The Forgotten Theatre

"" We've all been laughed at one time in our lives. We've all been jealous of a sibling, We have felt pain and suffered, just as he suffered, And we've all longed-just-once for the power to crush our enemies! We pity him. We hate him. We fear him. All because there is a little of him in each of us, though we admit it to ourselves only in the darkest part of night."" Margaret Wies Tracy Hickman

'The foreign devils will be entranced by our performance and line our path back to Shandong with gold and cherry blossoms...' 1917. Shandong Province, Northern China. Times are tough in Horse Shoe Village. Old Six and Second Moon struggle to earn enough to feed their young child. Big Dog struggles to overcome opium addiction and for Eunuch Lin, the fall of the Imperial Dynasty couldn't have come at a worse time. Could a fierce war far away in Europe present an opportunity to put both themselves and their struggling nation on its feet? Forgotten is inspired by the little-known story of the 140,000 Chinese Labour Corps who left everything and travelled halfway around the world to work for Britain and the Allies behind the front lines during World War One.

These vintage and contemporary images of Baltimore movie palaces explore the changing face of Charm City with stories and commentary by filmmakers. Since the dawn of popular cinema, Baltimore has been home to hundreds of movie theaters, many of which became legendary monuments to popular culture. But by 2016, the number of cinemas had dwindled to only three. Many theaters have been boarded up, burned out, or repurposed. In this volume, Baltimore Sun photojournalist Amy Davis pairs vintage black-and-white images of downtown movie palaces and modest neighborhood theaters with her own contemporary color photos. Flickering Treasures delves into Baltimore’s cultural and cinematic history, from its troubling legacy of racial segregation to the technological changes that have shaped both American cities and the movie exhibition business. Images of Electric Park, the Century, the Hippodrome, and scores of other beloved venues are punctuated by stories and interviews, as well as commentary from celebrated Baltimore filmmakers Barry Levinson and John Waters. A map and timeline reveal the one-time presence of movie houses in every corner of the city, and fact boxes include the years of operation, address, architect, and seating capacity for each of the 72 theaters profiled, along with a brief description of each theater’s distinct character.

It's mad that ye're here with me. In Cobh. I always felt like I was born on the brink of the world. That I was near death, always. And here I am! Hereafter. This place of slower motion. But whipping energy. Back Home. A woman lies dead in her grave in the Tumbledown cemetery, Cobh, County Cork. It's a recent relocation; only two weeks before she was living in a flat near Croke Park in Dublin, beneath two East European prostitutes who she had begun to be friendly with. From her last resting place, she tells the story of her life: her happy childhood and the mother who loved Cleopatra; being struck by lightning and then missing school for a year; her night shifts in hotels washing and mending laundry; up to her ultimate and untimely demise in a north Dublin flat; all via a series of unlikely encounters and heartbreaking betrayals. Written in Pat Kinevane's signature style, Underneath is a blackly comic, rich and vivid tale of a life lived in secret, a testament to the people who live on the fringes, under the nose of everyday life. Underneath was published to coincide with the play's first production by Fishamble theatre company in December 2014.

A history of the Chinese experience in WWII, named a Book of the Year by both the Economist and the Financial Times: “Superb” (The New York Times Book Review). In 1937, two years before Hitler invaded Poland, Chinese troops clashed with Japanese occupiers in the first battle of World War II. Joining with the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain, China became the fourth great ally in a devastating struggle for its very survival. In this book, prize-winning historian Rana Mitter unfurls China’s drama of invasion, resistance, slaughter, and political intrigue as never before. Based on groundbreaking research, this gripping narrative focuses on a handful of unforgettable characters, including Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong, and Chiang’s American chief of staff, “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell—and also recounts the sacrifice and resilience of everyday Chinese people through the horrors of bombings, famines, and the infamous Rape of Nanking. More than any other twentieth-century event, World War II was crucial in shaping China’s worldview, making Forgotten Ally both a definitive work of history and an indispensable guide to today’s China and its relationship with the West.

For generations, Canadian artists have made their mark on the world, with countless individuals rising to fame on stage and screen, and as frontrunners in the various arts, inspiring and influencing all who come after them. One of these legends has been largely forgotten, though his contribution to the arts have inspired the likes of Monty Python and Kids in the Hall, and brought hope and laughter to troops serving their countries at home and overseas, all the while pushing boundaries as a prolific artist, illustrator, author, and actor. This book tells the story of forgotten legend John Wilson (Jack) McLaren from his birth in Scotland to his early years in Canada, becoming a soldier in WWI, entertaining his comrades in arms on the stages of Europe, his business career after the war, his deep involvement with the Group of Seven, his membership in Toronto’s famed Arts & Letters Club, and his eventual retirement to the community of Benmiller, near Goderich, Ontario, where he passed away in 1988. His is a story that deserves to be told ... and remembered.

In this newly revised second edition, veteran stage designers and technical directors Dennis Dorn and Mark Shanda introduce industry-standard drafting and designing practices with step-by-step discussions, illustrations, worksheets, and problems to help students develop and refine drafting and other related skills needed for entertainment set production work. By incorporating the foundational principles of both hand- and computer-drafting approaches throughout the entire book, the authors illustrate how to create clear and detailed drawings that advance the production process. Early chapters focus on the basics of geometric constructions, orthographic techniques, soft-line sketching applications, lettering, and dimensioning. Later chapters discuss real-life applications of production drawing and ancillary skills such as time and material estimation and shop-drawing nomenclature. Two chapters detail a series of design and shop drawings required to mount a specific design project, providing a guided path through both phases of the design/construction process. Most chapters conclude with one or more worksheets or problems that provide readers with an opportunity to test their understanding of the material presented. The authors' discussion of universal CAD principles throughout the manuscript provides a valuable foundation that can be used in any computer-based design, regardless of the software. Dorn and Shanda treat the computer as another drawing tool, like the pencil or T-square, but one that can help a knowledgeable drafter potentially increase personal productivity and accuracy when compared to traditional hand-drafting techniques. Drafting for the Theatre, second edition assembles in one book all the principal types of drawings, techniques, and conventional wisdom necessary for the production of scenic drafting, design, and shop drawings. It is richly illustrated with numerous production examples and is fully indexed to assist students and technicians in finding important information. It is structured to support a college-level course in drafting, but will also serve as a handy reference for the working theatre professional.