Samuel French London serving theatre since 1830

theatre books list from Samuel French London 

THEATRE HISTORY: History of Theatre Buildings; Companies; Movements

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THE ABBEY THEATRE 1899-1999 — Form and Pressure. Robert Welch National Theatre of Ireland
This is the first history of the Abbey to discuss the plays and the personalities in their underlying historical and political context, to give due weight to the theatre’s work in Irish, and to take stock of its artistic and financial development up to the present. The research for the book draws extensively on archive sources, especially the manuscript holdings on the Abbey at the National Library of Ireland. ISBN 0 19 926135 0

THE ABBEY THEATRE — Ireland’s National Theatre. The First 100 Years. Christopher Fitz-Simon
The author celebrates the Abbey Theatre’s centenary by offering a witty chronological survey of the company’s distinguished and colourful history. Beautifully illustrated with cartoons, sketches and production photographs taken from the Abbey archives and elsewhere, The Abbey Theatre provides an unparalleled overview of the great actors, directors and playwrights of 20th-century Irish theatre, as well as detailing the company’s long and illustrious relationship with other European and American theatres and playwrights. ISBN 0 500 28426 1

ACTING JEWISH. Negotiating Ethnicity on the American Stage and Screen. Henry Bial
The History of the American entertainment industry and the history of the Jewish people in the United States are inextricably intertwined. Acting Jewish documents this history, looking at the work of Jewish writers, directors, and actors in the American entertainment industry audiences. The book with particular attention to the ways in which these artists offer behavioural models for Jewish-American spans the period from 1947 to the present. ISBN 0-472-06908-X
THE AMBIVALENCES OF MEDIEVAL RELIGIOUS DRAMA. Rainer Warning. HB

THE BIRMINGHAM REP — A City’s Theatre 1962-2002. Claire Cochrane
Internationally famous for launching the careers of Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Paul Scofield and Peter Brook, the Birmingham Rep has been one of the most consistently innovative and important of the English regional producing theatres since its foundation. In 1913. Covering the past forty years, the author tells the often turbulent, sometimes controversial story of how a major company with a great past sought to create exciting contemporary theatre for an increasingly demanding and multicultural audience. ISBN 0 9545719 0 8

THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE — The Shuberts’ Theatrical Empire. Foster Hirsch
Despite poor beginnings and near illiteracy, Sam Shubert (1875-1905) and his brother Lee (1873-1953) and J.J. (1878-1963) created a theatre monopoly unrivalled in history. They attracted the most sought-after stars of day, including Al Jolson, Carmen Miranda, Fanny Brice, Mae West, and Fred Astaire. Today their many theatres, including the Majestic, the Booth, and the Shubert, are Broadway landmarks. ISBN 0 8154 1103 0

BRISTOL’S FORGOTTEN EMPIRE — The History of The Empire Theatre. Terry Hallett
The author’s particular interest in the Empire Theatre, Bristol began with stories of visits to the former music hall by his late father. Passing the theatre each day on his way to work in the late 1950s, by which time it had become a sad, neglected-looking place, left a lasting impression on Terry, and his fascination with the Empire never faded. He began researching the subject in detail, once time permitted, and this book is the outcome, preserving memories of the Empire Theatre forever. ISBN 0 9526076 2 X

TAHE BRITISH ON BROADWAY -— Backstage and Beyond — The Early Years. Elizabeth Sharland. HB
Follow the footsteps of the legendary knights, Irving, Olivier and Coward. A guide to the British invasion of Broadway including Walks through New York’s Theatreland.

BRITISH THEATRES AND MUSIC HALLS. John Earl
This book outlines the history of theatres and musical halls from the late sixteenth century to the present time, noting changes in fashions in entertainment and evolving official attitudes to safety that have at various times, influenced the architectural character of the buildings. ISBN 0-7478-0627-6

BROADWAY THEATRES. History and Architecture. William Morrison
In this volume, author, songwriter and playwright William Morrison tells the fascinating stories behind 74 of Broadway’s greatest theatrical palaces—both vanished and still extant. For each, an extensive, detailed caption provides the building’s location, architect, opening date, number of seats, memorable shows staged therein, and other historical data. Carefully researched and magnificently presented, this handsome volume is a must-have for theatre-lovers, urban historians, and admirers of fine architecture. ISBN 0-486-40244-4

THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO GREEK TRAGEDY. Edited by P. E. Easterling
This Companion is not a conventional introductory textbook, but an attempt, by seven distinguished scholars, to present the familiar corpus in the context of modern reading, criticism and performance of Greek tragedy.

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF AMERICAN THEATRE. Volume I Beginnings to 1870. Edited by Don B. Wilmeth and Christopher Bigsby. ISBN 0 521 67983 4

A CENTURY OF SERVICE. The National Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Association. Centenary Celebrations 1999. John N. Young
When members of eleven Operatic and Dramatic Societies gathered in the Grosvenor Hotel, Manchester on 15th February 1899 with the express purpose of creating a Mutual Aid Society for the Amateur Theatre, they cannot have envisaged the trials and tribulations, triumphs and failures, profits and losses, tenacity and determination which would ensure that the National Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Association which they created would celebrate its Centenary in grand style 100 years later. John Young’s book chronicles the progress of service to hobby which is all consuming to so many, liberally lacing a business story with amusing anecdotes from all aspects of amateur Theatre in the UK.

