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Zusatztext 'In this excellent study, Cummings successfully argues Fornes's stature as "the most important unknown playwright in the United States" during the second half of the 20th century. He provides a comprehensive analysis of her career over four decades, demonstrating how her conjoined practices as playwright, director, and teacher form an organic whole and characterize her distinctive style of theater. Cummings analyzes and interprets all of Fornes's plays in a clear, accessible manner, affording a more detailed examination of what he terms the "key" plays-- Promenade , Fefu and Her Friends , and Abingdon Square . Cummings situates Fornes's work and influence decade by decade, providing a portrait of the rapidly changing American theater from 1950 to 2000. He highlights Fornes's particular contributions to the Open Theatre, INTAR, and the Padua Hills Playwrights Festival, among others. As a leading figure of the American avant-garde, Fornes was perhaps most influential as a playwright's playwright who was instrumental in shaping the careers of her more famous protégés, including Henry David Hwang, Eduardo Machado, and Sarah Ruhl. Appendixes detail Fornes's published plays and production history; the bibliography is solid. This is a fine volume. Summing Up: Highly recommended.' M.S. LoMonaco, CHOICE Informationen zum Autor Scott T. Cummings is Chair of the Theatre Department of Boston College, where he directs plays and teaches courses in playwriting and dramatic literature. He is the author of Remaking American Theater: Charles Mee, Anne Bogart and the SITI Company, as well as numerous performance reviews, journal articles, and essays on contemporary American theater and drama. Klappentext Maria Irene Fornes is the most influential female American dramatist of the 20th century. That is the argument of this important new study, the first to assess Fornes's complete body of work. Scott T. Cummings considers comic sketches, opera libretti and unpublished pieces, as well as her best-known plays, in order to trace the evolution of her dramaturgy from the whimsical Off-Off Broadway plays of the 1960s to the sober, meditative work of the 1990s. The book also reflects on her practice as an inspirational teacher of playwriting and the primary director of her own plays. Drawing on the latest scholarship and his own personal research and interviews with Fornes over two decades, Cummings examines Fornes's unique significance and outlines strategies for understanding her fragmentary, enigmatic, highly demanding theater. Zusammenfassung Maria Irene Fornes provides an enlightening introduction to a pivotal figure in both Hispanic-American and experimental theater. From her theatrical origins in 1960s Cuba to her precedent plays for the US stage, this book presents an important guide of work of this politically-charged playwright. Inhaltsverzeichnis Overview Part I -- The 1960s "Let me be wrong. But also not know it." 1 Getting started Bohemian roots: growing up in Havana Bohemian roots: settling in Greenwich Village Tango Palace (1963) A metatheatrical conceit 2 Off-Off Broadway: The Good Scene Cino, Judson, La MaMa, and others The Open Theatre connection The Successful Life of 3 (1965) The Office (1966) Dr. Kheal (1968) A Vietnamese Wedding (1967) The Red Burning Light (1968) 3 Key play: Promenade (the apotheosis of Judson) The Judson Poets' Theatre Promenade (as a one-act in 1965) Promenade (as a full-length in 1969) Molly's Dream (1973) Part II -- The 1970s "If we're showing what life is, can be, we must do theatre." 4 Finding a way New York Theatre Strategy Aurora (1974) INTAR and the Hispanic Playwrights-in-Residence Laboratory Cap-a-Pie (1975...
