The Theatre Of Howard Barker

by Lamb; Charles

• ISBN13: 9780415315319
• ISBN10: 041531531X
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2005-01-21
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

"Outstanding" - David Ian Rabey, University of Wales Aberystywth "a unique resource in studying Barker, who should be recognised as a major contemporary playwright" - Rhonda Blair, Southern Methodist University From a review of the first edition: "the release of Lamb's Howard Barker's Theatre of Seduction is a most welcome event. Lamb's production work on Barker's plays.... provides him with a singular perspective from which to comment on the plays" - Theatre Journal Through his powerful stage poetry Howard Barker creates a world peopled by characters who live at the extreme edges of experience - and who challenge the very limits of an actor's imagination. In this second, fully revised edition of his acclaimed study of Barker's work, Charles Lamb sets out to make emotional sense of the characters and their interactions. This leads to a detailed exploration of the "scene of seduction" - the challenge, the secret, the abject and the catastrophic, processes which dominateBarker's work. For Lamb, the power of Barker's plays is to be found in the exposure to the irrational and its promotion of a state of unknowing. For students of Barker and for actors and directors working with this unique material, Lamb's book is a vital and illuminating text.

Author Biography

Charles Lamb is Director of Drama at Bournemouth and Poole College.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	viii
Acknowledgements	ix
Introduction	1	(4)
1 Barker and the British theatre	5	(19)
2 Postmodernism and the theatre	24	(19)
3 Seduction	43	(34)
4 Judith - a seduction	77	(17)
5 The Castle	94	(64)
6 The shape of darkness	158	(38)
Appendix: interview with Howard Barker	196	(12)
Notes	208	(8)
Chronology of Barker productions	216	(5)
Bibliography	221	(5)
Index	226