The Stuff of Dreams: Behind the Scenes of an American Community Theater [Hardcover]

Leah Hager Cohen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 3, 2001

At the age of ten, Leah Hager Cohen entered a world of make-believe that would captivate her for years. Participating in a traveling theater company's production of Wolkenstein, she was fascinated by the pageantry of the play and the camaraderie she found within the acting troupe, and the experience sparked a lifelong love of community theater.

Nearly twenty years later, Cohen found her way to a small community theater in Arlington, Massachusetts, one of many thousands like it in America, and set out to chronicle what would be an extraordinary year. Arlington Friends of Drama had just celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary, was embroiled in disputes over structural changes proposed to help it adapt to changing times, and was about to hold auditions for its most controversial play to date, M. Butterfly. As Cohen writes, "This time around, I had come to community theater not in order to insinuate myself into its culture but to try to understand what the culture comprised, and to answer what it is about amateur theater that makes people not just desire but need it."

With the same graceful prose and startling insight that garnered such extraordinary reviews for her previous books, Train Go Sorry and Glass, Paper, Beans, Cohen has created a fascinating and poignant portrait of community theater in America-past, present, and future.

¥ The American Association of Community Theatres, founded in 1986, estimates that there are ten thousand community theaters nationwide, with more than a million active members.

¥ Arlington Friends of Drama is one of the ten oldest continually operating community theaters in the country.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this unique theatrical memoir, novelist Cohen chronicles the ups and downs of her suburban community theater's struggles over the staging of David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly. The project is fraught with problemsthe Arlington, Mass., theater and its conservative supporters are reluctant to stage a play that deals daringly with sexuality and race; meanwhile, it proves quite difficult to find an Asian man to play the transgendered lead (who also has a nude scene)but the show must and does go on. Cohen (Heat Lightning), who loves working in theater, is a keen observer who never hesitates to pinpoint the problems and personality clashes endemic to the process of putting on a play. While she provides useful background, from the history of her theater (begun in 1913) to the importance of community theater in the U.S., she is best at describing the endlessly delicate negotiations between the small but award-winning theater's director, actors, designers and stagehands. Cohen is respectful of everyone's opinions and methods as they face M. Butterfly's considerable challenges to the theater's conventional approach to staging a production and moves us assuredly through her characters' process of political and artistic discovery. While never deeply probing the myriad social issues it raises, Cohen's backstage drama does give us a miniature yet nuanced glimpse into a world rarely explored. Agent, Barney Karpfinger. (May)Forecast: Though the appeal of Cohen's memoir is probably limited to readers involved in community theater, there are so few books written about that milieu that hers could find a small niche.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Cohen (Heat Lightning, Glass, Paper, Beans: Revelations on the Nature and Value of Ordinary Things) offers an insightful look at what has become a social phenomenon in this country. Using four parallel story lines the history of one theater, the day-by-day narrative of a production, quick biographical sketches of the people involved in it, and her own personal story Cohen shows how important community theater is to both individuals and communities. Anyone who has ever participated in the production end of a community theater will recognize every character in this story and find a glimpse of his or her own motivations for participating in this age-old art. While the narrative becomes somewhat jumbled in places as Cohen changes story lines, this is nevertheless an enjoyable and telling look at what motivates everyday people to sacrifice so much in order to participate in this ancient ritual of storytelling. Recommended for public libraries. Laura A. Ewald, Murray State Univ., KY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 234 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; 1ST edition (May 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067089981X
• ISBN-13: 978-0670899814
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,032,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Leah Hager Cohen is the author of four non-fiction books, including Train Go Sorry and Glass, Paper, Beans, and three novels, most recently House Lights. Among the honors her books have received are New York Times Notable Book (four times); American Library Association Ten Best Books of the Year; Toronto Globe and Mail Ten Best Books of the Year; and Booksense 76 Pick.

She holds the Jenks Chair in Contemporary American Letters at the College of the Holy Cross, and teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Lesley University. She is a frequent contributor to the New York Times Book Review.

www.leahhagercohen.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and Accurate, June 21, 2001

By 

"estellechauvelin" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Stuff of Dreams: Behind the Scenes of an American Community Theater (Hardcover)

I cannot remember the last book before this that I read in one sitting. "The Stuff of Dreams" captures the true essence of community theatre, from the problem of small audition turn-outs to the common poor health in the days preceeding opening, when stress has everyone's immune system lowered, something I hadn't quite realized was universal...but I'm supposed to be talking about the book as a whole, not just what reminds me of personal experiences. One of the reviews on the cover says that this book "reads like a love story." If, like I do, you realize that an accurate story about community theatre is inheritly a romance, regardless of the plot, then you must read this book.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Drama, On Stage and Off, Brilliantly Reported, July 19, 2001

By 

R. Hardy "Rob Hardy" (Columbus, Mississippi USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Stuff of Dreams: Behind the Scenes of an American Community Theater (Hardcover)

Leah Hager Cohen's _The Stuff of Dreams: Behind the Scenes of an American Community Theater_ (Viking) tells the story of one production by one community theater, and if that strikes you as a preposterously unlikely vehicle to contain heroism and excitement, that is only because you have no idea yet about Cohen's lucid reportage or about the dedication of the Arlington Friends of the Drama. Cohen followed the company from its selection of a controversial play (involving serious cerebral themes and nudity) beyond the final cast party. She seems to have been everywhere, watching both on and off stage drama. She must thank her good fortune at reporting on just this troop. The people involved have plenty of humor; with all the stress in getting this production running, they had to. But they are truly serious artists; this is established by the choice of the play and the discussion group held before any rehearsal, in which are covered "everything from gender and sexual politics to Sino-French relations to ethnic stereotyping to the Chinese Cultural Revolution." Cohen could not have lit upon a more fascinating cast for her own work. They are headed by the ambitious director Celia, who is by day a manager of a Hewlett-Packard branch office. She has the extraordinary capacity to assign people to jobs at which they had no idea they could succeed. The Chinese opera star is played by Patrick, a self-effacing stranger she has picked and who seems at times a disastrously wrong choice. The main role is given to Jimmy, a veteran of the ADC who has ACTOR 1 for his license plates, and who undergoes terrifying, inexplicable lapses of memory for his lines even in the week before his performance. It is probably not giving anything away to tell that Cohen isn't reporting on a failure, but she builds up to a pitch of excitement in approach of the opening night that is delicious. The book's drama is sufficient that it is easy to imagine it becoming its own play.

This turns out to be an engrossing tale where one would least expect it. "No written contracts have been signed, no cash exchanged, no professional reputations put at stake to help ensure that the promises are kept, the goals met. All they can do for the moment is skate along on that sheer, fine surface of trust, waiting for a firmer base to form beneath it." The narrative of the formation of that base, the process of creating by a temporary family of amateurs (the word comes from the root meaning "love," and these people do love what they are doing), who in some cases jeopardize jobs and marriages in order to get their artistic dream realized, is an unforgettable and illuminating story.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one special opening, May 13, 2007

By 

Darryl K. Clark "pywakkit" (springfield, missouri) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Stuff of Dreams: Behind the Scenes of an American Community Theater (Paperback)

leah hager cohen writes beautifully on her subject of choice--a coummnity theater's production of 'm butterfly' from casting to the opening night.

she presents the history of the theater group, which is located in new england, as well as its members and staff lovingly, showing the reader the passion which drives them to the theater group. and she also portrays the love each person has for the theater in general.

it is an enchanting read and desrves to be re-read by anyone that is interested in the life of a person that loves the theater but chose not to make a career of it.