Secondhand Theatre History and Drama Studies Bargain Book Box DSH1123

Secondhand Theatre History and Drama Studies Bargain Book Box

This extensive collection of 21 secondhand volumes provides a comprehensive look into the world of drama, spanning from classical Bernard Shaw plays to cutting-edge experimental and improvisational theatre techniques. Dive into foundational theoretical works on acting and directing, explore modern play scripts from Off-Off Broadway and Howard Barker, and engage with scholarly analyses of theatre history, including a significant focus on Australian drama studies. Whether you are a practitioner, student, or enthusiast, this box offers a powerful and diverse resource for understanding the art, theory, and political potential of the stage. Each book is secondhand and may show signs of wear.

1. Experimental Drama by W.A. Armstrong, Daniel Walford, Martin Esslin, Geoffrey Bullough, J.D. Gross, Eric Elms, Laurence Kitchin, Katharine M. Worth
   This academic volume explores the evolution and execution of innovative and non-traditional dramatic forms that pushed the boundaries of the established theatre world. The collected essays analyze the work of key avant-garde playwrights and movements, examining the techniques and philosophies behind experimental stagings. It serves as a vital historical document for understanding theatre's trajectory beyond naturalism and realism.

2. Improvisation by John Hodgson and Ernest Richards
   This foundational text delves into the theory and practice of theatrical improvisation, detailing exercises, techniques, and methodologies for training actors in spontaneity and creative collaboration. Hodgson and Richards emphasize the importance of non-verbal communication, status play, and building cohesive narratives without a script. It remains a standard guide for performers, directors, and drama teachers looking to unlock intuitive performance skills.

3. a passion in six days: 'downchild' by Howard Barker
   Howard Barker’s distinctive, challenging theatre often explores political turmoil and the raw intersection of sex, power, and violence with unflinching realism. This volume features the play Downchild, a powerful work demonstrating Barker's concept of the "Theatre of Catastrophe," where heightened emotional conflict drives the narrative. It is a key text for students of modern, intellectually rigorous, and difficult dramatic writing.

4. Amphitryon adapted by Eric Overmyer
   This adapted version of the classical myth of Jupiter disguising himself as a mortal to seduce Alcmene, the wife of the general Amphitryon, offers a modern, perhaps darkly comedic, take on divine intervention and identity theft. The story explores themes of marital fidelity, mistaken identity, and the capriciousness of the gods in a contemporary theatrical voice. Overmyer’s adaptation brings new vitality to an ancient Greek and Roman source.

5. IMPRO: Improvisation and the Theatre by Keith Johnstone
   Keith Johnstone’s seminal work revolutionized how improvisation is taught and understood, moving beyond simple comedy games to explore status, spontaneity, narrative structure, and mask work. Johnstone provides practical techniques designed to dismantle inhibitions and encourage actors to embrace failure as a path to creative discovery. This highly influential book is considered essential reading for anyone interested in theatre or applied performance studies.

6. Stage Fright: Its Role in Acting by Stephen Aaron
   Stephen Aaron addresses the pervasive issue of stage fright, examining its psychological origins and offering practical strategies for actors to manage and harness performance anxiety. The book frames stage fright not merely as a hindrance but as an inherent energy of performance that, when controlled, can fuel powerful dramatic expression. It is an invaluable guide for both seasoned and novice performers struggling with the pressure of the spotlight.

7. Eight Plays from Off-Off Broadway edited by Nick Orzel and Michael Smith
   This collection showcases the vibrant, experimental, and frequently political theatre emerging from the downtown New York scene, which often defied commercial constraints. The plays included are characterized by their raw energy, innovative staging demands, and often unconventional subject matter. It provides a historical snapshot of the cutting-edge drama that influenced modern American playwriting.

8. Heartbreak House by Bernard Shaw (Penguin Plays)
   This 1919 play uses the setting of a country house party to deliver a powerful, darkly comedic critique of educated, wealthy, pre-war European society. Shaw blends Chekhovian atmosphere with biting satire, revealing the moral and intellectual decay he believed led to the catastrophe of World War I. The play brilliantly diagnoses the listlessness and self-absorption of the ruling class.

9. Plays Unpleasant by Bernard Shaw (Penguin Plays)
   This volume contains three of Shaw’s early, controversial works (Widowers' Houses, The Philanderer, and Mrs. Warren's Profession) that directly challenge middle-class complacency regarding social ills like slum landlordism and organized prostitution. Shaw forces his audience to confront uncomfortable truths, using biting wit to expose societal hypocrisy and call for radical reform.

