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This is the first book to investigate the social, political, cultural, artistic and economic forces which created conditions for the rise, success and decline of mime and physical theatre in the United Kingdom, from the 1970s to 2000.Unpicking the various routes through which mime and physical theatre emerged into wider prominence, this book outlines key thematic strands within this history of practice. The book blends historical description and refl ective analysis. It aims to juxtapose the various histories at play within this field, giving critical attention to the voices of the artists, funders and venue managers who were there at the time, particularly recognising the diversity of practitioners and the network of relationships that supported their work. Drawing upon over 40 original interviews, including, amongst others: Joseph Seelig, Helen Lannaghan, Steven Berkoff, Julian Chagrin, Annabel Arden, Nola Rae, Denise Wong, David Glass, Justin Case and Toby Sedgwick, the book offers unique testimonies and memories from key figures active during these three decades. This wide-ranging account of the history, social context, key moments and practical methods gives an unparalleled chronicle of one of the UK's most vital and pioneering forms of theatre.From undergraduate students to established scholars, this is a comprehensive account for anyone studying contemporary theatre, theatre history, mime, physical theatre and the structures that support the performing arts in the United Kingdom.

Democracy is in crisis. Is there still time to save it?Democracies face external threat from aggressive authoritarian states. Internally, citizens have grown increasingly distrustful of politicians and more cynical about national and global governance institutions. The time is ripe for democracy to renew itself. This text offers a state-of-the art overview of democratic innovations today, moving beyond cries of the'death'or'end'of democracy to instead offer a range of practical solutions for how to save it and restore faith in democratic practice.'Old'democratic power, represented by existing structures, is being challenged.'New'power involves collaboration and rapid feedback loops, as well as increased citizen participation. The future of democracy, the authors demonstrate, will be about findings ways of melding'old'and'new'power practices. Offering a broad and accessible survey of what different forms of democracy and democratic innovations look like today, and how they can develop in future, Saving Democracy shows us the potential for transformation across the entire democratic process. Avoiding a reductive focus on simply getting citizens more involved in decision-making, this book uniquely argues for the importance of refining and monitoring how democratic decisions are made and followed through.

Frantic Assembly have had a powerful and continuing influence on the popularisation of devising practices in contemporary theatre-making. Their work blends brave and bold physical theatre with exciting new writing, and they have collaborated with some of the leading theatre-makers in the UK. The company's impact reaches throughout the world, particularly through their extensive workshop and education programmes, as well as their individual and collective impact as movement directors on landmark, internationally successful productions such as Black Watch and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. This volume reveals the background to, and work of, a major influence on twentieth and twenty-first century performance. Frantic Assembly is the first book to combine: an overview of the history of the company since its foundation in 1994 an analysis of the key ideas underpinning the company's work a critical commentary on two key productions – Hymns by Chris O'Connell (1999) and Stockholm by Bryony Lavery (2007) a detailed description of a Frantic Assembly workshop, offering an introduction to how the company works. As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners offer unbeatable value for today's student.

Time and Performer Training addresses the importance and centrality of time and temporality to the practices, processes and conceptual thinking of performer training. Notions of time are embedded in almost every aspect of performer training, and so contributors to this book look at: age/aging and children in the training context how training impacts over a lifetime the duration of training and the impact of training regimes over time concepts of timing and the ‘right'time how time is viewed from a range of international training perspectives collectives, ensembles and fashions in training, their decay or endurance Through focusing on time and the temporal in performer training, this book offers innovative ways of integrating research into studio practices. It also steps out beyond the more traditional places of training to open up time in relation to contested training practices that take place online, in festival spaces and in folk or amateur practices.Ideal for both instructors and students, each section of this well-illustrated book follows a thematic structure and includes full-length chapters alongside shorter provocations. Featuring contributions from an international range of authors who draw on their backgrounds as artists, scholars and teachers, Time and Performer Training is a major step in our understanding of how time affects the preparation for performance.Chapter 16 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

Investigating a range of influential movement training practices, this ambitious book considers the significance of professional training to performers and their bodies. Performance training approaches are examined within their wider social and cultural contexts, illuminating their evolution in response to the changing context of theatre practice and production. Adopting a rigorous critical angle, Mark Evans'approach is at the cutting-edge of Theatre scholarship, drawing on interviews with recognised practitioners and considering the implications for movement and the body in the digital age.Engaging and enlightening, this is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Theatre, Drama and Performance wishing to understand and contextualise the theories behind performance training.