CHARACTERS OF FITZROVIA — Mike Pentelow and Marsha Rowe.
This remarkable book provides an irresistibly idiosyncratic portrait of London in miniature. From its marvellously illustrated pages leaps a collection of tender, comic, shocking, sometimes alarming vignettes, a rogues’ gallery of characters past and present — the famous, infamous and unfamous — who have, over the last 400 years, made this bohemian corner of the city what it is.
"Fitzrovia, Soho north of Oxford Street, has been the home of prostitutes, writers, criminals, painters and elderly ladies with bohemian pasts. All memorably chronicled in this enchanting book." Sir John Mortimer

CHILDREN OF THE QUEEN’S REVELS. A Jacobean Theatre Repertory. Lucy Munro
This is the first book-length study of the Children of the Queen’s Revels, the most enduring and influential of the Jacobean children’s companies. Between 1603 and 1613 the Queen’s Revels staged plays by Francis Beaumont, George Chapman, John Fletcher, Ben Jonson, John Marston and Thomas Middleton, all of whom were at their most innovative when writing for this company. HB ISBN 0-521-84356-1

THE CITY AND THE THEATRE — The History of New York Playhouses. A 250-Year Journey From Bowling Green to Times Square. Mary C. Henderson. Foreword by Gerald Schoenfeld
Complete with maps, rare photographs, and dozens of never-before-published pen-and-ink drawings, this book brings to life the dramatic chronicle of the world’s greatest city and the inimitable, world-class theatre culture for which it is known. ISBN 0 8230 0637 9 (HB)

CLASSICAL GREEK THEATRE — New Views of an Old Subject. Clifford Ashby.
In his wide-ranging and provocative study, the author, a theatre historian trained in the practical processes of play production as well as the methods of historical research, takes advantage of his understanding of technical elements to approach this ancient subject from a new perspective. In doing so he challenges many long-held views.

COVENTRY’S FORGOTTEN THEATRE — The Theatre Royal & Empire. Ted Bottle
The Theatre Royal, Smithford Street, which became the Empire Theatre of Varieties. Including glimpses of other Coventry venues of entertainment and the workings of the English Provincial Theatre during the nineteenth century. ISBN 0 9526076 7 0

DRAMA AT THE COURTS OF QUEEN HENRIETTA MARIA. Karen Britland
Drama at the Courts of Queen Henrietta Maria considers Queen Henrietta Maria’s patronage of drama in England in the light of her French heritage. Karen Britland challenges the view of Henrietta Maria as a meddlesome and frivolous woman whose actions contributed to the outbreak of the English civil wars by showing how she was consistent in her allegiances to her family and friends, and how her cultural and political positions were reflected in the plays and court masques she sponsored. HB ISBN 0 521 84797 4


DRAMA IN THE CATHEDRAL. Kenneth Pickering
The Canterbury Festival was the first Cathedral drama festival. This book explains how this happened, traces the various attempts at creating meaningful Christian drama, analyses the plays performed and explores more recent developments in religious drama beyond Canterbury. ISBN 0 85343 627 4

ENGINEERS OF THE IMAGINATION — The Welfare State Handbook. Edited by Tony Coult and Baz Kershaw. (Revised and updated
Since its foundation by John Fox in 1968, Welfare State International has developed a unique form of celebratory theatre that reaches popular audience through remarkable combinations of archetypal and contemporary imagery. This handbook is a guide to the basic techniques of the company’s work.

ENGLISH DRAMA 1890-1940. John Chothia

ENGLISH DRAMA BEFORE SHAKESPEARE. Peter Happe
This book surveys the range of dramatic activity in English up to 1590. The book challenges the traditional divisions between Medieval and Renaissance literature by showing there was much continuity throughout this period, in spite of many innovations. The range of drama includes well-known features such as mystery cycles and the interludes, as well as comedy and tragedy.

ENGLISH DRAMA: A CULTURAL HISTORY. Simon Shepherd and Peter Womack
This book provides a comprehensive account of the cultural history of English drama. Drawing upon new empirical research and the latest theoretical models, Shepherd and Womack show how the character of a given theatrical "age", as traditionally described, is packed with contradictions and uneven in development.

ENGLISH DRAMA (EXCLUDING SHAKESPEARE): Select Bibliographical Guides. Edited by Stanley Wells

ENGLISH DRAMA: RESTORATION AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, 1660-1789. Richard W. Bevis
The years between 1660 and 1789 saw considerable political and social upheaval, which is reflected in the eclectic array of dramatic forms that is Georgian theatre’s essential characteristic.

