THEATRE VSI Paperback – 15 September 2014

very poor intro of the theatre

Habría pensado imposible escribir en tan pequeño espacio tantas cosas interesantes sobre la naturaleza y la historia del teatro, y aún más, hacerlo desde una perspectiva nada eurocéntrica, atendiendo con mucho criterio a las formas teatrales no occidentales.

A nice a little introduction to the history of theatre, for those interested in the background, and those who want to know more.

In keeping with the majority of this excellent series the author has provided a very concise and erudite volume that combines the broadest of historical views of the theatre with a world view that centres around it.Starting from the earliest expressions of formal communication towards the medieval records of different cultures, the author involves the church as well as other religions in his quest for origins of the theatre. The relevance of classical Greece and Rome are explained and the involvement of theatre in colonialism is discussed.Stressing the difference between drama and theatre, he goes into performance theory and mentions important journals in the field.Lastly, surprisingly he discusses the players in the field - the key roles in theatre - and in doing so brings a good conclusion to an excellent little foray. This is a great 'starter' book if you are reading around the subject and I cannot overstate the importance of the excellent section for 'further reading', which whereas it is not a bibliography as such, it offers what the book needs which is 'what do I read next?'Another triumph for Oxford Press and a great offering by Carlson.

Oxford University Press books are always high quality, so this Very Short Introduction to Theatre, despite being a pocket-sized book, packs in a lot of information. Covering the birth of theatre across the world, the book takes a chronological approach and explores religion and theatre, theatre and drama, theatre and performance, and the makers of theatre. The size of the book might fool you into thinking that this is a fairly simplistic overview, but in fact it's a fairly dense and academic style, which covers a real breadth of knowledge about theatre. This is a perfect wee book for students of theatre and drama, just the right size to keep in a pocket or bag and dip into while studying, but it would also be a great guide for those interested in the subject - full of information without being too overwhelming. There are a wide variety of these books, and I can easily see how starting with one would quickly get you hooked onto exploring many others!