10. Open Space Plays selected by Charles Marowitz (Penguin Plays)
    This anthology collects diverse plays specifically designed to be performed in flexible, non-proscenium theatre spaces, demonstrating the innovative staging techniques required for open, arena, or environmental theatre. The selection includes works by major experimental playwrights, showcasing how a changed physical relationship between actor and audience alters dramatic meaning and experience.

11. Three Plays for Puritans by Bernard Shaw (Penguin Plays)
    This collection, featuring The Devil's Disciple, Caesar and Cleopatra, and Captain Brassbound's Conversion, deliberately confronts conventional notions of heroism, morality, and romantic love. Shaw reframes historical figures and dramatic conventions to examine real-world ethics and political philosophy, aiming to shock and intellectually engage the Victorian and Edwardian audience.

12. Man and Superman by Bernard Shaw (Penguin Plays)
    Shaw’s sprawling, philosophical comedy explores the tensions between the "life force," intellectual destiny, and the conventions of marriage and romance. The play famously includes the extended dream sequence, "Don Juan in Hell," where Shaw uses myth to debate the ultimate purpose of human existence. It remains a complex and brilliant exploration of evolutionary philosophy and gender dynamics.

13. The Doctor's Dilemma by Bernard Shaw (Penguin Plays)
    This satirical play dissects the ethical quagmires of the medical profession, exploring the complex criteria doctors use to decide which patients deserve life-saving treatment when resources are limited. Shaw employs dark humor to question the financial motivations and professional arrogance of the medical establishment. It forces a difficult examination of value and morality in life-and-death decisions.

14. Renaissance in the South (Australasian Drama Studies)
    This issue of the academic journal focuses on a period of intense creative output and thematic development in drama originating from or concerning the Southern Hemisphere, likely Australia and New Zealand. It contains scholarly articles and critical reviews exploring playwrights, performance traditions, and the unique cultural narratives emerging from this region.

15. Women Making Theatre for Social Change (Australasian Drama Studies)
    This volume highlights the work of female artists, playwrights, and practitioners who use theatre as a direct tool for political advocacy, consciousness-raising, and challenging societal inequalities. The articles analyze methodologies and impact of activist theatre groups and individual artists focused on feminist and social justice issues.

16. Oroonoko by Thomas Southerne, edited by J. Michael W. Williams
    Based on Aphra Behn's pioneering novella, this 17th-century tragedy tells the story of an African prince sold into slavery in Suriname, focusing on his noble character and tragic fate. The play is an important early literary critique of the slave trade and colonial cruelty, highlighting the protagonist's inherent dignity despite his captivity.

17. The Author's Farce by Henry Fielding, edited by C.B. Woods
    Fielding’s rollicking 18th-century comedy satirizes the corrupt patronage system, the state of the theatre, and the literary marketplace of his time through the story of a struggling playwright. The play is characterized by its metafictional elements and broad humor, marking a significant moment in the development of English farce and theatrical self-awareness.

18. Australian Drama (October 1987)
    This specific issue of the long-running journal provides scholarly insight and critical commentary on contemporary and historical Australian plays and theatrical movements during the late 1980s. It serves as a valuable resource for tracking the evolution of national themes, performance styles, and critical reception within the Australian dramatic landscape.

19. Australian Drama Studies (April 2001)
    A later issue of the journal, this volume continues the academic investigation into Australian performance, likely focusing on new works, the cultural impact of theatre, or critical theory applied to Australian texts. The content reflects the evolving scholarly discourse and contemporary concerns within the country's dramatic arts sector.

20. Australian Drama (April 1993)
    This journal issue features analysis and documentation pertinent to Australian theatre in the early 1990s, offering reviews of productions and academic explorations of playwrights and performance companies. It captures the social and artistic trends shaping the stage culture during that specific period.

21. The Accrington Pals by Peter Whelan
    Set during the beginning of World War I, this powerful and moving play focuses not on the soldiers fighting, but on the women left behind in a small Lancashire town after all its eligible men volunteer en masse. Whelan explores themes of expectation, loneliness, patriotism, and the devastating emotional void created by industrialized warfare.

22. The Apple Cart by Bernard Shaw (Penguin Plays)
    Shaw's political farce takes place in a near-future England where a progressive king attempts to assert constitutional authority against an encroaching, populist Prime Minister and an overreaching cabinet. The play is a brilliant dialogue-driven satire on the nature of democracy, corporate power, and the limits of political control.

23. Eighteenth Century Drama: Afterpieces (Oxford Paperbacks)
    This collection features several shorter, often comedic plays—known as "afterpieces"—that were traditionally performed following the main drama in 18th-century English theatres. The pieces, including works by Garrick and O'Keefe, reflect the popular tastes, social customs, and theatrical styles of the Georgian era.