ENGLISH RENAISSANCE DRAMA — A Norton Anthology. David Bevington. Lars Engle, Katherine Eisaman Maus, Eric Rasmussen
The most extensive collection published in this field in over three decades, this anthology surveys the astonishing, and astonishingly varied, dramatic works written and performed in Elizabethan and Jacobean England. Popular in their own time, the twenty-seven plays included here — by Christopher Marlowe, Ben Johnson, John Webster, Thomas Middleton, and many others — reveal why these playwrights’ achievements, like Shakespeare’s, deserve reading, teaching, and performing afresh in ours. ISBN 0 393 97655 6 (Hardback)

ENGLISH RESTORATION THEATRE — The Cambridge Companion To. Edited by Deborah Payne Fisk
This rich and varied portrait of the drama from 1660 to 1714 provides students with essential information about playwrights, staging genres, situating them in their social and political context. The theatre which followed the restoration of Charles II is revealed in all its tumult, energy, and conflict. Contributors pay attention to major and minor playwrights, the first professional female dramatists, the performance aspects of the drama, and the main dramatic genres and themes.

THE ENGLISH STAGE — A History of Drama and Performance. J. L. Styan
From medieval times to the present day, John Styan analyses the key features of staging, the evolution of the playhouse and the private space and the pairing of theory and stagecraft in the works of modern dramatists.

ENGLISH STAGE COMEDY 1490-1990 — Five Centuries of a Genre. Alexander Leggatt. PB/HB
A unique and beautifully written study of the comedy of the English stage from the Tudor period to the late twentieth century. Organized thematically, it shows how this remarkably enduring genre has dealt with the tensions of social life, using its conventions as tools for social enquiry.
THE ERA OF GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM. Paul Raabe
"‘German Expressionism’ is increasingly being recognized as one of the main sources of much of today’s avant-garde and advanced art. Paul Raabe’s collection is a valuable documentation of the ideas and lives of the leading figures on the expressionist movement." Martin Esslin

THE EXETER THEATRE FIRE — The Theatre Royal. David Anderson. ISBN 1 904031 7

EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE — From Stanislavsky to Peter Brook. James Roose-Evans
"One of the most succinct and readable works on avant-garde movements in the theatre I have ever seen." Library Journal

THE FABER POCKET GUIDE TO ELIZABETHAN AND JACOBEAN DRAMA. Simon Trussler
This essential guide provides clear and lively information on thirty-four great Elizabethan and Jacobean plays. The book is for anyone wishing to understand this fertile period in British drama, and will be invaluable for students of Shakespeare seeking a fuller understanding of the exciting theatrical times in which he wrote. ISBN 0 571 21489 4

FIRST ENGLISH ACTRESSES: Women and Drama 1660-1700. Elizabeth Howe

FITZROVIA: LONDON’S BOHEMIA Character Sketches. Michael Bakewell. HB
In this book, the author presents a fascinating picture of the men and woman who created Fitzrovia. Packed with anecdote and fact, it describes Betty May’s bizarre pub entertainment, Aleister Crowley’s sinister interest in the occult and George Orwell’s "belief that pubs were the basic institutions of English life." This book conjures up the spirit of the characters who frequented the pubs of Fitzrovia and in doing so, recaptures a lost age of hedonism, high spirits and self-indulgent self-destruction.

500 YEARS OF THEATRE HISTORY — From the Brown-Forman Classics in Context Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Edited by Michael Bigelow Dixon and Val Smith. Foreword by Jon Jory

FOCUS ON TUDOR LIFE. TUDOR THEATRE. Moira Butterfield.
Tudor Theatre looks at the vibrant theatrical life of Tudor times: the buildings, plays, playwrights and players, relationships with court, excitements and dangers of life on the stage.
Focus on Tudor life combines a fact-filled text with full coloured illustrations and suggestions of places to visit to offer a fascinating portrait of this most important era in Britain’s history. A School Textbook. ISBN 0 7496 6452 5

FROM SHAKESPEARE TO COWARD — From The Globe to The Phoenix Theatre. A Guide to Historic Theatrical London and the World Beyond. Elizabeth Sharland. HB
"Elizabeth’s guide to London’s historical theatreland is unique and a splendid idea, with a real sense of our tremendous theatrical heritage." Sheridan Morley

GETTING INTO THE ACT— Women Playwrights in London 1776 — 1829. Ellen Donkin. HB/PB
This is a vigorous and refreshing account of seven female playwrights who, against all odds, enjoyed professional success in the late eighteenth century. Ellen Donkin relates fascinating, disturbing tales about the male theatre managers to whom they were indebted, and the trials and prejudices they endured, ranging from accusations of plagiarism to sexual harassment.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN VARIETY, VAUDEVILLE, REVUE AND PANTOMIME 1880-1960. Compiled by Valantyne Napier with technical advice from Jeff Jones
A valuable source of reference and information about Popular Theatre before television. Many once-familiar terms are explained in a straightforward way to those who know only television and rock shows.

GREEK THEATRE PERFORMANCE — An Introduction. David Wiles
The author introduces ancient Greek theatre to students and enthusiasts interested in learning how the plays were first performed. Actors rather than writers are the book’s main concern and Wiles examines how the actor used the resources of story-telling, dance, mask, song and visual action to create a large-scale event that would shape the life of the citizen community.

THE HANDBOOK OF CLASSICAL LITERATURE. Lillian Feder
From Abdera to Zeus, this authoritative handbook covers all the major aspects of Greek and Roman literature, mythology, and civilization. It features over 950 entries on ancient writers, philosophers and historians; writings; mythology; terms and genres; and other topics.

