American Avant-Garde Theatre (Theatre Production Studies) [Paperback]

Arnold Aronson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415241391 | ISBN-13: 978-0415241397 | Publication Date: November 2000

This stunning contribution to the field of theatre history is the first in-depth look at avant-garde theatre in the United States from the early 1950s to the 1990s. American Avant-Garde Theatre offers a definition of the avant-garde, and looks at its origins and theoretical foundations by examining:
*Gertrude Stein
*John Cage
*The Beat writers
*Avant-garde cinema
*Abstract Expressionism
*Minimalism
There are fascinating discussions and illustrations of the productions of the Living Theatre, the Wooster Group, Open Theatre, Ontological-Hysteric Theatre and Performance Group. among many others. Aronson also examines why avant-garde theatre declined and virtually disappeared at the end of the twentieth century.

Editorial Reviews

Review

American Avant-Garde Theatre offers its reader stimulating descriptions of subversive acts staged by the Living Theatre, the Open Theatre, Richard Foreman, Rober Wilson, the Wooster Group and, in lesser detail, Jack Smith, Reza Abdoh and a handful of others..
–Daniel Mufson, American Theatre

Aronson ties his observations together with useful, sometimes amusing tidbits.....
–Daniel Mufson, American Theatre

Aronson's prose...avoids the often nebulous catch-phrases that clutter the more theoretical discussions of the same topic..
–Daniel Mufson, American Theatre

Aronson's essential, engaging book treats another American theater--one equally significant and, in some respects, more fascinating..
–J. Fisher, Choice

There is something delightfully practical about Arnold Aronson's American Avant-Garde Theatre: A History. Concise, informed, and accessible, it is in many respects the primer that scholars have long sought for courses on US avant-garde theatre...the book offers an insightful look at some of the most widely celebrated moments in postwar US experimental performance.
–James Harding, Mary Washington College Theatre Journal, March 2003

About the Author

Arnold Aronson is Professor of Theatre at Columbia University, USA.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415241391
• ISBN-13: 978-0415241397
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #356,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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