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Blood on the Stage: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery and Detection
 
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Blood on the Stage: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery and Detection [Hardcover]

Amnon Kabatchnik (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Book Description

June 10, 2008
Acts of crime and criminal minds have always fascinated the world's authors. During 1900-1925, world stages were full of plays in which transgression and lawbreaking were the common denominators. In Blood on the Stage: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and Detection, An Annotated Repertoire, 1900 - 1925, Amnon Kabatchnik examines the key representations of transgression drama produced in the 20th century's first quarter. This volume covers 80 plays written and produced between 1900-1925 that had at least one public performance in the English language, with an emphasis on New York and London performances.

Each of the entries revolves around murder, theft, chicanery, kidnapping, political intrigue, or espionage. Works by Nobel Prize winners Jacinto Benavente, John Galsworthy, and Eugene O'Neill are examined, along with plays by David Belasco, Earl Derr Biggers, George M. Cohan, Arthur Conan Doyle, Elmer Rice, and Mary Roberts Rinehart. The volume includes standards of the genre such as The Bat, The Cat and the Canary, The Last of Mrs. Cheney, Madame X, and The Scarlet Pimpernel. The emphasis is on manuscripts of enduring importance, pioneering contributions, singular innovations, outstanding success, and representative works by prolific playwrights in the genre. The entries are arranged in chronological order, each consisting of plot summary (often including significant dialogue), production and performance data, opinions by critics and scholars, and other features.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A veteran stage director, theater professor, and mystery fiction reviewer fills a gap in criminous scholarship with a strong contender for Edgar Award recognition....Dialogue samples, quotations from contemporary reviews, anecdotes, and mentions of well-known cast members further enliven the entertainingly-written entries. (Article by Jon L. Breen Mystery Scene Magazine )

This material is astonishingly complete and up to date....The author correctly describes this work as "a labor of love." It is also a fascinating document that deserves a place in any library with a sizable collection on theater. (Arba )

The author gives thorough criticism for the benefit of theater students on why each work is noteworthy, and why the appeal of this genre endures. (Book News )

For anyone with a serious interest in the stage and plays of detection, this is a priceless reference. (Deadly Pleasures )

The sheer readability of his work exceeds that of many reference books.... Warmly recommended. (Reference & User Services Quarterly )

The plays selected by Kabatchnik...provide a wealth of material for lovers of theatre. (La Times )

About the Author

Amnon Kabatchnik, now retired, was a Professor of Theatre at SUNY Binghamton, Stanford University, Ohio State University, Florida State University, and Elmira College. He is the author of Sherlock Holmes: A Chronological Encyclopedia of Plays Featuring the Great Detective (2008), and Blood on the Stage: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery and Detection, An Annotated Repertoire, 1925-1950 (2009), both published by Scarecrow Press.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Scarecrow Press; annotated edition edition (June 10, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0810861232
  • ISBN-13: 978-0810861237
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,476,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Amnon Kabatchnik holds a BS degree in theater and journalism from Boston University, where he won the Rodgers & Hammerstein Award, he holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. He has been a member of the director's unit with the Actors Studio in New York and has been appointed professor of theater at the State University of New York at Binghamton, Stanford University, Ohio State University, Florida State University, and Elmira College.

Kabatchnik has directed numerous dramas, comedies, thrillers, and musicals for national road companies, resident theatres, Off Broadway, and summer stock. Kabatchnik's directorial work in New York earned him the Lola D'Annunzio Honorary Citation for Outstanding Contribution to the Off-Broadway Theatre. Recently, Kabatchnk staged the hit off-Broaday revival of the 1940 Gothic drama "Ladies in Retirement." Backstage.com raved "Amnon Kabatchnik's confident production [is] treated with loving care in the hands of this worthy ensemble."

Kabatchnik now shares his knowledge and love of the theatre with us through his writings. The three volumes in his BLOOD ON THE STAGE series covers seventy five years of plays written and produced during the respective eras. The plays covered had at least one public performance in the English language, with an emphasis on New York and London performances. Of course, each entry revolves around murder, theft, chicanery, kidnapping, political intrigue, or espionage.

The entries are arranged in chronological order, each consisting of plot summary (often including significant dialogue), production and performance data, opinions by critics and scholars, and other features.

Kabatchnik received an Agatha Award Nomination in 2010 from the Malice Domestic Committee for BLOOD ON THE STAGE: 1925-1950. His latest release in the series is BLOOD ON THE STAGE: 1950-1975.

 

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource and an entertaining read, August 11, 2008
This review is from: Blood on the Stage: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery and Detection (Hardcover)
This is an extremely useful book - so useful that I'm sorry that there's only one volume. As a former Artistic Director of a theater company, I would love to have had access to this volume when trolling for great plays deserving of revival. More than an encyclopedia, the book offers a thorough multi-page description of every conceivable crime and punishment play - whether penned as serious drama or for pure entertainment. The author writes in an informal, conversational style and though I'd intended to thumb through the book, I found myself reading it from cover to cover. It's very thorough - summarizes recent and past productions and their reviews, and gives information about the authors; in that way it resembles a textbook (fortunately, unlike the dry texts I suffered through as a theatre major, this one manages to be thorough as well as entertaining). But it (and its cousin, "Sherlock Holmes on the Stage") is also an excellent reference for theater professionals searching for great material. Or, for that matter, to anyone looking to learn a bit more about the history of theater.
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