HENSLOWE’S DIARY. Second Edition. Edited by R.A. Foakes
The diary of Philip Henslowe, owner of the Rose Theatre in London during the 1850s remains the most valuable source of information about the workings of the Elizabethan public theatre. The Diary preserves the account-book of an Elizabethan theatre owner who was also the father-in-law of the leading actor, Edward Alleyn. Besides many miscellaneous and personal entries, it includes records of the daily performances of plays and of negotiations with dramatists, as well as details of the purchase of costumes and properties for the stage. ISBN 0 521 52402 4

HEROES AND STATES — On The Ideology Of Restoration Tragedy. J. Douglas Canfield HB
In this volume the author shows how Restoration playwrights attempted to reinscribe late-feudal aristocratic ideology after the English Civil War. In the serious drama of the period, conflict is between noble heroes, upon whom states are built, and transgressors of the established order - tyrants, traitors, usurpers, rapists and atheists

A HISTORY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN THEATRE. Errol G Hill and James V Hatch
"Impressive in scope, this magisterial history of the hardships and achievements of black creators of theatre in America takes the reader from the early 1400s origins of the African slave trade to events-in-progress at certain theatres in spring of 2001, includes theatrical forms like minstrelsy and vaudeville, and looks at African American theatre in cities all across the United States as well as in the Caribbean … A History of African American Theatre surely takes its place as our definitive work on the subject." Theatre History Studies ISBN 0-521-62472-X


A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN THEATRE. From Its Origins To 1832. Wiliam Dunlap. Introduction by Tice L Miller
Dunlap’s masterpiece, A History of American Theatre, was the first of its kind, drawing on the author’s own experiences. In it he describes the development of theatre in New York, Philadelphia, and South Carolina as well as Congress’s first attempts at theatrical censorship. Completely indexed, this edition also includes a new introduction by Tice L Miller. ISBN 0-252-07285-5

THE HISTORY OF THEATRE IN IRAN. Willem Floor
Although most people do not speak of theatre and Iran in the same breath, dramatic expression has always been a fixture of Iranian culture. Some 2500 years ago, kings and commoners alike were regaled by comic theatre in the form of dance and mime, accompanied by music. ISBN 0-934211-29-9

HISTORY OF THE THEATRE 7TH EDITION. Oscar G. Brockett (2nd Edition Glynne Wickham

THE HISTORY OF WORLD THEATRE — From the Beginnings to the Baroque. Margot Berthold
Whether dealing with the demon dance of a masked shaman or with the classic tragedies of Corneille and Racine, Margot Berthold draws on a wealth of anthropological, historical, and aesthetic insights to enrich our understanding of one of humankind’s most basic forms of artistic expression. It has 300 carefully chosen illustrations, which allow readers "to attend" ancient Egyptian Osiris festival ceremonies, Italian commedia dell’arte improvisations, Spanish tragedies of the Golden Age, and much else.

THE HISTORY OF WORLD THEATRE — From the English Restoration to the present. Felicia Hardison Londré
With more than 400 carefully chosen illustrations, this volume covers the international theatrical scene from the entertainments of the Stuart Court to today’s experimental productions.

IN REHEARSAL AT THE NATIONAL — Rehearsal Photographs 1976-2001. Compiled and edited by Lyn Haill. Preface by Trevor Nunn
In the National Theatre’s first 25 years on the South Bank nearly 500 productions have been seen in rehearsal through the eyes of some of the world’s leading theatre photographs. More than 200 photographs in this book capture the essence of theatre-in-progress — actors and directors at work behind closed doors — and mark the development of some of the great names of our stage. ISBN 1 84002 219 1

IRELAND’S NATIONAL THEATERS — Political Performance and the Origins of the Irish Dramatic Movement. Mary Trotter
In the annals of Irish studies and theater history much has been written about the Abbey Theatre. Now, the author not only sheds new light on that company’s history but also examines other groups with a range of political, religious, gender, and class perspectives that consciously used performance to promote ideas about nationalism and culture in Ireland at the turn of the last century. ISBN 0 8156 2889 7

IS IT IN COLOUR, MISS? The First Fifty Years of the Unicorn Theatre for Children. Michelle Ford and Dot Wooder
A mini scrapbook, full of photographs, newspaper cuttings, old programmes and quotes from some of the people who were there at the time. Additional material by Irving the Theatre Cat. Cat illustrations by Michael Coghlan.

THE ITALIAN COMEDY. Pierre Louis Ducharte

THE LONDON THEATRE GUIDE
For the first time there is a complete guide to the London theatregoing experience, with histories and seating plans of the theatres, how to book, where to sit, and even where to eat and drink before or afterwards. ISBN 1 902910 08 7

LONDON THEATRE WALKS — Thirteen Dramatic Tours Through Four Centuries of History and Legend. Jim De Young and John Miller
The authors guide you through the streets of London with authority, humour, and relish; they escort you from the site of the long buried Globe, to the newly remodelled Lyceum theatre, from Shakespeare to Les Miserables.

