PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY

Close Notification

Your cart does not contain any items

Pinter and Stoppard

A Director's View

Carey Perloff

$39.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

QTY:

English
Methuen Drama
21 April 2022
Shortlisted for the STR Theatre Book Prize 2023 A LA Times best theater book of 2022

Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard, by most accounts the leading British playwrights of our time, might seem to come from very different aesthetic, cultural and political worlds.

But as Carey Perloff’s fascinating new book reveals, the two have much in common. By examining these contemporaries alongside one another and in the context of the rehearsal room, we can glean new insights and connections, including the impact of their Jewish background on their work and their passion for the details of stagecraft. Readers of Pinter and Stoppard: A Director’s View will emerge with a set of tools for approaching their work in a performance environment and for unlocking the mysteries of the plays for audiences. Esteemed theatre director Carey Perloff draws upon her first-hand experience of working with both writers, creating case studies of particular plays in production to provide new ways of positioning the work today. 30 years after major criticism on both playwrights first emerged, this is a ripe moment for a fresh examination of the unique contribution of Pinter and Stoppard in the twenty-first century.

By:  
Imprint:   Methuen Drama
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 234mm,  Width: 156mm, 
Weight:   368g
ISBN:   9781350243392
ISBN 10:   1350243396
Pages:   240
Publication Date:  
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Primary
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
INTRODUCTION: The Case for a Shared View of the Work of Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard CHAPTER ONE: The Jewish Connection CHAPTER TWO: The Launch: Pinter and Stoppard in Context CHAPTER THREE: Finding the Voice in Rehearsal CHAPTER FOUR: Excavating “Rules of Play” in Pinter’s The Birthday Party CHAPTER FIVE: “Wanting to Know” and the Rehearsal Process of Stoppard’s Indian Ink CHAPTER SIX: From 9/11 to the Recession: Pinter’s Terror and the Collapse of Certainty in Celebration, The Room and The Homecoming CHAPTER 7: Anatomizing Guilt: Stoppard’s Rock ‘n’ Roll, The Invention of Love and The Hard Problem CONCLUSION INDEX

Carey Perloff is former Artistic Director of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, which she led from 1992 -2018. At ACT she staged over 100 productions of classical and contemporary plays, including 11 by Tom Stoppard (2 American premieres) and 6 by Harold Pinter (2 American premieres). Prior to ACT, Perloff ran New York’s Classic Stage Company from 1986- 1992. She has directed at theaters across America including Seattle Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, the Roundabout and Arena Stage, and across Canada at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, The Arts Club Vancouver, Theater Calgary and the Shakespeare Company. As a playwright, Perloff’s work has been widely produced. Her publications include Beautiful Chaos: A Life In The Theater (City Lights Press, 2015), awarded the One City One Book “Big Read” Award from the City of San Francisco; Elektra by Ezra Pound with an introduction by Perloff (New Directions 1989), and essays for numerous collections including Pinter at Sixty (Indiana), Directing Beckett (Michigan) and The Pinter Review. Perloff is a contributor to American Theater Magazine , Clyde Fitch Report and other arts and culture publications; she lectures frequently at universities and non-profits (including the Maynard Mack Lecture at Yale and the Phi Beta Kappa Address at Stanford), was recently a Writing Fellow at the Bogliasco Foundation (2018) and has been interviewed widely on radio and television (notably on KQED’s Forum, CBC’s Arts Live, and the Voice of America). Perloff was a Fulbright Fellow at St. Anne’s College, Oxford, holds Honorary Degrees from University of San Francisco and ACT, and was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her contributions to French culture.

Reviews for Pinter and Stoppard: A Director's View

Carey Perloff's account of her experience of working closely as a director with two of the greatest playwrights of our times makes a compelling and dramatic book, full of fascinating revelations and comparisons, sharp perceptions and warm humanity. * Dame Hermione Lee *


  • Short-listed for STR Theatre Book Prize 2023 2023 (UK)

See Also