Great North American Stage Directors Volume 1: David Belasco, Arthur Hopkins, Margaret Webster (Great Stage Directors)

ISBN 10: 135052591X / ISBN 13: 9781350525917

Published by Methuen Drama, 2025

Seller Inventory # 410471047

Synopsis:

This volume assesses the contributions of David Belasco, Arthur Hopkins, and Margaret Webster, whose careers shaped the artistic and specialist identity of the Broadway director.

Their work spans almost a century and captures the rapidly changing social and cultural landscape of 20th-century America. While their aesthetic styles differed greatly, they were united in their mastery of theatre craft and their impact on theatrical collaboration. The essays in this volume explore how these directors established and exploited Broadway as the epicentre of theatre in the United States, blended the role of producer and director, and managed the tensions between commercial success and artistic ambition.

The Great North American Stage Directors series provides an authoritative account of the art of directing in North America by examining the work of twenty-four major practitioners from the late 19th century to the present. Each of the eight volumes examines three directors and offers an overview of their practices, theoretical ideas, and contributions to modern theatre. The studies chart the life and work of each director, placing his or her achievement in the context of other important theatre practitioners and broader social history. Written by a team of leading experts, the series presents the genealogy of directing in North America while simultaneously chronicling crucial trends and championing contemporary interpretation.

About the Authors: Cheryl Black is professor of theatre at the University of Missouri, Coumbia, USA. She is the author of The Women of Provincetown, 1915-1922 (2002) and has written widely on twentieth-century drama and performance.

SIMON SHEPHERD is Professor of Theatre and Deputy Principal (Academic) at the Central School of Speech and Drama, UK.

James Peck is Professor of Theatre at Muhlenberg College, USA. He is the co-editor of Performing Magic on the Western Stage (2008) and has published in many academic journals, including Theatre Journal, Theatre Topics, Theatre Survey, and TDR. He serves on the editorial board of Theatre Topics and on the senior advisory board to the peer reviewed section of the SDC Journal.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Great North American Stage Directors Volume ...
Publisher: Methuen Drama
Publication Date: 2025
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: New