LONDON’S THEATRES — Mike Kilburn. Photography by Alberto Arzoz. Foreword by Zoe Wanamaker
This beautifully illustrated book covers 53 of the best-known and most historic themes in London. Over 200 exquisite cameos capture the theatres as they are now, at the beginning of the new millennium, while the fascinating text brings to life each theatre’s colourful and varied past. ISBN 1 84330 069 9

THE LOST BROADWAY THEATRES. (Updated and expanded edition) Nicholas Van Hoogstraten
The definitive history of the great New York playhouses of the past. Fully updated and expanded to include the pioneering restoration work of the 1990s, this volume traces the histories of nearly sixty Broadway theatres constructed between 1882 and 1932.

THE LOST SUMMER: The History of West End Theatre. Charles Duff

THE MEDIEVAL THEATRE. Glynne Wickham. (3rd edition
Revised edition of Wickham’s important history of the development of dramatic art in Christian Europe. The author surveys the foundations on which this dramatic art was built: the architecture, costumes and ceremonial of the imperial court at Byzantium, the liturgies of countries in the Eastern and Western Empires and the triumph of the Roman rite and the Romanesque style in western art.

THE MEDIEVAL THEATER OF CRUELTY.— Rhetoric, Memory, Violence. Jody Enders
Exploring the cultural connections among rhetoric, law, drama, literary creation, and violence, Jody Enders addresses an issue that has long troubled students of the Middle Ages. According to Enders theories of rhetoric and law of the time reveal that the ideology of torture was a widely accepted means for exploiting such essential elements of stagecraft as dramatic verisimilitude, pity, fear, and catharsis in order to fabricate truth. ISBN 0 8014 8783 8

MODERNISM — A Guide to European Literature 1890-1930. Editors: Malcolm Bradbury and James McFarlane

THE MOURNING VOICE. An Essay on Greek Tragedy. Nicole Loraux. Translated from the French by Elizabeth Trapnell Rawlings. Foreword by Pietro Pucci
"In the new book, [Loraux] turns away from the body politic to focus on the central role of lamentation in tragedy. Once again, with characteristic energy, Laraux challenges deeply cherished notions and compels us to read Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides in fresh ways." — Froma Zeitlin, Princeton University. ISBN 0 8014 3830 6 HB

THE ORIGIN OF GERMAN TRAGIC DRAMA. Walter Benjamin. Introduction by George Steiner. HB
Walter Benjamin is wisely acknowledged as amongst the greatest literary critics of this century. He begins with a general theoretical introduction on the nature of the baroque art of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, concentrating on the peculiar stage-form of royal martyr dramas called Trauerspiel. Baroque tragedy, he argues, was distinguished from classical tragedy by its shift from myth into history.

OVER THE FOOTLIGHTS AND FAR AWAY — A Farewell To The ‘Fit-Ups’. Lorna M Pobjoy
This is a delightful and nostalgic account of old style travelling theatre, of the way of life of the players who had no home and who moved around unspoilt countryside in search of audiences.

OXFORD ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THEATRE
Written by a team of distinguished authors and illustrated throughout, this is an essential source of reference for students, teachers, theatre professionals, and the theatregoer alike.

PERFORMANCE AND DRAMA IN ANCIENT EGYPT. Robyn Gillam
Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt presents an historically based survey of ancient Egyptian performance activities that relates them to other cultural and historical developments. The materials discussed include texts, visual art, architecture and material culture.The author deals with issues that have been raised in the emerging field of performance archaeology as well as seeking to initiate a discussion on performance in Egyptology and related disciplines. ISBN 0-7156-3404-6

PERFORMANCE AND EVOLUTION IN THE AGE OF DARWIN — Out of the Natural Order. Jane R. Goodall
This book reveals the ways in which the major themes of evolution were taken up in the performing arts during Darwin’s adult lifetime and in the generation after his death. ISBN 0 415 24378 5

PERFORMANCE ART: From Futurism to the Present. Rose Lee Goldberg. ISBN 0 500 20339 3

PERSPECTIVES ON RESTORATION DRAMA— Susan J. Owen
This book introduces students to drama which followed the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. There is representative coverage of both the new forms in this period, and of ways in which the old forms altered, including heroic drama, comedy, tragedy, tragi-comedy and Shakespeare adaptations. ISBN 0 7190 4967 9

THE PHOENIX TOO FREQUENT — The Story of Jersey’s Opera House. Francis Hamon
This offers a personal view of the Jersey Opera House from its early beginnings as a circus to the splendour of its recent restoration. It is a tale of triumph and tragedy but essentially it is a vivid account of the men and women who helped to shape its fascinating history. Personal anecdotes and memorabilia highlight something of the spirit that enabled the grand Old Lady of Gloucester Street to emerge in glory "like the phoenix midst her fires". ISBN 0 9548792 0 1 (HB)

THE PLAYS OF EURIPIDES James Morwood
This well-established series explores the culture and achievement of the civilizations of Greece and Rome. Concise yet informative and stimulating, each book includes illustrations and suggestions for further reading and study. Designed specially for students and teachers of Classical civilization and Ancient History at A-level and for the first two years of university courses. ISBN 185399-614-9

