The Revisionist Stage

This book explores the vision and talents of a controversial group of artists who, depending on one’s perspective, either revitalised or disfigured the standard dramatic repertoire by adapting canonical dramas for the contemporary American stage. First setting out comprehensive overviews of the medium from a variety of perspectives, Amy S. Green goes on to present a critical history that features the bold directorial ventures of JoAnne Akalaitis, Lee Breuer, Liviu Ciulei, Richard Foreman, Joseph Papp, Lucian Pintilie, Richard Schechner, Peter Sellars, Andrei Serban, Robert Woodruff and Garland Wright. Green’s critique ranges from Greek and Roman plays to plays by Shakespeare and Molière, and the operas of Mozart and da Ponte; she discusses such landmark theatrical events as Serban’s Fragments of a Trilogy, Breuer’s The Gospel at Colonus and Lear, and Peter Sellars’s trilogy of Mozart operas. It provides a more informed reading of the business of theatrical revision, conducing a full-scale investigation of this rich and controversial genre.

• Many sections based on personal interviews with subject directors • Includes a comprehensive history of classical theatre in the US in the twentieth century • Describes in detail many of the most significant theatrical events in the US

List of illustrations; Preface; 1. Reinventing classic theatre; 2. Historical precedents in Europe and America; 3. Greek and Roman plays; 4. The plays of Shakespeare; 5. The plays of Molière; 6. Peter Sellar’s Mozart-da Ponte trilogy; 7. The classics, postmodernism, and the question of coherence; Notes; Bibliography; Index.