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Oscar G. Brockett History of the Theatre Boston and

London: Allyn and Bacon, 5th edition, 1988 (dist. in UK:
Prentice-Hall, Hemel Hempstead), 779 p. £18.85 (pbk). ISBN
0-205-10487-8.

Michael Anderson

New Theatre Quarterly / Volume 6 / Issue 22 / May 1990, pp 197 - 197

DOI: 10.1017/S0266464X00004425, Published online: 15 January 2009

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0266464X00004425

How to cite this article:

Michael Anderson (1990). New Theatre Quarterly, 6, pp 197-197 doi:10.1017/S0266464X00004425

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work - particularly regarding separatism and mixed work-
ing practices - and it is honest in its appraisal. Performance, Theory, General Studies
The account documents the problems, uncertainties and
strains under which all alternative artists have worked in Oscar G. Brockett
this country during three terms of Tory rule. Those History of the Theatre
working with Gay Sweatshop have faced the added Boston and London: Allyn and Bacon, 5th edition, 1988
difficulties of the violence of homophobia, fuelled by the (dist. in UK: Prentice-Hall, Hemel Hempstead). 779 p.
concerns of the present regime and its right-wing press. £18.85 (pbk).
This book serves as a testament to the courage and ISBN 0-205-10487-8.
strength of the individuals who have carried on the fight
for all of us. We should be grateful to the women and men The fourth edition of this standard work (1982) has been
listed on the final pages of the book, for their work and carefully revised to take account of recent research. I was
their vision: we owe them a tremendous debt. interested to note 'an increasing number of archaeologists'
PAUL HERITAGE instead of 'some scholars' now supporting the view that
early Greek theatre spaces were often rectangular; and
John Orrell's conclusions on the structure of the Elizabethan
playhouse are given some prominence, and will doubtless
themselves come up for review when a subsequent edition
Foster Hirsch can take account of the recent discoveries on the South
Harold Prince and the American Musical Theatre Bank. The history of the modern theatre is extended to
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. 187 p. 1985, bringing in the Wooster Group and Brook's
£10.95 (pbk). Mahabharata (but not, strangely enough, Andrew Lloyd
ISBN 0-521-33609-0. Webber).
The latest figure to be examined in the 'Directors in Cautious appraisal of the evidence is the keynote to
Perspective' series is Harold Prince, whose work has long Brockett's approach: his survey is less richly illustrated
been acclaimed both on Broadway and in London. than Molinari's Theatre through the Ages, and less
Collaborating with composers such as Stephen Sondheim, adventurous in its ideas than Wickham's A History of the
Prince has been highly influential in the evolution of the Theatre, but can hardly be faulted within the terms of its
'dark musical', where the traditional happy ending has own stated brief, which is to 'provide a chronological
been replaced by doubt and distrust, and where the narrative of the theatre's history as an institution rather
characters' previous ebullient search for self-fulfilment has than an exhaustive treatment of any one part', and 'to
been transformed into a more sober, questioning quest for alert readers to important differences of opinion and to
self-knowledge. encourage them to read several accounts before accepting
any as definitive'.
Prince's other major achievement has been to develop
an entirely different mode of staging musicals than that of Theatre studies have developed considerably since
the heyday of Rodgers and Hammerstein, under such Brockett's first edition came out in 1968: greater emphasis
legendary impresarios as George Abbott. Prince's on performance theory and analysis, for example, has
productions of works such as Cabaret, Evita, Sweeney Todd, made a historical survey of world theatre less obviously
and Pacific Overtures have been renowned for their central to the discipline, and has tended to draw new
conceptual vigour - for their positioning of individual boundary lines between theatrical and other kinds of
texts within their correct historical and sociological performance. Increasingly, I suspect, scholars and teachers
contexts. He eschews naturalistic settings in favour of question the extent to which the encyclopedic, scru-
designs that encapsulate the broader underlying issues: pulously objective, but necessarily summary approach
Sweeney Todd was therefore staged in a massive Victorian adopted by Brockett can usefully introduce students to the
factory, and Eviia played against a multi-media set using complexities of theatre.
film-reel and slides. If such directorial decisions have been But, a few quibbles apart (I spotted some names
largely purloined from the originality of great creators misspelt and some plays mis-titled), this remains an
such as Brecht, their use in musicals is nevertheless a impressively comprehensive and lucid history of a subject
welcome antidote to the saccharine sentimentality of which is more prone than most to misleading
earlier years. generalizations, and like many reference books it will
probably be consulted more regularly than bibliometric
This immensely readable book by Foster Hirsch is a
analysis is yet able to reveal.
methodical examination of Prince's career, and usefully
MICHAEL ANDERSON
places his work within an overview of American musical
history. Whilst giving Prince credit for his progressive
innovations, Hirsch also recognizes the limitations of his
Rene Hainaux and others
achievements: that despite all, the musical remains
Les Arts du Spectacle
essentially a celebration of itself, and that such an
Brussels: Editions Labor, Archives du Futur series, 1989.
ephemeral, performance-based art-form rarely contains the
268 p.
textual substance to withstand too heavy a weight of
ISBN 2-8040-0394-9.
ideological interpretation.
SUSAN RUTHERFORD This is an important and valuable publication for all

197

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