Abstract
Improvisation is not just a style or an acting technique; it is a dynamic principle operating in many different spheres; an independent and transformative way of being and doing.
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Notes
Martha Graham, quoted in James Roose-Evans, Experimental Theatre: From Stanislaysky to Today ( New York: Avon, 1970 ) p. 112.
Paul Gray, ‘Stanislaysky and America: A Critical Chronology’, in Tulane Drama Review vol. 9, no. 2 (Winter 1964) p. 25.
Deirdre Hurst du Prey, interviewed July, 1978 by Peter Hulton, in ‘The Training Sessions of Michael Chekhov’, Dartington Theatre Papers 3rd. series, no. 9 (1979–80) p. 13.
Edward Braun, Meyerhold on Theatre (New York: Hill & Wang, 1969) p. 115 (and see especially Meyerhold’s essay ‘The Fairground Booth’ in the same volume, pp. 119-28). ‘Doctor Dappertutto’ is to be found in E. T. A. Hoffman’s Fantasiestücke Callot’s Manier, part 2.
Nikolai A. Gorchakov, The Theatre in Soviet Russia, trans. Edgar Lehrman (New York: Columbia University Press, 1957 ) p. 68.
Jacques Copeau, Registres (Limon, 1916).
Christopher D. Kirkland, ‘The Golden Age, First Draft’ (on Théâtre du Soleil’s L’Age d’Or) in The Drama Review vol. 19, no. 2 (T-66, June 1975, Political Theatre Issue) p. 58.
Albert Camus, quoted in Michel Saint-Denis, Training for the Theatre, Premises and Promises, ed. Suria Saint-Denis ( New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1982 ) p. 32.
John Rudlin, Jacques Copeau (in the series ‘Directors in Perspective’) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986) preface, p. xiv.
Jacques Copeau, Essai de Rénovation Dramatique (Paris, 1913) p. 72 (our translation).
Mira Feiner, Apostles of Silence ( Toronto and London: Associated University Presses, 1985 ) p. 38. This excellent recent publication, though primarily concerned with the roots of modern mime-work, devotes a chapter to Lecoq, as well as one to Copeau.
Jacques Copeau, ‘Notes sur l’éducation de l’acteur’, in Ecrits sur le théâtre ( Brient: Paris, 1955 ) pp. 47–53.
Adrian Kiernander, ‘The Théâtre du Soleil, Part One: A Brief History’, New Theatre Quarterly, vol. II, no. 7 (August 1986) p. 196.
Françoise Kourilsky and Leonora Champagne, ‘Political Theatre in France Since 1968’, The Drama Review vol. 19, no. 2 (T-66, June 1975, Political Theatre Issue) p. 52.
Paul Clements, The Improvised Play: The Work of Mike Leigh ( London: Methuen Theatrefile, 1983 ) p. 7.
Mike Leigh, An Account of the Development of My Improvised Plays 1965–69: An Application for the George Devine Award, 1969 (October 1969) (Leigh was the joint winner of this award in 1973); Bleak Moments, Abigail’s Party and Goose Pimples have all won major awards. Leigh’s account is quoted in Clements, Improvised Play, p. 15.
Abigail’s Party and Goose Pimples devised by Mike Leigh (London: Penguin, 1983).
Ronald A. Willis, ‘The American Lab Theater’, in Tulane Drama Review vol. 9, no. 1 (Fall 1964) p. 113.
Lee Strasberg, A Dream of Passion ed. Evangeline Morphos (London: Bloomsbury, 1988) pp. 144ff.
Maurice Browne, Too Late to Lament (Bloomington, Ind., 1956) p. 165
Travis Bogard, The Revels History of Drama in English, vol. 8, ‘American Drama’ (London: Methuen, 1977 ) pp. 29–30.
Viola Spolin, Improvisation for the Theatre: A Handbook of Teaching and Directing Techniques (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 1963) p. xi.
Caldwell Cook’s work was later continued by Douglas Brown: cf. Christopher Parry, English Through Drama ( Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972 ).
Jeffery Sweet, Something Wonderful Right Away (New York: Avon, 1978; Limelight edition, 1987) p. 46.
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© 1989 Anthony Frost and Ralph Yarrow
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Frost, A., Yarrow, R. (1989). Improvisation in Traditional Drama. In: Improvisation in Drama. New Directions in Theatre. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20948-4_2
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