The "Search with Zahnow" box on the library website is one of the best places to start looking for book material including scripts, printed books, and ebooks. Typically for book searching the most effective option is to use some basic keywords to find the general area of interest and then use the call number listings or subject headings to find even more material.
The Zahnow Library uses Library of Congress Call Numbers so most books about certain subjects will be near each other. For example, books about motion pictures will be PN1993-PN1999 and Theatre will be PN2000-PN3299.
In the middle of this page is just a small sampling of some of the book and ebook materials we have related to theatre, drama and the performing arts.
If you are looking for ebooks only you may want to try searching the database Ebook Central which houses most of the library's ebook offerings
Theatre by
Successful theatre relies on a complex interaction of all theatrical elements: script, direction, acting, and design interact in shifting configurations to offer a new work of art at every performance. Examining these relationships often enriches the theatrical experience. Theatre: Its Art and Craft is an introductory theatre text that focuses on the practitioners and their processes. Using an accessible tone and a focused exploration of how theatre artists work, the book covers every aspect of this art form: from writing, directing, and acting to the designing of sets and costumes, as well as the use of props, lights, sound, and new technology. This book also examines the varying roles of scholars, critics, and dramaturgs. This seventh edition has been thoroughly revised and features new statistics, new photos, and updated references. New sidebars have been added throughout, including one on cultural appropriation, another on lighting technology, and more and better discussions of what carpenters, technical directors, stage managers, and theatre artists do. Accessible to students who have little or no theatrical background, this book helps readers understand how theatre happens by explaining who makes it happen and what they do. Reflecting a commitment to explore how all theatre practitioners work, Theatre: Its Art and Craft is a useful text for beginning theatre majors, minors, and non-majors alike.
Victorians on Broadway by
Broadway productions of musicals such as The King and I, Oliver!, Sweeney Todd, and Jekyll and Hyde became huge theatrical hits. Remarkably, all were based on one-hundred-year-old British novels or memoirs. What could possibly explain their enormous success? Victorians on Broadway is a wide-ranging interdisciplinary study of live stage musicals from the mid- to late twentieth century adapted from British literature written between 1837 and 1886. Investigating musical dramatizations of works by Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Christina Rossetti, Robert Louis Stevenson, and others, Sharon Aronofsky Weltman reveals what these musicals teach us about the Victorian books from which they derive and considers their enduring popularity and impact on our modern culture. Providing a front row seat to the hits (as well as the flops), Weltman situates these adaptations within the history of musical theater: the Golden Age of Broadway, the concept musicals of the 1970s and 1980s, and the era of pop mega-musicals, revealing Broadway's debt to melodrama. With an expertise in Victorian literature, Weltman draws on reviews, critical analyses, and interviews with such luminaries as Stephen Sondheim, Polly Pen, Frank Wildhorn, and Rowan Atkinson to understand this popular trend in American theater. Exploring themes of race, religion, gender, and class, Weltman focuses attention on how these theatrical adaptations fit into aesthetic and intellectual movements while demonstrating the complexity of their enduring legacy.
An Introduction to Theatre Design by
This introduction to theatre design explains the theories, strategies, and tools of practical design work for the undergraduate student. Through its numerous illustrated case studies and analysis of key terms, students will build an understanding of the design process and be able to: identify the fundamentals of theatre design and scenography recognize the role of individual design areas such as scenery, costume, lighting and sound develop both conceptual and analytical thinking Communicate their own understanding of complex design work trace the traditions of stage design, from Sebastiano Serlio to Julie Taymor. Demonstrating the dynamics of good design through the work of influential designers, Stephen Di Benedetto also looks in depth at script analysis, stylistic considerations and the importance of collaboration to the designer's craft. This is an essential guide for students and teachers of theatre design. Readers will form not only a strong ability to explain and understand the process of design, but also the basic skills required to conceive and realise designs of their own.
Adaptation in Contemporary Theatre by
Why are so many theatre productions adaptations of one kind or another? Why do contemporary practitioners turn so frequently to non-dramatic texts for inspiration? This study explores the fascination of novels, short stories, children's books and autobiographies for theatre makers and examines what 'becomes' of literary texts when these are filtered into contemporary practice that includes physical theatre, multimedia performance, puppetry, immersive and site-specific performance and live art. In Adaptation in Contemporary Theatre, Frances Babbage offers a series of fresh critical perspectives on the theory of adaptation in theatre-making, focusing on meditations of prose literature within contemporary performance. Individual chapters explore the significance and impact of books as physical objects within productions; the relationship between the dramatic adaptation and literary edition; storytelling on the page and in performance; literary space and theatrical space; and prose fiction reframed as 'found text' in contemporary theatre and live art. Case studies are drawn from internationally acclaimed companies including Complicite, Elevator Repair Service, Kneehigh, Forced Entertainment, Gob Squad, Teatro Kismet and Stan's Cafe. Adaptation in Contemporary Theatre is a compelling and provocative resource for anyone interested in the potential and the challenges of using prose literature as material for new theatrical performance.
