The Production Notebooks: Theatre in Process, Volume One (Theatre in Process, Vol 1) (Paperback)

~ Mark Bly (Editor) "In the 1980s at the Guthrie Theater, whenever my associate Michael Lupu or I finished our involvement with a production of note, we would sit..." (more)
Key Phrases: intermittent celibacy, crack annie, production notebooks, Children of Paradise, New York, Robert Wilson (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The second volume in the series provides an inside view of the creative process involved in the creation of 4 major theatrical productions. Each notebook offers in diary form comprehensive histories of major artistic elements that are the center of the creative process. This volume includes: In the Blood by Suzan-Lori Parks (The Joseph Papp Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival); The First Picture Show by David and Ain Gordon (Mark Taper Forum and American Conservatory Theatre), The Geography Project by Ralph Lemon (Yale Repertory Theatre) and Shakespeare Rapid Eye Movement, directed by Robert Lepage (Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel-Munich). Each notebook is profusely illustrated with production shots and/or set and costume renderings.

Mark Bly is the Associate Artistic Director of the Yale Repertory Theatre. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group; 1 edition (December 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559361107
• ISBN-13: 978-1559361101
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #539,951 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for Dramaturgs!, October 29, 2005

By	Swan "choreographer" (New York) - See all my reviews

This book gives tremendous insight into the creative process behind the product we see when we go to the theatre. It is fascinating to read about how dramaturgical research informs every member of a creative team, from the director to the designers to the actors. This book is for all of them, not just dramaturgs. The diary format allows the reader to experience the ups and downs, the doubts and triumphs of the rehearsal process. I highly recommend it to all theatre artists, from stage managers to opera singers to administrators. A terrific read.

3.0 out of 5 stars A Playwright's Take on The Producetion Notebooks (Vol I and Vol II) by Mark Bly, July 15, 2009

By	Ralph Cook - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: Production Notebooks Volume 2 (Paperback)

While the kind of documentation these books offer to the production of live theatre is valuable, to me, a playwright, they are a far cry from "The Seesaw Log, A chronicle of the stage production, with the text, of Two For The Seesaw" by William Gibson, which I wholeheartedly recommend to playwrights.

These books were recommended to me by a dramaturg. Potential readers should be warned that these books are short on aesthetics and long, very long on dramaturgical detail.

While a director or stage manager may find them offering insight, they took me through far more detail than a playwright might find of interest.

The author makes a statement that sets an unsupported attitude of superiority in the introduction to Vol II, "The primary criterion for inclusion in the series has been that the individuals collaborating on the production must be artists of consequence. . ." Yet, when I read the two volumes, I found much of the work to be of little relevance or consequence to regional theatre.
RCJr.