Reading the Material Theatre

Ric Knowles develops and demonstrates a method of theatrical performance analysis involving the entire theater experience, from production to reception. Five case studies provide a first-step introduction to key terms and areas of performance theory. They include the cultural work performed by a major Shakespearean repertory theater, a small nationalist theater devoted to new play development, a major New York-based avant-garde touring theater company, and a British socialist company dedicated to the work of Shakespeare, as well as a range of international festivals.

Demonstrates a method of theatrical performance analysis taking into account the entire theatre experience, from production to reception.

Ric Knowles is Professor of Drama at the School of English and Theatre Studies, University of Guelph, Ontario. He is author of Shakespeare and Canada: Essays on Production, Translation, and Adaptation. (2003), and The Theatre of Form and the Production of Meaning: Contemporary Canadian Dramaturgies (1999), editor of Theatre in Atlantic Canada (1988), and co-editor of Modern Drama: Defining the Field (2003) and Staging Coyote's Dream: An Anthology of First Nations Drama in English (2003).