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Pinter and Stoppard: A Director's View
Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard, by most accounts the leading British playwrights of our time, might seem to come from very different aesthetic, cultural and political worlds.
But as Carey Perloff's fascinating new book reveals, the two have much in common. By examining these contemporaries alongside one another and in the context of the rehearsal room, we can glean new insights and connections, including the impact of their Jewish background on their work and their passion for the details of stagecraft. Readers of Pinter and A Director's View will emerge with a set of tools for approaching their work in a performance environment and for unlocking the mysteries of the plays for audiences.
Esteemed theatre director Carey Perloff draws upon her first-hand experience of working with both writers, creating case studies of particular plays in production to provide new ways of positioning the work today. 30 years after major criticism on both playwrights first emerged, this is a ripe moment for a fresh examination of the unique contribution of Pinter and Stoppard in the twenty-first century.
But as Carey Perloff's fascinating new book reveals, the two have much in common. By examining these contemporaries alongside one another and in the context of the rehearsal room, we can glean new insights and connections, including the impact of their Jewish background on their work and their passion for the details of stagecraft. Readers of Pinter and A Director's View will emerge with a set of tools for approaching their work in a performance environment and for unlocking the mysteries of the plays for audiences.
Esteemed theatre director Carey Perloff draws upon her first-hand experience of working with both writers, creating case studies of particular plays in production to provide new ways of positioning the work today. 30 years after major criticism on both playwrights first emerged, this is a ripe moment for a fresh examination of the unique contribution of Pinter and Stoppard in the twenty-first century.
240 pages, Paperback
Published March 10, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 22, 2022
For theatre lovers, this is a fascinating and fun book to read. Perloff knew and worked with Pinter and continues to collaborate with Stoppard. She's a terrific writer herself, so the book is compelling, informative and moves quickly. If you're not familiar with the work of either playwright, it'll make you want to be.
June 21, 2022
Carey Perloff not only provides expert guidance, learned in the rehearsal room with Pinter and Stoppard in attendance, she also writes with grace, understanding, and compassion for the challenges of being an artist. This is not a book of theory; it is a record of imaginative and daring problem-solving on the highest level. Having been in some of these rehearsal rooms with Carey, I can attest to her expertise, her relentless but ever-humane search for the best solution to a problem (from a single line to the correct prop to a scenic transition), and to the results, which were never less than a joy for audiences to behold.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews