Great North American Stage Directors Volume 6: Meredith Monk, Richard Foreman, Robert Wilson
This volume assesses the work of Meredith Monk, Richard Foreman, and Robert Wilson, three artists who have revolutionized the craft of directing and the art of theatre in both related and unique ways.

Though their early artistic backgrounds differ, ranging from architecture, music and dance to writing, they are similar in that none of them began their career as a director per se or received formal training as such. They each assumed the director's role based on the demands of their complex artistic visions, which combine art forms, but resist synthesis, finding expression in the differences and tensions between the forms. The essays in this volume explore how these auteur directors combine text, movement, film, sound and music, installation and visual arts to achieve their visions, employing multi-perceptual modes to evoke full and rich theatrical experiences.

The Great North American Stage Directors series provides an authoritative account of the art of directing in North America by examining the work of twenty-four major practitioners from the late 19th century to the present. Each of the eight volumes examines three directors and offers an overview of their practices, theoretical ideas, and contributions to modern theatre. The studies chart the life and work of each director, placing his or her achievement in the context of other important theatre practitioners and broader social history. Written by a team of leading experts, the series presents the genealogy of directing in North America while simultaneously chronicling crucial trends and championing contemporary interpretation.

1144152308
Great North American Stage Directors Volume 6: Meredith Monk, Richard Foreman, Robert Wilson
This volume assesses the work of Meredith Monk, Richard Foreman, and Robert Wilson, three artists who have revolutionized the craft of directing and the art of theatre in both related and unique ways.

Though their early artistic backgrounds differ, ranging from architecture, music and dance to writing, they are similar in that none of them began their career as a director per se or received formal training as such. They each assumed the director's role based on the demands of their complex artistic visions, which combine art forms, but resist synthesis, finding expression in the differences and tensions between the forms. The essays in this volume explore how these auteur directors combine text, movement, film, sound and music, installation and visual arts to achieve their visions, employing multi-perceptual modes to evoke full and rich theatrical experiences.

The Great North American Stage Directors series provides an authoritative account of the art of directing in North America by examining the work of twenty-four major practitioners from the late 19th century to the present. Each of the eight volumes examines three directors and offers an overview of their practices, theoretical ideas, and contributions to modern theatre. The studies chart the life and work of each director, placing his or her achievement in the context of other important theatre practitioners and broader social history. Written by a team of leading experts, the series presents the genealogy of directing in North America while simultaneously chronicling crucial trends and championing contemporary interpretation.

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Great North American Stage Directors Volume 6: Meredith Monk, Richard Foreman, Robert Wilson

Great North American Stage Directors Volume 6: Meredith Monk, Richard Foreman, Robert Wilson

Great North American Stage Directors Volume 6: Meredith Monk, Richard Foreman, Robert Wilson

Great North American Stage Directors Volume 6: Meredith Monk, Richard Foreman, Robert Wilson

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Overview

This volume assesses the work of Meredith Monk, Richard Foreman, and Robert Wilson, three artists who have revolutionized the craft of directing and the art of theatre in both related and unique ways.

Though their early artistic backgrounds differ, ranging from architecture, music and dance to writing, they are similar in that none of them began their career as a director per se or received formal training as such. They each assumed the director's role based on the demands of their complex artistic visions, which combine art forms, but resist synthesis, finding expression in the differences and tensions between the forms. The essays in this volume explore how these auteur directors combine text, movement, film, sound and music, installation and visual arts to achieve their visions, employing multi-perceptual modes to evoke full and rich theatrical experiences.

The Great North American Stage Directors series provides an authoritative account of the art of directing in North America by examining the work of twenty-four major practitioners from the late 19th century to the present. Each of the eight volumes examines three directors and offers an overview of their practices, theoretical ideas, and contributions to modern theatre. The studies chart the life and work of each director, placing his or her achievement in the context of other important theatre practitioners and broader social history. Written by a team of leading experts, the series presents the genealogy of directing in North America while simultaneously chronicling crucial trends and championing contemporary interpretation.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781350526112
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date: 01/23/2025
Series: Great Stage Directors
Pages: 272
Product dimensions: 5.45(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.55(d)

About the Author

Ann M. Shanahan is Chair of the Department of Theatre at Purdue University, USA. Her research interests and teaching specialties include directing, gender and theatrical space, and theatre and social change. Professor Shanahan served as dramaturg for the national touring production of Angels in America, Parts I and II (dir. Michael Meyer), Third (dir. Sarah Gabel) and The Mistress Cycle (dir. Kurt Johns) at Appletree Theatre, among others.

SIMON SHEPHERD is Professor of Theatre and Deputy Principal (Academic) at the Central School of Speech and Drama, UK.

James Peck is Professor of Theatre at Muhlenberg College, USA. He is the co-editor of Performing Magic on the Western Stage (2008) and has published in many academic journals, including Theatre Journal, Theatre Topics, Theatre Survey, and TDR. He serves on the editorial board of Theatre Topics and on the senior advisory board to the peer reviewed section of the SDC Journal.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
Series Introduction, James Peck (Muhlenberg College, USA)
Acknowledgments

Introduction: Theatres of Perception, Ann M. Shanahan (Purdue University, USA)

Meredith Monk
1. Meredith Monk: Five Decades of Embodied Innovation, Nancy Putnam Smithner (New York University, USA)
2. The Theatre of Meredith Monk: Embodying Wholeness by Working Between the Cracks, Ann M. Shanahan (Purdue University, USA)

Richard Foreman
3. Make 'em dance: The Directorial Strategy of Richard Foreman, Neal Swettenham (Independent Scholar, UK)
4. "What a Time It Was": Richard Foreman and the Heyday of the East Village Avant-Garde, David Callaghan (University of Montevallo, USA)

Robert Wilson

5. Robert Wilson's Sonosphere, Maria Shevtsova (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK)
6. Standing at the Threshold: Robert Wilson as a Designer-Director, Ewa Kara (Independent Scholar, USA)

Notes on Contributors
Index

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