Author Description

This new edition of an extremely popular reference work has been completely revised both to widen its coverage of the theater and to bring existing entries up to date. Based on the highly acclaimed fourth edition of The Oxford Companion to the Theatre, it offers theater-goers an indispensable handbook to all aspects of the stage.The range of the book is international and it places a wealth of information right at the reader's fingertips. There are entries on dramatists, from Plautus and Ibsen to August Wilson and Václav Havel; actors and actresses, from Sarah Bernhardt to Laurence Olivier and Anthony Hopkins; directors, such as Peter Brook, Peter Hall, and Mike Nichols; theaters, from Shakespeare's Globe to the Palais Royal in Paris and the Lunt-Fontanne in New York; and critics, such as Kenneth Tynan and Clive Barnes. In addition, there are entries on theater styles, drama festivals, and fascinating details about everything from theater companies, designers, and producers to winners of the Pulitzer Prize. The more technical aspects of theater are also covered, for example lighting, sound, method acting, and the different parts of a stage, and a complete system of cross-referencing makes it particularly easy for readers to find what they are looking for.Broad in scope and delightfully written, The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre is a must for theater enthusiasts everywhere.