New Theatre Quarterly - Current Issue

Volume 24 Issue 03

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT

New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03

New Theatre Quarterly provides a vital international forum where theatrical scholarship and practice can meet and where prevailing dramatic assumptions can be subjected to vigorous critical questioning. It shows that theatre history has a contemporary relevance, that theatre studies need a methodology and that theatre criticism needs a language. The journal publishes news, analysis and debate within the field of theatre studies.

Learning Shakespeare's Secret Language: the Limits of ‘Performance Studies’

Research Articles
John Russell Brown,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 211-221

Abstract
As author of one of the pioneering books advocating the study of Shakespeare's Plays in Performance (1966), founder of the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts at Birmingham University, and for fifteen years an Associate Director of the Royal National Theatre, John Russell Brown is in a uniquely authoritative position to look back over the intervening years as have increasingly displaced the study of Shakespeare's plays as texts. But has this been as helpful as many, including the author, hoped, when in practice it is so often based on the second- or third-hand recreation of lost and isolated theatrical moments, and fails entirely to give a sense of the progressive experience of watching a play? John Russell Brown here argues for closer attention to what he calls the of the plays Rather than trying to describe and understand what very different people have made of the plays in very different circumstances and times, we can best study them in performance by allowing them to reflect our own lives. John Russell Brown's most recent books are Shakespeare Dancing (Palgrave, 2005) and, as editor, The Routledge Companion to Directors' Shakespeare (2008). In 2007 he was appointed Visiting Professor at University College London.

Waltzing in Arcadia : a Theatrical Dance in Five Dimensions

Research Articles
Jerzy Limon,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 222-228

Abstract
Time structures are essential to any analysis of drama or theatre performance, and in this article Jerzy Limon takes the final scene from Tom Stoppard's Arcadia as an example to show that non-semantic systems such as music gain significance in the process of stage semiosis and may denote both space and time. The scene discussed is particularly complex owing to the fact that Stoppard introduces two different time-streams simultaneously in one space. The two couples presented dance to two distinct melodies which are played at two different times, and the author explains how the playwright avoided the confusion and chaos which would have inevitably resulted if the two melodies were played on the stage simultaneously. Jerzy Limon is Professor of English at the English Institute at the University of Gda lisab thains.

Representations of Greek Tragedy in Ancient Pottery: a Theatrical Perspective

Research Articles
Christian M. Billing,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 229-245

Abstract
In this article, Christian M. Billing considers the relationship between representations of mythic narratives found on ancient pottery (primarily found at sites relating to the Greek colonies of south Italy in the fourth century BC, but also to certain vases found in Attica) and the tragic theatre of the fifth century BC. The author argues against the current resurgence in critical accounts that seek to connect such ceramics directly to performance of tragedies by the major tragedians: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Using five significant examples of what he considers to be errors of method in recent philologically inspired accounts of ancient pottery, Billing argues for a more nuanced approach to the interpretation of such artefacts one that moves beyond an understanding of literary texts and art history towards a more performance-conscious approach, while also acknowledging that a multiplicity of spheres of artistic influence, drawn from a variety of artistic media, operated in the production and reception of such artefacts. Christian M. Billing is an academic and theatre practitioner working in the fields of ancient Athenian and early modern English and European drama. He has extensive experience as a director, designer, and actor, and has taught at a number of universities in the UK and the USA. He is currently Lecturer in Drama at the University of Hull.

Hospitality and the Ethics of Improvisation in the Work of Ingemar Lindh

Research Articles
Frank Camilleri,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 246-259

Abstract
Ingemar Lindh's work on the principles of collective improvisation has crucial implications for the history of twentieth-century laboratory theatre. His early work with an ongoing research laboratory that investigates the intermediary space between training and performance processes. Camilleri's work with Lindh in the mid-1990s was instrumental for the development of this research practice.

As Long as the Punters Enjoy It

Research Articles
Tanika Gupta,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 260-269

Abstract
Tanika Gupta is one of the most prolific and outstanding new writers in contemporary British theatre. Born in Chiswick in 1965, she is a bilingual British Bengali who began her career in 1991, when her Radio 4 play, Asha, was part of the BBC Young Playwrights Festival. In 1995, her BBC film, The Rhythm of Raz, was nominated for a Children's BAFTA and the following year her film Bideshi won an award at the Bombay Short Film Festival. Meanwhile, although she made a living writing for Grange Hill and EastEnders, her play Voices on the Wind was being developed and, in 1996 In Conversation with Tanika Gupta Universal Voices festival held at Rose Bruford College, Sidcup, Kent, in April 2007, organized by Nesta Jones.

