Worth a Read: Theatre Books Round-up – July 2011
Summer is conventionally a time for fluffy, light-hearted reading, so we’ve come up with our own theatrical books for the beach. Top of our
packing list will be three Shakespeare parodies by American writer
Perry Pontac in his Alan Bennett endorsed collection,
Codpieces, closely followed by Gilbert of Gilbert &
Sullivan by Andrew Crowther, which, as the title suggests, is a
biography of the comic librettist.
however, might prefer the shade, so alongside these we’re featuring
another Shakespeare book: The Quest for Shakespeare’s Globe,
which tries to reconstruct the original building, and a handbook on
Wagner, Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, edited by Arthur
Groos for those who like to have deep discussions lying on the sand.
Happy reading!
Laura Silverman
Book reviewer
The Quest for Shakespeare’s Globe by John Orrell
Cambridge University Press
No one knows for sure what the original Globe was like: it was
demolished in about 1644 after the Puritans closed it down a couple of
years earlier. Only guesses can be made from printed panoramas at the
time and written accounts by theatregoers. So how was the present one
in Southwark constructed (from 1987 to 1997) with any accuracy? The
answer lies with the late John Orrell, a theatre historian and English
professor at the University of Alberta. Orrell had no training in
archaeological or forensic techniques. Instead, he calculated the
rough size and seating arrangements of the original using a
17th-century etching, documents at the time and Shakespeare’s stage
directions. In this book, originally published in 1983, Orrell
analyses his sources in detail, coming up with angles and equations.
It’s a technical text rather than a light-hearted read, but as the
former it’s pretty impressive.
Codpieces by Perry Pontac
Oberon
These three light-hearted Shakespeare parodies by American writer
Perry Pontac answer those nagging questions: what happened after
Hamlet (Hamlet, Part II), what happened before King
Lear (Prince Lear) and what if Juliet and Romeo survived
(Fatal Loins). The radio plays, which are somewhat shorter than
the originals,were previously broadcast on the BBC, where they
received considerable praise from Alan Bennett. They have yet to be
endorsed by Shakespeare.
Gilbert of Gilbert & Sullivan by Andrew Crowther
History Press
As Andrew Crowther, a playwright and the secretary of the W.S. Gilbert
Society, notes in the first line of this impressively detailed and
entertaining biography, most people know little about W.S. Gilbert,
except that he was the librettist half of Gilbert & Sullivan. They may
well have little idea that he was also a cartoonist, dramatist and
short story writer. Crowther delves into the archives to retrieve what
he can about Gilbert, drawing a particularly detailed character study
of a man who was ‘generous as well as grasping; good company as well
as bad; kind as well as caustic’. The most insightful points relate to
Crowther’s suggestion that his anger and unhappiness can be traced
back to his childhood. The most entertaining parts are the flirtatious
reprinted letters to women, including Bram Stoker’s wife, Florence. A
lively, deeply informative read.
Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, edited by Arthur Groos
Cambridge University Press
You’ll love or despise an opera only when you watch it, but reading
this handbook will at least provide insight and understanding. The
seven essays, written by leading professors mostly of musicology,
include examinations of the libretto as a literary text (Wagner called
it “eine Handlung”, literally a drama, rather than an opera) and
reflections on the innovative composition (the music has been said to
inspire and influence classical composers from Mahler to Strauss).
Groos, an academic at Cornell University, also includes the first
English translation of Wagner’s prose synopsis, so you can see what
Tristan und Isolde is about according the writer himself. At
200 pages, this book is also a non-threatening size; you could easily
carry it around.
The Luminous Darkness: The Theatre of Jon Fosse by Leif Zern
Oberon
After Simon Stephens’ recent production of I am the Wind at the
Young Vic, Jon Fosse might – at last – be recognised in Britain.
Elsewhere in Europe, from his native Norway to Germany, he is regarded
as one of today’s star playwrights, on a par with Hare and Stoppard,
but his lyrical writing, deep themes and abstract ideas haven’t
engaged British audiences. Yet. In anticipation that he will soon be
on the scene, you might like to prepare. Leif Zern, a Swedish
journalist, analyses Fosse’s plays and poetry in this clear,
manageable guide. Key interest areas for Zern are Fosse’s minimalist
writing style and the influence of Christian mysticism on his work.
National Theatre Connections 2011 by Samuel Adamson et al
Methuen, £14.99
Children of Killers by Katori Hall, who wrote the Olivier
award-winning Mountaintop, is one of the highlights in this
tome of an anthology, comprising ten plays for young people
commissioned by the National Theatre. Hall’s play is about genocide in
Rwanda, although there are some lighter offerings, including Douglas
Maxwell’s comedy about a vocal group entering Britain’s Got
Talent. Each play comes with brief notes about staging and who to
contact for performing rights, should you want to put it on yourself.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, adapted by Helen Edmunson
Nick Hern
Edmunson distils Tolstoy’s 800-page novel into a 90-page script by
boldly and successfully restructuring the story as a conversation
between the two romantic heroes/heroines, Levin and Anna. Love affairs
and self-destruction are still the ideas at its core, although
Edmundson tries to get beyond the ‘melodrama and cliché’ of the films.
This adaptation, first on in 1992, was recently on at the Arcola, and
has won a TMA award. Edmundson’s War and Peace adaptation was a
nominated for a Writers’ Guild prize.
The Vampire Trilogy by David Pinner
Oberon, £14.99
Vampire plays, especially compared to the number of vampire films, are
rare, but Pinner, over the course of his career, has given us three.
Fanghorn was one of the last plays to be banned by Lord Chamberlain.
It features a lesbian vampire, who enters the house of Joseph King,
the First Secretary to the Minister of Defence. Lucifer’s Fair
is a Hallowe’en musical play aimed at families and is about a fair run
by the devil to snare children, while Edred, the Vampyre, written last
year, features a 1,000-year-old bisexual vampire who slept with
Shakespeare. Pinner wrote Ritual, the novel upon which the cult
film The Wicker Man was based, so expect thrills and horror.
The images and scenes are vivid, but the dialogue is often very funny,
too.
