Book Description

The Eighth Edition of THE ESSENTIAL THEATRE will help you get your students excited about theatre. The combined authorship of an authoritative theatre historian and his former student, an active theatre historian himself, make this the book perfect for your introductory theatre course. In the 35 years since it was first published, THE ESSENTIAL THEATRE has established a reputation as one of the most comprehensive, authoritative surveys of the theatre in academia. Now in a new full color format with many representations of current and classic performances, this text will encourage your students to become active theatergoers and fans. THE ESSENTIAL THEATRE works in tandem with its companion anthology, PLAYS FOR THEATRE. The scripts in PLAYS serve as a foundation for discussion of the various types of theatrical experience explored in the text. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

What's to review?
If you have a Theater degree from any American college in the last decade, then you already own this book. This is the definitive text on Theater History. Brockett is the authority. No other comprehensive book on "general" theater history comes close. If you want the book that is on every theater historian's shelf, referenced in every Theater thesis or dissertation, and the text for every Theater History course in the nation, then order this. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Alright
It's about par with every other persuasion text. Nothing spectacular about it. Don't buy unless you have. I give it 4 stars because as text books go, it's an easy read. If you're looking for your own interest in persuasion, read influence. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Peter Brook's career, beginning in the 1940s with radical productions of Shakespeare with a modern experimental sensibility and continuing to his recent work in the worlds of opera and epic theater, makes him perhaps the most influential director of the 20th century. Cofounder of the Royal Shakespeare Company and director of the International Center for Theater Research in Paris, perhaps Brook's greatest legacy will be The Empty Space. His 1968 book divides the theatrical landscape, as Brook saw it, into four different types: the Deadly Theater (the conventional theater, formulaic and unsatisfying), the Holy Theater (which seeks to rediscover ritual and drama's spiritual dimension, best expressed by the writings of Artaud and the work of director Jerzy Grotowski), the Rough Theater (a theater of the people, against pretension and full of noise and action, best typified by the Elizabethan theater), and the Immediate Theater, which Brook identifies his own career with, an attempt to discover a fluid and ever-changing style that emphasizes the joy of the theatrical experience. What differentiates Brook's writing from so many other theatrical gurus is its extraordinary clarity. His gentle illumination of the four types of theater is conversational, even chatty, and though passionately felt, it's entirely lacking in the sort of didactic bombast that flaws many similar texts. --John Longenbaugh ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Insightful and Important
Yes: Brook is a genius.
Yes: This work is of great value to any theatre artist.
BUT!!! This book is rather dense, and those who are unfamiliar with major movements and theories in the last century of theater may find themselves a bit lost when Brook begins to talk about Artaud and the "Holy Theater" or Brecht and "Rough Theater."

Brook's ideas, through his sometimes dense writing, are meant to inspire and invigorate. This is not a manual or even a reference to create good theatre, as a major argument of Brook's is that good theater is far to complex and ever-changing to be explained by any book/manual/dogma/etc.

Read this book and know that it will not help you to create good theatre- if anything, it will raise the bar for "good" theatre so much higher that one's task becomes infinitely more difficult. This is the agony and the ecstasy of reading Peter Brook.

The theatre as a living organism
Building upon the earlier work of Aristotle, Brecht, Artaud and others, Brook confronts the living organism of the theatre on four levels: Deadly, Holy, Rough and Immediate. In each level, Brook makes the case that the theatre is not only a necessary component to the human creature, but a being that despite its constant wounds and ills, manages to bounce up from the death bed and find a way to survive.

Interestingly when Brook was writing (1968) there were many cynical critics who complained that the theatre was dying in the wake of television and film. Brook confronts the issue that theatre attendance was reacing all time lows. Today, over thirty years later, it is daunting to consider that there are even more distractions (the internet, home video, etc.) and attendance is even lower still. Yet despite these imposing knives thrusting into the communal body that is the Theatre, the world's oldest art form manages to forge ahead, survive and, the rare cases, thrive all the while maintaining its cultural importance.

Brook believes the theatre is unique is that it requires a community of artists and audiences alike to exist. That very sense of humanity and awe is what allows it to flourish in many instances.

Brook's writing is admittedly erudite and sometimes pretentious. And perhaps when one takes the positions that he does, such lofty language and posings may indeed be impossible. I hate to say it, but Brook's book may be hard going for the theatre lay person- God knows I'm aware of how elitist that sounds, but I think it is true. Because of his thick verbage, it may take a couple of stabs for the reader to unlock Brook's fevered soapboxing. But the journey is well worth the price.

This is a book of theatre theory and therefore it may appear quite barren of practical solutions. However when read in conjunction with not only life experience in the theatre as well as the many great acting, directing and play wrighting texts, it does provide the theatre artist with the basis for forging a true political manifesto. To quote Brook himself, "To play needs much work. But when we experience the work as play, then it is not work any more. A play is a play."

Opening the mind
Have you ever noticed that several of the worlds truly Great Books are very short? Reading this book, along with The Dramatic Imagination by Robert Edmond Jones, Acting: the first 6 lessons by Boleshavsky and Aristotles Poetics are (to my less than humble opinion) all one really needs to have a degree in Theater/re.

THE Manual For Theater Productions
For directors, designers, actors, and theater patrons, read this short book on the theory and practice of making good drama. Peter Brook's four chapters ("The Deadly Theater," "The Holy Theater," "The Rough Theater," and "The Immediate Theater") are filled with practical, helpful advice that it would benefit anyone to read this who loves the stage. Read it with a pencil, too.

A "Must Read" for everyone interested in theater
Peter Brook packs an incredible amount into this terse little gem of an essay. More than a discussion of his view of theater and some personal recollections, this book contains a how-to manual for every director, actor, designer, and producer. It is written in Brooks' unique style and is meant to be reread many times. With every reading, I find new insights as to how to bring real theatrical moments to my productions. As an essential part of my preparation for directing a particular project, I reread this classic. If it isn't on your bookshelf and isn't dog-eared from use, you aren't a complete professional in theater. ... Read more

Book Description

This beautiful new edition features an eye-opening Afterword written by Tappan Wilder that includes Thornton Wilder's unpublished notes and other illuminating photographs and documentary material.

Our Town was first produced and published in 1938 to wide acclaim. This Pulitzer Prize–winning drama of life in the small village of Grover's Corners, an allegorical representation of all life, has become a classic. It is Thornton Wilder's most renowned and most frequently performed play.

Reviews (82)

A book that spans generations
Thornton Wilder's Our Town is an inspiring play about the joy of life. The play depicts the lives of "ordinary people" in the fictional New Hampshire town of Grover's Corners. The play is set in three acts, each representing a different aspect of life entitled daily life, love and marriage, and death. Wilder sets the stage with nothing but two tables and chairs in order to establish the universality of the play. From there, you are transported to a world very similar to your own and watch the lives of two families and a town come together through hardships and happiness. Wilder's love for the past shows through as the setting is in the early 1900's. The play continues as the children of the two families grow up and experience all of the joys and sorrows of life. In the third act, the theme of death is prevalent. The third act pulls together the loose ends created in the first two acts in a philosophical way. A passage from the play that really sums up what Wilder was trying to get across is "Do human beings ever realize life while they live it?--every, every minute?" The characters in the play realize in the end that people rush through life not taking the time to enjoy every minute of it. They don't just stop and look around at the people, at the scenery, and at the world. Wilder's purpose in writing this novel was to inform people of just that, to live each day to the fullest and have no regrets when it's all over and you look back over your life. I recommend this play for anyone who rushes through life without enjoying the simple pleasures. It is short, it reads fast, but most of all, it says something that everyone needs to hear at one point in their life.

A Poignant Drama
When I first learned that I would be required to read "Our Town" as a part of a required reading assignment for English class, I didn't think that I was going to like it. As Wilder begins the play, the reader immediately notices that there is almost no action, suspense, characterization, or setting. The play is all about universality -- Wilder's lack of literary elements is actually a subliminal attempt to communicate the play's theme to everyone who reads it. The first act is a narrative of everyday events in a small New Hampshire town; Wilder titles this act "daily life" because it focuses on the monotony of trivial affairs. The second act is called "love and marriage," which discusses the process in which two people fall in love. The final act is based on "death" and it sums up the first two acts by casting them against the fact that everyone will die someday.

The main theme that Wilder tries to convey is that even the most insignificant, unimportant things in life need to be appreciated. The protagonist asks in the final act, "Do human beings ever realize life while they live it? Every, every minute?" The answer, of course, is 'no.' We all tend to rush through life like it is a giant marathon, and all too often, we trample on other people along the way. Also in the final act, the protagonist wishes that she would have been nicer to people while she had the chance; she wishes that she would've let the other characters know how much she loved and appreciated them. In writing this drama, Wilder wants to tell us that we should all live our lives to the fullest; we should take time every day to give thanks for all that we have; we should always tell our friends and family just how much they mean to us -- we can only do these things while we're living, and none of us know exactly how much longer that will be. Reading this play has really given me a "wake up call" and has allowed me to cherish everyday, ordinary things like the beauty of nature. I felt that the play was, in retrospect, brilliantly written, brief, and poignant. I recommend this play to everyone because it teaches a message that we all need to remember -- take time to savor the simple things, because they often carry the greatest rewards.

Misunderstood classic
Superficially a folksy, American nostalgia piece, "Our Town" spans the first thirteen years of the twentieth century in the life of Grover's Corners, a small village in rural New Hampshire. It's the archetypal town of the American Mythology. A place where the names on the oldest gravestones are the same as those of the townspeople today. Where the doctor delivers twins before breakfast, and is home in time to shoot the breeze with the paperboy. Where the kids share an ice-cream soda, their mothers sing in the church choir, and a girl grows up and really does marry the boy nextdoor. The play's fond recollection of an America that never existed was nostalgic even in 1938, yet Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama became an instant classic and remains one of America's most loved and frequently performed plays. America today is the shambles of a destroyed hope, the stillborn ruins of the way of life "Our Town" imagines but which in reality was never achieved. For those immune to the appeals of the American Dream, or more familiar with the reality of the American Global Empire, the play may seem deliciously rich in unintended irony. You could be forgiven for thinking the American preference for escapist, self-aggrandizing fantasy might account for its enduring appeal. Yet you would be wrong. Scratch the surface and "Our Town" is no quaint tale of hayseed family life. Wilder was an intellectual, an admirer of the avant-garde and the experimental works of James Joyce. Steadfastly minimalist in its presentation, engagingly postmodern in its insistence that we see the cast as actors rather than characters, and more thematically challenging than we are initially led to expect, "Our Town" is a work of social criticism which indicts us with personal responsibility for the way we see our lives. Wilder turns our nostalgia against us, demolishing our vision of the past as a Golden Age, and demanding we live here and now, simply and fully. The play shows ordinary lives in pursuit of universal meaning, and by confronting us with our own mortality it challenges us to explore our small allotment of years in the same way. This isn't so much a play of memories as a play about memory - private and public. It evokes nostalgia to warn against it, and argues instead for an acceptance of transience, a celebration of life while it is lived, and a recognition of that small, unknowable fragment of the self that is eternal. It's with this universalizing, evident in the final act, that "Our Town" transcends twentieth-century America and becomes an enduringly relevant work of art - one about memory, fantasy, and the power and price of both.

As satisfying a read as a novel or a book of poetry
Like many other people who have read this (and loved it!), it was required. Actually, we were required to watch a filmed stage version of it - starring Paul Newman as the Stage Manager. I found it very difficult to watch. I was, along with many other students, very bored watching that production. So, I decided to just read the play. (Reading the play was not required.) It was nothing short of fantastic and amazing.

