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Stage Presence
Focusing on examples of live performance in drama, dance, opera and light entertainment, Jane Goodall explores a characteristic as compelling and enigmatic as the performers who demonstrate it. The mysterious quality of ‘presence’ in a performer has strong resonances with the uncanny. It is associated with primal, animal qualities in human individuals, but also has connotations of divinity and the supernatural, relating to figures of evil as well as heroism. Stage Presence traces these themes through theatrical history. This fascinating study also explores the blend of science and spirituality that accompanies the appreciation of human power. Performers display a magnetism of their audiences; they electrify them, exhibit mesmeric command, and develop chemistry in their communication. Case studies Josephine Baker, Sarah Bernhardt, Thomas Betterton, David Bowie, Maria Callas, Bob Dylan, David Garrick, Barry Humphries, Henry Irving, Vaslav Nijinsky and Paul Robeson.
- GenresTheatre
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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About the author
Jane R. Goodall
13 books15 followersFor the primatologist, see Dame Jane Goodall.
Professor Jane Goodall (b.1951) is a researcher at the Writing and Society Research Centre of Western Sydney University, Australia.
Prof Goodall has written extensively on arts in the modern era, with a special interest in the relationship between the arts and sciences. She has taught undergraduate courses and supervised research projects in relevant areas of arts history, and has conducted local history research on the Parramatta Road. Her academic publications include Artaud and the Gnostic Drama, Performance and Evolution in the Age of Darwin (winner of the Australasian Drama Studies Association’s Robert Jordan Prize), and, with Christa Knellwolf, the collection Frankenstein's Science (Ashgate, 2008), which contextualises Mary Shelley's work in contemporary scientific and literary debates. She is the author of the popular and award winning novels The Walker (2004), The Visitor (2005) and The Calling (2007). Jane's book on Stage Presence was published by Routledge in May 2008.
Professor Jane Goodall (b.1951) is a researcher at the Writing and Society Research Centre of Western Sydney University, Australia.
Prof Goodall has written extensively on arts in the modern era, with a special interest in the relationship between the arts and sciences. She has taught undergraduate courses and supervised research projects in relevant areas of arts history, and has conducted local history research on the Parramatta Road. Her academic publications include Artaud and the Gnostic Drama, Performance and Evolution in the Age of Darwin (winner of the Australasian Drama Studies Association’s Robert Jordan Prize), and, with Christa Knellwolf, the collection Frankenstein's Science (Ashgate, 2008), which contextualises Mary Shelley's work in contemporary scientific and literary debates. She is the author of the popular and award winning novels The Walker (2004), The Visitor (2005) and The Calling (2007). Jane's book on Stage Presence was published by Routledge in May 2008.
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September 8, 2010
Great survey of a really ambiguous but pervasive concept in performance; timely, too.
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