World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre: Volume 1: Europe - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415059283 ISBN 13: 9780415059282

Publisher: Routledge, 1994

Synopsis

The World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre:Europe covers theatre since World War II in forty-seven European nations, including the nations which re-emerged following the break-up of the former USSR, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Each national article is divided into twelve sections - History, Structure of the National Theatre Community, Artistic Profile, Music Theatre, Theatre for Young Audiences, Puppet Theatre, Design, Theatre, Space and Architecture, Training, Criticism, Scholarship and Publishing and Further Reading - allowing the reader to use the book as a source for both area and subject studies.

About this title

About the Author

Don Rubin is Professor in the Department of Theatre at the University of York, Ontario.

From Booklist

This projected 6-volume encyclopedia covering theatrical arts throughout the world since 1945 will focus on more than 150 countries. Its purpose is to present the nations' self-view through the eyes of theatrical scholars and artists writing within each country. TV and radio drama are not included. The editorial board includes international regional editors; for volume 1, covering 47 countries, they are from Budapest, Bordeaux, and Moscow. Future volumes will cover the Americas, Africa, the Arab World, and Asia and Oceana; the sixth volume will contain a comprehensive index and a world-theater bibliography.

The introductory essays for volume 1 include a general overview of theatrical activity in Europe, music and dance, theater for young audiences, and puppet theater. The main entries, arranged alphabetically from Albania to Yugoslavia, are structured alike in 12 sections. A brief section containing historical, sociopolitical, and geographic information is followed by a section on the structure of the national theater community, which includes professional theatrical groups, variety, opera and ballet, the circus, and puppet theater; an artistic profile, which includes companies, dramaturgy, directing, and production; design; space and architecture; training (including schools); criticism; scholarship and publishing; and a short bibliography. The latter tends to contain works in the national language. Within the essays, titles are also given in the national language, with English translations in parentheses. The work is structured so that one may read straight through each essay or do a cross-cultural study of one or more of the 12 aspects of each entry. The index serves as the access point for individual names, titles, and topics. For example, Waiting for Godot leads to articles on France, Greece, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, Poland, Serbia-Montenegro, the U.K., and Yugoslavia. Black-and-white photos of theaters and productions are found in every chapter. Israel, because of its "cultural links with Europe in the modern period," is treated in this volume as part of the European mainstream. Articles on Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and the USSR give historical overviews; authors were recruited to write individual essays on the new republics.

The 5-volume McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama (2d ed., McGraw-Hill, 1984) continues to serve secondary-school students, undergraduates, and the general public as an excellent overview of theater topics throughout history. The World Encyclopedia, according to its editors, is designed to meet the needs of the "sophisticated professional from abroad," the nonnative researcher who wants to learn about recent theater activity in a country in the context of its sociopolitical culture. This set will be a refreshing journey into unfamiliar territory for researchers and a welcome addition to scholarly theater collections.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0415059283
• ISBN 13: 9780415059282
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 1064
• Editor: Nagy Peter, Rouyer Philippe