Equestrian Drama

Equestrian Drama: An Anthology of Plays is a collection of four representative equestrian dramas. It includes four annotated plays: Timour the Tartar by Matthew G. Lewis, The Battle of Waterloo by J. H. Amherst, Mazeppa by Henry M. Milner, and The Whip by Henry Hamilton and Cecil Raleigh. An introduction precedes the collection, providing the information necessary to understand and contextualize the genre and the plays as both written and performance texts, and within the time period of their original productions, as well as within the larger histories of theatre and equestrian entertainments. Additional related plays are identified, excerpted, and explored, providing readers with a wide range of examples to better understand the development and significance of this unique form of popular theatre. Also identified and explored are significant contributions made to stage technology and design by the patented stage machinery designed for the production of the mechanized form of equestrian drama, which became popular in the late nineteenth century. Equestrian Drama is suitable for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in theatre history, dramatic literature, performance studies, and equine studies. An online supplement to this book is available to provide readers with additional content relating to this collection, including original English language translations of La Fille Hussard and Rognolet and Passe-Carreau, as well as the full annotated text of Turpin's Ride to York.

A History of Equestrian Drama in the United States documents the history of equestrian drama in the United States and clarifies the multi-faceted significance of the form and of the related stage machinery developed to produce hippodramas. The development of equestrian drama is traced from its origins and influences in the sixteenth century, through the height of the form’s popularity at the turn of the twentieth century. Analysis of the historical significance of the genre within the larger context of U.S. theatre, the elucidation of the importance of the horse to theatre, and an evaluation of the lasting impact on theatre technology are also included.

A History of Equestrian Drama in the United States documents the history of equestrian drama in the United States and clarifies the multi-faceted significance of the form and of the related stage machinery developed to produce hippodramas. The development of equestrian drama is traced from its origins and influences in the sixteenth century, through the height of the form's popularity at the turn of the twentieth century. Analysis of the historical significance of the genre within the larger context of U.S. theatre, the elucidation of the importance of the horse to theatre, and an evaluation of the lasting impact on theatre technology are also included.

Since the beginning of the nineteenth-century, many forms of theatre have been called 'popular', but in the twentieth-century the term 'popular drama' has taken on definite political overtones, often indicating a repudiation of 'commercial theatre'. Does this mean that political theatre is or tries to be more attractive to more people than commercial theatre? Does it conversely mean that commercial theatre has no political effects? The articles in this book were submitted as papers for a conference on the theme of 'popular' theatre, film and television. Contributions came from people with very different types of experience: from an ex-animal trainer to a lecturer in film studies; from playwrights, directors and actors to professional critics and academics. Each author focused on a particular problem of defining drama in performance, drawing together the conditions of performance, the types of audience and the political effects of the plays or films in question. The result was a series of fruitful connections and juxtapositions that shows the remarkable continuity of the problems raised in attempts to create a popular political drama.

Relevance and Marginalisation in Scandinavian and European Performing Arts 1770–1860: Questioning Canons reveals how various cultural processes have influenced what has been included, and what has been marginalised from canons of European music, dance, and theatre around the turn of the nineteenth century and the following decades. This collection of essays includes discussion of the piano repertory for young ladies in England; canonisation of the French minuet; marginalisation of the popular German dramatist Kotzebue from the dramatic canon; dance repertory and social life in Christiania (Oslo); informal cultural activities in Trondheim; repertory of Norwegian musical clocks; female itinerant performers in the Nordic sphere; preconditions, dissemination, and popularity of equestrian drama; marginalisation and amateur staging of a Singspiel by the renowned Danish playwright Oehlenschläger, also with perspectives on the music and its composers; and the perceived relevance of Henrik Ibsen’s staged theatre repertory and early dramas. By questioning established notions about canon, marginalisation, and relevance within the performing arts in the period 1770–1860, this book asserts itself as an intriguing text both to the culturally interested public and to scholars and students of musicology, dance research, and theatre studies.

The Methuen Drama Dictionary of the Theatre is an essential reference tool and companion for anyone interested in the theatre and theatre-going. Containing over 2500 entries it covers the international spectrum of theatre with particular emphasis on the UK and USA. With biographical information on playwrights, actors and directors, entries on theatres and theatre companies, explanation of technical terms and theatrical genres, and synopses of major plays, this is an authoritative, trustworthy and comprehensive compendium. Included are: synopses of 500 major plays biographical entries on hundreds of playwrights, actors, directors and producers definitions of nearly 200 genres and movements entries on over 100 key characters from plays information about more than 250 theatres and companies Unlike similar products, The Methuen Drama Dictionary of the Theatre avoids a dry, technical approach with its sprinkling of anecdotal asides and fascinating trivia, such as how Michael Gambon gave his name to a corner of a racing track following an incident on BBC's Top Gear programme, and under 'advice to actors' the sage words of Alec Guinness: 'First wipe your nose and check your flies', and the equally wise guidance from the master of his art, Noël Coward: 'Just know your lines and don't bump into the furniture.' As a companion to everything from the main stage to the fringes of theatrical fact and folklore, this will prove an irresistible book to all fans of the theatre.

The mention of the term "melodrama" is likely to evoke a response from laymen and musicians alike that betrays an acquaintance only with the popular form of the genre and its greatly heightened drama, exaggerated often to the point of the ridiculous. Few are aware that there exists a type of melodrama that contains in its smaller forms the beauty of the sung ballad and, in the larger-scale works, the appeal of the spoken play. This category of melodrama is one that surfaced in many cultures but was perhaps never so enthusiastically cultivated as in the Czech lands. The melodrama varied greatly at the hands of its Czech advocates. While the works of Zdeněk Fibich and his contemporary Josef Bohuslav Foerster, a composer best known for his songs, remained closely bound to the text, those of conductor/composer Otakar Ostrčil reveal a stance that privileged the music and, given their creator’s orchestral experience, are more reminiscent of the symphonic poem. Fibich in his staged works and Josef Suk (composer/violinist and Dvořák’s son-in-law), in his incidental music reflect variously late nineteenth-century Romanticism, the influence of Wagner, and early manifestations of Impressionism. In its more recent guise, the principles of the staged melodrama reside quite comfortably in the film score. Judith A. Mabary’s important volume will be of interest not only to musicologists, but those working in Central and East European studies, voice studies, European theatre, and those studying music and nationalism.