Deviants and Outcasts: Power and Politics in Hausa Bori Performances

Research Articles
Osita Okagbue,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 270-280

Abstract
The jihad of Uthman dan Fodio in the early ninteenth century had by 1806 established Islamic cultural and religious hegemony over the Hausa territory of present-day Northern Nigeria. In the process, Islam had succeeded in pushing indigenous religious and cultural practices such as Bori to the margins or underground. However, while most of the other indigenous forms died or became inactive and ineffectual, Bori has managed to hold its own against the persecution and cultural war waged against it by Islam, mainly because the belief in the power and ability of the spirits to influence human life which is at the centre of Bori practice was never lost. In this article, Osita Okagbue argues that marginalization has made Bori attractive to groups and individuals in Hausa society who feel themselves similarly marginalized and oppressed for articulating alternative identities and viewpoints to those of the mainstream society. He also examines how the possession performances of the Bori cult enable members to subvert and occasionally to use moments of trance and possession to invert the power relationships between oppressed groups and their oppressors. Osita Okagbue teaches at Goldsmiths, University of London, and is the author of African Theatres and Performances (Routledge, 2007). He is President of the African Theatre Association (AfTA) and editor of African Performance Review.

The Ballet Called ‘Siegfried’: the Enigmatic Prince of Swan Lake

Research Articles
Gregory Sporton,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 281-293

Abstract
Swan Lake has a central place in the ballet repertoire. Generally seen as the ballerina's ballet, one of the greatest difficulties in presenting Swan Lake as a credible drama has been the historically marginal role played by Siegfried, the Prince. As choreographer-producers have struggled in the challenge to make the ballet work dramatically, his character has been transformed from onlooker to major influence in a series of reinterpretations of this classic work. In this article Gregory Sporton raises questions about what motivates Siegfried and why that is important for our understanding of the ballet, offering an alternative view of Siegfried's character. Gregory Sporton is Director of the Visualisation Research Unit in the Department of Art at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design. His interest in Swan Lake emerges from his background as a dancer and long periods of research in the former Soviet Union during 2004 2006, when he was able to see at first hand most of the Russian productions referenced in this article. His other published work includes ethnographic accounts of dance and its place in the flow of culture.

The Golden Mask Festival 2008

Rapid Communication
Maria Shevtsova,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 294-297

Abstract

Roberta Barker Early Modern Tragedy, Gender, and Performance, 1984–2000: the Destined Livery Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. 237 p. £45.00. ISBN: 1-4039-9479-x. Michael Dobson, ed. Performing Shakespeare's Tragedies Today: The Actor's Perspective Cambridge University Press, 2006. 144 p. £40.00 ISBN: 978-0-521-85509-9.

Book Reviews
Kathryn Prince,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 298-298

Abstract

Anselm Heinrich Entertainment, Propaganda, Education: Regional Theatre in Germany and Britain between 1918 and 1945 Hertfordshire: University of Hertfordshire Press/Society for Theatre Research, 2007. 271 p. £14.99. ISBN: 978-1-902806-75-4.

Book Reviews
Claire Cochrane,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 299-299

Abstract

Joseph Donohue Fantasies of Empire: the Empire Theatre of Varieties and the Licensing Controversy of 1894 Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2005. 290 p. £28.95. ISBN: 0-87745-960-6.

Book Reviews
Jacky Bratton,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 299-300

Abstract

Simon Shepherd Theatre, Body and Pleasure London: Routledge, 2006. 198 p. £17.99. ISBN: 0-415-25375-6.

Book Reviews
Kara Reilly,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 300-300

Abstract

Elizabeth Schafer Lilian Baylis: a Biography . Hertfordshire: University of Hertfordshire Press/Society for Theatre Research, 2006. 308 p. £16.99. ISBN: 1-902806-64-6.

Book Reviews
Nicola Shaughnessy,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 300-301

Abstract

Emilyn Claid Yes? No! Maybe. Seductive Ambiguity in Dance London: Routledge, 2006. 245 p. £23.99. ISBN: 978-0-415-37247-3.

Book Reviews
Mike Huxley,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 301-301

Abstract

Raphael Lyne Shakespeare's Late Work Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. 173 p. £25.00. ISBN: 978-0-19-926594-7.

Book Reviews
Tom Lockwood,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 301-302

Abstract

Amy Wygant Medea, Magic, and Modernity in France: Stages and Histories, 1553–1797 . Aldershot and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2007. 217 p. £50.00. ISBN: 978-0-7546-5924-2.

Book Reviews
Joseph Harris,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 302-302

Abstract

Michael McKinnie City Stages: Theatre and Urban Space in a Global City Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007. 178 p. £28.00. ISBN: 978-0-8020-9121-5.

Book Reviews
William McEvoy,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 302-303

Abstract

Kathryn M. Moncrief and Kathryn R. McPherson, ed. Performing Maternity in Early Modern England Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007. 262 p. £50.00. ISBN 978-0-7546-6117-7.

Book Reviews
Felicity Dunworth,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 303-303

Abstract

Olga Taxidou Modernism and Performance: Jarry to Brecht Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. 249 p. £18.99. ISBN: 978-1-4039-4101-5.

Book Reviews
Chris Megson,
New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 03 , pp 303-304

Abstract