Black Acting Methods seeks to offer alternatives to the Euro-American performance styles that many actors find themselves working with.A wealth of contributions from directors, scholars and actor trainers address afrocentric processes and aesthetics, and interviews with key figures in Black American theatre illuminate their methods. This ground-breaking collection is an essential resource for teachers, students, actors and directors seeking to reclaim, reaffirm or even red...

Winner of the 2008 American Alliance for Theatre and Education "Book of Distinction" Award.Theatre is a primal language that used to be spoken by everyone; everyone included the "living community".Weaving together Systems Theory and the groundbreaking work of Fritjof Capra , Theatre of the Oppressed and the revolutionary work of Augusto Boal , and his own 25 years of practical experience in community-based popular theatre, David Diamond creates a silo-busting book that embr...

For his thirtieth birthday, Hal Niedzviecki received what his parents thought was the perfect card for their rebellious son. On the front it depicted a crowd scene-dour grey men in suits, hats, and overcoats. Inside it said: "Happy Birthday to a non-conformist." Niedzviecki had a moment of crisis. "If I'm a rebel sanctioned by society, encouraged by my parents, and cheered on by Hallmark, what is left to rebel against?"In Hello, I'm Special, the guru of indie cultu...

An inspiring and no-nonsense guide for aspiring artists of all stripes—from “the most exciting individual in American theater” (Newsweek).In vividly anecdotal letters to the young BZ, Anna Deavere Smith addresses the full spectrum of issues that all artists starting out will face: from questions of confidence, discipline, and self-esteem, to fame, failure, and fear, to staying healthy, presenting yourself effectively, building a diverse social and professi...

Why do Internet, financial service, and beer commercials dominate Super Bowl advertising? How do political ceremonies establish authority? Why does repetition characterize anthems and ritual speech? Why were circular forms favored for public festivals during the French Revolution? This book answers these questions using a single concept: common knowledge.Game theory shows that in order to coordinate its actions, a group of people must form "common knowledge." Each person wants to p...

Every summer, thousands gather from around the world in the blistering heat of Nevada’s Black Rock Desert for the seven-day celebration of art, community, and fire known as Burning Man. Culminating in the spectacular incineration of a wooden effigy, this festival is grand-scale theater for self-expression, personal transformation, eclectic spirituality, communal bonding, and cultural renewal. In this engrossing ethnography of the Burning Man phenomenon, Lee Gilmore explores why "burners" c...

If you've ever considered going to an art museum and then thought, errr, I'll do something else ... If you've ever arrived at one and left a little glazed and confused ... If you've ever thought, I might read an eight-page article about art museums but not a whole book ... Then this is your story. Museum Legs -- taken from a term for art fatigue -- starts with a question: Why do people get bored and tired in art museums and why does that matter? "Amy Whitaker's sparkling meditations on the mu...

Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design brings together the best of designer Michael Bierut's critical writing—serious or humorous, flattering or biting, but always on the mark. Bierut is widely considered the finest observer on design writing today. Covering topics as diverse as Twyla Tharp and ITC Garamond, Bierut's intelligent and accessible texts pull design culture into crisp focus. He touches on classics, like Massimo Vignelli and the cover of The Catcher in the Rye, as...

Theatre practice and applied theatre are areas of growing international interest. Applied Theatre is the first study to assist practitioners and students to develop critical frameworks for planning and implementing their own theatrical projects. This reader-friendly text considers an international range of case studies in applied theatre through discussion questions, practical activities and detailed analysis of specific theatre projects globally. In addition, the collection gathers togeth...

On both sides of the stage improv-comedy's popularity has increased exponentially throughout the 1980s and '90s and into the new millennium. Presto! An original song is created out of thin air. With nothing but a suggestion from the audience, daring young improvisers working without a net or a script create hilarious characters, sketches, and songs. Thrilled by the danger, the immediacy, and the virtuosity of improv-comedy, spectators laugh and cheer.American improv-comedy burst on...

"Excellent essays" on a business empire, a cultural phenomenon, and the nature of the extraordinary bond between Oprah Winfrey and her fans ( Journal of Social History).Oprah Winfrey has built an empire on her ability to connect with and inspire her audience. No longer just a name, "Oprah" has become a brand representing a unique style of self-actualizing individualism. The cultural and economic power wielded by Winfrey merits critical evaluation.T...

Bring on the Books for Everybody is an engaging assessment of the robust popular literary culture that has developed in the United States during the past two decades. Jim Collins describes how a once solitary and print-based experience has become an exuberantly social activity, enjoyed as much on the screen as on the page. Fueled by Oprah’s Book Club, Miramax film adaptations, superstore bookshops, and new technologies such as the Kindle digital reader, literary fiction has been t...