Festival in China.”
The Conventions of Chinese Theatre.
Center Stage: “A Night at the Hua-gu Opera.”
Anonymous, THE QING DING PEARL.
Japan.
The Noh Theater.
Center Stage: “The Tanabata Festival of Japan.”
The Kabuki Theatre.
The Contempiorary Japanese Theater: Shingeki.
Namiki Gohei III, KANJINCHO.

8. African and the African Diaspora.
Africa.
The Roots of African Theatre.
Postcolonial Drama in Africa.
The Conventions of African Theatre.
Center Stage: South African Township Theater.
Athol Fugard, MASTER HAROLD...and the boys.
Spotlight: “South Africa's Market Market Theater and the Independent Theater Phenomenon.”
Wole Soyinka, DEATH AND THE KING'S HORSEMAN.
Center Stage: “Yoruban Obatala Festival in Ede, Nigeria, West Africa.”
African-American Theatre.
The Development of African American Theater.
Spotlight: “A Raisin in the Sun: America in Transition.”
August Wilson, FENCES.
The Caribbean.
Cuba.
Puerto Rico.
Haiti and Jamaica.
Trinidad-Tobago.
Derek Wolcott, TI-JEAN AND HIS BROTHERS.
Center Stage: “The Trinidad Carnival.”

9. Latin American Theater.
The Development Latin American Theater.
Spotlight: “Popular Theater in Latin America.”
Center Stage: “The Theatre of Mesoamerica.”
Sor Juanna Ines de la Cruz, THE DIVINE NARCISSUS.
Center Stage: “The Yaqui Easter.”
Luis Valdez, NO SACO NADA DE LA ESCUELA.
Elena Garro, A SOLID HOME.
Center Stage: “El Dia de los Muertos in Mexico.”
Egon Wolff, PAPER FLOWERS.

APPENDICES.

APPENDIX A. The Student as Critic.
The Production Review.
Critical Essays.
A Few Technical Notes.
General Questions About a Play in Performance.
Sample Outline for a Critical Essay on Ti-Jean and His Brothers.

APPENDIX B. Glossary of Terms.

APPENDIX C. Bibliography.
Text Credits.
Photo Credits.
Index.