Theatre and citizenship : the history of a practice / David Wiles.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wiles, David

Contributor:

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Theater and society.

Theater--Political aspects.

Theater.

Physical Description:

viii, 258 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Summary:

"Citizenship is a contested term which today inspires both policy-makers and radical activists. David Wiles traces this ideal to its classical roots, examining both theatre and citizenship as performative practices. Wiles examines how people function collectively rather than as individuals, for example through choruses or crowd behaviour in the auditorium. He explores historic tensions between the passivity of the spectator and the active engagement of a citizen, paying special attention to dramatists like Aristophanes, Machiavelli and Rousseau who have translated political theory into a theatre of, and for, active citizens. The book is a fresh investigation of familiar and less familiar landmarks of theatre history, revealing how plays function as social and political events. In this original approach to theatre history, Wiles argues that theatre is a powerful medium to build communities, and that attempts to use it as a vehicle for education are very often misplaced"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction: citizenship and theatre

2. Athens. Democracy and chorality

The Frogs

Plato and Aristotle 3. Florence, Rome and Machiavelli. Machiavelli's political works

Cicero

Terence's Andria

The Mandrake and the Society of the Trowel

'The Sunflower' in a politician's garden

Coda : Goldoni, Ayckbourn and the comic genre

4. From Coventry to London. Christian fraternity

The Weavers' Pageant in Coventry

Elizabethan London : Shakespeare and Heywood

John Milton and revolutionary tragedy

5. Geneva. Rousseau versus Voltaire : Geneva

Rousseau : The Letter to d'Alembert

The battle for a public theatre

Conclusion : two ideals

6. Paris and the French Revolution. Brutus and the active citizen audience

Tragedy as a school for citizens : the career of M. J. Chenier

The revolutionary festival

Diderot and bourgeois realism

7. The people, the folk, and the modern public sphere. Collectivism in pre-war Germany

The Indian People's Theatre Association

In search of the public sphere

Epilogue : Washington's monuments to citizenship.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 228-253) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

9780521193276

0521193273

OCLC:

665137569

Online:

Cover image