Theatre History Studies articles from June 1 2004

Theatre History Studies archives from June 1 2004

In memory of Albert Wertheim (July 3, 1940-April 16, 2003).(Obituary)
June 1, 2004... At the 2004 Mid-America Theatre Association Conference in March, President Rhona Justice-Malloy opened the conference banquet by remembering our friend and long-time MATC member Albert Wertheim and requesting a minute of silence in his honor....

Learning eloquence: theater is a speech act.(Transcript)
June 1, 2004... (This was the keynote address delivered at the MATC annual convention in Chicago, March 6, 2004.) Thank you so much for having me. It's an honor to participate in your conference. Reading over the list of symposia, I am impressed by the...

Around the Moscow Art Theatre: Theatre History crossword puzzle VIII.(Illustration)
June 1, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Note: Russian transliterations can vary; this puzzle consistently uses "i" instead of "y" in the spelling of names. ACROSS 1. Stanislavski's right-hand man 10. Symbolist author of Balaganchik (The Puppet...

Stanislavski's champion: Sonia Moore and her crusade to save the American theatre.
June 1, 2004... Sonia Moore (See fig. 1) was a zealot. She made it her single-minded purpose in life to save the American theatre. She knew only one way to do that: to win unequivocal acceptance of the Stanislavski system by every man, woman, and child...

"Adieu, adieu, adieu. Remember me": Konstantin Stanislavsky and Irina Rozanova.
June 1, 2004... In order to understand Shakespeare's true intentions, one must dig and uncover them underneath the dead letters, and thus restore his thoughts, his vision, his imagery, and his feelings, along with all subtexts buried in written text. (1) ...

Re-inflecting femininity on the Czech fin-de-siecle stage: an analysis of Hana Kvapilova's acting style.
June 1, 2004... This essay focuses on the career of the most popular Czech turn-of-the-century actress, Hana Kvapilova (1860-1907). Kvapilova has been widely considered by her contemporaries and theatre historians both a "national actress" and a chief...

"New Negro" performance in art and life: Fredi Washington and the theatrical columns of The People's Voice, 1943-47.
June 1, 2004... "Don't forget the whites judge the entire Negro race by our performances both on and OFF the stage!" --Fredi Washington, The People's Voice In February 1942, two months after the United States entered World War II, New York City...

The Cherry Sisters in early Vaudeville peforming a failed femininity.
June 1, 2004... The Cherry Sisters earned their place in American popular entertainment by virtue of their complete and total lack of talent. They first presented their novelty act--which consisted of original songs, sentimental skits, and moralizing essay...

The New Theater of Chicago: democracy 1; aristocracy 0.
June 1, 2004... In his book, Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville contrasts "the taste for ideal beauty" present in an aristocracy with democracy's application of imagination to "devise what may be useful, and to represent what is real." (1) His...

Christopher Smart's Old Woman's Oratory and the patent theatres: legitimacy, transgression, and "rational Mirth".
June 1, 2004... First, a children's riddle-one that is neither exactly a riddle, nor entirely intended for children: Like W--TON, in different dress, I either sex can ape, And like her, all mankind confess, Have comeliness and...

Performance practices of [living] open-air museums (and a new look at "Skansen" in American living museum discourse).
June 1, 2004... The silky white ribbon grew ever narrower as it slipped off the wooden spoon and drizzled into the bowl below. (See fig. 1) Despite the two-foot drop, the liquid maintained the integrity of its unbroken column all the way down. This is long...

"That Furious Lesbian": the Story of Mercedes de Acosta.(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... "That Furious Lesbian": The Story of Mercedes de Acosta. By Robert A. Schanke. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 2003; pp. xi + 210. $45.00 cloth, $25 paper. The author took his title from Cecil Beaton, who...

A History of African American Theatre.(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... A History of African American Theatre. By Errol G. Hill and James V. Hatch. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003; pp. xxiv + 608.43 b/wh illustrations. $110 cloth. Impressive in scope, this magisterial history of the hardships and...

The Federal Theatre Project: a Case Study.(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... The Federal Theatre Project: A Case Study. By Barry B. Witham. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003; pp. xiv + 190. $60 cloth. Since the demise of the Federal Theatre Project in June 1939, studies of the arts-oriented projects of the...

Staging America: Cornerstone and Community-Based Theater.(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... Staging America: Cornerstone and Community-Based Theater. By Sonja Kuftinec. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2003. pp. xv + 259. $45 cloth. This book will challenge any reader who questions what it means to create...

American Theatre and the Culture of the Cold War: Producing and Contesting Containment, 1947-1962.(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... American Theatre and the Culture of the Cold War: Producing and Contesting Containment, 1947-1962. By Bruce McConachie. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2003; pp. vii-364; $49.95 cloth. In his landmark study Melodramatic Formations:...

Staging the War: American Drama and World War II.(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... Staging the War: American Drama and World War II. By Albert Wertheim. Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press; 2004; pp.xviii+328. $35 cloth. Although World War II seems familiar to us from television screenings of movies old...

From Traveling Show to Vaudeville: Theatrical Spectacle in America, 1830-1910.(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... From Traveling Show to Vaudeville: Theatrical Spectacle in America, 1830-1910. Edited by Robert M. Lewis. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003; pp. xii + 384. $45 cloth. Over the years, I've collected a number of...

Theatre, Culture and Temperance Reform in Nineteenth-Century America.(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... Theatre, Culture and Temperance Reform in Nineteenth-Century America. By John W. Frick. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003; pp. xiii + 256. $60.00 cloth. In his groundbreaking work Melodramatic Formations, Bruce McConachie...

The Temptation of Innocence in the Dramas of Arthur Miller.(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... The Temptation of Innocence in the Dramas of Arthur Miller. By Terry Otten. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2002. pp. xvi + 280; $39.95 cloth. The single best word to describe The Temptation of Innocence is "comprehensive," for...

Early American Theatre from the Revolution to Thomas Jefferson: into the hands of the People.(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... Early American Theatre from the Revolution to Thomas Jefferson: Into the hands of the People. By Heather S. Nathans. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. pp. xi + 246. $70.00 Heather S. Nathans is interested in the interplay between...

Books received.
June 1, 2004... The listing of a book in this section does not preclude subsequent review. Albright, Daniel. Beckett and Aesthetics. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2003. pp. vii + 179. $60 cloth. Allain, Paul. The Art of Stillness: The...