The Cambridge Introduction to Theatre Studies

Providing thorough coverage of the methods and tools required instudying historical and contemporary theatre, this introductionexamines the complexities of a rapidly changing and dynamicdiscipline. Following a cross-cultural perspective, the booksurveys the ways theatre and performance are studied by lookinginitially at key elements such as performers, spectators and space.The central focus is on methodology, which is divided into sectionscovering theatre theory, historiography and textual and performanceanalysis. The book covers all the main theatrical genres - drama,opera and dance - providing students with a comparative, integratedperspective. Designed to guide students through the academicdimension of the discipline, the volume emphasizes questions ofmethodology, research techniques and approaches, and will thereforebe relevant for a wide variety of theatre studies courses.Informative textboxes provide background on key topics, andsuggestions for further reading are included at the end of eachchapter.