Thomas Postlewait

This analytical history is the most comprehensive and accurate record of the Ibsen campaign in London. Postlewait places major emphasis on the activities of William Archer, the theatre critic, translator, and director who zealously campaigned for the acceptance of Ibsen's works in particular and the new drama in general. He argues that proper appreciation of Archer's often devious role as the foremost advocate of Ibsen is vital to understanding how and why Ibsen was ultimately received on the London stage. Postlewait's reassessment challenges all previous histories and critical studies of this theatrical era and confronts the many contradictions of Archer's life and works that have previously clouded more straightforward histories. He presents Archer as a man with a sense of missionary urgency but also as an individual with an often paradoxical character and numerous self-defeating attributes. This process of reconstituting history and reexamining the career of William Archer, especially in light of his close relationships with Bernard Shaw and Elizabeth Robins, reveals the importance, complexity, and even brilliance of a man who may fittingly be called the prophet of the new drama.

William Archer and the Ibsen Campaign

Prophet of the New Drama

Tracy C. Davis

Davis Tracy C.

This collection of specially-commissioned, accessible, essays explores that element of performance theory known as theatricality. Six case studies use historically specific circumstances to illustrate how and why the concept of theatricality was and is used. Topics discussed include early use of the term; employment of 'theatricality' by a number of other disciplines to describe events; non-Western interpretation of theatricality; and its use when discussing and analyzing political and cultural events and philosophies. The book provides a first-step guide for those discovering the complex yet rewarding world of performance theory.

Theatricality

Charlotte M. Canning

"Representing the Past is required reading for any serious scholar of theatre and performance historiography: original in its conception, global in its reach, thought-provoking and transformative in its effects."--Gay Gibson Cima, author, Early American Women Crities: Performance, Religion, Race.

Thomas Postlewait

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