The Revisionist Stage: American Directors Reinvent the Classics

by Amy S. Green

Overview

This book explores the vision and talents of a controversial group of artists who, depending on one's perspective, either revitalized or disfigured the standard dramatic repertoire by adapting canonical dramas for the contemporary American stage. Amy S. Green's critical history features the bold directorial ventures of JoAnne Akalaitis, Lee Breuer, Liviu Ciulei, Richard Foreman, Joseph Papp, Lucian Pintilie, Richard Schechner, Peter Sellars, Andrei Serban, Robert Woodruff, and Garland Wright. Green covers Greek and Roman drama, plays by Shakespeare and Molière, and the operas of Mozart and da Ponte, and discusses in detail many landmark theatrical events of the past thirty years. This versatile, insightful study provides an informed reading of the business of theatrical revision, and a full-scale investigation of this rich and controversial genre.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521028929
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/02/2006
Series:	Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama , #3
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.59(d)

Table of Contents

List of illustrations; Preface; 1. Reinventing classic theatre; 2. Historical precedents in Europe and America; 3. Greek and Roman plays; 4. The plays of Shakespeare; 5. The plays of Molière; 6. Peter Sellar's Mozart-da Ponte trilogy; 7. The classics, postmodernism, and the question of coherence; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"...The Revisionist Stage is a useful and important book. It is an essential guide to the theory and practice of performing classic plays in the late twentieth century. ...a model of critical openess." THJ

"...the book is well written, meets its stated goals, and includes detailed notes and bibliography. It will prove most helpful to those interested in 'bright ideas'." M. D. Whitlatch, Choice

"...Amy S. Green has taken on a sizable task with apparent ease and much grace...[an] insightful look at some of the most noteworthy U.S. productions of the past three decades. Green's work is both theoretically and historically grounded and her excellent synthesis of wide-ranging materials into highly evocative descriptive prose contributes significantly to the body of information available about the theatre of this period in the U.S." Linda Miles, Theatre Insight

"...the book is a worthwhile addition to the study of production." Arnold Aronson, American Studies

From the Publisher