Oedipus at Palm Springs

Oedipus at Palm Springs
Author: Five Lesbian Brothers (Theater troupe)
Publisher: Samuel French, Inc.
Total Pages: 97
Release: 2010
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 0573697027

"Irreverent theater group the Five Lesbian Brothers get their greasy prints on a classic. 'Oedipus at Palm Springs' follows the dark adventure of two couples on a retreat to the desert resort town. While new parents Fran and Con try desperately to jump-start their sex life, May-December love bunnies Prin and Terri can't keep their hands off each other. What begins as a hilarious, boozey weekend takes a horrific turn after a secret is revealed. Two parts comedy with a shot of tragedy shaken over ice, Oedipus at Palm Springs is a brave examination of the messy guts of relationships."--P. [4] of cover.

Reimagining Greek Tragedy on the American Stage

Reimagining Greek Tragedy on the American Stage
Author: Helene P. Foley
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 396
Release: 2014-06-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520283872

This book explores the emergence of Greek tragedy on the American stage from the nineteenth century to the present. Despite the gap separating the world of classical Greece from our own, Greek tragedy has provided a fertile source for some of the most innovative American theater. Helene P. Foley shows how plays like Oedipus Rex and Medea have resonated deeply with contemporary concerns and controversies—over war, slavery, race, the status of women, religion, identity, and immigration. Although Greek tragedy was often initially embraced for its melodramatic possibilities, by the twentieth century it became a vehicle not only for major developments in the history of American theater and dance but also for exploring critical tensions in American cultural and political life. Drawing on a wide range of sources—archival, video, interviews, and reviews—Reimagining Greek Tragedy on the American Stage provides the most comprehensive treatment of the subject available.

Acts of Gaiety

Acts of Gaiety
Author: Sara Warner
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Total Pages: 468
Release: 2012-10-26
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0472028758

Against queer theory's long-suffering romance with mourning and melancholia and a national agenda that urges homosexuals to renounce pleasure if they want to be taken seriously, Acts of Gaiety seeks to reanimate notions of "gaiety" as a political value for LGBT activism by recovering earlier mirthful modes of political performance. The book mines the archives of lesbian-feminist activism of the 1960s–70s, highlighting the outrageous gaiety—including camp, kitsch, drag, guerrilla theater, zap actions, rallies, manifestos, pageants, and parades alongside "legitimate theater”-- at the center of the social and theatrical performances of the era. Juxtaposing figures such as Valerie Solanas and Jill Johnston with more recent performers and activists including Hothead Paisan, Bitch and Animal, and the Five Lesbian Brothers, Sara Warner shows how reclaiming this largely discarded and disavowed past elucidates possibilities for being and belonging. Acts of Gaiety explores the mutually informing histories of gayness as politics and as joie de vivre, along with the centrality of liveliness to queer performance and protest.

Diversifying Greek Tragedy on the Contemporary US Stage

Diversifying Greek Tragedy on the Contemporary US Stage
Author: Melinda Powers
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2018-08-16
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 0191083143

In its long history of performance and reception, Greek drama has been interpreted and adapted in ever-changing ways to share in the preoccupations and tensions of particular historical moments. Diversifying Greek Tragedy on the Contemporary US Stage explores this tradition by investigating a cross section of theatrical productions that have reimagined Greek tragedy in order to address social and political concerns in the US. Studying performance and its role in creating social, historical, and cultural identities, this volume draws on cutting-edge research to move discussion away from the interpretation of dramatic texts in isolation from their performance contexts and towards an analysis of the dynamic experience of live theatre. The study focuses particularly on the ability of engaged performances to pose critical challenges to the long-standing stereotypes and political policies that have contributed to the misrepresentation and marginalization of underrepresented communities. However, in the process it also uncovers the ways in which such performances can inadvertently reinforce the very stereotypes they aim to challenge, demonstrating that ancient drama can be a powerful, yet dangerous tool in the search for justice.

Theatre and Sexuality

Theatre and Sexuality
Author: Jill S. Dolan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 121
Release: 2010-06-30
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1350316326

Theatre & Sexuality explains the critical validity of using sexuality as a lens for examining theatre's creation and reception. The book offers clear introductions to sexual identity politics, ways of 'reading' sexuality on stage and a select history of LGBTQ theatre, including a reading of Split Britches/Bloolips' production Belle Reprieve.

The Secretaries

The Secretaries
Author: Five Lesbian Brothers (Theater troupe)
Publisher: Samuel French, Inc.
Total Pages: 85
Release: 2010
Genre: Feminist drama
ISBN: 0573697019

"Something's rotten in Big Bone! Pretty Patty Johnson is thrilled to join the secretarial pool at the Cooney Lumber Mill under the iron-fisted leadership of sultry office manager Susan Curtis. But she soon begins to feel that all is not right-the enforced diet of Slim-Fast shakes, the strange clicking language between the girls, the monthly disappearance of a lumberjack. By the time Patty discovers murder is part of these office killers' skill set, it's too late to turn back! In the guise of satiric exploitation-horror, The Secretaries takes an unflinching look at the warping cultural expectations of femininity"--P. [4] of cover.

The Best Plays Theater Yearbook

The Best Plays Theater Yearbook
Author: Jeffrey Eric Jenkins
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Total Pages: 572
Release: 2007
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 9780879103460

Covers plays produced in New York, theater awards, details of productions, prizes, people, and publications, as well as the editors' choices of the ten best plays.

Contemporary American Drama

Contemporary American Drama
Author: Annette Saddik
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2007-09-13
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 074863066X

This book explores the development of contemporary theatre in the United States in its historical, political and theoretical dimensions. It focuses on representative plays and performance texts that experiment with form and content, discussing influential playwrights and performance artists such as Tennessee Williams, Adrienne Kennedy, Sam Shepard, Tony Kushner, Charles Ludlum, Anna Deavere Smith, Karen Finley and Will Power, alongside avant-garde theatre groups. Saddik traces the development of contemporary drama since 1945, and discusses the cross-cultural impact of postwar British and European innovations on American theatre from the 1950s to the present day in order to examine the performance of American identity. She argues that contemporary American theatre is primarily a postmodern drama of inclusion and diversity that destabilizes the notion of fixed identity and questions the nature of reality.

Theatre World 2005-2006: The Most Complete Record of the American Theatre

Theatre World 2005-2006: The Most Complete Record of the American Theatre
Author: John Willis
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Total Pages: 468
Release: 2008-07-01
Genre: Music
ISBN: 9781557837080

Now in its 62nd year, 'Theatre World' provides a complete statistical and pictorial record of the Broadway and off-Broadway theatre season. Each entry includes complete cast lists, producers and directors, authors and composers, opening dates, plot synopses, and biographical information.

2.5 Minute Ride

2.5 Minute Ride
Author: Lisa Kron
Publisher: Dramatic Publishing
Total Pages: 54
Release: 2007
Genre: Families
ISBN: 9781583424001

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