Author Description

The World of Theatre is the first introduction to theatre book to truly focus on diversity and globalism, integrating coverage of multicultural, international and experimental theatre throughout. Theatre is presented as a global and multicultural form that reflects both traditional and evolving world views. While the American commercial theatre and European forms are central to the text, alternative theatres are placed side by side for comparison and contrast in each chapter, thus avoiding the sense of “otherness” created by devoting separate chapters to diversity and departures from the western tradition. From the Back CoverThe World of Theatre: Tradition and Innovation is the first introduction to theatre text to fully focus on diversity and globalism, integrating coverage of multicultural, international, and experimental theatre throughout. This text sets itself apart from the competition in asserting that theatre is a multifaceted and evolving form that must be studied in all of its variety in order to be fully understood. It reflects the changing and increasingly diverse student population as no other text does. Exciting Features Integrated global and diversity coverage places multicultural, international, and alternative theatres side-by-side with more familiar material, emphasizing the importance and influence of these traditions and trends rather than marginalizing them. History coverage is interwoven throughout the text and appears in context, where relevant, rather than being isolated in one or two separate chapters. A rich boxed-feature program gives students ways of thinking about particular issues in the theatre, which in turn helps them to understand how theatre works and why it has the impact that it does. A unique chapter, “Technology and Theatrical Innovation,” examines how theatre has always made use of available technology to heighten its expressive power. This chapter also discusses how computers have enhanced and transformed