Obscure Stages

In his Introduction, Lott states his desire to "reorient the traditions of American Studies by asking questions about the role of culture in the political development of a specific national entity".  That's his axe to grind and, if you're a fan of writing that namechecks Althusser, Gramsci and "modes of production," this is just your meat.  It's well-researched--which one might expect from a doctoral diss, somewhat combative in tone--which lends it a strong authorial voice, and occasionally mired in jargon, neo-Marxist and otherwise, e.g., "the production of the minstrel show out of gendered commodity exchanges".  Uh-huh.  I won't fault it for what it is--academic writing--just note it and praise the wealth of good information studded  throughout.

An enjoyable academic analysis--there's an oxymoron for you, and no mistake, Mister Frodo! Mayer takes the early panto stage and views it from a variety of perspectives, contextualizes it vis-a-vis the economics and society of the day, illustrates it intelligently and provides about as informative a view of the development of this form as one could ask.  C'mon now, wouldn't you have liked to have been in the 1830 audience for Cowardy, Cowardy, Custard; or, Harlequin Jim Crow and the Magic Mustard Pot? 

Readable academic prose, always a treat.  Garber raises questions about gender and Western assumptions then hies herself down multidisciplinary approaches to the answer, or, at least, another interesting question.  Tootsie meets the ubiquitous Lacan meets Peter Pan and M.Butterfly, while T.E. Lawrence swans about the dunes in a white dress.  Fun to read and thought-provoking.

Which is somewhat far afield from Mander & Mitchenson, but I was informed and inspired by this book and its photos, so there you have it.

Perhaps the best-illustrated work on the commedia dell'arte I've seen, the 1929 Duchartre is also the best overview of the form.  He outlines the origins of commedia and its masks, as well as its staging, theaters, actors, and troupes.  Following a history of the rise of the French comedy and the later Italian is a character-by-character genealogy of the masks.  While not the most recent work on the commedia dell'arte, Duchartre's is the volume to own.

What better way to open a bibliography on the classical theatre of improvisation than with the Bible of improvisational theatre?  I read Johnstone's book and walked away with nuggets that informed my creative and social lives for days and weeks.  Read his section on 'Status' theatre exercises and see your workplace and watering hole in a new light.

These books are linked, where possible, to amazon.com (or, for our UK visitors, please search for them at amazon.co.uk) to facilitate their purchase as expeditiously as possible, because we here at Obscure Stages fervently believe in two-business-day, if not immediate, gratification.