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Places of Performance: The Semiotics of Theatre Architecture
"A lucid, well-organized survey of the almost infinite variety of production spaces of western theatre.... Carlson's survey must be admired for its wealth of carefully researched and elegantly articulated information concerning the relation of urban planning, architecture, and interior and exterior theatre embellishment to the social, political, economic and occasionally even aesthetic purposes of those responsible for these 'signifiers.'"―Theatre Journal In this generously illustrated volume, Marvin Carlson uses models from architectural and urban semiotics to show how a theatre building and its location within a city reflect society's attitudes and concerns.
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First published January 1, 1989
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About the author
Marvin A. Carlson
64 books7 followersPh.D.in Drama and Theatre, Cornell University. Sidney E. Cohn Distinguished Professor of Theatre, Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern Studies.
Research and teaching interests include dramatic theory and Western European theatre history and dramatic literature, especially of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. He has been awarded the ATHE Career Achievement Award, the George Jean Nathan Prize, the Bernard Hewitt prize, the George Freedley Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He has been a Walker-Ames Professor at the University of Washington, a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies at Indiana University, a Visiting Professor at Freie Universität Berlin, and a Fellow of the American Theatre. In 2005 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Athens. His best-known book, Theories of the Theatre (Cornell University Press, 1993), has been translated into seven languages. His 2001 book, The Haunted Stage won the Calloway Prize.
His newest book, Speaking in Tongues, was published by the University of Michigan Press in 2006.
Research and teaching interests include dramatic theory and Western European theatre history and dramatic literature, especially of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. He has been awarded the ATHE Career Achievement Award, the George Jean Nathan Prize, the Bernard Hewitt prize, the George Freedley Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He has been a Walker-Ames Professor at the University of Washington, a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies at Indiana University, a Visiting Professor at Freie Universität Berlin, and a Fellow of the American Theatre. In 2005 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Athens. His best-known book, Theories of the Theatre (Cornell University Press, 1993), has been translated into seven languages. His 2001 book, The Haunted Stage won the Calloway Prize.
His newest book, Speaking in Tongues, was published by the University of Michigan Press in 2006.
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October 10, 2014
Marvin Carlson's 'Places of Performance' will undoubtedly be the standard theatre studies book, focusing on the matrix of performance, for many years to come.
Carlson's approach, on the semiotics of theatre architecture, is certainly commendable, especially since semiotics has been partly neglected, in this regard, by many theatre scholars. Part of Carlson's success lies in the fact that he addressed a very real need in the field of theatre studies, one that has been felt by nearly every theatre studies student out there, including myself.
Carlson is out to teach, not to impress, and his cloth is cut accordingly.
Carlson's approach, on the semiotics of theatre architecture, is certainly commendable, especially since semiotics has been partly neglected, in this regard, by many theatre scholars. Part of Carlson's success lies in the fact that he addressed a very real need in the field of theatre studies, one that has been felt by nearly every theatre studies student out there, including myself.
Carlson is out to teach, not to impress, and his cloth is cut accordingly.
Displaying 1 of 1 review