McGraw-Hill Education Theatre: The Lively Art

In its outstanding eighth edition, Theatre: The Lively Art remains the best-selling Introductory Theatre text for Theatre Appreciation courses. It incorporates a number of elements in one volume: An introduction to the audience's experience of theatre An investigation of the elements of theatre: the audience; the text; theatre artists, including actors, directors, theatrical space; and scenic, costume, lighting and sound design A study of the important developments in the history of theatre Several qualities set Theatre: The Lively Art apart from other introductory texts. A particularly important element is our emphasis on the audience. All students reading the book are potential theatregoers, not just during their college years but throughout their lives. We have therefore attempted to make Theatre: The Lively Art an ideal one-volume text to prepare students as future audience members. It will give them a grasp of how theatre functions, of how it should be viewed and judged, and of the tradition behind any performance they may attend. In addition to serving as an ideal text for non-majors, Theatre: The Lively Art will also prepare students who wish to continue studies in theatre, as majors, minors, or students from other disciplines who take advanced courses. About the Author Ed Wilson is both a leading figure in the New York theatre scene as well as a nationally recognized theatre educator and author. Unlike any other author of theatre texts, he brings both extensive professional New York theatre and educational theatre perspectives to his works. For twenty-two years Ed was the theater critic of the Wall Street Journal. He has served on the Tony Nominating Committee and the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury. A long time member of the New York Drama Critics Circle, he was president of the Circle for several years. He is on the board of the John Golden Fund and was also for many years on the Board of the Theater Development Fund, of which he served as President. Ed has produced plays on and off Broadway and served one season as the resident director of the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia. He also produced a feature film, The Nashville Sound, recently made available on DVD. He is the author of two original plays, a farce, The Bettinger Prize, and a play about Ponce de Leon, Waterfall. He wrote the book and lyrics for a musical version of Great Expectations. All three have been given a series of successful readings in New York City and elsewhere. Great Expectations was given a full production for three weeks at the Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke, Virginia. He conceived the idea of a musical revue of the songs of Jerome Kern which had a well-received try-out production at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Ed is also an author on three of the most widely used college theater texts in the U. S. The twelfth edition of his pioneer book, The Theatre Experience, was published in 2011 by McGraw-Hill. The eighth edition of his text Theater: The Lively Art (co-authored with Alvin Goldfarb) has just been released. The sixth edition of Living Theatre: History of Theatre (also co-authored with Alvin Goldfarb), was published in 2012; it is the most widely adopted theatre history textbook in the United States and is also available in Italian and Korean versions. Wilson and Goldfarb have also edited three editions of Anthology of Living Theatre. Ed is also the editor of Shaw on Shakespeare, most recently re-issued by Applause Books. Ed has taught at Vanderbilt, Yale, Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He was also the Executive Director of the Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center. Ed attended Vanderbilt, the University of Edinburgh, and Yale University where he received the first Doctor of Fine Arts degree awarded by Yale. Alvin (Al) Goldfarb is a nationally known theatre educator and administrator. Al served as chair of the department of Theatre, Dean of Fine Arts,