Barrett H. Clark's 'How to Produce Amateur Plays: A Practical Manual' is a comprehensive guide that offers valuable insights into the intricacies of amateur dramatic productions. The book delves into the practical aspects of staging plays, including detailed instructions on set design, costume creation, lighting, sound, and overall production management. Clark's writing style is clear and concise, making this manual a user-friendly resource for aspiring playwrights, directors, and producers. Set in the early 20th century, the book is a valuable reflection of the theatrical practices and trends of the time, providing a glimpse into the world of amateur theater production during that era. Clark's expertise in the field shines through in his meticulous attention to detail and practical advice, making this book a must-read for anyone interested in amateur dramatics. As a respected theater historian and playwright himself, Barrett H. Clark's 'How to Produce Amateur Plays' is a timeless classic that continues to be a relevant and informative guide for theater enthusiasts of all levels.

This book is the first major study of amateur theatre, offering new perspectives on its place in the cultural and social life of communities. Historically informed, it traces how amateur theatre has impacted national repertoires, contributed to diverse creative economies, and responded to changing patterns of labour. Based on extensive archival and ethnographic research, it traces the importance of amateur theatre to crafting places and the ways in which it sustains the creativity of amateur theatre over a lifetime. It asks: how does amateur theatre-making contribute to the twenty-first century amateur turn?

An eclectic mix of art, theatre, dance, politics, experimentation, and ritual, community-based performance has become an increasingly popular art movement in the United States. Forged by the collaborative efforts of professional artists and local residents, this unique field brings performance together with a range of political, cultural, and social projects, such as community-organizing, cultural self-representation, and education. Local Acts presents a long-overdue survey of community-based performance from its early roots, through its flourishing during the politically-turbulent 1960s, to present-day popular culture. Drawing on nine case studies, including groups such as the African American Junebug Productions, the Appalachian Roadside Theater, and the Puerto Rican Teatro Pregones, Jan Cohen-Cruz provides detailed descriptions of performances and processes, first-person stories, and analysis. She shows how the ritual side of these endeavors reinforces a sense of community identification while the aesthetic side enables local residents to transgress cultural norms, to question group habits, and to incorporate a level of craft that makes the work accessible to individuals beyond any one community. The book concludes by exploring how community-based performance transcends even national boundaries, connecting the local United States with international theater and cultural movements.

A rich, historically grounded exploration of why theater and performance matter in the modern world

An intrepid troupe of pageant players races across medieval Europe, struggling to outrun the Black Death. The arrival of a mysterious outsider sends Hollis, the leading lady, in search of answers that can only be found off-script... and soon the 14th century plague begins to look like another, more recent one. This wildly inventive and funny new work examines the evolution of human creativity in a dark age: when does a crisis destroy us, and when does it open new frontiers?

Max Telligan, a popular novelist, has returned to his London apartment from a business trip to Munich to find his evening newspaper containing a report of his violent death. He subsequently is greeted by a parade of mysterious visitors who seek a pocket-sized calculator, threatened him with a poison-tipped walking stick and display photographs of his wife in flagrante delicto. Max has, it seems, unwittingly become embroiled in the activities of an international terrorist group

Good evening. I'm Inspector Carter. Take my case. This must be Charles Haversham! I'm sorry, this must've given you all a damn shock. After benefitting from a large and sudden inheritance, the inept and accident-prone Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society embark on producing an ambitious 1920s murder mystery. They are delighted that neither casting issues nor technical hitches currently stand in their way. However, hilarious disaster ensues and the cast start to crack under the pressure, but can they get the production back on track before the final curtain falls? The Play That Goes Wrong is a farcical murder mystery, a play within a play, conceived and performed by award-winning company Theatre Mischief. It was first published as a one-act play and is published in this new edition as a two-act play.

The Fantasticks tells an age-old tale. Its ingredients are simple: a boy, a girl, two fathers, and a wall. Its scenery, a tattered cardboard moon, hovers over an empty wooden platform. With these bare essentials, Jones and Schmdt launched a theatrical phenomenon unmatched the world over.

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