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The Compact Bedford Introduction to Drama
Adapted from the fifth edition of The Bedford Introduction to Drama , this concise version provides more plays, more commentaries, and more editorial features than any other brief anthology, making it — like the longer edition — the most comprehensive anthology of its kind.
1060 pages, Paperback
First published October 31, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 14, 2019
finally finished!! and it only took *squints at dates started and finished* like two years, aha!
I started this in the fall of 2017, the beginning of my gap year between high school and college. at that time in my life I thought I'd be pursuing theater full-time (even though I still wanted to major in English), and decided to spend a year (hahaHA) reading this textbook cover to cover. though it took much longer than a year because of all the ups and downs I felt while reading and the sudden chaos of life sometimes (and technically I didn't read all of the plays, skipping the majority of what I'd already read before), I'm glad I gave myself this experience and am definitely a wiser artist because of it!
let's go through the plays, shall we?
-I started with lady Gregory's the rising of the moon; a sweet little play about Ireland I would love to stage one day. this is one I read with my mother, and she also thought it quite lovely. And keeping in mind how significantly my love for yeats has grown the last year, lady Gregory is an even more benevolent figure in my eyes.
fyi, I am not a fan of ancient plays. I have definitely been trying to read more classical literature! but the plays consistently underwhelm me, and there aren't too many I'd like to try out in the future.
-Oedipus rex by Sophocles; no thanks (and no thanks to freud)
-Antigone by Sophocles; how did the same guy write both of these plays??? Antigone is always a favorite. she is truly the greek goddess we all need. the only exception to my antagonism for ancient greek theater.
-Lysistrata by Aristophanes; modern comedy wouldn't exist without this play, but would I mind? not a bit.
WHO KNEW medieval drama was such an interesting thing??
-dulcitius by hrosvitha; a weird little "morality" play written by a german nun. amazing.
-everyman; a super-Christian propaganda play with no meat, but it set up tropes upon tropes for the rest of theater history.
do you think I'd ever get tired of Shakespeare?
-a midsummer night's dream; always wonderful to reread this!! I have 10,000 ideas on how to produce this.
-Othello; so much fun rereading with my mother, because it is still such a fascinating piece and truly reads like a contemporary drama. I haven't been able to decide if Othello>hamlet or hamlet>Othello.
-the masque of blackness by Shakespeare's frenemy ben jonson; a stupid, racist play for queen anne of denmark, of all people. (not to be confused with queen anne of England, subject of the new movie the favourite, especially since I thought they were the same person up until literally a minute ago. probably not a big difference though.)
-didn't get a chance to revisit moliere's the misanthrope, but I'm sure it's just as fun as the first time! moliere was super cool and is super underrated. respect moliere!!
an interesting combination of 1800s plays ahead:
-a doll house by Henrik Ibsen; will never stop dissing this play, it's bad and not feminist or anything that people tell you, it's just bad. it's a bad play.
-miss Julie by august Strindberg; this too is a bad play, but at least I get why people like it. still better than doll house.
-the importance of being earnest by Oscar wilde; didn't finish this reread but it's always brilliant!
-the cherry orchard by anton Chekhov; didn't revisit this either, but Chekhov always wins. my mother's favorite Chekhov play, and one we wish we could have seen on stage with the great vysotsky.
another interesting, but much more convoluted combination of 1900s plays:
-trifles by susan Glaspell; went in thinking "feminism", left thinking a lot more complicated thoughts.
-six characters in search of an exit by luigi Pirandello; one of the best of the best of the best of the best of the best of the (I can't stop with this play.)
-desire under the elms by eugene o'neill; didn't finish the reread but still a fascinating and sort of madly profound story. better than the ancient tragedies o'neill liked to copy.
-mother courage by Bertolt brecht; not great, but of its own genre and importance. I wish brecht was translated better.
-the glass menagerie by Tennessee Williams; I still have chills thinking about this, it's a beautiful beautiful piece.
-death of a salesman by Arthur miller; didn't reread but I have already several times. I'll never get over Arthur miller, and without him I don't think I'd be writing plays myself.
-endgame by Samuel beckett; not to be a millennial, but this is what we do when something is so good or confusing or amazing for us...wegiegheirugwefwp9g8rgrwuwefwefwe6fqaw dwouvv dwsefqpcsvpv (random and mad typing on laptop or phone keyboard.)
-a raisin in the sun by Lorraine Hansberry; didn't reread, but read only recently. lighthearted but also horribly moving.
-"master Harold"...and the boys by athol Fugard; I get it, but eh. I hope they're all doing ok.
-fences by august Wilson; unexpectedly brilliant.
-"art" by yasmina reza; yucky and not great, but has comedic potential (please don't play this as a drama, please please please.)
-how I learned to drive by paula vogel; disgusting, but excellent writing and format.
I'm so happy I did this to myself! it took two years but I read some wonderful plays, a lot of interesting commentaries, and feel a lot more culturally knowledgeable. now all I need is a theater to let me do whatever I want with these things...i'll keep you posted.
I started this in the fall of 2017, the beginning of my gap year between high school and college. at that time in my life I thought I'd be pursuing theater full-time (even though I still wanted to major in English), and decided to spend a year (hahaHA) reading this textbook cover to cover. though it took much longer than a year because of all the ups and downs I felt while reading and the sudden chaos of life sometimes (and technically I didn't read all of the plays, skipping the majority of what I'd already read before), I'm glad I gave myself this experience and am definitely a wiser artist because of it!
let's go through the plays, shall we?