I'm not the kind of person who reads plays and enjoys them. But OUR TOWN read almost like a very reader-friendly novel. And its themes of birth, life, and death have a tendency to reach out and grab the reader like few books I have ever come across. I will definitely be reading this again.

It's a Poignant Life!
This beloved classic and most frequently performed of Wilder's dramatic works still charms and captivates--despite the decades since its first production in 1938. A simple story, kaleidescopic time (both between and within Acts), basic family values and the modest joys of small town life are the literary elements offered to readers and theatre-goers. Scorning nobles and tradionally heroic figures, Wilder presents ordinary people in the early 20th century--a kinder, gentler time when horses

were being phased out in favor of automobiles. But writers will always cherish the natural progression of the seasons of human existence.

Why are audiences fascinated by the normal,
typical routine in rural New England; what explains the
timeless appeal of this simply-plotted story in three acts: Daily Life, Marriage, Death and Aftermath. Perhaps we are
haunted by the way the Dead (characters in Act 3) speak about and feel for the Living. Do the residents of the graveyard on the hill reveal painful truths about human life and asperations on earth? Why do the Dead mock those still living as blind and ignorant? What are they patiently, quietly waiting for in their
peaceful plots? Is Life just a waste of time, a farce during which we fool ourselves into believing in our own importance?
This tale of Americana belongs to all people, regardless of national origin--by virtue of its poignant insight into the human heart. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Love him or hate him, there's no denying the vast influence Frank Rich wielded as chief drama critic for the New York Times. Those he praised usually enjoyed great success; those he damned accused him of conspiring against their productions. Now, here's a volume, almost forbidding in length, that encompasses his work over 14 theater seasons. More than 330 reviews and articles brimming with plays and players, shows and showmen--famous and obscure, enduring and forgotten.Readers are likely to find something that--depending on their vintage--serves as a discovery or a reminder. Do you recall that Mike Nichols and Elaine May once appeared in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (The 1980 production accentuated Edward Albee's dark comedy, but left Rich "hungry for blood.") Or that FOB in the very same year launched the New York career of David Henry Hwang ("an unwieldy, at times spotty work"--one that nonetheless "hits home far more often than it misses"). Jump forward eight years to the same playwright's M. Butterfly and the circle is complete, as Rich lavishes praise upon Hwang's work, calling it one of his favorite new plays. Whatever readers may think of Rich's opinions (and he isn't shy about sharing them), they'll delight in his prose--at once witty and illuminating, sympathetic and sarcastic.

Revealed too in this tome is Rich's admiration and love for several mentors and peers, exemplified in moving tributes to the legendary critics Kenneth Tynan and Walter Kerr. Also poignant are footnotes to several reviews, outlining the real-life tragedies that befell mighty showmen like Gower Champion of 42nd Street. Rich traces the terrible toll AIDS has taken on Broadway, describing an era in which the celebrated and the unsung alike succumbed to the epidemic. Little wonder then, that Tony Kushner's Angels in America, rooted in the age of AIDS, makes such a profound impression on the critic: "I was so overwhelmed by Angels after a matinee in London that I canceled my theatergoing plans for that night; I needed time to think." All this makes Hot Seat more than just a compendium of reviews. It serves as a history and a highly entertaining read rolled into one, a portrait of the theater and, ultimately, of the critic himself. --Roy Wadia ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Those who can't do.......
Frank Rich was a petty, venal little fellow who used his lofty position in a mannner unsuitable for a drama critic of his alleged stature. One well known example goes that he gave a somewhat favorable review to a show, telling the producers where it needed the most work... the producers complied by doing everything rich asked ( some say with Rich's help), and lo and behold..at it's broadway premiere it received a positively glowing frank rich review! It is an absolute truth that part of the reason Broadway is at its lowest point in history now is because of Frank Rich. No producer would sink millions into a show just to have Rich ,entertaining the sheep who read his column, tear apart anything that didn't appeal to his limited tastes.

Shame on the mindless drones who need someone else to give them an opinion about a show, or a movie, or a piece of music, and shame on anyone who would buy this trash( surely just to read the venomous attacks on various shows, since that is how this crap is being marketed..and people love to watch a car wreck) and support a sorry S.O.B. like Frank Rich who almost single handedly wiped out one of Americas great contributions to the arts..the musical.

Let's Not Forget
While Rich's book may be a somewhat useful book of reviews he created for the New York Times, it must be remembered how he nearly ruined Broadway by writing hostile reviews of shows written by creative people he didn't like and glowing reviews for his personal favorites. He and his soon to be wife (Alex Witchel) who wrote the Friday Broadway column in times gave new meaning to the words "conflict of interest" and nearly destroyed Broadway in the process.

those were the days
i miss frank rich's reviews so much. they were brilliant and insightful and funny. i loved re-reading them in this book. i love you frank!

A rich and vibrant account of Frank Rich's Broadway.
What better way to view 10+ years on Broadway than through the eyes of a theatre critic? The so-called "Butcher of Broadway" has collected a large number of his reviews in this volume, and it is a must-read for anyone who remembers the theatre of the 1980s, or wants to experience it for the first time. Rich's reviews are insightful, well-written, and succeed very often at drawing you into the shows, and making you feel like you are part of the audience. The addition of editorial comments, from a modern day perspective, helps put some of the events his reviews and articles detail into an even greater context. Whether you agree with everything Mr. Rich says or not, there are few better windows into the twelve or so years of New York theatre while he was the theatre critic for The New York Times.

Almost as exciting as being there.
This is one of the best purchases I've made in a long while. I sat up way past my bedtime pouring over this wonderful book. Frank Rich became the NY Times Theatre Critic shortly after I began making annual pilgrimages to NYC and staying abreast of what was happening both on and off-Broadway. Consequently, almost every show I've seen over the years is reviewed somewhere in this book. And how wonderful it is to re-visit some of those cherished experiences through his eye! Reading Rich's reviews of "Dreamgirls", "Amadeus", and "Angels in America" again gave me chills. His reviews of "Moose Murders" and "Carrie" had me laughing out loud. And his review of the 3,389th performance of "A Chorus Line" left me in tears. But more than just these isolated moments, the book as a whole provides a rich, varied overview of the commercial theatre during the last decade and a half, obviously written by a man who loved his job and knew what he was talking about. It's a must! ... Read more

Book Description

Three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Edward Albee's most provocative, daring, and controversial play since Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Goat won four major awards for best new play of the year (Tony, New York Drama Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle). In the play, Martin, a successful architect who has just turned fifty, leads an ostensibly ideal life with his loving wife and gay teenage son. But when he confides to his best friend that he is also in love with a goat (named Sylvia), he sets in motion events that will destroy his family and leave his life in tatters.

The playwright himself describes it this way: Every civilization sets quite arbitrary limits to its tolerances. The play is about a family that is deeply rocked by an unimaginable event and they solve that problem. It is my hope that people will think afresh about whether or not all the values they hold are valid. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

one of his best
Edward Albee is without question the finest American playwright we've yet had, and all through The Goat, particularly in the second and third acts, he's in top form. Structurally, it's as perfect a tragedy as anything penned by Shakespeare, perhaps even by Sophocles. And structure and form are very much what seem to be at stake. What was Chagall's famous (partially correct) quote? Something like "It doesn't matter if it's a chicken or a barn door or a red blotch - just that something be there." In The Goat, Albee inserts a goat into a tragedy of marital infidelity, and manages, in spite of it's absurd nature, to be not only hilarious, but deeply moving. The oddness of it all is set off magnificently by the fact that Martin is as conscientious, rational, and aware of linguistic connotations as nearly any character you'll see upon a stage. And as always, Albee's dialogue is masterful, his touch deft, his ear damn near infallible. If I had to take one Albee play, besides V. Woolf this might be it.

Another great play by Edward Albee
Welcome to the quagmire of human sexuality. "The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?" (a 2002 Tony Award winner for Best Play) places the audience in the jury box. The accused are Martin, his wife Stevie and their gay teen-aged son Billy. Albee challenges us to question the nature and meaning of love. Can love and shame coexist? Who defines normal? Who, or what, has been betrayed? Who decides which behaviors are acceptable? After the evidence has been presented and issues debated we realize that this play isn't about bestiality or infidelity, but rather intolerance, nonconformity and the arbitrariness of societal standards. Does Albee provide any answers? No, he insists, as he always has, that you find your own. A truly great play.

Albee on Love
When he accepted the Tony Award for Best Play in 2002, Edward Albee said he was grateful that there was room on Broadway for a play about love. In 2003 we can be grateful that Overlook Press has published The Goat, or, Who is Sylvia?

I was fortunate to see The Goat on Broadway both with the original cast (Mercedes Ruehl and Bill Pullman) and with the replacement cast (Sally Field and Bill Irwin). While both casts were superb, what was so satisfying was that the text allowed for two very different interpretations. Having now read the play, its greatness is even more apparent.

The story is a simple, though unusual, one: Martin, a successful and famous architect lives in domestic harmony with his wife Stevie and their gay son Billy. Then one day Martin falls in love with Sylvia, who happens to be a goat. Albee uses three scenes to tell his story: 1) Martin's confession to his best friend Ross about his new love; 2) Stevie's confrontation with Martin over Sylvia (whom she finds out about in a letter from Ross); and 3) the tragic, yet also hopeful (to me at least), conclusion.

In this play Albee has harnessed the wordplay of drawing room comedy to the intense emotions of tragedy. In their confrontations, Stevie and Martin switch from emotional outbusts to clever repartee and back again. They even have the wherewithal to compliment each other on their bon mots.

The audacity of this strategy and Albee's success in bringing it off, apparent on stage, become even clearer after reading the text. His intricate constructions and verbal virtuosity lend a musical feeling to the work, as if every shift of mood and emotion were part of a larger composition. Albee rings changes not only in the lives of his characters, but also in the perceptions and emotions of his audience. With this work Albee has given us a new hybrid form of drama: the drawing room tragedy. In this respect it reminds me of an earlier work, The Lady from Dubuque, which employed a similar strategy, albeit less effectively in my opinion.

This play also marks the debut "the son" as a speaking character. Sons have been part of Albee plays before: in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf he is imaginary; in A Delicate Balance dead and buried; in Three Tall Women he is a silent witness at his dying mother's bedside; and in The Play About The Baby, while he is both born and kidnapped, he is never seen (if he even exists in the first place).

But in The Goat Stevie and Martin's son Billy is a vital presence. For the first time an Albee family feels complete. The imaginary child has been given form and voice. Billy's coming to grips both with his own homsexuality and with his father's new love leads to a moment in the last scene that sent chills of delight and terror up and down my spine each time I saw it performed. Never less than theatrically potent, Albee achieves a new intensity here that was thrilling.

With The Goat Albee has given us not only one of his best works, but also one of the best plays of recent times. I must admit that I never thought any of his works could rival my affection for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. But The Goat is its equal and leaves me eagerly anticipating where Edward Albee plans on next going. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Very Worth Buying...
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ballroom Dancing is a very good investment for those who would like to approach dancing. Jeff Allen knows what he's doing and describes the steps clearly. The only reason I gave this book 4 stars is because the text is rather small, making it seem too similiar to a textbook (bad memories from school). That's a minor problem though. Also, the CD that came with it was a great help too. The music on it was very easy to dance to. I highly recommend this book (along with a video too for those who are visual learners) to all the beginning dancers out there.

Editor of Amateur Dancers Loves CIG to Ballroom Dancing
The delightful premise of this book is to knowledgeably enter the enjoyable scene of social dancing with its "social, psychological and physical improvement of lifestyle." This it does! Anyone entering social dancing, and those having entered and not become competitively focused, can do well to buy this cleverly written book.

Scattered throughout the text, Jeff very effectively uses logo-symboled information boxes to add interest and pointed tips. Eschewing the usual foot diagrams for patterns, text and pictures do the job. The excellent introductory diagram of Line of Dance and the 11 dance music CD is arguably worth the cost of the book.

Beginning with the history of the original "close" dancing position of partners, the author traces the evolvement of ballroom dancing in a very unique way - the impact exerted by national economies, mores and wars.

The ceremonial wedding dance is covered as the point of beginning for many people and it traces natural evolvement from that point. Reasons to dance for men, women and the shy are given through to the relationship and foreplay factors.

Physically and mentally meeting the challenges of ballroom dancing are listed, then music, timing, rhythm, movement and position.

"The Plain Truth about Practicing, Expectations, and Prioritization" is a section not usually covered in dance books, but should be; the discussion of "Creating a Dance Couple" is quite germane to those not locked in a high-level partnership.

The author approaches Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Rumba, Merengue, Samba, Cha-Cha, Mambo, East Coast Swing, and Hustle very practically with descriptive text and pictures that do the job of getting you in the dance.

Competitors, Silver level and above, will find the book's historical notes and the personal side of dancing a good read, all others can favorably and profitably use the book to help getting their heads and feet straight on the floor.

Conclusion: Buy it, for your personal improvement and attitude.

Review of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ballroom Dancing
Published in Amateur Dancers; Issue #139 Sept/Oct 2002
By Robert Meyer, Editor

The Final Word
If you think a book like this might nicely supplement dance instruction at a local studio or class, then you're a realistic person. Best of luck to all prospective dancers.

For the Record: Terrific for Beginners!!
Part I of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ballroom Dancing begins at the "beginning" with a whirlwind trip through history and the history of ballroom dancing -very interesting reading!- and ends with a chapter entitled "What Makes Us Dance" , a fun and interesting socio-anthropological look at...well...what makes people dance! Definitely food for thought.
Part II of the book as well as Allen's "Quickstart Method," found in chapters 10 & 11 are really what's revolutionary about his approach. To analogize these sections would be to say that they are to the beginner dancer what learning about the basic functions of an automobile are about to the new driver. All of them necessary before an individual (or couple) are ready to learn where to go. Having Been an Instructor for many years, it never ceases to amaze me how teachers and the public at large are deceived into thinking that if you just learn "the steps" you'll dance. Wrong, dancing is more the quality of your car than where you are driving. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ballroom Dancing unravels the how's, why's, and where's for the novice.
I have reviewed most of the books in the marketplace; sadly most of them are filled with unforgivable technical error. If I were Allen I would not refer to them either. In this book Mr. Allen references his own work where the subject matter is different from the present topic or where the reader may want to expand upon the topic at hand. For instance, if you want more Ballroom Tango (or Argentine Tango which is very different from the ballroom style) than the Idiot's Guide provides, then read Quickstart to Tango. If you want more Swing, Allen has written an encyclopedia of Swing steps & technique called, Quickstart to Swing.
The wedding section mentions another of Mr. Allen's books & video called "The Complete Guide to Slow Dancing," another type of dancing not covered in the Idiot's Guide. This book is meant to cover ballroom dancing and Allen gives the reader plenty to work with covering 11 different dances.... For goodness sakes he has created a combination in the Foxtrot section that really does have a stroke of genius called "The Emergency Wedding Routine," that can be easily worked out in less than two weeks. There is also instruction for presenting the bride by the groom and "The Wedding Dip," (including terrific pictures). ...this book is a masterpiece!

For beginners?
Jeff Allen has impressive dance credentials and his approach to teaching is supposed to be revolutionary, but I noticed that he constantly references books written by himself and rarely those of others. That's what I call a new age dance master. The history section is interesting, and his brief discussion of why men and women dance was pretty fascinating--I'd definitely like to see that examined further. There's plenty of realistic advice about the challenges of partner dancing, but repetition becomes a problem and the text is incoherent at times. Ultimately, it's hard to learn dancing from a book under any condition. The commentary on technique and styling is valuable once you have a little experience under your belt, but for beginning social/ballroom dancers, I'd recommend a video. Arthur Murray's 'Let's Dance' or Margot Scholz's 'Introduction to Ballroom Dancing' are both excellent. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

A great book to teach the art of reading and writing a play
I have used this book as the basis of several theatre and playwriting classes that I have taught. Ball's language is simple, though the words he creates to explain his theories, such as "trigger" and "heap" (a trigger is the moment when people's motivations are exposed, while a heap is the result of that action) make it it easy for any non-theatre person to grasp the clever concepts.

By having a person read a play backwards, Ball shows how to grasp the playwright's intentions, and the character's movements. It's a basic theatrical literary theatre that is surprisingly effective, especially in trying to teach young writers how to create a play.

I highly recommend this book to the theatre neophyte as well as the theatre professional.

A Must-Have, Especially For Directors
David Ball's Backwards and Forwards is a concise, to-the-point handbook useful to anyone involved in theatre. He, step-by-step, gives methods of analyzing a play, using Hamlet as an example. This is a very useful technique, whereas some books of lesser quality will give information with no examples of application.

As an aspiring director I found the content very helpful, rudimentary, and although at times basic, always insightful. A must-have.

Demystifying the Playwriting Process
David Ball's book is a must-have for all students and professors of theatre. It demystifies the playwriting process and presents a simple, down-to-earth explanation of why a playscript works the way it does. In a word, it explains how scripts work. I find the deceptively simple explanations help the novices in my Introduction to Theatre classes understand how playscripts are put together and make a fun game of script analysis for these students--a concept that is often hard to communicate to Intro students. At the same time, it make so much sense that it becomes the cornerstone for Beginning Directing, Playwriting, and Script Analysis students. Students whom I teach using Ball's ideas always come through the semester with a lot of self-esteem because having such a solid cornerstone allows their creativity to take off in unexpected directions.

A concise text for ALL theater artists!
Ball's book is perhaps one of the most concise and insightful texts written about the subject of text analysis. Short and simple yet powerful, it is a must-have for theater artists of all kinds.

Whenever I am directing or writing, I go back to Ball's book and review it as part of my preparation, and there is always something new or interesting in it. Besides being useful as a resource to directors and writers, it is invaluable to academicians as well as actors. Using Hamlet as a model, it unravels not only the mysteries and traps of that play, but ALL plays.

I cannot recommend it highly enough. It should be taught in directing curriculums and read by actors, writers, and academicians everywhere.

(P.S. - Ball was a professor at Carnegie Mellon, my alma mater, and the birthplace of advanced directing studies in America.)

Another Tool for Theatre Artists
My teacher from San Jose State University made us read this and I learned a lot from it. It was quick, fast, and simple reading; a great tool for those investigating plays. Also this book can help you with riting one as well (If you use reverse psychology). The examples of Hamlet are great examples that help explain the definitations of plot, character, theme, conflict, and other important parts in plays. A great tool for anyone in Theatre. ... Read more

Book Description

The Shakespearean Stage is the only authoritative book that describes all the main features of the original staging of Shakespearean drama in one volume: the acting companies and their acting styles, the playhouses, the staging and the audiences. For twenty years it has been hailed as not only the most reliable but the liveliest and most entertaining overview of Shakespearean theater available to students.For this third edition Professor Gurr has substantially revised the book, bringing it right up to date and incorporating many new discoveries, including those of the archaeologists at the sites of the Rose and Globe theaters. The invaluable appendix, which lists all the plays performed at a particular playhouse, the playing company and date of performance, has also been revised and rearranged. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

An emphasis on fact
This is simply a definitive book. Rich in scholarship it is free from much of the dogma, masquerading as fact, that attaches itself to theatrical "scholarship"of this period. Gurr has an astonsihing array of knowledge that encompases all the major authors, players, companies and audiences of this fascinating era. Quite simply he makes it come alive. He also answers so many of the questions that puzzle the reader about this time. Of particular interest is his attempt to investigate the acting "style" in the playhouse and the growing schism between the "personative" school of acting and the "rhetoriticians". Please buy, it will reward your purchase many times over!

The best survey of its kind
It is very easy, and very pleasant, to write in praise of this book, for it is hard to envisage that the task accomplished by Gurr - an absolute expert in the area under discussion - could have been carried out yet better. For several years now, this guide has very justifiably been accepted as the best of its kind, and it is an essential possession for all of us who want, within one handy volume, a comprehensive account of what the theatres of Shakespeare's time were like, and what is likely to have happened within them. The author's detailed, well-informed and specific work is based not only on his own formidable research into the matters at issue, but also on close acquaintance with what others have done. Everything is presented with impeccable, sensible and perceptive judgement. The book can certainly be read through with benefit and enjoyment, but repays frequent visiting whenever one wants to consult a particular chapter or to find out more about a specific issue or fact (there is a very good index to help one in this). All in all, therefore, this book is not only very informative to read, but surpasses a great many books on Shakespeare and his time by being also an excellent reference tool for frequent use. Unhesitatingly recommended. - Joost Daalder, Professor of English, Flinders University, South Australia

A learned and accessible background guide
This book gives an engaging breakdown of how Shakespearean plays were performed in early modern London. Gurr gives an idea of the range of players' companies, playhouses, and different playing practices, as well as a sense of how the companies and their plays changed throughout the period. I refer to this book all the time and plan to order it for my students to read as a companion to Shakespeare's plays. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Must-read for every dancer and parent of a dancer
This book is the most comprehensive guide to the physiology of dancing. It answers important questions about what is normal and what can cause problems. It also deals with correcting technique problems and preventing injuries by proper strengthening exercises. It covers the entire body from head to toe. In my opinion every dance teacher should read this book so they can responsibly develop young dancers. This book should be reprinted --- anyone who dances should read it and keep it handy as a valuable resource.

You don't have to be a dancer to love this book!
Dancing Longer, Dancing Stronger is for anyone who desires to understand their body and how to make it work more effectively. Along with detailed anatomical descriptions of all the bones and muscles in the body and how they interact, are exercises for both strengthening and lengthening each muscle set. You don't have devote a fortune in expensive equipment or a large amount of time doing repetive, boring movement. Suggestions in the Question and Answer sections help you define your structural weaknesses and suggest exercises within the program for overcoming them. Plus you never have to count past 8! Each exercise is done to one of four 8 count rhythms with most exercises being either 4 or 8 reptitions each. As a figure skater, this book has provided me with the best off-ice training I've found to date. Even my coach wants a copy! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Conflict Management: A Communications Skills Approach
An excellent book for every manager seeking an approach to managing conflict. The book is written with the understanding that one can't always resolve conflict. However, a five step process is given which allows for it's successful managing. Through Assessment, Acknowledgement, Attitude, Action and Analysis (5A's) the reader will form a firm base to anticipate and management conflict. The chapters on gender differences, cross-cultural awareness and how writing styles cause conflict are very timely. ... Read more

Book Description

This is the basic book for recreational dance. It is the eighth edition of the best-selling introduction to dance, one whose unique combination of dance instruction, descriptions of major forms of dance, and directions for over 260 individual dances provides future dance instructors with the background needed to be successful teachers.The cultural background of dance for each country is presented along with specific suggestions for developing style. It reflects the most recent trends in dance, and includes a wealth of suggestions for dance resource materials. The methods teacher has an all-inclusive textbook for students, the teacher in training has a reference book that will last a lifetime. Coverage includes the Rumba, Cha Cha, Fox Trot, Waltz, Swing, Hustle, Tango, Salsa, and Country-Western dances. Detailed illustrations and diagrams clarify techniques throughout, making learning each dance as easy as 1-2-3. For beginning and experienced teachers of dance, or for the dance enthusiast. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A great resource book for physical educaion teachers
If you want to teach your class something about partner, folk, social, contra, and ballroom dance, it is here. This book covers everything from A to Z. It even gives you a glossary just in case you did not know some of those square dance calls. And, its many indexes and other additions at the back of the book are fabulous to help you plan and find all kind of relevant material. I wonder what happened to Ms. Pitman and Ms. Walker, co-authors of earlier editons. Yes, I have used Dance A While for years. It was recommended to me in college during the 60's. I lost it and am so happy to see it is still in print. Because, what ever other books I looked at when I needed information never came close to providing what I needed to find out. Thank you Jane Harris for updating and improving a great book.

A great book for dance teachers
This is the best book I used for learning how to teach dancing. It contains a good selection of simple dances which are suitable for novice dancers, and provides detailed dance descriptions and good advice for the teacher. The only drawback is that it doesn't come with music, so you have to track down a suitable recording for each dance. I have used this book for teaching recreational folk dance groups and school classes, and find it to be an excellent resource. ... Read more

Book Description

The legend of Margot Fonteyn has touched every ballet dancer who has come afterher,and her genius endures in the memory of anyone who saw her dance. Yet until now,thecomplete story of her life has remained untold. Meredith Daneman, a novelist andformerdancer, reveals the fascinating story of Peggy Hookham, a little girl fromsuburbanEngland, who grew up to become a Dame of the British Empire and the most famousballerina in the world.

This completely riveting and definitive biography chronicles Fonteyn’s earlyyears andher intense connection to her mother, the "Black Queen"; her loves in bohemianthirtiesand forties London; her relationship with her balletic Svengali, FrederickAshton; herconquest of New York with the Sadler’s Wells Ballet; and her final years inPanama withher husband, Roberto Arias. Daneman reflects on Fonteyn’s "lyricism and limpidpurityof line, so potent with theatrical moment that even film cannot capture it" andthe worldof ballet from the birth of the British Royal Ballet to Rudolf Nureyev, herfinal partnerand rumored lover.

Balletomanes and readers of biography alike will applaud Daneman’s vivid,insightful,and highly entertaining work. Based on more than ten years of research andlavishlyillustrated with beautiful and evocative photographs, Margot Fonteyn isanexquisite biography that is supremely worthy of its alluring subject. ... Read more

Book Description

This introductory text provides coverage of the broad range of contemporary theatre and includes complete scripts of five plays:August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Wakako Yamauchi’s And the Soul Shall Dance, Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, Marsha Norman’s Getting Out, and Sam Shepard’s Buried Child. The text emphasizes the collaborative and creative processes that go into productions, and includes interviews with theatre artists. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent Text for Introduction to Theater
THE CREATIVE SPIRIT takes a very refreshing, multicultural view to American Theater, while still giving good, basic information about theater history and the process of theater production.This text was written to accompany introductory theater courses, (perhaps in community colleges or in a theater for non-majors context), not to try to be a definitive guide to all theater.Hence, the subtitle "An Introduction to Theatre."

Reading plays is a huge part of learning about theater, and this text includes many plays for analysis and discussion.The plays included are each unique and important, reflecting the diverse experience of the people of the United States (and probably the students who are reading them), while still teaching the same concepts as if they were reading the plays that most intro textbooks offer.Each play is preceded by contextual information including an author biography, the artistic and cultural influences that contributed to the inspiration of the writing, information about a production of the play, etc.

There are individual chapters about the role of each theater practicioner (director, designer, actor, etc.) which include interviews with professionals who discuss their craft.

New to recent editions is the addition of an entire chapter about musical theater.An important part of American theater, recent and historical musical productions are discussed.

The text is richly illustrated, with many color plates, black and white photos and drawings.Photos of Broadway, regional and college productions are included, as well as historically important people and places.

In addition, the final chapter of the text (at least in the last edition, I have not seen the most recent edition) includes a number or project ideas for students to become the producers of a show, choosing directorial concepts, set and costume designs, etc.At the end of each of the other chapters are suggested discussion questions for that chapter's content as well.

Many of us practicing theater today could even benefit from reviewing some of the basic information in this book, or expanding our knowledge of what's out there by reading about and seeing photos from varied regional productions.

In my mind, THE CREATIVE SPIRIT: AN INTRODUCTION TO THEATRE is an excellent book for what it aims to be.

Its OK
I think this book its OK. It gives you more of a theatrical background than theatrical techniques. Backgroung information of theater, though, is essential so that we could understand theater as a whole. The book includesexerpts and many short plays. Like I had said before, it OK. ... Read more

Book Description

4 plays about an existential portrayal of Hell, the reworking of the Electra-Orestes story, the conflict of a young intellectual torn between theory and conflict and an arresting attack on American racism. ... Read more

Reviews (39)

A MASTERPIECE SHOULD BE SEEN & EXPERIENCED BY ALL -GENIUS
It is apt that the title of the book does not include the names of the other three plays, because 'No Exit' alone is a feast. As such I am embarking on an exciting journey to stage this play in London. I am an actor, and I performed this play whilst studying drama at University with 2 American students, way back in 1982. It is a play about life. For me the overriding message is that he wants to shock his audience out of their complacency. We don't have to perpetuate hell here on earth we can control our own destiny and make a difference. As a result we should learn to love the characters by the end of the play, because they are us. The play is a black comedy/thriller. It's simply stunning. Read It!

Great drama, great philosophy
No Exit is a tautly written that works on both the dramatic and philosophical levels. With only one act, four characters, and no set other than a sofa and chairs, this play takes minimalism to its extreme. The tension is palpable throughout. Sartre creates a perfectly unworkable triangle of personalities in Garcin, Inez, and Estelle, and within this triangle the dramatic tension steadily builds.

