Catholic Theatre and Drama

Catholic Theatre and Drama
Author: Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr.
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2014-01-10
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0786457791

The relationship between the Catholic Church and theatre has a long and complicated history. This collection of fourteen critical essays seeks to demystify the ties--both practical and ideological--that have long bound Catholicism to theatrical production. This volume offers insights into medieval theatre, Jesuit drama, ballet and opera, modern stagings of medieval liturgical drama, Lorca and Lope de Vega as Catholic playwrights, Italian Catholic women's drama, Catholic play-wrighting and acting, and the unique challenges of teaching theatre in Catholic universities.

Performing the Sacred

Performing the Sacred
Author: Todd E. Johnson
Publisher: Baker Academic
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2009-08
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 080102952X

A theologian and a theatre artist examine both the nature of theatrical performance within contemporary culture and its relationship to Christian life, faith, and worship.

Theater as Liturgy in the Post-Christian Age

Theater as Liturgy in the Post-Christian Age
Author: Matthew Yde
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2024-05-03
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1476652813

This is the first book-length study of one of the most talented and exciting American playwrights working today. Stephen Adly Guirgis has said that "God is the starting point and the finish line" of his work, and this book identifies him as a playwright with a distinctly Christian sensibility who uses the technique of "inculturation" to translate the gospel for a secular audience. Critics have noted that his plays are peopled with poor, suffering minority figures, but few have also noted that these figures bear a remarkable similarity to the dispossessed with whom Jesus identifies in Matthew 25. Beginning with his early play Den of Thieves and proceeding through each of his dramas, this work examines Guirgis's plays within a biblical context. While noting that Guirgis is a writer of the "post-Christian age" who staunchly resists identification as a "Christian playwright," the book situates him within the tradition of the "drama of ideas" as a powerful writer employing a dialectical method to inculcate the New Testament ethos and transform the theater space into a place of sacrament.