Feeding the Dragon

Feeding the Dragon
Author: Sharon Washington
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 61
Release: 2019-10-30
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1786826291

'Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in a library...' Deep in the bowels of a New York Public Library lies a dragon: the monstrous coal furnace that Sharon's father, the live-in custodian, must feed every night. A moving examination of family secrets, forgiveness, and the power of language, Feeding the Dragon explores Sharon's life growing up in the library and the fire she never allowed to fade.

London in a Box

London in a Box
Author: Odai Johnson
Publisher: University of Iowa Press
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2017-05-15
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1609384946

2017 Theatre Library Association Freedley Award Finalist In this remarkable feat of historical research, Odai Johnson pieces together the surviving fragments of the story of the first professional theatre troupe based in the British North American colonies. In doing so, he tells the story of how colonial elites came to decide they would no longer style themselves British gentlemen, but instead American citizens. London in a Box chronicles the enterprise of David Douglass, founder and manager of the American Theatre, from the 1750s to the climactic 1770s. How he built this network of patrons and theatres and how it all went up in flames as the revolution began is the subject of this witty history. A treat for anyone interested in the world of the American Revolution and an important study for historians of the period.

American Presidents Attend the Theatre

American Presidents Attend the Theatre
Author: Thomas A. Bogar
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 443
Release: 2015-06-14
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1476606803

Not every presidential visit to the theatre is as famous as Lincoln's last night at Ford's, but American presidents attended the theatre long before and long after that ill-fated night. In 1751, George Washington saw his first play, The London Merchant, during a visit to Barbados. John Quincy Adams published dramatic critiques. William McKinley avoided the theatre while in office, on professional as well as moral grounds. Richard Nixon met his wife at a community theatre audition. Surveying 255 years, this volume examines presidential theatre-going as it has reflected shifting popular tastes in America.

The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington

The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington
Author: James Ijames
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
Total Pages: 68
Release: 2018-06-18
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 0822238179

The recently widowed “Mother of America” lies helpless in her Mount Vernon bed, ravaged by illness and cared for by the very slaves that will be free the moment she dies. As she begins to slip away, she falls deep into a fever dream of terrifying theatricality that investigates everything from her family to her historical legacy.

How to Tell a Story

How to Tell a Story
Author: The Moth
Publisher: Crown
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2022-04-26
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0593139011

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The definitive guide to telling an unforgettable story in any setting, drawing on twenty-five years of experience from the storytelling experts at The Moth “From toasts to eulogies, from job interviews to social events, this book will help you with ideas, structure, delivery and more.”—CNN LONGLISTED FOR THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD Over the past twenty-five years, the directors of The Moth have worked with people from all walks of life—including astronauts, hairdressers, rock stars, a retired pickpocket, high school students, and Nobel Prize winners—to develop true personal stories that have moved and delighted live audiences and listeners of The Moth’s Peabody Award–winning radio hour and podcast. A leader in the modern storytelling movement, The Moth inspires thousands of people around the globe to share their stories each year. Now, with How to Tell a Story, The Moth will help you learn how to uncover and craft your own unique stories, like Moth storytellers Mike Birbiglia, Rosanne Cash, Neil Gaiman, Elizabeth Gilbert, Padma Lakshmi, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Tig Notaro, Boots Riley, Betty Reid Soskin, John Turturro, and more. Whether your goal is to make it to the Moth stage, deliver the perfect wedding toast, wow clients at a business dinner, give a moving eulogy, ace a job interview, be a hit at parties, change the world, or simply connect more deeply to those around you, stories are essential. Sharing secrets of The Moth’s time-honed process and using examples from beloved storytellers, a team of Moth directors will show you how to • mine your memories for your best stories • explore structures that will boost the impact of your story • deliver your stories with confidence • tailor your stories for any occasion Filled with empowering, easy-to-follow tips for crafting stories that forge lasting bonds with friends, family, and colleagues alike, this book will help you connect authentically with the world around you and unleash the power of story in your life.

Chasing George Washington

Chasing George Washington
Author: Kennedy Center, The
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 82
Release: 2009-09-08
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1416997105

What would it be like if you lived in the White House? Dee Dee, Jose, and Annie are about to find out! When their class takes a field trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the three accidentally knock George Washington out of his portrait and into real life, which turns their everyday tour into an unexpected adventure! As they try to get the nation's first President back into his painting, the kids come across other famous White House residents, including Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, Dolley Madison, and Jackie Kennedy. Through their madcap journey, they realize that the White House isn't just a tourist attraction--it's also a home.

Female Spectacle

Female Spectacle
Author: Susan A. Glenn
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2009-07-01
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0674037669

When the French actress Sarah Bernhardt made her first American tour in 1880, the term feminism had not yet entered our national vocabulary. But over the course of the next half-century, a rising generation of daring actresses and comics brought a new kind of woman to center stage. Exploring and exploiting modern fantasies and fears about female roles and gender identity, these performers eschewed theatrical convention and traditional notions of womanly modesty. They created powerful images of themselves as ambitious, independent, and sexually expressive New Women. Female Spectacle reveals the theater to have been a powerful new source of cultural authority and visibility for women. Ironically, theater also provided an arena in which producers and audiences projected the uncertainties and hostilities that accompanied changing gender relations. From Bernhardt's modern methods of self-promotion to Emma Goldman's political theatrics, from the female mimics and Salome dancers to the upwardly striving chorus girl, Glenn shows us how and why theater mattered to women and argues for its pivotal role in the emergence of modern feminism.

Proclaiming Presence from the Washington Stage

Proclaiming Presence from the Washington Stage
Author: Blair Ruble
Publisher:
Total Pages: 374
Release: 2021-08-31
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 9781734865981

Washington, uniquely among American cities, has remained disenfranchised since its founding as a federal enclave. In the absence of an overarching political life, the very meaning of "local" became contested. Residents and communities seeking to establish their presence in the city-and, because of its capital status, the nation-confronted prohibitions against the sort of political action evident elsewhere throughout the country. For much of the twentieth century, the local life of the theater offered an alternative path to recognition as a step toward acceptance. Energetic theater leaders representing various communities pursued social and artistic acceptance by proclaiming presence from Washington stages. This book recounts four such efforts: those of African American cognoscente to establish a national Negro theater; those of Roman Catholic clerics to nurture a theater for the nation reflecting their values; those of theater enthusiasts to demonstrate the power of regional theater in an American stage community preoccupied with Manhattan; and, those of community activists to assert the legitimacy of the disenfranchised to establish their own civic presence. Together, these efforts fostered a theater scene by century's end that would emerge as the second most attended in the country behind only New York. This industry, in turn, propelled an exploding cultural community that transformed a once sleepy, Southern, provincial town into a vibrant international arts center.