The real beauty of this play is that its message can be interpreted in many different ways. It's not entirely clear what Sartre is trying to say about human nature here. I've heard some people argue that the main point is that the company of other people can be a form of hell. I think this is way to simplistic. If anything, Sartre might be trying to say that hell is a self-fulfilling prophecy - that these people, realizing that they were in hell, created among themselves a set of circumstances that was hellish. The logical converse of that idea would therefore be that by exercising their free will, they could have chosen otherwise. Then there is also the interesting question of why these people are in hell in the first place. Here Sartre makes a strong argument that people have a moral responsibility to act in the best interest of humanity as a whole - something that none of these characters can claim to have done.

While existentialism as a movement has long since been abandoned by most philosophers, this play has lived on, and rightly so. It's well worth the hour that it takes to read it.

Some of the Greatest Writing Ever
No Exit and The Other Plays is, in my humble opinion, the greatest collection of plays I have ever read, restoring my enjoyment of them after high school ruined it by shoving Shakspere down my throat. Sartre is able to convey great imagery and story lines through his writing, and it makes for a gripping read. Out of these, I would recommend Dirty Hands as the best, but all of them are an essential read.

Much Impressed
I was a bit skeptical going into this one. The premise of the book is fairly simple: three strangers are locked into a single room with minimal furniture and expected to stay there with one another for all eternity. That's it. No violent overthrow of government, no breaking into an elaborate computer mainframe. So why bother reading? C'mon Sartre, show us some plot.
The amazing thing was, I completely enjoyed this play. I gave it a chance and read it through and was not at all disappointed. Think of it: three strangers walk into a room containing three couches, a mantle, an odd mantle decoration, and a door that won't open, and try to make sense of the whole setup.
The female/male ratio is 2 to 1, leaving Garcin to hold his own against Inez, a trouble-making bisexual, and Estelle, a woman who doesn't believe she can function without the support of a man. They realize that the room is their torture chamber, of sorts, in a long corridor of Hell, and their punishment is to be carried out through--are you ready?--annoying one another.
For fear of giving away the plot, or lack thereof, I'll leave you with this: the book is a must-read, if only to discover for yourself the awesome ability of human beings to torture one another using only their personalities. :o)

Nothingness
Okay, let me start with mentioning that this book is worth of few hours. Turn off the TV and read it.
Sartre's existentialism is best expressed in his fictions including this one, at least I think.
His persuation to nothingness is not quite expressible without phenomenological settings. And here they are.
I'm having hard time to interest myself by reading Being and Nothingness, but this book is fun to read and easier to capture by sense, not even getting to literal understanding of existentialism.
For those of whom not interested in Philosophy, this book still is to read. It's a well written persuasive book which doesn't seem spoiled by translation. If it doesn't bring us original intention of Sartre, the translator was as brilliant as the author. So read it. ... Read more

Book Description

COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CULTURES continues with the features that have made it the best-selling text for the intercultural communication course. This new edition of Samovar and Porter's leading text gives students an understanding and appreciation of different cultures and helps them develop practical skills for improving their communication with people from other cultures. It's renowned for being the only text on the market to consistently emphasize religion and history as key variables in intercultural communication. Packed with the latest research and filled with numerous, compelling examples that force students to examine their own assumptions and cultural biases, this book helps students understand the subtle and profound ways culture affects communication. The book is divided into four interrelated parts: Part I introduces the study of communication and culture; Part II focuses on the ability of culture to shape and modify our view of reality; Part III puts the theory of intercultural communication into practice; and Part IV converts knowledge into action. ... Read more

Book Description

This important new introductory textbook by a prime mover in the emergent field of Performance Studies is a defining moment for the discipline. It provides a lively and accessible overview of the full range of performance for undergraduates at all levels and beginning graduate students in performance studies, theatre, performing arts and cultural studies. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Where Theatre Studies Needs to Go
This long awaited book by Richard Schechner breaks the traditional boundaries of how theatre is to be studied. He assures us through numerous examples, comments, quotations, and theories how interrelated theatre is with life and life with theatre. To see performance as a part of life and as an extension of it is to see performance with a clarity that has never before been discussed in such depth.

By the end of the book, which is probably more useful as a reference than even as a textbook that students read chapter by chapter (though it does offer great possibilities for creatively integrating in the classroom as it was intended), one has more questions than answers, and that is a good thing, because the questions become more focused and more relevant and more conducive to individual introspection. As a college professor in Theatre, I find that refreshing and valuable.

This is a seminal work, and should certainly be on every theatre practitioner's bookshelf, if not in their hands.

The book contains nudity and language in the examples of performance he gives, so is not suitable for children. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (58)

*smashing* play
Ibsen himself said that this play was about human rights, not womens rights, and i think that this is true. Nora was constantly belittled by Helmer and had never been given the chance to grow up. She had been treated like a doll in a dolls house, first by her father and then by her husband, who she had been passed on to. Although it seems trivial, even the mere fact that she was forbidden to eat macaroons is significant. People may well say that a womans first responsability is to her family, and children especially, i think that it is ultimately to herself. Nora closing the door at the end of the play is very significant - she is closing the door on that part of her life. Torvald realised what he had done in the end, but by that time it was far too late for anything to be changed. Although i studied this play in school, i really enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone who will listen. Nora managed to break out of the life she had been confined to, that many of the women of her time were confined to. (i studied this play for a-level and wrote, like 100 essays on it, can you tell?)

The start of Realism
When Ibsen's "A Doll's House" came out, it would be a start of a new revolution in the theatre. Science and Society was changing so the theatre had to change too. Instead of seeing Kings and Historical figures on the stage, we would see the common person and their role in society and their environment. Everything(Dialouge, props, acting etc.) would be all Real and be as if the audience were looking through a keyhole in these peoples lives and the people unaware of the audience. Audiences now would see a "slice of life." Ibsen's "A Doll's House" along with Strindberg's "Miss Julie" would establish the Realism movement and inspire the future of playwrights such as Chekhov, Shaw, Wilde, O'Neill etc...

"A Doll's House" is a play about the role of women in Ibsen's time. Nora who struggles to bring happin