This is the first book to investigate the social, political, cultural, artistic and economic forces which created conditions for the rise, success and decline of mime and physical theatre in the United Kingdom, from the 1970s to 2000. Unpicking the various routes through which mime and physical theatre emerged into wider prominence, this book outlines key thematic strands within this history of practice. The book blends historical description and refl ective analysis. It aims to juxtapose the various histories at play within this field, giving critical attention to the voices of the artists, funders and venue managers who were there at the time, particularly recognising the diversity of practitioners and the network of relationships that supported their work. Drawing upon over 40 original interviews, including, amongst others: Joseph Seelig, Helen Lannaghan, Steven Berkoff, Julian Chagrin, Annabel Arden, Nola Rae, Denise Wong, David Glass, Justin Case and Toby Sedgwick, the book offers unique testimonies and memories from key figures active during these three decades. This wide-ranging account of the history, social context, key moments and practical methods gives an unparalleled chronicle of one of the UK’s most vital and pioneering forms of theatre. From undergraduate students to established scholars, this is a comprehensive account for anyone studying contemporary theatre, theatre history, mime, physical theatre and the structures that support the performing arts in the United Kingdom.

What is theatre? What is performance? What connects them and how are they different? How have they been shaped by events, people, companies, practices and ideas in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries? And where are they heading next? The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Performance offers some answers to these big questions. This third edition has been updated to now include over 160 entries, with all entries brought up to date and new topics added, including Caryl Churchill, Black Lives Matter and Hamilton, among others. This book provides an accessible, informative and engaging introduction to important people and companies, events, concepts and practices that have defined the complementary fields of theatre and performance studies. Three easy-to-use alphabetized sections include entries on topics and people ranging from performance artists Marina Abramović and Pope.L to directors Vsevolod Meyerhold and Robert Wilson, the haka, Taking the Knee and disability, theatre and performance. Each entry includes important historical and contextual information, extensive cross-referencing, detailed analysis and an annotated bibliography. The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Performance is a perfect reference guide for the keen student and the passionate theatre-goer alike.

Community Performance: A Reader is the first book to provide comprehensive teaching materials for this significant part of the theatre studies curriculum. It brings together core writings and critical approaches to community performance work, presenting practices in the UK, USA, Australia and beyond. Offering a comprehensive anthology of key writings in the vibrant field of community performance, spanning dance, theatre and visual practices, this Reader uniquely combines classic writings from major theorists and practitioners such as Augusto Boal, Paolo Freire, Dwight Conquergood and Jan Cohen Cruz, with newly commissioned essays that bring the anthology right up to date with current practice. This book can be used as a stand-alone text, or together with its companion volume, Community Performance: An Introduction, to offer an accessible and classroom-friendly introduction to the field of community performance.

Theatres of Immanence: Deleuze and the Ethics of Performance is the first monograph to provide an in-depth study of the implications of Deleuze's philosophy for theatre and performance. Drawing from Goat Island, Butoh, Artaud and Kaprow, as well from Deleuze, Bergson and Laruelle, the book conceives performance as a way of thinking immanence.

Providing a clear journey through centuries of European, North and South American, African and Asian forms of theatre and performance, this introduction helps the reader think critically about this exciting field through fascinating yet plain-speaking essays and case studies.

The world-famous French singer Édith Piaf (1915-63) was never just a singer. This book suggests new ways of understanding her, her myth and her meanings over time at home and abroad, by proposing the notion of an 'imagined Piaf.

Time and Performer Training addresses the importance and centrality of time and temporality to the practices, processes and conceptual thinking of performer training. Notions of time are embedded in almost every aspect of performer training, and so contributors to this book look at: age/aging and children in the training context how training impacts over a lifetime the duration of training and the impact of training regimes over time concepts of timing and the ‘right’ time how time is viewed from a range of international training perspectives collectives, ensembles and fashions in training, their decay or endurance Through focusing on time and the temporal in performer training, this book offers innovative ways of integrating research into studio practices. It also steps out beyond the more traditional places of training to open up time in relation to contested training practices that take place online, in festival spaces and in folk or amateur practices. Ideal for both instructors and students, each section of this well-illustrated book follows a thematic structure and includes full-length chapters alongside shorter provocations. Featuring contributions from an international range of authors who draw on their backgrounds as artists, scholars and teachers, Time and Performer Training is a major step in our understanding of how time affects the preparation for performance. Chapter 16 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons (CC-BY) 4.0 license.