The world of public policy is becoming increasingly small due to dramatic changes in global communications, political and economic institutional structures, and to nation states themselves. This book evaluates the implications of these changes and challenges for both the study and the practice of policy transfer, and provides a unique understanding of the relationship between systemic globalizing forces and the increasing scope and intensity of policy transfer activity. It provides: an explanation of policy transfer as a process of organizational learning; an insight into how and why such processes are studied by policy scientists; an evaluation of its use by policy practitioners; and the first published collection of policy transfer case studies between developed countries, from developed to developing countries, and from developing countries.

The Routledge Companion to Jacques Lecoq presents a thorough overview and analysis of Jacques Lecoq's life, work and philosophy of theatre. Through an exemplary collection of specially commissioned chapters from leading writers, specialists and practitioners, it draws together writings and reflections on his pedagogy, his practice, and his influence on the wider theatrical environment. It is a comprehensive guide to the work and legacy of one of the major figures of Western theatre in the second half of the twentieth century. In a four-part structure over fifty chapters, the book examines: The historical, artistic and social context out of which Lecoq's work and pedagogy arose, and its relation to such figures as Jacques Copeau, Antonin Artaud, Jean-Louis Barrault, and Dario Fo. Core themes of Lecoq's International School of Theatre, such as movement, play, improvisation, masks, language, comedy, and tragedy, investigated by former teachers and graduates of the School. The significance and value of his pedagogical approaches in the context of contemporary theatre practices. The diaspora of performance practice from the School, from the perspective of many of the most prominent artists themselves. This is an important and authoritative guide for anyone interested in Lecoq's work.

La vera storia dell'assedio che ha cambiato la guerra in Afghanistan Intrappolato in un avamposto isolato ai margini del deserto nel distretto di Helmand, a sud dell'Afghanistan, uno sparuto drappello di soldati britannici e afghani sta coraggiosamente resistendo contro centinaia di combattenti talebani. Il capitano Mark Evans, un giovane ufficiale britannico, è stato inviato a prendere il comando delle truppe afghane in quell'angolo di mondo che sembra dimenticato da Dio. In condizioni di assedio brutali, a corto di cibo e munizioni, sperimenta, insieme ai suoi uomini, l'orrore del combattimento. Mentre le vittime continuano a crescere di numero e i talebani hanno circondato le truppe britanniche, Evans si trova a fronteggiare una situazione ai limiti di ogni immaginazione. Tornato a casa, è ossessionato dai ricordi dell'Afghanistan. Non riesce a recuperare serenità, la vita prima del conflitto è perduta, e comincia a sbandare. Una storia avvincente di sopravvivenza e terrore, e sulle cicatrici indelebili che la guerra lascia dietro di sé. Mark Evans, capitano delle Coldstream Guards dell'esercito inglese, fu a capo di una delle operazioni militari più incredibili del conflitto in Afghanistan. Questa è la sua storia. Un racconto viscerale, sincero, profondo e autentico dalle parole di chi è stato all'inferno ed è riuscito a tornare. Un grande successo in Inghilterra Mark EvansCapitano delle Coldstream Guards dell'esercito inglese, rimase soltanto sei mesi nel 2008 in Afghanistan, ma gli sono sembrati eterni. Al suo ritorno gli è stato diagnosticato un disturbo post traumatico da stress. A capo di una delle operazioni militari più incredibili del conflitto, è rimasto segnato da quella esperienza e ha voluto raccontare nei dettagli la sua storia. Andrew Sharplesè un giornalista inglese famoso per i suoi reportage di guerra.

