Druid Magazine

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

A study of radio drama

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This introduction to theatre design explains the theories, strategies, and tools of practical design work for the undergraduate student. Through its numerous illustrated case studies and analysis of key terms, students will build an understanding of the design process and be able to: identify the fundamentals of theatre design and scenography recognize the role of individual design areas such as scenery, costume, lighting and sound develop both conceptual and analytical thinking Communicate their own understanding of complex design work trace the traditions of stage design, from Sebastiano Serlio to Julie Taymor. Demonstrating the dynamics of good design through the work of influential designers, Stephen Di Benedetto also looks in depth at script analysis, stylistic considerations and the importance of collaboration to the designer’s craft. This is an essential guide for students and teachers of theatre design. Readers will form not only a strong ability to explain and understand the process of design, but also the basic skills required to conceive and realise designs of their own.

The third edition of Pamela Howard’s What is Scenography? expands on the author’s holistic analysis of scenography as comprising space, text, research, art, performers, directors and spectators, to examine the changing nature of scenography in the twenty-first century. The book includes new investigations of recent production projects from Howard’s celebrated career, including Carmen and Charlotte: A Tri-Coloured Play with Music, full-colour illustrations of her recent work and updated commentary from a wide spectrum of contemporary theatre makers. This book is suitable for students in Scenography and Theatre Design courses, along with theatre professionals.

Offstage Space, Narrative, and the Theatre of the Imagination is a study of extrascenic space and how playwrights have used narrative as an alternative to conventional scenic enactment. The book covers the work of writers as diverse as Euripides, Plautus, Shakespeare, Susan Glaspell, Gertrude Stein, Bertolt Brecht, Samuel Beckett, Marguerite Duras, Brian Friel, and Thomas Bernhard. William Gruber offers a wide-ranging overview of the dramaturgical choices dramatists make when they substitute imagined events for perceptual ones.

The first comprehensive biography of geek and gaming culture's mythic icon, Gary Gygax, and the complete story behind his invention of Dungeons & Dragons. The life story of Gary Gygax, godfather of all fantasy adventure games, has been told only in bits and pieces. Michael Witwer has written a dynamic, dramatized biography of Gygax from his childhood in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin to his untimely death in 2008. Gygax's magnum opus, Dungeons & Dragons, would explode in popularity throughout the 1970s and '80s and irreversibly alter the world of gaming. D&D is the best-known, best-selling role-playing game of all time, and it boasts an elite class of alumni--Stephen Colbert, Robin Williams, and Vin Diesel all have spoken openly about their experience with the game as teenagers, and some credit it as the workshop where their nascent imaginations were fostered. Gygax's involvement in the industry lasted long after his dramatic and involuntary departure from D&D's parent company, TSR, and his footprint can be seen in the role-playing genre he is largely responsible for creating. Through his unwavering commitment to the power of creativity, Gygax gave generations of gamers the tools to invent characters and entire worlds in their minds. Witwer has written an engaging chronicle of the life and legacy of this emperor of the imagination.

"Many high school theatre teachers do not have access to intensive voice instruction. Rena's book will fill that void. It is instructive, concise, easy to understand, and most importantly for the high school student, fun. High school teachers will find the book an invaluable voice and acting resource. It would be beneficial to all high school theatre programs to have Voice and the Young Actor as a textbook." Kim Moore, High School Teacher, Colorado There are thousands of students enrolled in school drama classes in yet very often young actors cannot be heard, are culturally encouraged to trail off at the ends of sentences, and habitually use only the lowest pitches of the voice. Drama teachers, frequently ask, "How can I get my students to speak up, to be clear, to articulate?" Voice and the Young Actor is written for the school actor, is inviting in format, language and illustration and offers clear and inspiring instructions. A DVD features 85 mins and 28 filmed voice workshop exercises with the author and two students. These students log their reflections in the book on what they have learned throughout their training and there is space for the reader to do the same. A workbook in format, Voice and the Young Actor provides simple, interactive vocal exercises and shows young performers how to take voice work into acting.

For generations, fans and critics have characterized classic American radio drama as a “theater of the mind.” This book unpacks that characterization by recasting the radio play as an aesthetic object within its unique historical context. In Theater of the Mind, Neil Verma applies an array of critical methods to more than six thousand recordings to produce a vivid new account of radio drama from the Depression to the Cold War. In this sweeping exploration of dramatic conventions, Verma investigates legendary dramas by the likes of Norman Corwin, Lucille Fletcher, and Wyllis Cooper on key programs ranging from The Columbia Workshop, The Mercury Theater on the Air, and Cavalcade of America to Lights Out!, Suspense, and Dragnet to reveal how these programs promoted and evolved a series of models of the imagination. With close readings of individual sound effects and charts of broad trends among formats, Verma not only gives us a new account of the most flourishing form of genre fiction in the mid-twentieth century but also presents a powerful case for the central place of the aesthetics of sound in the history of modern experience.