No comments about Thinking Shakespeare: A How-to Guide for Student Actors, Directors, and Anyone Else Who Wants to Feel More Comfortable With the Bard.

2 comments about Plays: Man and Superman; Candida; Arms and the Man; Mrs Warren's Profession (Signet Classics).

1. This should be required reading just for the "Don Juan in Hell" act of Man and Superman --an excerpt "Your friends are all the dullest dogs I know. They are not beautiful: they are only decorated. They are not clean: they are only shaved and starched. They are not dignified: they are only fashionably dressed. They are not educated: they are only college passmen. They are not religious: they are only pewrenters. They are not moral: they are only conventional. They are not virtuous: they are only cowardly...."

   One of my science teachers recited this famous speech in the lab one day, just to show off, and I started appreciating Shaw. Funny thing is that of all the playwrights, GBS is the best just to read. Except for Pygmalion and maybe Arms and the Man, most of Shaw's plays are too "talky" to stage well, but read like short stories. If you haven't read them, you are in for a treat.




2. This would be an excellent collection to have for anyone looking for a taste of Shaw's basic philosophies about socialism--and of course, a good way of finding out how his writing suits you.

   Some thought provoking social statements are made in all four plays, though some of the prefaces might be more informative about the author than the plays themselves. Great witticisms and depsite the sometimes heavy philosophy, the reading is light and quick. The last play, Man And Superman, perhaps his most significant play in terms of philosophy, pure and simple, would be fun reading but the socialist's handbook given at the end would definitely not be everyone's cup of tea, unless they're philosophy students. This can be skipped without spoiling the play though, which contains some of the most excellent dialogue I've come across in a play with philosophical overtones.

   All Oscar Wilde and Chesterton lovers would appreciate the epigrams and the witty one-liners. If for nothing else, Shaw is worth reading for his lovely style of execution, the flowing conversations and some uncanny insight.

1 comments about Chinatown (BFI Film Classics).

1. I wish I could say Michael Eaton's Chinatown is required reading for film buffs, or for people who love the movie as I do, but I can't. It's not a bad book by any means, but I'm somewhat ambivalent about recommending it. The author deals in great detail with some aspects of the work in great (too much?) detail, while glossing or ignoring other important aspects of the film and why it is a masterpiece (and coincidentally why its ill-advised sequel failed). He also gets bogged down on some trivial coincidences in which he sees all too much meaning, as well as his Freudian interpretations. (What is it with film "scholars" and their "Freudianization" of everything?) But most of all the structure of the book is just flat-footed and monotonous, with too much scene recitation and too little insight. It reads more like a set of Cliff Notes than anything else.

5 comments about Hyacinth Bucket's Hectic Social Calendar.

1. This book related to "Keeping Up Appearances" begs only one question: Has actress Patricia Routledge recorded an audio-book version of it?
   
   To hear the musings of Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Boo-KAY) as spoken by the actress who acts her out in that BBC comedy would be a hilarious companion to this book.



2. This adorable little book is ostensibly a copy of Hyacinth Bucket's one-year diary (a gift from Richard). As with any diary, the entries are (of course) handwritten. Also, there are copies of newspaper clippings, invitations, a few annotated photographs, and so on, throughout. The first page, as one might expect, is a list of important phone numbers (all filled in and suitably annotated by Hyacinth with comments such as "dirty hands--must NOT touch wallpaper" next to the electrician's number, for example).

   Though the diary makes reference to people and places that were introduced in the series--like Marston Hall (Hyacinth's rural retreat) and C.P. Benedict (the Garden Centre king), it is not a script-based book as is her Book of Etiquette. In fact, it includes incidents that never appeared in the series at all, such as a visit to the Antiques Roadshow. Also, from various comments included in the diary, the reader begins to wonder fairly early on whether or not Richard is seeing another woman (which adds quite an interesting twist!).

   In short, this is a light-hearted and thoroughly entertaining (not to mention insightful) book, and it is a must-have addition to the series for all who love this priceless British comedy and that precious Bucket woman. Highly recommended!




3. I ordered this book on Feb 14, 1999 and have not yet recived this book! 3-5 weeks has turned into 3 months!



4. What a great time I had reading this book. As a fan of the TV series and Hyacinth herself, I was delighted to read the daily account of one year in her life. Very very funny and entertaining. A definite must for anyone who's a fan and a must for anyone who enjoys a great laugh!!!



5. The book is pure Hyacinth. It's like reading her mind!

3 comments about The Madwoman of Chaillot..

1. I find "The Madwoman of Chaillot" contemporary and current. It describes the disillusions, falsness and corruption in a political world gone astray. Anyone who wants to understand the current situation of any government whether a democracy, a republic, a dictatorship, King, Czar, or madmen will identify with this play, and strive to undue the injustices that prevail throughout our modern 21st century world.



2. The Madwoman of Chaillot ( as portrayed by Katharine Hepburn in the movie version) is a two-act play about the destruction of the forces of evil by one older, senile woman - the Madwoman. A group of money-hungry corporation presidents team up with prospectors who claim to have found oil right beneath the streets of Paris's Chaillot suburb, and the Madwoman rallies her bohemian friends and neighbors to stop them from destroying the city. The play is very dramatic and also humorous in parts; it seems primarily a fantasy, but has several fantastic parts for female characters, among them the Madwoman and her group of eccentric, delightful fellow Madwomen. I recommend it highly to any group of adolescent/young adult actors who are looking for a challenge.