“Her hands began to shake as she looked down wide-eyed at the blood-soaked cotton that covered her.” London emerges from the Blitz, and every corner of the city bears the scars. In the East End—a corner fairing worse than most—thirteen year-old Beth Wade endures this new way of life with her adoptive family. She also suffers the prejudice against her appearance, an abiding loneliness and now the trials of adolescence. But with this new burden comes a persisting fatigue and an unquenchable thirst that ultimately steals her into unconsciousness...What happens next is the start of something Beth will fear more than the war itself. She begins to change in ways that can't be explained by her coming-of-age, none more frightening than her need to consume blood. The family who took her in and the former best friend who's taken refuge in their house can never know. Aware of the danger she poses to everyone around her, Beth has never felt more alone. But someone else knows Beth's secret... someone who understands just how different she really is. He alone can decrypt her past and explain her future. But he's been sworn to destroy her kind, and as Beth grows ever more dangerous, he's forced to take sides. Can Beth keep all of the secrets? Can she trust a man sworn to kill her? And can she stop the vampire within from taking her humanity?

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap ist der Titel des legendären AC/DC Albums, mit dem die australische Hardrock-Band 1979 in den USA bis auf Platz 3 der Album-Charts stürmte. Es wurde bis heute 6 Mal mit Platin ausgezeichnet und verkaufte sich allein in den USA über 6 Millionen Mal. Damit ist es nach Back in Black und Highway to Hell das erfolgreichste AC/DC-Album. Das war der Durchbruch. Und es war wie ein Orkan. Mittendrin: Mark Evans, Bassist der stilbildenden ersten drei AC/DC-Alben. In seiner Autobiografie schildert er, wie er in Australien aufwuchs und welche Musik ihn und seine Freunde als Jugendliche beeinflusste. Als Zuschauer und Fan wurde er schon bei einem der aller ersten AC/DC-Konzerte aus dem Saal verwiesen und lernte dabei Bon Scott kennen, der ihm gegen die Türsteher half und ihn wieder ins Publikum zurückholte. Wenige Wochen später war er, kurz nach seinem 19. Geburtstag, als Bassist bei AC/DC. Mit Sänger Bon Scott war er bis zu dessen Tod 1980 eng befreundet. Mark Evans schildert auf unterhaltsame Weise und mit vielen Fakten und Anekdoten die Ereignisse dieser bewegten Anfangszeit, als AC/DC zunächst kleinere Clubs und Konzertsäle in Australien zum Kochen brachten, dann aber die ganze Welt eroberten. Stress mit der Plattenfirma, die Arbeit im Studio, wilde Saufgelage, turbulente Auftritte, Exzesse, Schlägereien und Skandale. Mark Evans erzählt offen und ehrlich, wie es bei AC/DC in ihrer wildesten Zeit wirklich zuging.

Hearing Bleak Expectations on the radio is a splendidly satisfying experience, but now you can get even more thrills, spills, words and added paper! Bleak Expectations the novel will shortly be available for purchase in all literatur

This book is the first critical analysis of the key principles and practices informing the movement training of actors in the modern era. Focusing on the cultural history of modern movement training for actors, Evans traces the development of the ‘neutral'body as a significant area of practice within drama school training and the relationship between movement pedagogy and the operation of discipline and power in shaping the professional identity of the actor. The volume looks in detail at the influence of the leading figures in movement training — Laban, Alexander, Copeau and Lecoq — on twentieth century professional actor training, and is informed by interviews with students and staff at leading English drama schools. Mark Evans re-evaluates the significance of movement training in the professional drama school, offering a new understanding of the body as a site for performative resistance to industrialization. Despite the publication of a number of ‘how to'books on movement training for the professional acting student, this is the first text to look behind the curtain and write the unseen biography of the actor's body.

