Tummler Aches and Growing Pains
A pair of new books reveals how Joel Grey and the Yiddish theatre both drew on Jewish stage traditions of gravitas as well as schmaltz.
Category Archives: Books
Two New Books Explore Life After Performance
Volumes by Judith Malina and Daniel Sacks wrestle with revolutionary truths—one via poetry, the other through theory.
Brecht From All Angles: Poet, Playwright, Theorist, Storyteller
Four books make fresh cases not only for the German playwright’s relevance but for his virtuosity as well.
Behind the Curtain: A Review of ‘Working in the Wings’
Elizabeth Osborne and Christine Woodworth compile an anthology on theatre labor and history that is ambitious yet scattered.
Theatre: Blockbuster Business or Art Form? 2 New Books Diverge
Michael Riedel and John Lahr both summarize decades of reporting on the business—and the art—of show.
New Books Evince Richard Eyre’s Erudition, Joan Littlewood’s Exuberance
They have little in common but their country of origin, but the former director of the National and the founder of Theatre Workshop are British leaders to be reckoned with.
What Price Goodness? Ten Thousand Things and the LAPD Have Kept Accounts
Two new books look at companies that serve audiences outside the institutional theatre’s cocoon of privilege.
Dramaturgs of the World, Unite—and Parse This Text
A collection of 85 essays offers a definitive sampler of views, analyses, and advice about this new, still occasionally mistrusted craft.
The Performing Arts: Headed for a Perfect Storm?
In his new book, former Kennedy Center impresario Michael Kaiser argues that the future of the arts lies with quality, subsidy, and daring—all of which are in dangerously short supply.
Leonard Bernstein: Behind the Music
Two new books explore the content, and context, of the great composer/conductor’s divided musical character.
