For Alain Badiou, theatre—unlike cinema—is the place for the staging of a truly emancipatory collective subject. In this sense theatre is, of all the arts, the one strictly homologous to politics: both theatre and politics depend on a limited set of texts or statements, collectively enacted by a group of actors or militants, which put a limit on the excessive power of the state. This explains why the history of theatre has always been inseparable from a history of state repression and censorship. This definitive collection includes not only Badiou’s pamphlet Rhapsody for the Theatre but also essays on Jean-Paul Sartre, on the political destiny of contemporary theatre, and on Badiou’s own work as a playwright, as author of the Ahmed Tetralogy.

The text of the Broadway musical adapted from George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion.

In Praise of Theatre is Alain Badiou’s latest work on the ‘most complete of the arts,’ the theatrical stage. This book, certain to be of great interest to scholars and theatre practitioners alike, elaborates the theory of the theatre developed by Badiou in works such as Rhapsody for the Theatre and the ‘Theses on Theatre’ and enquires into the status of a theatre that would be adequate to our ‘contemporary, market-oriented chaos.’ In a departure from his usual emphasis upon canonical figures of the stage such as Bertolt Brecht and Samuel Beckett, Badiou devotes In Praise of Theatre largely to a consideration of contemporary practitioners, including Jan Fabre, Brigitte Jacques and Romeo Castellucci. In addition, the book features an incisive analysis of the precarious status of the theatre today, in which Badiou describes not only the current threats to the theatre from the right, but the far more insidious threat from the left.

This volume examines the concept of rhapsody through a broad lens. Beginning with a discussion of the meaning(s) of the term itself, it then traces the history and reception of the genre and its significance in European culture. It argues for a close relationship between the idea of rhapsody and the concept of Gypsiness by demonstrating that 'rhapsody' and 'Gypsiness' can be seen as manifestations of the same types of influence and preferences for certain aesthetic categories. The book pays special attention to the seminal role of Franz Liszt in its discussion of the instrumental rhapsody. Ultimately, it reveals the consequences of historiographical representations of the rhapsody (e.g. the ossification of the image of the European Gypsy musician as a bard/rhapsode, the fossilization of presumptions concerning the nature of so-called 'Gypsies') as well as unexpected similarities and differences between the rhapsody and the ballad as romantic genres with national implications.

To provide greater availability for a work of such importance, the original publishers secured from Gershwin a solo piano version wherein the orchestral parts are fused together with the solo piano part (PS0047). Due to concerns that the composer's arrangement presented too many technical demands to pianists not possessing the requisite technique, a modified arrangement was delicately solicited from pianists of the time. (Gershwin's untimely death precluded any modification from the composer himself.) Many attempts at technical modifications were rejected on ethical grounds until Herman Wasserman--who taught Gershwin to play the piano--submitted a manuscript which became this edition. Several prominent pianists who reviewed the score all attested to the amazing reduction in technical demands while retaining the clarity, sonority, and brilliance of the original. This edition is designed for Early Advanced pianists, although some sections, including the well-known Moderato middle section, are accessible to those performing at less-advanced levels.

Imagine being told to leave your home... Imagine American soldiers occupying your house and land... Imagine being 12 and angry, with only a cat to tell your secrets to... Well it all happened (most of it anyway) in Slapton Sands, Devon, in 1944. Based on Michael Morpurgo’s The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, this play explodes everything we thought we knew about the D-Day landings. With signature Kneehigh sorcery, 946 uses music, puppetry and foolishness to tell this tale of war, prejudice and love. Tender, political and surprisingly romantic, this story speaks to us all and will finally reveal the secrets the US and British governments tried to keep quiet.

A contemporary drama that pushes the edges and embraces the harsh reality of today's youth. At an elite university, when the party of the year results in the regret of a lifetime, one person will stop at nothing to salvage a future that is suddenly slipping away. In this quick-witted and gripping comic tragedy about 'Generation Me,' it's every man for himself.