Joan Littlewood / Nadine Holdsworth.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Holdsworth, Nadine.

Series:

Routledge performance practitioners

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Littlewood, Joan--Criticism and interpretation.

Littlewood, Joan.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

xiii, 154 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2006.

Contents:

1 Biography in Political, Social and Artistic Context 1

Early life 4

Early career: 'Theatre as a Weapon': Theatre of Action and Theatre Union (1935-1945) 5

On the road: the creative ensemble (1945-1952) 12

Popular theatre/critical success (1953-1963) 22

Community initiatives (1963-1975) 32

2 Joan Littlewood's Working Method 43

What was Littlewood against? 45

Attitude to acting 47

Promoting the creative ensemble 48

Approaches to actor training 50

Creating a movement-based theatre: the influence of Laban 51

Using and adapting Stanislavsky 56

Realising the world of the play 59

Improvisation: creating the conditions for theatrical invention 62

Keeping a show alive 72

3 Description and Analysis of Oh What a Lovely War 77

1963: political and cultural context 78

The war game 79

Theatricality 81

Developing the show 82

The pierrot show 86

Documentary material/the 'technological actor' 87

The songs 89

Act 1 91

Act 2 98

Selling out 108

Impact and influence 110

4 Practical Exercises 115

Approach 116

Warm-up exercises 117

The performing body in space and time 120

Releasing the imagination 127

Working with text 130

Ensemble playing 132

Working with documentary sources 133

Name glossary 137.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [143]-147) and index.

ISBN:

0415338867

0415338875

0203448480

OCLC:

62282101

Publisher Number:

9780415338868 (hbk. : alk. paper)

9780415338875 (pbk. : alk. paper)

9780203448489 (ebk.)

Online:

Publisher description