Within the Judaeo-Christian tradition -with few exceptions- music has always been central to the performance of sacred rites. The musical setting of liturgy has its roots in the earliest customs of the church and the practice has continued to evolve up to the present day. As the contemporary church in many Western societies grapples with the divisive issues of gay clergy or female ordination, just as divisive a schism appears to be in progress in the world of church music. On the traditional side are those that keep the ancient choral traditions alive. They face the new, intense informality of the evangelical wing who embrace a plainer more approachable music but who are not themselves without controversy, owing to the struggle between the secular forces from which their new forms of church music derive and the messages they wish to propagate and who are also, it often seems, drawn to fundamentalist and reactionary politics. This book surveys the music used in churches around the world today in the context of the history of western congregational song and concludes that music, like other cultural elements of contemporary Christianity, has been widely secularized. This secularization is a global phenomenon fed by the explosive growth of the contemporary church music industry (worth more than $900 million in annual sales) which has seen the large secular music companies acquiring independent labels, in many cases, to the distress of the faithful. By analyzing the tensions and controversies that are fuelling this crisis and leading to the breakdown of traditions that have been the backbone Christian tradition for centuries, the book questions whether the theoretical and practical problems aroused by this crisis can ever be surmounted.

This book examines Jacques Copeau, a leading figure in the development of twentieth-century theatre practice, a pioneer in actor-training, physical theatre and ensemble acting, and a key innovator in the movement to de-centralize theatre and culture to the regions.Noe reissued, Jacques Copeau combines: an overview of Copeau's life and work an analysis of his key ideas a detailed commentary of his 1917 production of Moliere's late farce Les Fourberies de Scapin – the opening performance of his influential New York season a series of practical exercises offering an introduction to Copeau's working methods. As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners are unbeatable value for today's student.

Essays on the use of music and sound in films from Godzilla to Star Wars and beyond. In recent years, music and sound have been increasingly recognized as an important, if often neglected, aspect of film production and film studies. Off the Planet comprises a lively, stimulating, and diverse collection of essays on aspects of music, sound, and science fiction cinema. Following a detailed historical introduction to the development of sound and music in the genre, individual chapters analyze key films, film series, composers, and directors in the postwar era. The first part of the anthology profiles seminal 1950s productions such as The Day the Earth Stood Still, the first Godzilla film, and Forbidden Planet. Later chapters analyze the work of composer John Williams, the career of director David Cronenberg, the Mad Max series, James Cameron's Terminators, and other notable SF films such as Space Is the Place, Blade Runner, Mars Attacks!, and The Matrix. Off the Planet is an important contribution to the emerging body of work in music and film, with contributors including leading film experts from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Many engineering companies around the world are currently undergoing a quality control and improvement revolution that originally started in Japan many decades ago and this book provides a brief overview of this revolution. Robust design is a central component of the modern approach to quality improvement and is a phrase used to describe any engineering activity whose objective is to develop high quality products (and processes) at low cost. A key characteristic of robust design is the use of statistically planned (designed) experiments to identify those process variables that determine product quality. Robust design was developed in Japan by G. Taguchi in the early 1950s and its widespread use throughout Japanese industry is one of the main reasons why the country has emerged as a major producer of relatively cheap high quality products, especially in the automobile, home electronics and microprocessing sectors. Despite its early success in Japan, robust design remained virtually untried in the United States and Europe until the early 1980s. However, the realisation that quality is a vital ingredient required for success in today's highly global and competitive markets has since prompted Western companies to embrace the robust design concept. This book explores the planning, implementation and analysis of experiments designed both to improve existing manufacturing process and to create newer and better processes and products.

Magnetism is important in environmental studies for several reasons, the two most fundamental being that most substances exhibit some form of magnetic behavior, and that iron is one of the most common elements in the Earth's crust. Once sequestered in a suitable material, magnetic particles constitute a natural archive of conditions existing in former times. Magnetism provides a tracer of paleo-climatic and paleo-environmental conditions and processes.Environmental Magnetism details the occurrence and uses of magnetic materials in the natural environment. The first half of the volume describes the basic principles. The second half discusses the applications of magnetic measurements in various environmental settings on land, in lakes, in the ocean, and even various biological organisms.• Material is broadly applicable to environmental studies• Case histories illustrate key points• Extensive bibliography makes further research quick and easy