Popular Theatre

<p>Bertolt Brecht turned to cabaret; Ariane Mnouchkine went to the circus; Joan Littlewood wanted to open a palace of fun. These were a few of the directors who turned to popular theatre forms in the last century, and this sourcebook accounts for their attraction.<br>Popular theatre forms introduced in this sourcebook include cabaret, circus, puppetry, vaudeville, Indian jatra, political satire, and physical comedy. These entertainments are highly visual, itinerant, and readily understood by audiences. <em>Popular Theatre: A Sourcebook</em> follows them around the world, from the bunraku puppetry of Japan to the masked topeng theatre of Bali to South African political satire, the San Francisco Mime Troupe's comic melodramas, and a 'Fun Palace' proposed for London.<br>The book features essays from the archives of <em>The Drama Review</em> and other research. Contributions by Roland Barthes, Hovey Burgess, Marvin Carlson, John Emigh, Dario Fo, Ron Jenkins, Joan Littlewood, Brooks McNamara, Richard Schechner, and others, offer some of the most important, informative, and lively writing available on popular theatre. Introducing both Western and non-Western popular theatre practices, the sourcebook provides access to theatrical forms which have delighted audiences and attracted stage artists around the world.</p> <p>List of illustrations Acknowledgements Contributors Part 1: What is Popular Theatre ? 1. Back to the Popular Source <em>Joel Schechter</em> 2. The Scenography of Popular Entertainments <em>Brooks McNamara</em> 3. The Golden Age of the Boulevard <em>Marvin Carlson </em>Part II: Puppets from Bread and Puppet Theatre to Bunraku and Broadway 4. Bread and Puppets <em>Peter Schumann</em> 5. The Radicality of Puppet Theatre <em>Peter Schumann</em> 6. On Bunraku <em>Roland Barthes</em> translated by <em>Sandy MacDonald</em> 7. Wayang and Ludruk: Polarities in Java <em>Barbara Hatley</em> 8. Julie Taymor: From Jacques Lecoq to <em>The Lion King Richard Schechner</em> Part III: Mask: Commedia dell'Arte and Topeng 9. Commedia and the Actor <em>Carlo Mazzone-Clementi and Jane Hill 10. The Dell'Arte Players of Blue Lake, California Misha Berson</em> 11. Theatre du Soleil: Golden Age, First Draft <em>Christopher Kirkland</em> 12. Wordless Speech <em>Dario Fo</em> translated by <em>Joe Farrell</em> 13. Playing with the Pat: Visitation and Illusion in the Mask Theatre of Bali <em>John Emigh</em> Part IV: Circus, Clowns and Jesters 14. Circus and the Actor <em>Hovey Burgess </em>15. Pitu's Doubt: Entrée Clown Self-Fashioning in the Circus Tradition<em> Kenneth Little</em> 16. Hajari Bhand of Rajasthan: A Joker in the Deck <em>John Emigh with Urike Emigh</em> 17. Clown Politics: Report on the International Clown-Theatre Congress <em>Fred Siegel</em> 18. Part Circus, Part Sideshow, Part Burlesque, Thoroughly Grotesque <em>Hovey Burgess</em> Part V: Cabaret, Vaudeville and the Fun Palace 19. The Origins of the Cabaret Artistique <em>John Houchin</em> 20. A Visit to the Cabaret Dada <em>Alexis</em> 21. Karl Valentin and Bertolt Brecht <em>Denis Calandra</em> 22. From Vilna to Vaudeville: Minikes and among the Indians <em>Mark Slobin</em> 23. Laboratory of Fun <em>Joan Littlewood</em> Part VI: Political Theatre as Popular Entertainment 24. Agit Prop and the Circus Plays of Vladimir Mayakovsky <em>Franctisek Deak</em> 25. El Teatro Campesino: An Interview with Luis Valdez <em>Beth Bagby</em> 26. Dario Fo explains <em>Dario Fo interviewed by Luigi Ballerini and Guiseppe Risso</em> 27. Theatre as a Weapon <em>Utpal Dutt interviewed by A. J. Gunawardana</em> 28. Ridiculing Racism in South Africa <em>ron Jenkins</em> 29. Political Theatre as Popular Entertainment: The San Francisco Mime Troupe 324 <em>Theodore Shank</em> 30. Legislative Theatre <em>Augusto Boal</em> Bibliography Index</p>