The Longman Anthology of Drama and Theater: A Global Perspective, Compact Edition [Paperback]

Michael L. Greenwald (Author), Roger Schultz (Author), Roberto Dario Pomo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 16, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0321088980 | ISBN-13: 978-0321088987 | Edition: Compact

Divided into three parts, this brief, chronologically-organized, fully-integrated drama anthology offers a global emphasis and extensive critical and historical material of 23 indispensable plays. No other anthology offers such a richly varied selection from the traditional Western canon, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. This anthology contains many examples of rituals, ceremonies, and folk customs. The role of the storyteller is examined and chronicled to illustrate the impulses that have prompted humans to create theater. Center Stage Essays present dramatic descriptions of special performances, in many cases, the first performance of a well-known play. Spotlight Essays identify and discuss the wide variety of staging conventions of particular theaters. Forum Essays present important critical documents by critics, theoreticians, and theater artists. Lavish maps and annotated timelines familiarize the reader with different cultures and periods. Each play is introduced by a thorough headnote; each includes in-depth biographical information about the playwright and the historical context of the play. Photographs and illustrations help the reader visualize the performance of the play they are reading. For anyone interested in drama and theater.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Divided into three parts, this brief, chronologically-organized, fully-integrated drama anthology offers a global emphasis and extensive critical and historical material of 23 indispensable plays. No other anthology offers such a richly varied selection from the traditional Western canon, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. This anthology contains many examples of rituals, ceremonies, and folk customs. The role of the storyteller is examined and chronicled to illustrate the impulses that have prompted humans to create theater. Center Stage Essays present dramatic descriptions of special performances, in many cases, the first performance of a well-known play. Spotlight Essays identify and discuss the wide variety of staging conventions of particular theaters. Forum Essays present important critical documents by critics, theoreticians, and theater artists. Lavish maps and annotated timelines familiarize the reader with different cultures and periods. Each play is introduced by a thorough headnote; each includes in-depth biographical information about the playwright and the historical context of the play. Photographs and illustrations help the reader visualize the performance of the play they are reading. For anyone interested in drama and theater.

Product Details

• Paperback: 864 pages
• Publisher: Longman; Compact edition (December 16, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321088980
• ISBN-13: 978-0321088987
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #367,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Milestone in Drama Anthologies, December 4, 2001

By 

Evan D. Winet, Professor of Theatre, Universi... (Lawrence, Kansas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Longman Anthology of Drama and Theater, The: A Global Perspective (Paperback)

American theatre has been slower than any of the other arts to recognize the need to pay attention to what's going on outside the United States and Europe. Most introductory theatre texts make only passing mention of the theatres of Asia, Africa and South America. Anthologies of drama published in the States have likewise generally failed to address the dramatic literature of these regions. Consequently, most Americans, including theatre students, are woefully ignorant of the rich theatrical traditions of two thirds of the world's people.

In the context of this vast blindness, the Longman Anthology of World Drama is a milestone work. It includes both traditional and modern plays from China, India and Japan (integrated into the historical sequence rather than tagged on as appendices.) It treats of African theatre in connection with African-American diaspora theatre. It represents Latin and South American theatre with interesting works from the 16th century to modern Hispanic absurdism. On top of this remarkable diversity, it provides a very solid foundation in the traditional Western canon, with a particularly good sequence tracing the rise of modern realism out of romanticism.

There is an enormous amount of material in this tome, and much to commend. The only serious shortcomings are a sparseness and lack of clarity in the historical background articles (these will confuse students with no framework to build on), and some poor choices in excerpts of supporting criticism (the Victor Turner article will go completely over the heads of the uninitiated, and the excerpt by Zeami is a dull genealogy of the ritual roots of Noh theatre rather than any of the more interesting bits on the art of the performer.)

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Important, Useful Anthology, January 15, 2002

By 

David A. Crespy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Longman Anthology of Drama and Theater, The: A Global Perspective (Paperback)

I'm very pleased with this anthology partly because of its international scope, but also because it provides useful theoretical documents that augment and support the plays the authors have chosen. The introductions to each period and country are detailed, interesting, and easy to read.

The students in my undergraduate theatre history course have almost unanimously agreed to keep this text as part of their permanent collection--a rare reaction indeed! The choice of plays was excellent, combining some wonderful translations of important Western European texts with interesting, hard-to-find world theatre classics.

I highly recommend it as a teaching resource--particularly for theatre history, world drama, and intro to theatre courses. Your students will thank you (and they'll keep this one!).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Essential Book for any Thespian but buy the regular Edt and not Compact, December 29, 2009

By 

Ira D. Hill - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Longman Anthology of Drama and Theater: A Global Perspective, Compact Edition (Paperback)

This anthology does a great job of providing a snapshot of works that any theater goer of interest can appreciate. Warning there is a lot to read here folks. The only downside is that there is another book other which is not the Compact Edition that is a better buy for a couple more bucks. The sweet thing is that b/c all of these works are classic and popular, getting the newest edition really doesn't matter much to me.