The Routledge Companion to Performance Practitioners Volume One

The Routledge Companion to Performance Practitioners collects the outstanding biographical and production overviews of key theatre practitioners first featured in the popular Routledge Performance Practitioners series of guidebooks.Each of the chapters is written by an expert on a particular figure, from Stanislavsky and Brecht to Laban and Decroux, and places their work in its social and historical context. Summaries and analyses of their key productions indicate how each practitioner's theoretical approaches to performance and the performer were manifested in practice. All 22 practitioners from the original series are represented, with this volume covering those born before the end of the First World War. This is the definitive first step for students, scholars and practitioners hoping to acquaint themselves with the leading names in performance, or deepen their knowledge of these seminal figures.

AcknowledgementsNotes on ContributorsIntroduction1. STANISLAVSKI (1863–1938) – Bella Merlin1.1 BIOGRAPHY IN SOCIAL AND ARTISTIC CONTEXT1.2 DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS OF THE SEAGULL2. MEYERHOLD (1874–1940) – Jonathan Pitches2.1 A LIFE OF CONTRADICTIONS2.2 MEYERHOLD’S KEY PRODUCTION: THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR3. COPEAU (1879–1949) – Mark Evans3.1 THE LIFE OF JACQUES COPEAU ¿3.2 COPEAU’S IDEAS IN PRODUCTION: LES FOURBERIES ¿DE SCAPIN 4. LABAN (1879–1958) – Karen K. Bradley4.1 LABAN’S CORE: BIOGRAPHY 4.2 THE TANZTHEATER AND ANALYSIS OF A WORK: DIE GRÜNEN CLOWNS 5. WIGMAN (1886–1973) – Mary Anne Santos Newhall5.1 MARY WIGMAN: A LIFE IN DANCE 5.2 MARY WIGMAN AS CHOREOGRAPHER: CHOOSING THE FOCUS6. CHEKHOV (1891–1955) – Franc Chamberlain6.1 BIOGRAPHY AND CONTEXT 6.2 CHEKHOV AS DIRECTOR 7. BRECHT (1898–1956) – Meg Mumford7.1 A LIFE IN FLUX7.2 THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE: A PRODUCTION MODEL8. DECROUX (1898–1991) – Thomas Leabhart8.1 A PROMETHEAN LIFE8.2 DECROUX AS DIRECTOR/CREATOR: HOW DID DECROUX MAKE A PERFORMANCE? 9. OHNO (1906–2010) and HIJIKATA (1928–1986) – Sondra Fraleigh and Tamah Nakamura9.1 BUTOH SHAPESHIFTERS 9.2 DANCES OF DEATH, SACRIFICE, AND SPIRIT 10. LITTLEWOOD (1914–2002) – Nadine Holdsworth10.1 BIOGRAPHY IN POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ARTISTIC CONTEXT 10.2 DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS OF OH WHAT A¿ LOVELY WAR Index

Franc Chamberlain is Professor of Drama, Theatre and Performance at the University of Huddersfield, UK and the series editor for Routledge Performance Practitioners. Bernadette Sweeney is Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies at the School of Theatre & Dance at the University of Montana, USA and co-editor with Franc Chamberlain of the expanded Routledge Performance Practitioners series.