Mahesh Dattani

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) aimed to be more than just a composer. He set out to redefine opera as a "total work of art" combining the highest aspirations of drama, poetry, the symphony, the visual arts, even religion and philosophy. Equally celebrated and vilified in his own time, Wagner continues to provoke debate today regarding his political legacy as well as his music and aesthetic theories.Wagner and His Worldexamines his works in their intellectual and cultural contexts. Seven original essays investigate such topics as music drama in light of rituals of naming in the composer's works and the politics of genre; the role of leitmotif in Wagner's reception; the urge for extinction inTristan und Isoldeas psychology and symbol; Wagner as his own stage director; his conflicted relationship with pianist-composer Franz Liszt; the anti-French satireEine Kapitulationin the context of the Franco-Prussian War; and responses of Jewish writers and musicians to Wagner's anti-Semitism. In addition to the editor, the contributors are Karol Berger, Leon Botstein, Lydia Goehr, Kenneth Hamilton, Katherine Syer, and Christian Thorau. This book also includes translations of essays, reviews, and memoirs by champions and detractors of Wagner; glimpses into his domestic sphere in Tribschen and Bayreuth; and all of Wagner's program notes to his own works. Introductions and annotations are provided by the editor and David Breckbill, Mary A. Cicora, James Deaville, Annegret Fauser, Steven Huebner, David Trippett, and Nicholas Vazsonyi.

Mahesh Dattani, b. 1958, an Indian English playwright.

The book undertakes the study of social realism in the plays of Mahesh Dattani. The social issues which Dattani has taken into consideration have been examined critically. The aspects examined have contemporary relevance and the playwright’s aim is to make audience aware about these issues. The selected plays for this book are: Where There’s a Will (1988), Dance Like a Man (1989), Tara (1990), Bravely Fought the Queen (1991), Final Solutions (1993), Do the Needful (1997), On a Muggy Night in Mumbai (1998), Seven Steps Around the Fire (1999) and Thirty Days in September (2001). The entire book is about depiction of contemporary social reality in the plays of Mahesh Dattani and the way we look at those realities and the need to change our outlook for the better of society. The issues that are discussed through these plays are religious harmony, gender equality, sexual abuse of children and glbt issues. There is focus on the concepts like realism, social realism and socialist realism. The book also describes social realism in Indian English drama. The author has tried to show how social realism has become one of the emerging trends in Indian English drama. The detailed historical account of some playwrights writing in the mode of social realism has been focused upon.

The Present Critical Anthology On Indian-English Drama Is A Welcome Addition To The Ever-Increasing Repertoire Of The Academic World. It Contains Some Twenty-Two Papers On Diverse Authors, Themes And Trends. The Authors Treated In It Are Girish Karnad, Mahesh Dattani, Badal Sircar, Rabindranath Tagore (Chronologically, Tagore Should Have Been Placed First), And Vijay Tendulkar. The Themes Dealt With Herein Are Myths And Folk Tales, Religious Propensity, Social Alienation, Audience Participation, Feminine Psyche, Role Of Freedom, And Man-Woman Relationship. And The Trends Touched Upon In This Anthology Are Mythic And Symbolic Interpretations, Focusing On Folklore, Experimentations In Third Theatre And Street Plays, And Feminist Approaches To Certain Plays. The Broad Spectrum Of Indian-English Drama Has Also Been Presented In A Few Papers.In Its Present Shape And Size, This Anthology Will, Hopefully, Find A Place On The Library Shelves And Enlighten The Academics On The Perspectives And Challenges Inherent In Indian-English Drama.

Jairaj Parekh and his wife Ratna, aging Bharatnatyam dancers, are engaged in finding a substitute mridangam player to accompany their daughter Lata at her performance at a high-profile dance festival. Lata, in the meantime, nervously awaits the meeting between her parents and Viswas, the young man she wishes to marry. When the four meet, and in the conversations and discussions that follow, the fissures in the relationship between Jairaj and Ratna begin to explode into high-strung battles which lead back to their own youth and the tragedy that lies at the heart of their discord. The younger couple have their own issues to contend with: the obvious mismatch between the two sets of parents, the arguments over Lata’s career as a dancer after marriage and most unsettling of all, Lata’s attempt to balance her parents’ ambition with her own needs and desires. A brilliant study of human relationships and weaknesses framed by the age-old battle between tradition and youthful rebellion, Dance Like a Man has been hailed as one of the best works of the dramatic imagination in recent times.

Mahesh Dattani Is India S Best-Known Playwright And The First Indian Playwright Writing In English To Have Won The Sahitya Akademi Award. Collected Plays: Volume Ii Showcases Dattani S Talent As A Writer And Director And His Wide Thematic And Stylistic Range. The Ten Plays In This Volume Include 30 Days In September, Performed Extensively In India And Abroad To Commercial Success And Critical Acclaim, The Radio Plays Aired On Bbc Radio And The Screen Plays Of Mango Soufflé (Winner Of The Best Motion Picture Award At The Barcelona Film Festival), Dance Like A Man (Winner Of The Best Picture In English Awarded By The National Panorama), And Morning Raga, Premiered At The Cairo Film Festival And Winner Of The Award For Best Artistic Contribution, That Established Dattani As The New Voice Of Contemporary Indian Cinema. With A General Introduction By Jeremy Mortimer Of Bbc Radio And Introductions To Individual Plays By Actors Like Lillete Dubey And Shabana Azmi, The Plays In This Collection Provide Fascinating Insights Into The Human Psyche And Reveal Just How Caught Up We Are In The Complications And Contradictions Of Our Values And Assumptions.