THE PLAYWRIGHT AS REBEL — Essays in Theatre History. Nicholas Dromgoole
In this book, Dromgoole’s essays in theatre history not only examine particular plays at key moments in drama history, but in setting them in their cultural and historical context, attempt to answer these wider questions. Theatre is seen as playing a key part in disseminating ideas, attitudes and assumptions at crucial moments of social and ideological change. As a result we approach his chosen plays and playwrights with an enhanced understanding of what they were setting out to achieve. ISBN 1 84002 147 0

THE PRAM FACTORY — The Australia Performance Group Recollected. Tim Robertson
" A history of the Pram Factory, by one who was there. He lived it — you can tell, because his analyses keep cracking open into wild laughter; but under the baroque caparisons of his style gallops a fine mind at full stretch. This version deserves an honoured place among the histories of that wonderful and fruitful time." Helen Garner ISBN 0 52284983 0

RADICAL STREET PERFORMANCE — An International Anthology. Edited by Jan Cohen-Cruz.
An extensive array of writings on street theatre around the world from the perspective of scholars, activists, performers, directors, critics and journalists. These essays look at performance in Europe, Africa, China, India and both the Americas. They describe engagement with issues as diverse as abortion, colonialism, the environment and homophobia, to name only a few.

RENAISSANCE DRAMA AND CONTEMPORARY LITERARY THEORY. Andy Mousley
Avoiding the danger of employing theories as templates, the author uses Renaissance drama and contemporary theory to question and illuminate each other. The volume works on several levels. It provides a comprehensive account of key modern literary theories and presents detailed applications of them to a wide range of renaissance plays.

RENAISSANCE DRAMA IN ACTION — An Introduction to Aspects of Theatre Practice and Performance. Martin White.
A fascinating exploration of Renaissance theatre practice and staging. Covering questions of contemporary playhouse design, verse and language, staging, rehearsal practices and acting styles, the author relates the characteristics of Renaissance theatre to issues involved in staging the plays today.

THE REPERTORY MOVEMENT — A History of Regional Theatre in Britain. George Rowell and Anthony Jackson
An account of the origins, development and current state of the repertory theatre movement in Britain.

RESTORATION COMEDY — Edited by David Womersley. With an introduction by Duncan Wu
This pocket-sized introduction to restoration comedy, featuring plays by Wycherley and Congreve, gives readers a flavour of the bawdy and satirical comedies performed in the sophisticated theatres of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. ISBN 0631 23472 1

RESTORATION COMEDY IN PERFORMANCE. J. L. Stynan
Aims to bring back to life something of a lost art form, not as a piece of conventional stage or production history, but as a true attempt to recognize the virtues of Restoration comedy as a performing art.

ROY HUDD’S CAVALCADE OF VARIETY ACTS — A Who Was Who of Light Entertainment 1945-60. Roy Hudd with Philip Hindin. HB
In this marvellous book Roy Hudd recounts virtually every act he saw in the Variety Theatre, from the obscure and unknown, to the acts that emerged from it to remain with audiences for decades.

ROUGH MAGIC — Making Theatre at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Steven Adler. Foreword by Chris Parry
Personal observation, research, and dozen of interviews with current and former members of the Royal Shakespeare Company unite to produce Rough Magic. Actors, directors, designers, and administrators speak candidly and passionately about the artistic and pragmatic challenges of creating a vital and provocative repertoire of classics and new plays, in an era when electronic media compete fiercely for audiences’ attentions. Richly illustrated with vivid photographs. Rough Magic examines the fusion of artistic vision and theatrical energy that make invigorating theatre at the RSC. ISBN 0 8093 2377 X

THE ROYAL COURT THEATRE AND THE MODERN STAGE. Philip Roberts
In this lively account of the theatre’s history from 1956 to 1998 the author draws on previously unpublished archives in both public and private domains and a series of interviews with people prominent in the Court’s life. The book also includes a foreword by the former Director of the Royal Court, Max Stafford-Clark. The result is an intimate account of the working of the foremost house of modern drama and its relationships to the world of theatre in Britain and abroad.

SAM MENDES AT THE DONMAR. Stepping into Freedom by Matt Wolf. With foreword by Sam Mendes
This book chronicles ten amazing years for the Donmar and for Mendes, coupling discussion of numerous productions with extensive interviews with Mendes and his number two, Caro Newling, alongside more than sixty Donmar alumni: Stephen Sondheim, Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Stephan Dillane, Alan Cumming, Helen Mirren, and Jennifer Ehle, to name but a few. This celebration is full of candid conversation and analysis, rarely seen pictures, and behind-the-scenes reporting — is a must for any admirer of the Donmar and theatre enthusiast. ISBN 1 85459 705 1

SCENE/UNSEEN: London’s West End Theatres. Susie Barson, Derek Kendall, Peter Longman and Joanna Smith. Preface by Fiona Shaw
This book celebrates the working building at the heart of the British theatrical industry. It explores what constitutes a West End theatre, both culturally and physically, and outlines a brief history of the architecture, while also touching on the role of English Heritage and The Theatres Trust in theatre conservation. The striking photographs lead the reader on a wide-ranging tour starting at the entrance and exiting by the stage door, and taking in the front-of-house areas, the auditoria and the backstage spaces of some of London’s most famous theatre. ISBN 1 873592 74 4

SCENE CHANGE — one hundred years of theatre design at The Abbey. ISBN 1 903811 39 2

THE SEMIOTICS OF THEATRE AND DRAMA. Keir Elam
Traces the history of semiotic approaches to performance, from the Prague Structuralists, analyses of the theoretical sign in the 1930s to current theories of the code, text and discourse.

