Radical Acts is an innovative compilation of essays and interviews about how feminist approaches to teaching theatre challenge and engage students; teachers; and audiences alike. Contributors include theatre practitioners working in a wide variety of settings and with diverse social groups; offering inspiring accounts of how to create a more inclusive; reflexive; and liberating theatre education. Includes essays by Cherriacute;e Moraga; Rebecca Schneider; and Joni L. Jones/Omi Osun Olomo; interviews with Deb Margolin and Kate Bornstein.Challenging feminists and theater practitioners; in and out of the academy; this impressive collection engages a fundamental component of all social justice movements: the body and its unconscious habits. The wide range of voices awaken the possibilities for radical democracy that emerge when feminism; critical pedagogy; and theater come together. It offers new and fresh alternatives to anyone engaged with reframing body politics. mdash;Shannon Winnubst; author of Queering FreedomRadical Acts is a collection of essays on how teaching theatre can help our students make a dynamic connection between art and activism. It is a book for this century; creating a bridge between feminist theory of the late twentieth century; and the issues of gender injustice; racial inequality and global crisis that still haunt us today. mdash;Ellen Donkin; author of Upstaging Big Daddy: Directing As if Race and Gender Matter Radical Acts fills a felt need from those of us who teach feminist content and/or feminist methods. In fact; one of the strengths of the project is its emphasis on feminist teaching regardless of the course content. mdash;Jill Dolan; author of The Feminist Spectator as CriticWhen I finished reading; I fantasized about having all the authors over for drinks and a potluck. I really wanted to continue the conversation. mdash;Donna Nudd; co-founder of the Mickee Faust ClubThis is an exciting and scholarly collection that offers many innovative models for integrating theory and practice in feminism; theatre and education. Theres a great deal of practical wisdom in these essays. mdash;Berenice Fisher; author of No Angel in the Classroom
#3470499 in eBooks 2014-03-05 2014-03-05File Name: B00ISVUR0G
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Clever and originalBy Harry KanigelSam Hilt was; for a time; a practicing clinical psychologist before wisely turning his attention to the presumably more jolly and aesthetically more satisfying vocation of guiding tourists; he leads carefree and curious travelers through Tuscany; as a fellow aficionado of art; history; fine food and great wine. ldquo;The Renaissance of Imaginationrdquo; is Hiltrsquo;s eclectic take on Florentine Renaissance art; that draws from political history; past architectural fashions; Jungian psychology and sundry bits of art history and esoterica to produce a distinctive stew that can be savored by a wide range of readers.It is laid out in a series of essays that are stitched together like chapters because there is a pleasing continuity between them; as one idea points to the next. The book can serve as a not overly academic introduction to the Renaissance period and its achievements for casual readers who may have previously neglected this subject; as I had. Such readers will be rewarded with lively and astute guidance that may well open the way to further reading or; better; a richer and more satisfying experience of the art images themselves; when visiting Florence. But for seasoned art lovers; the work offers a novel style; mostly free of the humdrum de rigueur ldquo;usual suspectsrdquo; of art history; such as disagreements about attribution; dating and so forth. Hilt seeks to transcend these matters when possible.He offers an original view of several Renaissance masterpieces in essays that draw us into paintings; altarpieces; panels; frescoes and sculptures by examining the social milieu or otherwise contextual elements.For example; he sets the scene of his explication of several annunciation-themed works with a stimulating short treatment of Florentine home design; he describes the role; e.g.; of intimidating facades and welcoming courtyards and inner chambers. Resting on this short architecture discourse; he is able to make sense of the boundaries and settings depicted in the various annunciation images whose significance would otherwise elude twenty-first century Americans.To further orient us; Dr. Hilt sketches out a backdrop of fifteenth century religious sensibilities that undergird much Renaissance art; he takes us on a tour of the mind; accompanying Dante and his loyal sidekick Virgil on their assent through purgatory as described in the Divine Comedy. Hilt wraps the elements of this ldquo;soulrsquo;s journeyrdquo; with the familiar corseting of modern psychotherapeutic practice; emphasizing the power of visualization; whereby pilgrims (clients/patients) ldquo;already have knowledge of the state they seek.rdquo; All these images; which are ldquo;archetypally present;rdquo; are available as themes that were familiar to fifteenth century artists such as Fra Angelico; Fra Filippo Lippi and Piero della Francesca.He sketches out traditions and apocrypha that enrich our understanding of the annunciation story in which Mary is approached by the angel Gabriel who brings some important news. These accounts provide a backstory wherein this transmittal of Maryrsquo;s divine assignment occurs over the course of several episodes that represent temporal or psychological or spiritual stages that range from her determined obliviousness to wariness to embrace.These stages provide a framework for the themes that animate the various annunciation depictions of Renaissance artists; notably Fra Angelico and Fra Lippi; who exhibited an amusingly subversive slant on this and other religious subject matter; as Hilt discerns by observations of body language and facial expressions depicted in the images.He teases out a plausible backstory of Lippirsquo;s Coronation of the Virgin with savvy and humor and the keen eye of an alert psychotherapist. In Hiltrsquo;s quite believable view; Lippi signals a sub rosa storyline; that of the cuckolding of St. Eustace (!!) that merits the viewerrsquo;s attention. Hilt opines; and it is hard to disagree with him; that ldquo;the Coronation itself is only modestly capable of sustaining our interestrdquo; and is ldquo;only perfunctory.rdquo; The son of God; we are told; is mainly concerned with ldquo;placing the crown carefully so that it doesnrsquo;t fall off.rdquo; Our focus is directed; instead; to bit players; we are to study; with some care and guidance from Dr. Hilt; the body signals of St. Eustace; his wife; and ldquo;hisrdquo; two boys: one of the lads bears no resemblance to Eustace and strongly resembles an unnamed figure in clerical garb. A world-weary Lippi himself; makes a cameo; speaking to us with impish ironyldquo;The Renaissance of Imaginationrdquo; is no coffee table book with glossy color plates. This is a good thing in the sense that you arenrsquo;t tempted to baby this book; rather; you can flip through it; re-read; scribble notes with abandon! But; herewith a small quibble that should ultimately have little practical effect:While there are numerous figures of the works discussed to aid Dr. Hiltrsquo;s narration; they are; alas; black and white and not great. But fear not; the images all appear to be in the public domain; readers will be well served if they enlist a companion techno-assistant with Retina display or similar device (such as your garden variety laptop) that supports high definition images to pinch hit for the lesser images on the printed page. Itrsquo;s kind of fun.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. The perfect MarriageBy Tina HittenbergerWe have gone to Italy many; many times. My husband teaches at Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence. This is THE best; most compelling and most comprehensive book on the Renaissance. It should be required reading for all students at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and for any tourist; traveler or historian who wants to know (and understand) the underpinnings and future implications of this unique and astonishing humanistic event called the Renaissance.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Italian Renaissance art appreciationBy Mark J. GehrieSam Hiltrsquo;s ldquo;The Renaissance of Imaginationrdquo; (2016) provides a delightful point of entry for the newcomer and scholar alike to the world of Florentine renaissance art. With an engaging; humor-inflected approach to art appreciation and interpretation; the author offers an enjoyable experience of access to the otherwise nearly impenetrable world of renaissance art criticism. Touring art museums in Italy with Sam Hiltrsquo;s user-friendly guide as an erudite companion extends and enhances onersquo;s participation not only with renaissance art; but with a broad swath of Italian history and culture.
