Replay: Classic Modern Drama Reimagined spans over a century of great theatre to explore how iconic plays have been adapted and versioned by later writers to reflect or dissect the contemporary zeitgeist. Starting with A Dolls House; Ibsens much-reprised masterpiece of marital relations from 1879; Toby Zinman explores what made the play so controversial and shocking in its day before tracing how later reimaginings have reworked Ibsens original. The spine of plays then includes such landmark works as Strindbergs Miss Julie; Oscar Wildes comic The Importance of Being Earnest; Chekhovs Three Sisters and Uncle Vanya; Hansberrys A Raisin in the Sun; the Rattigan centenary revivals; Thornton Wilders Our Town; ultimately arriving at Becketts Waiting for Godot. Taking each modern play as the starting point; Zinman explores the diverse renderings and reworkings by subsequent playwrights and artists ndash;including prominent directors and their controversial productions as well as acknowledging reworkings in film; opera and ballet.Through the course of this groundbreaking study we discover not only how theatrical styles have changed but how societys attitude towards politics; religion; money; gender; sexuality and race have radically altered over the course of the century. In turn Replay reveals how theatre can serve as both a reflection of our times and a provocation to them.
#2829410 in eBooks 2011-05-06 2011-05-06File Name: B00NGFN5NK
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A man with only one virtue...By eledavf VivianThis lengthy account of Byrons life would persuade almost anyone to despise him. He had so few saving graces. His history was replete with vice; including pederasty and incest. He was a corrupter of both sexes; even children; and though not evil; he was as close to it as he could be without ending up in prison. In his cruelty to his wife; he was actually deranged.This is an excellent biography of a man I used to admire back in the days when biographers withheld so many of the disgusting facts. Of course the incest with his half-sister was by no means omitted back then; but it was related without many of the grotesque details purveyed in this extremely thorough book.He was neglectful of his sad little illegitimate daughter; Allegra; whose mother he violently loathed. (But then so many of his reactions to people and events were extreme.) Little Allegras life; though; could have been saved if Shelley had been allowed to rescue her.My lifelong fascination with this deranged nobleman has just about run its course with this candid overview of his weird personality. As a poet; he was sometimes inspired; at other times his works were labored and pointless. I never bothered to read his tedious Childe Harold saga; but his shorter poems are wonderful.He is shown here as a man outliving all too soon his handsome features. To control his weight he subsisted on an almost starvation diet and toward the end he became just another wealthy; overweight expatriate drifting around Italy; though writing poetry all the while.One virtue he retained until his dying day: his kindness to animals. His love for his dogs will always be remembered; especially for Boatswain over whose grave he wept. That would get him into heaven if nothing else would.I found this account of Byron interesting or at least tolerable until his Venetian sojourn; then I realized that the chronicle of his life was never going to be anything but sordid and that he was never going to metamorphose into a hero even in his last days with the Greek uprising.As to the author of this study; Benita Eisler; unfortunately she viscerally dislikes another and greater poet; Percy Bysshe Shelley. She cannot mention him without accusing him of being jealous of Byrons talent; fame; and wealth. Her loathing for Mary Shelley; too; is unrelenting.Nevertheless; this biography is to be highly recommended for its style and comprehensiveness.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Io Lascio Qualque Cosa Di Caro Nel MondoBy Akice69A member of the noble class at the tender age of nine. Cultivated by the most prevalent literature of the time. Hopelessly enamored of a half-sister. Wedded into a prominent British family. Tormented by his private thoughts and aspirations. Considered by some to be one of the most brilliant; influential writers of the Romantic era; while by others deemed merely a spoiled member of the privileged elitist society who squandered most of the gifts bestowed upon him. Sounds like a dark soap opera; or maybe a script to some indie flick - but in fact all these events were components of the relatively short life of Lord George Gordon Byron. At last I have finished this book - a long and very meticulously-researched tome spanning Byrons lifetime. It is challenging to post a review for a work of this volume; without giving away too many of the details that made this so enjoyable to read. Nevertheless; I will attempt to do so; right now. Lord Byron was a complex individual who was loaded with stark contradictions. On the surface of things; especially when looked at within the framework of the period in which he lived (Regency England); he appeared to have had everything a person could possibly want; or need. He became a nobleman as a child; hed had a doting mother who (wisely) introduced him to the worlds of reading and theater during his formative years. He attended Harrow; married into an upstanding English family (his wife; Annabella Milbanke; had been nicknamed the Princess of Parallelograms due to her talents in mathematics); cavorted with the