{"title":"Joel Schechter","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"popular-theatre-book-joel-schechter-9780415258302","title":"Popular Theatre","description":"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. 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. Popular Theatre: A Sourcebook 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. The book features essays from the archives of The Drama Review 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.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49567177244945,"sku":"GOR005221109","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49631052988689,"sku":"GOR009307940","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49949933633809,"sku":"CIN0415258308G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52521526100241,"sku":"NLS9780415258302","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0415258308.jpg?v=1750910131"},{"product_id":"eighteenth-century-brechtians-book-joel-schechter-9780859893350","title":"Eighteenth-Century Brechtians","description":"Discussing the actor mutiny of 1733, theatre censorship, controversial plays and Fielding’s forgery of an actor’s biography, the book contends that some subversive Augustan and Georgian artists were early Brechtians. Reconstructions of lost episodes in theatre history include a recounting of Fielding’s last days as a stage satirist before his Little Haymarket theatre was closed, Charlotte Charke’s performances as Macheath and Polly Peachum in The Beggar’s Opera and the 1740 staging of Jonathan Swift’s Polite Conversation on a double bill with Shakespeare’s Merry Wives . . .    Some documents in this collection offer another perspective on theatre history by employing fiction – speculative reconstructions of Georgian theatre events for which historical facts are scarce or missing.  Brecht also employed fiction to reconsider history in short stories he wrote about Lucullus and Socrates, and a novel about Julius Caesar.  The stories and several new letters attributed to Fielding delve into theatre history and keep some of its controversy alive in new ways, historicizing fiction and theatre somewhat as Brecht did.    It offers an unconventional, new reading of theatre history, Brecht’s tradition and stage satire.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50183852687633,"sku":"CIN0859893359G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52386190950673,"sku":"NLS9780859893350","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0859893359.jpg?v=1750947546"},{"product_id":"satire-book-joel-schechter-9781350140080","title":"Satire","description":"Satire reconsiders the entertainment, political dissent and comic social commentary created by innovative writers and directors since this theatrical form took the stage in ancient Athens. From Aristophanes to the 18th-century plays of John Gay and Henry Fielding, to the creations of Joan Littlewood, Bertolt Brecht, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Erika Mann, Brendan Behan and Dario Fo, practitioners of theatrical satire have prompted audiences to laugh at corruption, greed, injustice and abusive authority.  In the theatre these artists jested at prominent citizens, scandals and fashions. In retrospect it can be seen that their topical references, allegories and impersonations also promoted intervention in public discourse and events outside the theatre, as satire extended its reach beyond the stage into society.  Satire focuses on three exemplary satiric plays: The Knights by Aristophanes, The Beggar’s Opera by John Gay and The Hostage by Brendan Behan under Joan Littlewood’s direction. Detailed discussion of these three innovative works reveals both changes and continuities in stage satire over the course of its long, hilarious history. The survey concludes with a discussion of stage satire as an endangered art in need of preservation by actors, directors and theatre historians.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50697966354705,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50697968419089,"sku":"NGR9781350140080","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52536756273425,"sku":"NLS9781350140080","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1350140082.jpg?v=1751457964"},{"product_id":"pickle-clowns-book-joel-schechter-9780809323579","title":"The Pickle Clowns","description":"The history of the Pickle clowns and their comedy acts and eccentric dances, proves that a small circus can be innovative, provocative and hilarious. Recorded in their own words, this volume also includes four clown acts to demonstrate the humour and craft of the clowns.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51822037532945,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51822038122769,"sku":"NGR9780809323579","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780809323579.jpg?v=1757412851"},{"product_id":"pickle-clowns-book-joel-schechter-9780809323562","title":"The Pickle Clowns","description":"The Pickle clowns have performed to great acclaim with Cirque du Soleil, Circus Flora and the Pickle Family Circus in dance concerts, one-person shows, and plays by Beckett, Bracht, Fo, O'Casey, Shakespeare, Jonson and Moliere. For the first time outside a circus ring, the Pickle clowns reveal all about their popular comedy acts, their eccentric dances, and the state of the circus in the United States and abroad. This volume offers conversations with the clowns themselves, Lorenzo Pickle (Larry Pisoni), Willy the Clown (Bill Irwin), Mr. Sniff (Geoff Hoyle), Queenie Moon (Joan Mankin), Ralph Deliberate (Donald Forrest), Ms. Wombat (Andrea Snow), Pino (Diane Wasnak), and Razz (Jeff Raz). Also interviewed are Ramona the Tap-dancing Gorilla (circus choreographer Kimi Okada) and artistic director and choreographer Tandy Beal. Four clown acts are included to best demonstrate both the unique humour and craft of the Pickle clowns. The Pickle Family Circus began in 1957 in San Francisco as a clown-centred, cooperative one-ring circus, far more intimate than circuses heralding themselves as \"the greatest show on earth\". Clowning comics in the spirit of Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, and Laurel and Hardy, the Pickles prove that a small circus can be innovative and provocative, adventurous and hilarious. This collective history of the Pickle clowns, recorded in their own words and featuring 14 illustrations, constitutes a unique account of the art of clowning and an introduction to some of the finest comedians of our time.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51822043234577,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51822043791633,"sku":"NGR9780809323562","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780809323562.jpg?v=1752619286"},{"product_id":"satiric-impersonations-book-joel-schechter-9780809318674","title":"Satiric Impersonations","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn this entertaining and provocative new work, Joel Schechter selectively surveys political satire covering a wide range of periods and events from Aristophanes to the present. His absorbing essays focus on the satire of Jonathan Swift, Charlie Chaplin, Will Rogers, Dario Fo, and the Guerrilla Girls, among others.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSchechter argues that some politicians are as theatrical, if not as comic, as the plays, pamphlets, and films in which they are satirically impersonated, and he contends that their very theatricality invites their satirical treatment by playwrights and performers. As examples, he cites Hitler, Stalin, and Reagan as performers whose \"acts\" rival anything a satirist could invent and any impersonation a comedian could stage.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo Schechter, impersonation is both an art form through which one living person appears to be another and an act that reveals that the person imitated is an impostor. For example, he contends that \"while Hitler conquered Europe, Chaplin [in his film \u003ci\u003eThe Great Dictator\u003c\/i\u003e]in his own way conquered Hitler, adding him to a repertoire that included the Little Tramp and (later) Blue-beard.\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSchechter concludes with a memoir of his own brief career as an actor-politician.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51822090289425,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51822090649873,"sku":"NGR9780809318674","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780809318674.jpg?v=1752619461"},{"product_id":"eighteenth-century-brechtians-book-joel-schechter-9780859899970","title":"Eighteenth-Century Brechtians","description":"Discussing the actor mutiny of 1733, theatre censorship, controversial plays and Fielding’s forgery of an actor’s biography, the book contends that some subversive Augustan and Georgian artists were early Brechtians. 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It offers an unconventional, new reading of theatre history, Brecht’s tradition and stage satire.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52480537166097,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52480538345745,"sku":"NLS9780859899970","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780859899970.jpg?v=1759850375"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-joel-schechter.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}