posted March 6th, 2009
Recommended Readings
submitted by
Bryan White, of StKittsTheatre.com
I might as well kick this page off with some readings that I have enjoyed recently. It has been almost a year since I graduated at Brock and I've had some time to revisit some of the required texts from the program. Two in particular that have been great resources to me as an emerging artist is Reading the Material Theatre by Ric Knowles and Performance Analysis editted by Colin Counsell and Laurie Wolf.
In Reading the Material Theatre, Ric Knowles discusses semiotics and social materialism. But the part of the book that I have enjoyed most are the chapters on the conditions of production and reception. As a director, these chaapters have provided invaluble insight into many variables that sometimes go under-developed or planned when mounting a production. Things what is season is it? Is there something playing on the radio that audience members are encouraged to listen to on the drive to the show? What is the lobby environment like during pre- and post-show? The book does a wonderful job at providing case studies and examples for each discussion. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is considering producing, directing or managing a production.
In Performance Analysis, you will find a collection of essays and book exerpts from many contemporary theatre practitioners and theorists. This book provides readers with a highly-specific set of lenses for which to observe, experience and analyze live performance theatre. Such discussions include: the politics of performance; gender and the sexual identity; the borders of performance; decoding signs (semiotics); performing ethnicity; the space of performance; audience and spectatorship; and the performing body. While you do have to temper some of the discussions with discretion of application - as you do not want to become alienated from performance or be a 'theatre snob' - the tools available in this book are of immense value to anyone wishing to create, work in or critique theatre.