By Alan C. Dessen (NHC Fellow, 2000–01) Alan Dessen focuses on the playtexts used for staging Shakespeare's plays, from almost three hundred productions of the last twenty five years. Dessen examines the process of rescripting–when directors make cuts to streamline the playscript, save running time, etc., and rewriting–when more extensive changes are made. He assesses … Continued
By M. C. Bradbrook (NHC Fellow, 1978–79; 1980–81) This final great volume of Professor Bradbrook's essays offers a fascinating juxtaposition of the drama of the English Renaissance with the New Irish Drama on this century. Analyzing the way in which the drama itself was to become the point of growth verbally, she then shows how, … Continued
By Tim Carter (NHC Fellow, 2015–16) Carousel (1945), with music by Richard Rodgers and the book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, was their second collaboration following the surprising success of Oklahoma! (1943). They worked again with Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner of the Theatre Guild (producers), Rouben Mamoulian (director), and Agnes de Mille (choreographer). But with Oklahoma! still running … Continued
Edited by Henry S. Turner (NHC Fellow, 2010–11) The original essays in Oxford Twenty-First Century Approaches to Literature mean to provoke rather than reassure, to challenge rather than codify. Instead of summarizing existing knowledge, scholars working in the field aim at opening fresh discussion; instead of emphasizing settled consensus, they direct their readers to areas … Continued
By Neil W. Bernstein (NHC Fellow, 2011–12) Hercules is the best-known character from classical mythology. Seneca's play Hercules Furens presents the hero at a moment of triumph turned to tragedy. Hercules returns from his final labor, his journey to the Underworld, and then slaughters his family in an episode of madness. This play exerted great influence on … Continued
By Robert C. Allen (NHC Fellow, 1986–87) Robert Allen's compelling book examines burlesque not only as popular entertainment but also as a complex and transforming cultural phenomenon. Locating burlesque within the context of both the social transformation of American theater and its patterns of gender representation, Allen concludes that burlesque represents a fascinating example of … Continued
By Sarah Beckwith (NHC Fellow, 1994–95; 2012–13) In Signifying God, Sarah Beckwith explores the most lavish, long-lasting, and complex form of collective theatrical enterprise in English history: the York Corpus Christi plays. First staged as early as 1376, the plays were performed annually until the late 1500s and involved as much as a tenth of the city … Continued
Edited by James Knowlson (NHC Fellow, 2002–03) and John Haynes Images of Beckett combines John Haynes' unique repertoire of photographs of Beckett's dramatic opus alongside three newly written essays by Beckett's biographer and friend, James Knowlson. Haynes captures images of Beckett's work in progress and performance and includes hitherto unknown portraits of Beckett himself. Haynes … Continued
By Jeffrey T. Schnapp (NHC Fellow, 1991–92) On an April evening in Florence in 1934, before 20,000 spectators, the mass spectacle 18BL was presented, involving 2000 amateur actors, an air squadron, one infantry and cavalry brigade, fifty trucks, four field and machine gun batteries, ten field-radio stations and six photoelectric units. However titantic its scale, … Continued
Between 1883 and 1916, “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” — an extravaganza of riding, roping, shooting, Indian attacks, and stage coach robberies — gave audiences throughout the world a vivid image of the American West. In the process William F. Cody, as Buffalo Bill, established himself as one of the most famous Americans of his era. … Continued