SITE-SPECIFIC ART — Performance, Place and Documentation. Nick Kaye
This book brilliantly charts the development of an experimental art form in an experimental way. Nick Kaye traces the fascinating historical antecedents of today’s installation and performance art, while assembling a unique documentation of contemporary practice around the world.

A SOURCEBOOK ON NATURALIST THEATRE. Edited by Christopher Innes
This book provides essential primary sources that document one of the key movements in modern theatre. Christopher Innes has selected three writers to exemplify the movement, and six plays in particular: — Henrik Ibsen — A Doll’s House and Hedda Gabler; Anton Chekhov — The sea Gull and The Cherry Orchard — George Bernard Shaw — Mrs Warren’s Profession and Heartbreak House. Innes’ illuminating introduction provides a fascinating overview of naturalist theatre. Key themes include, the representation of woman; significant contemporary issues; the links between theory, playwriting and stage practice; the use of ideas as the basis for action and character.

SOURCEBOOK IN THEATRICAL HISTORY. A.M. Nagler

STAGES AND PLAYGOERS — From Guild Plays to Shakespeare. Janet Hill
Stages and Playgoers offers new insights into techniques of addressing the audience from the stage and how they might have operated under particular staging conditions, from medieval, through Tudor, to Jacobean drama. Janet Hill calls this dialogue "open address," a term that takes in "asides," "monologues," and "soliloquies." She argues that open address is a strategy that challenges playgoers, asking for answers that lie outside the stage in the playgoer/playhouse world. By examining a dramatic tradition not fully explored before, Hill purposes new ways to imagine historical and contemporary performances. ISBN 0 7735 2273 5 HB

STAGING DESIRE - Queer Readings of American Theater History. Edited by Kim Marra and Robert A, Schanke
A collection of critical and biographical essays on notable stage personalities who made their mark before 1969, when the Stonewall riots accelerated the lesbian and gay rights movements in the USA. How they staged their unconventional sexualities greatly influenced the course of their personal and professional lives, and thus the course of American theatre history. Highlighted in these essays are major figures such as Cole Porter, Lorenz Hart, George Kelly, William Inge and many others. ISBN 0 472 06749 4

STAGING THE RENAISSANCE — Reinterpretations of Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama. Ed. David Scott Kastan & Peter Stallybrass
The essays in this book analyse Renaissance dramatic texts as radical collaborations between playwright, actor, stage, audience, and the pressures of the social, economic, and political environment. The theatre emerges as the site of a rich confluence of cultural forces, the place where social meanings are both formed and transformed.

THEATRE HISTORIES. An Introduction. Philip B Zarrilli Bruce McConachie Gary Jay Williams Carol Fisher Sorgenfrei
Theatre Histories: An Introduction is a bold and innovative way of looking both at the way we understand performance and the ways in which history is written. Its chapters offer clearly written overviews of theatre and drama in many world cultures and periods. These and its unique in-depth case studies demonstrate the methods used by today’s theatre historians. ISBN 0 415 22728 3

THE THEATRE — A Concise History. Phyllis Hartnoll. (Rev. edition
"Full of the atmosphere of the living theatre, in many countries, in many ages." Sunday Telegraph

THEATRE IN THE VICTORIAN AGE. Michael R. Booth
Examines all major aspects of theatre practice and dramatic literature of the Victorian period.

THEATRE LONDON — An Architectural Guide Edwin Heathcote
This book describes and illustrates the architecture of some 70 London theatre.

A THEATER OF OUR OWN — A History and a Memoir of 1,001 Nights in Chicago. Richard Christiansen. Foreword by Brian Dennehy
Richard Christiansen, former chief critic of the Chicago Tribune, combines his superior research skills with his first-hand experiences in this engrossing, groundbreaking look at Chicago theatre. Drawing upon historical records, exclusive interviews, personal memories, and insights gained over more than forty years of reviewing the arts, Christiansen chronicles the Chicago theatre world from its earliest days in the 1830s through its successes in the new millennium. ISBN 0 8101 2041 0

THE THEATRE OF THE ABSURD. Martin Esslin
Esslin shows how Samuel Beckett, Ionesco, Genet, Pinter and others have confronted a world which there is no communication, where man — cut off from his traditional religious and metaphysical roots — flounders about in a purposeless void, shorn of all certainties. ISBN 0 413 76050 2

THEATRE OF THE BOOK 1480 — 1880 — Print, Text, and Performance in Europe. Julie Stone Peters
Theatre of the Book is an account of the entangled histories of print and theatre in Europe between the Renaissance and the late nineteenth century: a history of European dramatic publication (providing comparative and historical perspective to the growing field of textual studies); an examination of the creation of the modern notion of text and performance; and a comparative genealogy of ideas about theatrical and textual reception. ISBN 0 19 926216 0

