Really Rotten Drama

Twelve-year-old Tulah Jones has problems; her best friend is upset because she thinks Tulah is hiding a secret (true), and she is playing the lead female part in the school musical, and will soon be sharing her first-ever stage kiss with Jeremy Romero, the boy she has a serious crush on--trouble is that the secret she is hiding is that some weird virus has turned her into a zombie.

Introduces the conclusions of recent scholarship and research into theatrical conditions, conventions and concepts in the time of Shakespeare. The book begins with a discussion of the origins of early modern English drama and of the theatres that were built for it. Attitudes to theatre and to players, and what audiences expected of both, are explored in the contexts of the constraints of the acting space and the political culture. The book then looks at the structure and dynamics of the theatrical companies before concluding with a discussion of the genres of plays and the expectations of them that people (including writers) held. Appendices list brief details of the major dramatists of the time, and summarise the main historical and dramatic events.

The final volume of Christopher Bigsby's critical account of American drama in the twentieth century.

Exploring the relationship between dramatic language and its theatrical aspects, Reading Modern Drama provides an accessible entry point for general readers and academics into the world of contemporary theatre scholarship. This collection promotes the use of diverse perspectives and critical methods to explore the common theme of language as well as the continued relevance of modern drama in our lives. Reading Modern Drama offers provocative close readings of both canonical and lesser-known plays, from Hedda Gabler to e.e. cummings' Him. Taken together, these essays enter into an ongoing, fruitful debate about the terms 'modern' and 'drama' and build a much-needed bridge between literary studies and performance studies.

"Walter Hampden (1879-1955), born in Brooklyn, New York, was one of the giants of the twentieth-century American theatre and considered by many of his contemporaries to be the successor of Edwin Booth. After an apprenticeship in England, and his brilliant performances as Hamlet and Cyrano in New York, Hampden emerged as a major artist. Season after season he appeared on Broadway and toured from coast to coast with his own company, building a reputation for himself as one of the finest classical actors in the English-speaking world. When he retired from management, he continued to appear prominently on Broadway, television, and in films; on radio, as the fourth president of The Players, he was often introduced as the Dean of the American Theatre. He worked until his death, at age seventy-five, while shooting a film in Hollywood."--BOOK JACKET.

Briefly traces the history of British theater in the seventies, shares seven representative plays, and describes the background of each playwright.

Heidi Craig demonstrates how dramatic and theatrical activity paradoxically thrived during the English theatre closures, 1642-1660.

Publisher Description