English Canadian Theatre, 1765-1826

English Canadian Theatre, 1765-1826
Author: Y. S. Bains
Publisher: Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers
Total Pages: 264
Release: 1998
Genre: Art
ISBN:

English Canadian Theatre, 1765-1826 focuses on the development of amateur and professional dramatic companies from Quebec City and Montreal to Atlantic Canada and Ontario. Based on primary sources like newspaper advertisements, reviews, playbill collections, and other materials, Dr. Bains's book is part of the revisionist trend to correct the earlier negative impressions about Canadian culture. It gives a concise picture of the struggle for theatre in small colonial settlements and stresses the initiative of settlers in strengthening their cultural institutions.

Imprinting Britain

Imprinting Britain
Author: Michael Eamon
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2015-04-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0773583033

Printing presses were instrumental in creating and upholding a sense of community during the eighteenth century. While the importance of print in the development of colonial America and the nascent United States is well-established, Imprinting Britain extends the historical discussion northward to explore the dynamic and interrelated world of newspapers, coffee houses, and theatre in the British imperial capitals of Halifax and Quebec City. Michael Eamon describes how an English-language colonial community coalesced around the printed word, establishing public spaces for colonists to propose, debate, and define their visions of an ideal society. Whereas American newspapers functioned as incubators of republican and revolutionary thought, their British North American counterparts featured a moderate discourse that rejected republicanism, favoured civic engagement, advocated liberty with propriety, extolled democracy under monarchy, promoted reason over superstition, and encouraged social criticism without revolution. The press also safeguarded against the uncertainties of colonial life by providing a steady stream of transatlantic news, literature, and fashion that helped construct a sense of Britishness in an environment rife with mixed loyalties. Imprinting Britain is the story of communities that turned to the press for a canon of British norms, literary touchstones, and Enlightenment-inspired ideas, which offered a blueprint for colonial growth and a sense of stability in an ever-changing, transatlantic milieu.

Redressing the Past

Redressing the Past
Author: Kym Bird
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2004-03-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0773571477

Bird argues that the playwrights, their productions, and their texts express the contradictory relations within these forms of feminism: on the one hand they represent women's social and political emancipation and, on the other, they affirm patriarchal structures and the status quo. Implicitly, this study calls into question what traditionally constitutes drama by treating plays written in non-canonical forms, mounted in nonprofessional venues, and published by marginal presses or not at all as important literary, theatrical, and historical documents.

Shakespeare in Canada

Shakespeare in Canada
Author: Diana Brydon
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 518
Release: 2002-01-01
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 9780802036551

Is there a distinctly Canadian Shakespeare? What is the status and function of Shakespeare in various locations within the nation: at Stratford, on CBC radio, in regional and university theatres, in Canadian drama and popular culture? Shakespeare in Canada brings insights from a little explored but extensive archive to contemporary debates about the cultural uses of Shakespeare and what it means to be Canadian. Canada's long history of Shakespeare productions and reception, including adaptations, literary reworkings, and parodies, is analysed and contextualized within the four sections of the book. A timely addition to the growing field that studies the transnational reach of Shakespeare across cultures, this collection examines the political and cultural agendas invoked not only by Shakespeare's plays, but also by his very name. In part a historical and regional survey of Shakespeare in performance, adaptation, and criticism, this is the first work to engage Shakespeare with distinctly Canadian debates addressing nationalism, separatism, cultural appropriation, cultural nationalism, feminism, and postcolonialism.

The Colonial American Stage, 1665-1774

The Colonial American Stage, 1665-1774
Author: Odai Johnson
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press
Total Pages: 532
Release: 2001
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 9780838639030

The geographic range of this study is the British American colonies, from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Savannah, in the Georgia colony on the continent, and the British West Indies."--BOOK JACKET.

Acting

Acting
Author: Mary Beth Osnes
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 453
Release: 2001-12-07
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1576078043

A groundbreaking, cross-cultural reference work exploring the diversity of expression found in rituals, festivals, and performances, uncovering acting techniques and practices from around the world. Acting: An International Encyclopedia explores the amazing diversity of dramatic expression found in rituals, festivals, and live and filmed performances. Its hundreds of alphabetically arranged, fully referenced entries offer insights into famous players, writers, and directors, as well as notable stage and film productions from around the world and throughout the history of theater, cinema, and television. The book also includes a surprising array of additional topics, including important venues (from Greek amphitheaters to Broadway and Hollywood), acting schools (the Actor's Studio) and companies (the Royal Shakespeare), performance genres (from religious pageants to puppetry), technical terms of the actor's art, and much more. It is a unique resource for exploring the techniques performers use to captivate their audiences, and how those techniques have evolved to meet the demands of performing through Greek masks and layers of Kabuki makeup, in vast halls or tiny theaters, or for the unforgiving eye of the camera.

The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Stage

The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Stage
Author: Stanley Wells
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 559
Release: 2002-05-30
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1139826484

This 2002 Companion is designed for readers interested in past and present productions of Shakespeare's plays, both in and beyond Britain. The first six chapters describe aspects of the British performing tradition in chronological sequence, from the early staging of Shakespeare's own time, through to the present day. Each relates Shakespearean developments to broader cultural concerns and adopts an individual approach and focus, on textual adaptation, acting, stages, scenery or theatre management. These are followed by three explorations of acting: tragic and comic actors and women performers of Shakespeare roles. A section on international performance includes chapters on interculturalism, on touring companies and on political theatre, with separate accounts of the performing traditions of North America, Asia and Africa. Over forty pictures illustrate peformers and productions of Shakespeare from around the world. An amalgamated list of items for further reading completes the book.

The Recruiting Officer

The Recruiting Officer
Author: George Farquhar
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 189
Release: 2014-05-29
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1408152657

This completely new edition of The Recruiting Officer contains a freshly-edited play text, with new annotations, in modern spelling. Tiffany Stern's comprehensive and engaging introduction discusses the author's career and gives a history of the play including its staging, critical interpretation, date and sources, putting it its context of the late Restoration and illuminating its theatrical vivacity. Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer is set in Shrewsbury in 1704 and describes what happens in a country town when the army come to stay. With cross-dressing and confusion in plenty, this is a comedy exploring the timeless themes of love and war. One of Farquhar's last two plays, The Recruiting Officer is both entertaining and touching. It has a light, humane touch and its original depiction of a real-life provincial town comically explores the impact that ongoing warfare had on its civilian society.

History of the Theatre

History of the Theatre
Author: Oscar Gross Brockett
Publisher: Allyn & Bacon
Total Pages: 710
Release: 2003
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN:

Chronicles the evolution of the theater from its beginnings to the early twenty-first century, covering styles, creative and technical elements, and the theater's impact on society and culture. Focuses largely on Europe and the U.S. but also discusses Africa, Asia, Latin America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.