English Theatre History

Here is a diverse and fascinating story of the Theatre, from the first tragedies and comedies of Ancient Greece to the high-tech mega-musicals of the late 20th century. It is an absorbing listen, encompassing ancient tales, medieval theatre, Commedia dell'Arte, the great dramas of the Elizabethan age, and more.

In The English and their History, the first full-length account to appear in one volume for many decades, Robert Tombs gives us the history of the English people and of how the stories they have told about themselves have shaped them, from the prehistoric 'dreamtime' through to the present day.

Using detailed contemporary case histories, theatre artist, scholar and activist Ali Campbell demonstrates how the underlying principles of Boal's practice are today enacted in the work of - among others - an urban network (Theatre of the Oppressed NYC), a rural and developmental theatre organisation (Jana Sanskriti, West Bengal), Boal's original company CTO Rio (Brazil), and a theatre-based group led by learning-disabled adults in the UK (The Lawnmowers Independent Theatre Company).

Theatre and tourism are kindred practices. Both engage their patrons in experiences of temporary escape to distant places, times, or different lives. Both stage expressive, communicative, embodied encounters in real time and space. Tourism and theatre are both sites of public pedagogy, cultural diplomacy, and cosmopolitan consciousness, promising pleasure and knowledge from the spectacle of others and elsewheres.

Theatre and Race centers on the interrelationship of the words on either side of the ampersand. It offers an accessible overview of how race is performed and how western theatrical practice has wrestled with the topic, question, and "problem" of racial difference over centuries. This study introduces critical and theoretical concepts to account for how the simple act of being attentive to the seeming "otherness" of another person within the expressive arts, as well as in everyday life, invites an engagement with the social history and lived experience of race.

In this audio-original production, author Richard Fawkes traces the development of the musical, highlighting composers and lyricists including Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Sondheim. Presented by the vivacious singer Kim Criswell, star of Cats, and including nearly 100 famous musical extracts.

Stop performing your life. Start living it. In a world driven by distraction, overstimulation, and artificial intelligence, one truth remains: your presence is your power. The Soul System: Acting From the Inside Out is not just a book about acting—t’s a transformative guide to becoming more human in an increasingly artificial world. Written and narrated by actor, coach, and creator Jay Jones, this audiobook introduces the Soul System, a powerful six-pillar framework designed to reconnect you to your emotional truth, your body, your voice, and your story.

This Critical Companion to the American Stage Musical provides the perfect introductory view for students of theatre, music and cultural studies. It traces the history and development of the industry and art form in America with a particular focus on its artistic and commercial development in New York City from the early 20th century to the present.

Country music grew up in the mountains of Appalachia, in the cotton fields of Georgia and Mississippi, the car and truck plants in Detroit, and in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. It was - and is - the music of the people. Hairl Hensley tells of Jimmy Rodgers and the Carter Family; of Bob Wills and Ernest Tubb, whose music played in honky tonks...and Roy Acuff , whose music was heard in Madison Square Garden; of the Girls of the Golden West, but also of Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire.

The American theater was not ignorant of the developments brought on by World War II, and actively addressed and debated timely, controversial topics for the duration of the war, including neutrality and isolationism, racism and genocide, and heroism and battle fatigue. McLaughlin and Parry's work fills a significant gap in the history of theater and popular culture, showing that American society was more divided and less idealistic than the received histories of the WWII home front and the entertainment industry recognize.