3. I believe this is the play in which the role "Countess" appears...and if it is, I would like to write my opinion based upon performing in the role of Countess many years ago. This play is hysterical, entertaining, and a joy for those performing it as well as those seeing or reading it. It involves eccentric, rich old ladies who try to carry on with afternoon tea despite thier various quirky personalities(mainly quirky due to senility and the hallucinations that accompany it). A great play for adolescent through adult actors. It is worth having on your shelf if you instruct drama in any way.

No comments about Alfred Hitchcock: Interviews (Conversations With Filmmakers Series).

3 comments about The Explicit Body in Performance.

1. What I love most about this brilliant, original work is the way Schneider manages to think beyond the usual programmatic feminist notions that have become so dated, even reactionary, and yet do so without sacrificing her passionately held feminist politiccs. It really is a tour de force, and will interst anyone intersted in the representation of the female nude in art, pornography, and in theatrical performance.



2. A great survey of the 1980s performance art scene, the era of Annie Sprinkle, Karen Finley, Carolee Schneeman, even Sandra Bernhard and RuPaul. Scheider's book is both personally compelling and theoretically rich. She was obviously in New York City for the 80s, catching the downtown performances that launched a thousand Jesse Helms speeches. Wonderful observations from the front line and the front row, a perspective too often missing from academic works about performance. Schneider is also an expert guide through the theoretical precedents for the body as stage; the book offers original and relevant readings of Walter Benjamin, Judith Butler, and Jaques Lacan. Explicit Body is illustrated with a terrific photographs, invaluable documentation of a vital and dynamic period. (The juxtaposition of Cindy Sherman's gross-out work with a Gianfranco Ferre advertisement had me laughing out loud.) Highly recommended for anyone interested in the performative side of gender studies, commodity fetishism, and queer theory.



3. Schneider's topic is both controversial and compelling, and for that I applaud her efforts. Her strongest areas of analysis and discussion in "The Explicit Body in Performance" include performance vs. pornography and the artists Carolee Schneeman and Annie Sprinkle. Schneider is far less effective in examining the tenuous topic of race and the explicit body in performance--and perhaps understandably so. Race is a difficult area to tackle on its own, and much moreso when it is paired with the notion of the explicit, racially-marked body in performance. Much stronger analyses of this nature do exist--coming from such performance theorists and cultural critics as Coco Fusco and bell hooks. Still, "The Explicit Body in Performance" is a book worth reading, particularly for avid fans, students, and scholars of women's performance art.

2 comments about The Noh Theatre of Japan: With Complete Texts of 15 Classic Plays.

1. Ernest Fenollosa and Ezra Pound's The Noh Theatre Of Japan provides the complete texts of 15 classic plays and republishes Noh Or Accomplishment: A Study Of The Classical Stage Of Japan from 1917. Pound drew upon Japanese and Chinese poetic techniques to provide free verse in the poetry he created, inspiring Fenollosa's widow to send her husband's unpublished papers to him. The result is a blend of the two in discussing Noh theatre and Pound's complete translations of 15 Noh plays.



2. Ernest Fenollosa and Ezra Pound's The Noh Theatre Of Japan provides the complete texts of 15 classic plays and republishes Noh Or Accomplishment: A Study Of The Classical Stage Of Japan from 1917. Pound drew upon Japanese and Chinese poetic techniques to provide free verse in the poetry he created, inspiring Fenollosa's widow to send her husband's unpublished papers to him. The result is a blend of the two in discussing Noh theatre and Pound's complete translations of 15 Noh plays.

1 comments about A Chaste Maid in Cheapside (New Mermaids).

1. This work of Thomas Middleton wonder about the nature vs nurture issue. Are we preprogrammed to be who we are or does our upbringing shape who we are? In this play, we are given several examples of love and marriage and how these things can be corrupted. What Middleton asks is: Are marriage and love corrupted by people themselves or is it a corrupted institution from the start? He also pays close attention to the value of money and commodities. Marriage was a money-making venture during the Renaissance and in some places, it still is. You have to keep asking yourself while reading this play if, in Middleton's society, true love is possible and, if so, how can it or will it eventually overcome a society based on material possessions and monetary value?

1 comments about Theatrical FX Makeup.

1. Collaboratively written by makeup artist David Sartor and writer, actor, director John Pivovarnick, Theatrical FX Makeup is a practical, hands-on guide to the art and craft of using makeup to create visual effects worthy of professional theater, film, or television productions. From adding fifty years to an actor's age to simulating horrific diseases to disguising gender to creating ghastly visages of the undead, Theatrical FX Makeup is a thorough resource of tips, tricks, and techniques used by talented makeup artists. Black-and-white photographs as well as a color insert section illustrate the uses to which makeup can be put to turn ordinary actors into supernatural beings or horrors from beyond. The accompanying CD-ROM for Windows or Macintosh contains all the book's illustrations in full color with quick and easy access to the appropriate step-by-step makeup directions and a supply list. Theatrical FX Makeup is a highly recommended addition to personal, professional, community theater, and Performance Arts Department reference collections.