by Christos G. Athanasopulos ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 19, 2008
Expertly researched text with a cerebral and occasionally acerbic point of view.
A comprehensive and well-written text that travels the path of theater’s evolution in form and style.
Demokritos University professor and architect Athanasopulos (Building Technology and Design, 1979) traces the development of theater in architectural, scenic and lighting design. Supporting photographs and diagrams chronicle the art form’s movement from ritualistic, processional origins in early human history, to outdoor amphitheaters of ancient Greece, to the rise of the modern multipurpose civic theater. Organized into four main sections, the book covers antiquity to the 19th century, the early 20th century, the period between the Great Wars and the present. The author peppers the text with sharp commentary, informed by his almost jingoistic belief in the artistic superiority of state-supported European theater. He’s not shy about espousing his distaste for the rigorous financial and functional demands placed on contemporary theater–particularly on those large complexes located in the United States and Australia. Commerce, Athanasopulos opines, has trumped art in countries that rely on private enterprise to support the arts. According to the author, these venues suffer artistically, given that they’re run by directing boards consisting of capitalist Philistines, bent on balanced budgets. Lincoln Center, D.C.’s Kennedy Center and the Sydney Opera House are listed as examples of three such offensively disjointed behemoths. Contemporary Theater also contains a too-brief overview of street, political-militant and mixed media theater, the last of which combines elements such as film projection with traditional stagecraft. Athanasopulos concludes with intriguing examples of experimental multimedia performing spaces likely to exist in our not-so-distant future. The short final chapter, “The Importance of Meaning and Speech” seems an afterthought which could have functioned better as part of the overall text, rather than being left as a footnote. Also notably absent are details on non-Western theater design and development.
Expertly researched text with a cerebral and occasionally acerbic point of view.Pub Date: May 19, 2008
ISBN: 978-0471873198
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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