Bruno Forment is the principal investigator of the ‘Resounding Libraries’ research cluster at Orpheus Instituut and the Leader of the ‘Performances’ Working Group in the European COST Action EarlyMuse.Bruno Forment is hoofdonderzoeker aan het Orpheus Instituut in Gent. Hij publiceerde talrijke boeken en essays over 18e-eeuwse opera, scenografie en artistiek onderzoek. Daarnaast is hij actief als musicus en als erfgoedspecialist.Christel Stalpaert is senior full professor in Performing and Media Art Studies at Ghent University. She is co-director of the research centre S:PAM (Studies in Performing Arts and Media).

• PrefaceA Twenty-First-Century Plea for Vintage, Heritage-Friendly TheaterBruno FormentPart I In Light of the Theatrical FactTheaterfeuer or Sublime Horreur Operatic Pyrotechnics in the Eighteenth CenturyJohn A. RiceMechanical Rules versus Abnormis Gratia Revaluing Gilbert Austin's Chironomia (1806) as a Source for Historical Acting TechniquesJed WentzPlayabilityA Reinvention of Contemporary Lighting Practice Drawing on Fred Bentham's 1930s Light ConsoleNick HuntPart II Reviving the Operatic PastDivas, Arias, and AcrimonyThe Revolving Door of Musical Resources for London's Italian OperaMichael BurdenThe Misadventures of Artaserse (Turin, 1760)J. C. Bach's First Italian Opera from Production to PerformanceMargaret R. ButlerThe Mechanics of Magic (or Vice Versa)Sigrid T'Hooft and the Historically Informed Performance of OperaBruno FormentAffective Education and Performative SpaceIn Francesca Caccini's La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Alcina (1625 and 2012)Christine FischerPart III Theatrical Infrastructure Rebuilt, Endangered, and Lost Visualizing the Theatrical PastThe Virtual Reconstruction of Theatrical HeritageTimothy De PaepeThe 'Bourla' in AntwerpMachinery from 1834 on the Brink of Dismantling?Jerome MaeckelberghO Tempora, O Mores A Discourse of Neglect and DestructionFrank PeetersPart IV From Performance to ArchiveAn Empty StageAssessing the Value of Theatrical CollectionsRiemer R. KnoopThe Document as EventAssessing the Value of Digital Collections for Theatrical HeritageThomas CrombezFrom the Conservation to the Production of Archives The Portail des Arts de la Marionnette, Reference and Vehicle for New Ambitions in the Cultural Heritage of the Performing ArtsRaphaèle FleuryBeyond the ArchiveSafeguarding Theatrical Heritage: a Strategy for the Empowerment of Artistic CommunitiesMaarten De Pourcq & Staf VosBibliography Contributors' biographies IndexGallery with color plates

This book invites you to reassess our modern safe conventions and to add the magic component of immediacy. Heady stuff.Focus -; The Journal of the Association of Lighting Designers