Theatre and Ghosts: Materiality, Performance and Modernity

by M. Luckhurst, E. Morin

Overview

Theatre and Ghosts brings theatre and performance history into dialogue with the flourishing field of spectrality studies. Essays examine the histories and economies of the material operations of theatre, and the spectrality of performance and performer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781137345066
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	07/25/2014
Edition description:	2014
Pages:	228
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Marvin Carlson, City University of New York, USA Rachel Clements, University of Manchester, UK Michael Cordner, University of York, UK Tom Cornford, University of York, UK. Catherine Hindson, University of Bristol, UK Peter Holland, University of Notre Dame, USA Beth A. Kattelman, Ohio State University, USA Joseph Yale University, USA Paul D. Streufert University of Texas at Tyler, USA Nathalie Wolfram University of Montana, USA

Table of Contents

Introduction: Theatre and Spectrality; Mary Luckhurst and Emilie Morin PART I: GHOSTS, STAGE ADAPTATION AND TECHNOLOGY 1. 'Charles Dickens and the Invention of the Modern Stage Ghost'; Marvin Carlson 2. 'Gothic Adaptation and the Stage Ghost'; Nathalie Wolfram PART II: SPECTRAL ECONOMIES 3. 'Apprehending the Spectral: Hauntology and Precarity in Caryl Churchill's Plays'; Rachel Clements 4. 'Heritage, Capital and Culture: The Ghost of 'Sarah' at the Bristol Old Vic'; Catherine Hindson 5. 'Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?: American Ghost Shows of the Twentieth Century'; Beth A. Kattelman PART III: MODERNITY, GENDER AND GHOST AESTHETICS 6. 'Masculinity, Haunting and Twentieth-Century American Realism'; Paul D. Streufert 7. ''Pretty Ghost, a Duet': On Dying While You Still Look Good'; Joseph Roach PART IV: ACTING, ABSENCE AND REMATERIALIZATION 8. 'A Restoration Vanishing Act: The Case of Thomas Betterton's Groin'; Michael Cordner 9. 'Giving Up the Ghost: The Actor's Body as Haunted House'; Mary Luckhurst 10. 'Michael Chekhov: The Spiritual Realm and the Invisible Body'; Tom Cornford 11. 'Haunting Shakespeare, or King Lear Meets Alice'; Peter Holland Select Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

"Theatre scholars have been slow to explore the longstanding connections between theatre, ghost and other forms of haunting. This fascinating collection of essays will be hugely welcomed by all students and researchers in the emerging field of spectrality studies." - Gay McAuley, Honorary Professor, Department of Performance Studies, University of Sydney, Australia

"Through stirring contributions on topics ranging from the intricacies of staging nineteenth-century apparitions and the symbolic memory work performed by the 'pretty ghost' to the luminescent spectacle of the midnight spook show, Theatre and Ghosts probes the enduring yet to date under-illuminated association of performance and spectrality. Reflecting on Anglo-American theatrical ghosts and their many guises, as well as the ghostliness of theatre as a medium, this engaging volume makes a vital contribution to the burgeoning field of spectrality studies." - Esther Peeren, Associate Professor of Media Studies, University of Amsterdam, co-editor with María del Pilar Blanco of The Spectralities Reader (2013).

From the Publisher