THEATRES OF CONSCIENCE 1939-53 — A Study of Four Touring British Community Theatres — Peter Billington
This book offers an invaluable and essential insight into four touring British theatre companies whose work and contributions to post-war British theatre have largely gone unnoticed. ISBN 0 415 27028 6

THE THEATRES TRUST GUIDE TO BRITISH THEATRES 1750-1950
All surviving theatres built before 1950 are assessed in this guide, in terms of their quality, architecturally and theatrically, and, in the case of "sleepers", the hopeless cases are separated from those which have real potential and those whose reopening as theatres should be a top priority. ISBN 0 7136 5688 3

THE TONY AWARD — A Complete Listing of Winners and Nominees of the American Theatre Wing’s Tony Award with a History of the American Theatre Wing. ISBN 0 352 00294 0

TRAGEDY IN ATHENS — Performance Space and Theatrical Meaning. David Wiles
The author corrects that balance, examining the performance of tragedy as a spatial practice specific to Athenian culture, at once religious and political. Athenian conceptions of space were quite unlike those of the modern world. After examining controversies and archaeological data regarding the fifth-century performance space, Wiles turns to the chorus and shows how dance mapped out space for the purposes of any given play. The book shows how the performance as a whole was organized and, through informative diagrams and accessible analyses, Wiles brings the theatre of Greek tragedy to life.

TRAGICOMEDY AND CONTEMPORARY CULTURE — Play and Performance From Beckett to Shepard. John Orr
Examines the historical relationship between tragicomedy in the modernist theatre and the performative culture of Western consumer societies. Focuses on the work of Beckett, Pinter and Shepard.

TREADING THE BAWDS. Actresses and Playwrights on the Late Stuart Stage. Gilli Bush-Bailey.
This is a story about public and private identity fuelling profit at the box office and gossip on the streets and investigating how women’s on and off stage personae feed each other the emerging world of the business of theatre. HB ISBN 0 7190 7250 6

TWENTIETH CENTURY THEATRE — A Sourcebook. Ed. by Richard Drain
A uniquely wide-ranging selection of original writings on theatre by some of its most creative practitioners. Illuminating perspectives on past history, and throws fresh light on the sources and development of theatre today.

THE VICTORIAN MUSIC HALL — Culture, Class and Conflict. Dagmar Kift. HB
"Cogently argued and meticulously researched, this is a major advance in the scholarship of the music hall and Victorian popular culture in general." Peter Bailey

VICTORIAN THEATRICALS — From Menageries to Melodrama. Sara Hudston
This engaging critical anthology, complete with extensive introductions, notes and chronologies as well as drawings and photographs of theatrical ephemera, brings together works from 1800 to 1895 and sets them in their social and historical contexts.

WOMEN AND DRAMATIC PRODUCTION 1550 -1700. Alison Findlay and Stephanie Hodgson-Wright with Gwendo Wiliams
There is a traditional view that women were absent from the field of dramatic production in the early modern period because of their exclusion from professional theatre. This book challenges this view and breaks new ground in arguing that, far from writing in closeted retreat, a select number of women took an active part in directing and controlling dramatic self-representation. ISBN 0 582 31983

WOMEN, NATIONALISM AND THE ROMANTIC STAGE. Theatre and Politics in Britain, 1780 — 1800. Betsy Bolton. HB
In this study, the author examines the ways Romantic women performers and playwrights used theatrical conventions to intervene in politics. This well-illustrated study draws on canonical poetry and personal memoirs, popular drama and parliamentary debates, political caricatures and theatrical reviews to extend current understandings of Romantic theatre, the public sphere, and Romantic gender relations.

WOMEN ON THE RENAISSANCE STAGE - Anna of Denmark and Female Masquing in the Stuart Court 1590-1619. Clare McManus
An innovative study of women’s participation in the Jacobean court masque, giving detailed readings of the performances of Anna of Denmark (wife of James I of England). Clare McManus investigates the staging conditions, practices and gendering of Anna’s performances, from the ceremonies and festivities of the Scottish court to the English court masques of Jonson, Daniel, Campion and others. ISBN 0 7190 6250 0

THE WRITTEN WORD IN PERFORMANCE — A History of Drama and Other Literary Forms in Britain, Europe and the United States. By Paul Ranger
This book provides an overview of the history of drama and other literary forms in Britain, Europe and the United States, making it essential reading for teachers and students of speech and drama. Each chapter surveys the period, providing a chronology of events, bibliography for further reading and points for discussion. This is an indispensable guide for students undertaking Unit 1 of the LAMDA certificate in Speech and Drama: Performance studies. ISBN 1 84002 436 4

THE YOUNG VIC BOOK — Theatre Work and Play. Ruth Little
This book introduces the theatrical processes behind the scenes of one for the country’s best know and loved theatres. The Young Vic is famous for its hugely successful productions of classic and modern plays, which have attracted widespread critical acclaim. Ruth Little looks at the process involved in staging a theatrical work with young people, from transforming stories into action in Grimm’s Tales, tackling classical dialogue in Dr Faustus, developing character in A Raisin in the Sun, or staging a musical in Simply Heavenly. ISBN 0 413 77110 5

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