Overview

Beckett remains one of the most important writers of the twentieth century whose radical experimentations in form and content won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. This Critical Companion encompasses his plays for the stage, radio and television, and will be indispensable to students of his work. Challenging and at times perplexing, Beckett's work is represented on almost every literature, theatre and Irish studies curriculum in universities in North America, Europe and Australia. Katherine Weiss' admirably clear study of his work provides the perfect companion, illuminating each play and Beckett's vision, and investigating his experiments with the body, voice and technology. It includes in-depth studies of the major works Waiting for Godot, Endgame and Krapp's Last Tape, and as with other volumes in Methuen Drama's Critical Companions series it features too a series of essays by other scholars and practitioners offering different critical perspectives on Beckett in performance that will inform students' own critical thinking. Together with a series of resources including a chronology and a list of further reading, this is ideal for all students and readers of Beckett's work.

Full Product Details

Author:   Katherine Weiss (Assistant Professor, Department of English, East Tennessee State University, California State University Los Angeles, USA) ,  Dustin Anderson ,  Prof Graley Herren (Xavier University, USA) ,  Nicholas E. Johnson (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Methuen Drama
Dimensions:   Width: 13.50cm , Height: 3.00cm , Length: 21.60cm
Weight:   0.345kg
ISBN:  

9781408145579

ISBN 10:   140814557
Pages:   304
Publication Date:   06 December 2012
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction The Stage Plays Waiting for Godot Endgame Krapp's Last Tape Happy Days Play Come and Go Footfalls The Radio Plays All That Fall Embers The Old Tune Words and Music, Cascando, Rough for Radio I, Rough for Radio II The Teleplays Eh Joe Ghost Trio ... but the clouds ... Nacht und Träume Quad What Where Critical Perspectives 'Ghosts: Chaos and Freedom in Beckett's Spectral Theatre' by Xerxes Mehta 'A Spectrum of Fidelity, an Ethic of Impossibility: Directing Beckett' by Nicholas Johnson 'Beckett on Television, Beckett on Love: A Response to Badiou' by Graley Herren 'Krapp's Last Tape and Mapping Modern Memory' by Dustin Anderson Interviews Wendy Salkind on Not I Bill Largess on Ohio Impromptu Wendy Salkind, Peggy Yates and Bill Largess on Play Sam McCready on That Time and Ohio Impromptu Chronology Glossary Further Reading Index

Reviews

At this critical moment, The Plays of Samuel Beckett by Katherine Weiss seeks to re-evaluate Beckett's playwriting... As Weiss's volume makes clear, drama departments and practitioners of Beckett's theatre may have dominated the first generation of Beckett scholars, but have been noticeably thin on the ground [in recent years]. The Plays of Samuel Beckett attempts to redress the balance, by showing that Godot comprises only one part in Beckett's ongoing development as a writer and also by emphasizing the value of discussing Beckett's work in terms of drama and performance. -- James Moran Times Literary Supplement 20130816

Author Information

Katherine Weiss is an Associate Professor of English and Modern Drama at East Tennessee State University. She and Seán Kennedy are the editors of Samuel Beckett: History, Memory, Archive published in 2009 by Palgrave Macmillan. Additionally, she included the notes and commentary to Methuen Drama's student edition of Tennessee Williams's Sweet Bird of Youth (2010) and has published several articles on Samuel Beckett and Sam Shepard, among other modern and contemporary playwrights.

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