most powerful rakes of his day. The publicarion of Childe Harolds Pilgrimmage; which appeared in 1812; whisked him further into the world of fame and prestige. He was sought after by eager; adoring females (not all of them young; or single) pretty much everywhere he went: and despite a brief attempt at being married; he appears to have had the kind of wild; wanton sex life that most men can only dare dream about. He seems to have enjoyed being a risktaker (a trait most likely inherited from the father he never knew; Mad Jack Byron); he liked to live life on the edge; perpetually interested in what was new and unfamiliar to him. Many of his personal relationships; particularly those he developed with women; seem to have been more about his desire (or need) to experiment than they did about love; or any long-lasting ties. But then there is the other side of the coin - those darker; gloomier factors that made this mans life less than idyllic. There were the frequent lapses into self-pity; mainly brought on by the physical deformity (clubfoot) hed been born with (although; paradoxically; he still became an excellent swimmer). There was the ever-present rivalry between himself and other well-established heavyweight writers; like Wordsworth; Coleridge; Keats and (Tom) Moore (though this is fairly common to writers in general; not at all exclusive to him). There were the nights of binge drinking; the yo-yo dieting that he did; the speculative bouts of syphilis; the unpredictable plunges into dark moods of despair that sometimes lasted for weeks... and there was that strange; taboo obsession he had with Augusta Leigh; the half-sister whod married her cousin; Colonel Charles Leigh; and borne him several children (none of which deterred Byron from pursuing intimate relations with her). On top of all this (and especially after word got out that Byron and Augusta were intimates); Byron often found himself a frequent subject of the salon ladies gossip circles; due to his quirky; offbeat behavior and his most unconventional lifestyle. (For those who think the British press has a habit of baring its teeth to people it doesnt like nowadays; back in Byrons time it also had fangs; claws and a pick and shovel with which to metaphorically bury them). And for all his dabbling in personal experimentation; his perchant for throwing caution to the wind had consequences: a disastrous (and highly-publicized) marriage; a bevy of bitter ex-lovers; unresolved paternity issues; an unpleasant splitting off from his publisher of nearly ten years; and a trip to Greece (fuelled by political ambitions) from which he would never return. Now that I have studied the life and times of this blackguard (he was labelled as such at Harrow); it seems as though his biggest crowning glory was the numerous written works he left behind for us to read. I do feel he was intelligent; but; as a personality; he was restless; reckless; prone to self-doubt and self-destruction. Maybe in part because of his many contradictions; the complexity of his character and his apparent inability to ever settle down during his lifetime; his name and works are still around and continue to fascinate people. I got this book almost two years ago; and I recently just finished it. I deliberately took breaks from reading this; not because I was bored (because in fact I never was); but because I wanted to absorb each section and really understand the material. I purchased this book primarily because I wanted to see what this guys life had really been like; to separate fact from fiction (films can be interesting; but to me they often pale in comparison to a richly-detailed biography). This text is; in fact; so embellished with detail that at times I did feel as though I were a fly on the wall. Author Benita Eisler did a commendable; respectable job with the research of her subject - and for this reason alone I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know anything (or everything) about the Lord Byrons life. Put another way: Anything you ever wanted to know about Byron but were afraid to ask; youll probably find the answers somewhere in the pages of this book! While I feel that there are probably many words to describe the kind of life Lord Byron led; boring certainly isnt one of them. In the end; what I find most fascinating about this often-misunderstood man was his desire to resist the paramaters of conformity; while at the same time remaining a prisoner to them (as is frequently shown in the style and nuances of his writings). Few people; I think; can live out lives of such extreme duality while still maintaining a sense of identity; the way Byron managed to do. And although he did travel far from his homeland; and adapted to new languages and customs; inside his secret; unseen heart I believe he stayed true to that which; essentially; he was - a Briton.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A VERY GOOD READ.By AnglophileThis book is great. Its very well written and easy to read; like a novel. I just finished reading OBriens book on Byron; and though I enjoyed it; her wording made it a little difficult to understand--which made me feel a little stupid(and I love challenging books). This book helps you to better und-stand the subject and his life. I found myself shaking my head out of pity and disgust when reading about his family and the long line of rakes and profligates he descended from.This book tells me a lot that I didnt know: I had no idea that he was the same age as his father when he died! I would definitely recommend this book. The reviews are well desrved.