-I started with lady Gregory's the rising of the moon; a sweet little play about Ireland I would love to stage one day. this is one I read with my mother, and she also thought it quite lovely. And keeping in mind how significantly my love for yeats has grown the last year, lady Gregory is an even more benevolent figure in my eyes.
fyi, I am not a fan of ancient plays. I have definitely been trying to read more classical literature! but the plays consistently underwhelm me, and there aren't too many I'd like to try out in the future.
-Oedipus rex by Sophocles; no thanks (and no thanks to freud)
-Antigone by Sophocles; how did the same guy write both of these plays??? Antigone is always a favorite. she is truly the greek goddess we all need. the only exception to my antagonism for ancient greek theater.
-Lysistrata by Aristophanes; modern comedy wouldn't exist without this play, but would I mind? not a bit.
WHO KNEW medieval drama was such an interesting thing??
-dulcitius by hrosvitha; a weird little "morality" play written by a german nun. amazing.
-everyman; a super-Christian propaganda play with no meat, but it set up tropes upon tropes for the rest of theater history.
do you think I'd ever get tired of Shakespeare?
-a midsummer night's dream; always wonderful to reread this!! I have 10,000 ideas on how to produce this.
-Othello; so much fun rereading with my mother, because it is still such a fascinating piece and truly reads like a contemporary drama. I haven't been able to decide if Othello>hamlet or hamlet>Othello.
-the masque of blackness by Shakespeare's frenemy ben jonson; a stupid, racist play for queen anne of denmark, of all people. (not to be confused with queen anne of England, subject of the new movie the favourite, especially since I thought they were the same person up until literally a minute ago. probably not a big difference though.)
-didn't get a chance to revisit moliere's the misanthrope, but I'm sure it's just as fun as the first time! moliere was super cool and is super underrated. respect moliere!!
an interesting combination of 1800s plays ahead:
-a doll house by Henrik Ibsen; will never stop dissing this play, it's bad and not feminist or anything that people tell you, it's just bad. it's a bad play.
-miss Julie by august Strindberg; this too is a bad play, but at least I get why people like it. still better than doll house.
-the importance of being earnest by Oscar wilde; didn't finish this reread but it's always brilliant!
-the cherry orchard by anton Chekhov; didn't revisit this either, but Chekhov always wins. my mother's favorite Chekhov play, and one we wish we could have seen on stage with the great vysotsky.
another interesting, but much more convoluted combination of 1900s plays:
-trifles by susan Glaspell; went in thinking "feminism", left thinking a lot more complicated thoughts.
-six characters in search of an exit by luigi Pirandello; one of the best of the best of the best of the best of the best of the (I can't stop with this play.)
-desire under the elms by eugene o'neill; didn't finish the reread but still a fascinating and sort of madly profound story. better than the ancient tragedies o'neill liked to copy.
-mother courage by Bertolt brecht; not great, but of its own genre and importance. I wish brecht was translated better.
-the glass menagerie by Tennessee Williams; I still have chills thinking about this, it's a beautiful beautiful piece.
-death of a salesman by Arthur miller; didn't reread but I have already several times. I'll never get over Arthur miller, and without him I don't think I'd be writing plays myself.
-endgame by Samuel beckett; not to be a millennial, but this is what we do when something is so good or confusing or amazing for us...wegiegheirugwefwp9g8rgrwuwefwefwe6fqaw dwouvv dwsefqpcsvpv (random and mad typing on laptop or phone keyboard.)
-a raisin in the sun by Lorraine Hansberry; didn't reread, but read only recently. lighthearted but also horribly moving.
-"master Harold"...and the boys by athol Fugard; I get it, but eh. I hope they're all doing ok.
-fences by august Wilson; unexpectedly brilliant.
-"art" by yasmina reza; yucky and not great, but has comedic potential (please don't play this as a drama, please please please.)
-how I learned to drive by paula vogel; disgusting, but excellent writing and format.
I'm so happy I did this to myself! it took two years but I read some wonderful plays, a lot of interesting commentaries, and feel a lot more culturally knowledgeable. now all I need is a theater to let me do whatever I want with these things...i'll keep you posted.
November 5, 2009
What I read from this (or will have by December):
"Oedipus Rex" - Sophocles
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" - William Shakespeare
"Othello" - William Shakespeare
"The Rover; or, The Banished Cavaliers" - Aphra Behn
"The Love Suicides at Sonezaki" - Chikamatsu Monzaemon
"A Doll House" - Henrik Isben
"The Importance of Being Ernest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People" - Oscar Wilde
"Mother Courage and Her Children: A Chronicle of the Thirty Years' War" - Bertolt Brecht
"Death of a Salesman: Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem" - Arthur Miller
"Far Away" - Caryl Churchill
"Oedipus Rex" - Sophocles
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" - William Shakespeare
"Othello" - William Shakespeare
"The Rover; or, The Banished Cavaliers" - Aphra Behn
"The Love Suicides at Sonezaki" - Chikamatsu Monzaemon
"A Doll House" - Henrik Isben
"The Importance of Being Ernest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People" - Oscar Wilde
"Mother Courage and Her Children: A Chronicle of the Thirty Years' War" - Bertolt Brecht
"Death of a Salesman: Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem" - Arthur Miller
"Far Away" - Caryl Churchill
January 19, 2016
The content of this book is fantastic however, the book itself is not practical. I had to buy this in University for my course and having to carry this thing around was hell.
It is massive. It's also so big that it's awkward to read from. There is no laying down and reading with this thing, you need a big table spread. We only used it for 4 or 5 of the plays that were in it so I would have much rather purchased those individually, but it's a fun reference tool to have when you don't have to tote it around.
It is massive. It's also so big that it's awkward to read from. There is no laying down and reading with this thing, you need a big table spread. We only used it for 4 or 5 of the plays that were in it so I would have much rather purchased those individually, but it's a fun reference tool to have when you don't have to tote it around.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews