Theatre in Theory 1900-2000

David Krasner is Associate Professor of Performing Arts and Head of the Acting Program at Emerson College. He is the coeditor (with Rebecca Schneider) of the University of Michigan Press's Series Theater: Theory/Text/Performance.

• Acknowledgments xiIntroduction 1Part I 1900–1920 35Introduction to Part I 351 August Strindberg (1849–1912) 37Preface to Miss Julie (1888) 382 Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) 46The Decay of Lying: An Observation (1889) 473 Henri Bergson (1859–1941) 51Laughter (Le Rire, 1900) 524 Valery Bryusov (1873–1924) 55Against Naturalism in the Theatre (from ‘‘Unnecessary Truth’’) (1902) 565 Romain Rolland (1866–1944) 61The People’s Theatre (1903) 616 Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949) 64The Modern Drama (1904) 657 Aida Overton Walker (1880–1914) 71Colored Men and Women on the Stage (1905) 718 Vsevolod Vaslov Meyerhold (1874–1940) 75The Naturalistic Theatre and the Theatre of Mood (1908) 769 Edward Gordon Craig (1872–1966) 88The Actor and the Über-marionette (1908) 8810 William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) 99The Tragic Theatre (1910) 10011 George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) 104Against the Well-Made Play (1911) 10512 F. T. Marinetti (1876–1944) 110Futurism and the Theatre (1913) 11113 Georg Lukács (1885–1971) 116The Sociology of Modern Drama (1914) 11714 Emma Goldman (1869–1940) 131Foreword to The Social Significance of Modern Drama (1917) 131Part II 1920–1940 135Introduction to Part II 13515 Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936) 139On Comedy (1920) 13916 Stanislaw Witkiewicz (1885–1939) 144On a New Type of Play (1920) 14517 Adolphe Appia (1862–1928) 149Organic Unity (1921) 15018 Georg Kaiser (1878–1945) 155Man in the Tunnel, or: The Poet and the Play (1923) 15619 Alain Locke (1886–1954) 158The Negro and the American Stage (1926) 159The Drama of Negro Life (1926) 16120 W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) 164‘‘Krigwa Players Little Negro Theatre’’: The Story of a Little Theatre Movement (1926) 165Criteria of Negro Art (1926) 16521 Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) 169The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre (1930) 171Theatre for Pleasure or Theatre for Instruction (ca. 1936) 173Alienation Effect in Chinese Acting (1936) 17822 Eugene O’Neill (1888–1953) 185Memoranda on Masks (1932) 185Second Thoughts (1932) 187A Dramatist’s Notebook (1933) 18823 Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) 190Plays (1934) 19124 Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) 195Characteristics of Negro Expression (1934) 19625 Federico García Lorca (1899–1936) 203The Prophecy of Lorca (1934) 20326 Antonin Artaud (1896–1949) 206On the Balinese Theatre (1938) 207No More Masterpieces (1938) 21627 Walter Benjamin (1892–1940) 222What is Epic Theatre? (1939) 22328 Maxwell Anderson (1888–1959) 228The Essence of Tragedy (1939) 22829 Karel Brušák (1913–2004) 234Signs in the Chinese Theatre (1939) 235Part III 1940–1960 245Introduction to Part III 24530 Jindřich Honzl (1894–1953) 249Dynamics of the Sign in the Theatre (1940) 24931 Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) 258Some Thoughts on Playwrighting (1941) 25832 Arthur Miller (1915–2005) 266Tragedy and the Common Man (1949) 26733 T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) 270Poetry and Drama (1950) 27034 Tennessee Williams (1911–1983) 274The Timeless World of the Play (1951) 27435 John Gassner (1903–1967) 278‘‘Enlightenment’’ and Modern Drama (1954) 27836 Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990) 287Problems of the Theatre (1955) 28737 Sean O’Casey (1880–1964) 293Green Goddess of Realism (1956) 29338 Eric Bentley (b. 1916) 298What is Theatre? A Point of View (1956) 29839 Northrop Frye (1912–1991) 302Specific Forms of Drama (1957) 30240 Eugène Ionesco (1909–1994) 309The Avant-Garde Theatre (1960) 30941 Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) 317Beyond Bourgeois Theatre (1960) 318Part IV 1960–1980 325Introduction to Part IV 32542 Martin Esslin (1918–2002) 329The Theatre of the Absurd (1961) 32943 George Steiner (b. 1929) 333The Death of Tragedy (1961) 33344 Roland Barthes (1915–1980) 336The Task of Brechtian Criticism (1956) 336Theatre and Signification (1963) 34045 Lionel Abel (1910–2001) 342Of Bert Brecht – Not Simple but Simplified (1963) 34346 Francis Fergusson (1904–1986) 345The Notion of ‘‘Action’’ (1964) 34547 Peter Szondi (1929–1971) 348The Drama (1965) 34948 Kenneth Burke (1897–1993) 352Dramatic Form – And: Tracking Down Implications (1966) 35249 Jacques Derrida (1930–2004) 360Theatre of Cruelty and the Closure of Representation (1966) 36150 Jerzy Grotowski (1933–1999) 366Towards the Poor Theatre (1967) 36751 Raymond Williams (1921–1988) 373Drama from Ibsen to Brecht (1968) 37352 Peter Brook (b. 1925) 378The Immediate Theatre (1968) 37853 Peter Weiss (1916–1982) 381Notes on the Contemporary Theatre (1971) 38154 Joyce Carol Oates (b. 1938) 387The Edge of Impossibility: Tragic Forms in Literature (1972) 38755 Luis Valdez (b. 1940) 390Notes on Chicano Theater (1973) 39056 Augusto Boal (b. 1931) 394‘‘Empathy or What? Emotion or Reason?’’ and ‘‘Experiments with the People’s Theatre in Peru’’ (1974) 39457 Charles Ludlam (1943–1987) 397Ridiculous Theatre, Scourge of Human Folly (1975) 39758 Michael Kirby (b. 1931) 399Manifesto of Structuralism (1975) 40059 Wole Soyinka (b. 1934) 402Drama and the African World-View (1976) 40260 Robert Wilson (b. 1941) 408‘‘. . . I thought I was hallucinating hallucinating’’ (1977) 40861 Patrice Pavis (b. 1947) 411Languages of the Stage (1978) 41162 Heiner Müller (1929–1995) 419Reflections on Post-Modernism (1979) 41963 Ntozake Shange (b. 1948) 423unrecovered losses/black theater traditions (1979) 423Part V 1980–2000 427Introduction to Part V 42764 Tadeusz Kantor (1915–1990) 431Theatre Happening 1967 (1982) 43165 Jeffrey E. Huntsman 434Native American Theatre (1983) 43466 Bert O. States (b. 1929) 441The World On Stage (1985) 44167 Victor Turner (1920–1983) 448Images and Reflections: Ritual, Drama, Carnival, Film, and Spectacle in Cultural Performance (1987) 44868 Eugenio Barba (b. 1936) 455Eurasian Theatre (1988) 45569 Megumi Sata 460Aristotle’s Poetics and Zeami’s Teachings on Style and the Flower (1989) 46070 Jill Dolan 469Desire Cloaked in a Trenchcoat (1989) 47071 Judith Butler (b. 1956) 476From Parody to Politics (1990) 47772 Reza Abdoh (1963–1995) 483Los Angeles (1992) 48373 Richard Foreman (b. 1937) 489Foundations for a Theater (1992) 48974 Suzan-Lori Parks (b. 1964) 494Elements of Style (1994) 49475 Rebecca Schneider (b. 1959) 500The Explicit Body in Performance (1997) 50076 Peggy Phelan (b. 1959) 505Mourning Sex: Performing Public Memories (1997) 50577 Erika Fischer-Lichte 509Written Drama/Oral Performance (1997) 50978 Richard Schechner (b. 1934) 517What is Performance Studies Anyway? (1998) 51879 Alina Troyano 523I, Carmelita Tropicana (2000) 52380 Herbert Blau 533Limits of Performance: The Insane Root (2001) 53381 Mitsuya Mori 539The Structure of Theater: A Japanese View of Theatricality (2002) 53982 Heisnam Kanhailal (b. 1941) 549Ritual Theatre (Theatre of Transition) (2004) 550Theatre in Theory: Working Units 555Selected Bibliography 557Index 558

"This book presents perspectives from the era's major playwrights, directors, scholars and philosophers." Times Higher Education Supplement“At once comprehensive and original, this collection assembles for the first time an impressive body of theory drawn from a wide range of disciplines and traditions. This will be an indispensable sourcebook for anyone who enjoys not only going to the theatre, but also thinking about it afterwards.”Martin Puchner, Columbia University“An eclectic anthology of writings on theatre, many made accessible here for the first time. The often bracing juxtaposition of viewpoints from practitioners, playwrights, scholars, and theoreticians reminds us how rich the collective discourse of theatre has been since the beginning of the twentieth century. Bridging the divides that have so often characterized this field, Theatre in Theory offers a resounding testament to theatre’s urgency in the modern world.”Stanton B. Garner, Jr., University of Tennessee