Books in the Theatre and Performance Theory series

Reading the Material Theatre, first published in 2004, demonstrates a method of theatrical performance analysis taking into account the entire theatre experience, from production to reception. It includes five case studies of the cultural work performed by repertory and touring theatre companies and by international festivals.

This collection of specially-commissioned, accessible, essays explores that element of performance theory known as theatricality. Six case studies use historically specific circumstances to illustrate how and why the concept of theatricality is used. Provides a first-step guide for those discovering the complex yet rewarding world of performance theory.

Theatre history has been interpreted in ways which highlight and often omit key elements. Using case studies from nineteenth-century British theatre, Bratton examines the difference between the existence of 'the drama' and 'the stage' and offers a new perspective on theatre history and the discipline.

Professing Performance, first published in 2004, explores the institutional history of performance in the US academy in order to revise current debates around the role of the arts and humanities in higher education. Shannon Jackson analyses long-standing debates between the world of the scholar and the world of the artist.

This collection of specially-commissioned, accessible, essays explores that element of performance theory known as theatricality. Six case studies use historically specific circumstances to illustrate how and why the concept of theatricality is used. Provides a first-step guide for those discovering the complex yet rewarding world of performance theory.

Things nearly always go wrong in the theatre. This study looks at the things that shouldn't happen: stage fright, embarrassment, animals on stage, getting the giggles and bumping into the furniture. All these turn out to be neither anomalies nor accidents, but are instead what makes theatre, theatre.

This 2010 book presents the neglected yet compelling and necessary story of local activists in South Saharan Africa who employ modes of performance as tactics of resistance and intervention in their day-to-day struggles for human rights. The dynamic relationship between performance and activism are illustrated in three case studies.

Copyright for performances of theater and music was invented in the nineteenth century. Courtroom battles over new laws helped define the value of dramatic and musical performances both economically and artistically. Scholars of theater and performance, music, and law will learn how copyright changes the artistic forms it seeks to control.

From forgetting lines to watching Phantom of the Opera, this book uses a range of musicals, plays and experimental performances to show what theatre is made of and how we experience it. Its broad scope will appeal to theatre-goers, while its performance analyses, informed by assemblage theory, will be invaluable for students and theatre scholars.