The contributors to Negotiated Moments explore how subjectivity is formed and expressed through musical improvisation; tracing the ways the transmission and reception of sound occur within and between bodies in real and virtual time and across memory; history; and space. They place the gendered; sexed; raced; classed; disabled; and technologized body at the center of critical improvisation studies and move beyond the fields tendency toward celebrating improvisations utopian and democratic ideals by highlighting the improvisation of marginalized subjects. Rejecting a singular theory of improvisational agency; the contributors show how improvisation helps people gain hard-won and highly contingent agency. Essays include analyses of the role of the body and technology in performance; improvisations ability to disrupt power relations; Pauline Oliveross ideas about listening; flautist Nicole Mitchells compositions based on Octavia Butlers science fiction; and an interview with Judith Butler about the relationship between her work and improvisation. The contributors close attention to improvisation provides a touchstone for examining subjectivities and offers ways to hear the full spectrum of ideas that sound out from and resonate within and across bodies.
#3037426 in eBooks 2016-01-01 2016-02-23File Name: B01C59OSPG
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Essential reading for shakespeare afficionadosBy honeyThis is a book for anyone who loves Shakespeare; but especially important for those who direct or act in his plays. As we are told Paul Barry has the distinction of being the only American ever to have directed all of the Shakespeare plays.I relished every page; I savored every word. There are surprises; revelations galore.But I can attest from personal experience that the excellence of this enjoyable book reflects the singularity of the man who wrote it.I was one of those privileged to have attended all seven of the Shakespeare Colloquia weekends at Drew University where I saw many of the productions alluded to in this book. The superb scholars Paul Barry brought to us and the discussions with them and among ourselves enriched those weekends. The Barrys are marvelous actors and interpreters. And Paul Barry seems to know everything about Shakespeare. I consider those weekends some of the most important events of my life.With all that I have read about Shakespeare and his plays; I still learned a great deal from this book. And I had so much fun reading it.I loved Barrys joke that latecomers are punished because they miss the expositions at the beginnings of plays and remain in confusion as they spend lots of energy and time trying to figure out whats going on.Barry tells of one production of the very famous Hamlet where a youngster in the audiencereacts to the announcement of Ophelias drowning by spontaneously exclaiming; "Oh; she died." He says how wonderful it was to be there when one person hears that and reacts to it for the first time.Barry gives us insights throughout about things Shakespearians think they can never learn anything new about. Some examples:His description of the first scene with Kate and Petrucchio.Another is that Hamlet is the tale of three sons avenging fathers deaths. You ask yourself; three? Hamlet avenging his fathers death; okay. Laertes avenging Poloniuss. Okay. So Barry reminds us of Fortinbras avenging his fathers death.In fact the whole chapter on Hamlet is filled with fascinating new information for me explaining the answers to many riddles we have about motivation.I loved what Barry says about the coveted female role of Lady Macbeth. "Lady Mac is not a co star role:...Macbeth is not Antony and Cleopatra. Try telling that to a modern American actress; especially one with a name. shell call her agent."The story about the dog in a production of Two Gentlemen of Verona is hilarious.Though the play is described as two families feuding; Barry asserts that the main conflicts in Romeo and Juliet are between teenagers and their parents.Page 75 begins an overview of Shakespeares warrior plays. This is a special area of Barrys expertise. I couldnt help thinking about the song; Imagine; and how naive and out of place it would be in this context.The chapter on Troilas and Cressida is fabulous. This hash of a play gets the Barry treatment and it is terrific.The paragraph on page 87 about how Julius Caesar begins gives a tiny insight. Just another example of the special quality of this book.Barry elaborates on the goofy stage direction; "Exit; pursued by a bear"; from A Winters Tale; in a lengthy section full of information."There is no subtext in Shakespeare." I read that and thought; of course! Is that not marvelous?In this book; Paul Barrys shares with the reader his extensive knowledge about text; religion; warfare; patriarchy in Shakespeare. Barry is expert in the rules of staging fighting scenes. He gives advice about how to rehearse. He constantly admonishes directors to trust and to stick to the script.A wonderful read. This is a book I would recommend highly.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. A book to savorBy J. FalenThis is a very entertaining and informative book; full of wit and good sense and a passion for Shakespeares plays. Part engaging memoir; part practical handbook; distilling a lifetimes creative experience of acting in and directing Shakespeare; it offers an opinionated (in the best sense) and useful reflection on the challenges; pitfalls and pleasures of staging the great Master Will. Certainly there are scholars who know the full canon well; but I cant imagine that there is another director who has such a comprehensive grasp of all these truly wonderful as well as the not-so-wonderful plays and who brings such an informed theater persons perspective to them.The authors central dogma as a director: fidelity to the playwright and his text and to his emotional truths and his intellectual questionings; to his intentions insofar as study and research and deep thought can help in determining them. His exploration of individual plays and his discussion of specific problems in staging them is full of insights and of plain; but uncommon good sense. His discussions on casting; characterization; timing; motivation; the importance of seasons and times of day; and a host of other matters come from long experience in theater; but his approach is also informed by close scholarly study as well.It would have been more pedestrian; perhaps; to do so; but there might have been some advantages had the author organized his discussion of the plays into genre categories: comedies; tragedies; histories and fantasies(?). But his discussion of individual plays is full of provocative insights. He is especially eloquent on the plays he regards as Shakespeares great three: Hamlet; Romeo and Juliet; and Lear.With these masterworks; as with other of the plays; his book invites one to reread these treasures of our civilization along with his commentary as a guide to the challenges that staging them poses. One may not agree with all of his arguments; but he is never less than chanllenging. His love of the poetry and his readings of the plays are always stimulating and often moving.The book offers many ideas for potential directors of these works as well as pleasures and illuminations for the general reader; not least in the elegance of its writing.6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. A LIFETIME WITH SHAKESPEARE - A TREASURE CHEST OF INFORMATIONBy maureen FlahertyAfter attending many wonderful productions at the New Jersey Shakespreare Festival; I became a fan of Paul Barry; its Artistic Director and author of a new book; A LIFETIME WITH SHAKESPEARE. I read this book recently and found his writing style easy to follow and its contents illuminating. The first chapter is essential in getting the reader to understand the importance of the actors; the stage; and the resident company. Turning to the plays; I like his discussion of casting and his vision of what the characters should be like. Important to me are his comments on various actors; their perfomances; and the background of the plays including the historical aspects of some of the productions. Of course; the fight scenes and his comments about them add insight into what he emphasizes in his productions. Comparing the warriors with the United States Marines is great because if one understands the mental mindset of these contemporary fighters; then one will understand that combat soldiers have not changed through the centuries. "We continually wage war because weve always waged war." He describes in wonderful detail the staging of the battle scenes and the evolution of the uniforms and battle gear to look effective to the audience while protecting the actors. He takes each play and discusses the process of staging it while also referring to what works on the stage and what does not. It is interesting that he discusses other directors productions of the plays; their successes; and their failures; although he does not criticize them harshly. The side comments are great. An example is when Herman LaVerfne Jones is Roger Robinsons understudy. Mr. Barry discusses Hermans fears when he took over the job of Othello because Rogers is too sick to perform; this adds a personal touch. The chapter entitled The Chronicle Plays is very effective in transitioning to the history plays. Looking at the Chronicle Plays in their historical order is logical because the reader can then make sense of these history plays especially when some characters move from one play to another one. There is continuity here. A LIETIME WITH SHAKESPEARE is the kind of book that one can and should read more than once because there is so much material in it. It is a great read!
