Theatre in Theory 1900-2000: An Anthology by David Krasner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read this book for my Dramatic Theory 601 course; it was assigned as a foundational requirement of my MFA program for Generative Dramaturgy. While I’d obviously never choose this book for light, happy, and escapist reading, Krasner’s anthology provides a really solid foundation and cross section of history, theory, and context for how we experience theatre and theatre arts. Reading and analyzing this book actually helped me to start writing my first grant application for the arts, and it also helped me (as an uninitiated theatre person) to get a great background in the conversations and perspectives being held in the field.
Having said this, though, I was hoping to hear MANY MORE voices from communities of color, queer and transgender communities, international perspectives, differently-abled communities, and just from WOMEN, period. The representation of these different perspectives wasn’t non-existent in this text, but tended to lack in certain places.
Overall, though, a solid text for any theatre class looking to explore history and scholarship in and of the theatre.
Rock on, READ on,
<3 Colby