Howard Barker : ecstasy and death : an expository study of his plays and production work, 1988-2008

Barker has been acclaimed as "England's greatest living dramatist" in The Times and as "the Shakespeare of our age" by Sarah Kane. His uniquely stylish work brings together startlingly original forms of classical discipline, moral ruthlessness and catastrophic eroticism. This study considers the full range of his theatrical achievements. This Study Considers The Full Range Of Howard Barker's Theatrical And Theoretical Work In Exploring And Dramatizing Life's Extremity, Brevity, And Intensity, In Order To Create A Moment Of Knowledge Beyond The Received Terms Of History--jacket. Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations And References -- Part I: A Style And Its Contexts -- Gifts Of Loss: An Introduction To Barker's Writing And Theatre -- 'the Ecstasy Of Vanishing Meaning': Arguments For A Theatre; Death, The One And The Art Of Theatre -- Part Ii: Plays And Productions -- Intimacy With The Unforgivable: The Last Supper, The Early Hours Of A Reviled Man, Golgo, Judith, Rome, Ten Dilemmas -- Cultural Re-fashionings And Shakespearean Negotiations: Brutopia, Seven Lears, (uncle) Vanya, Minna -- Separation, Sacrifice And Sainthood: A Hard Heart, Terrible Mouth, Hated Nightfall, Ego In Arcadia, The Brilliance Of The Servant, The Gaoler's Ache, Twelve Encounters With A Prodigy, Ursula -- Facing The Wound: Wounds To The Face, Und, He Stumbled, House Of Correction -- Infinite Reversibility: All He Fears, The Swing At Night, Albertina, Knowledge And A Girl, The Twelfth Battle Of Isonzo, Animals In Paradise, The Ecstatic Bible, Found In The Ground -- Wrestling With God: Defilo, All This Joseph, Five Names, N/a (sad Kissing), Gertrude -- The Cry, The Seduction Of Almighty God, The Moving And The Still, Two Skulls, Acts (chapter One) -- Servitude And Servility: An Eloquence, The Blood Of A Wife, A Rich Woman's Poetry, Stalingrad, Thirteen Objects, The Dying Of Today, Dead Hands, Christ's Dog -- The Boundary And Beyond: The Fence, Heroica, Adorations Chapter 1, Dead, Dead And Very Dead, The Road, The House, The Road, Let Me, A Wounded Knife, Lot And His God, The Forty (few Words), I Saw Myself -- Inconclusion: Consolations In Extremity: Howard Barker: A Style And Its Origins -- Appendix One: Testimonies By Barker Actors: Julia Tarnoky, Justin Avoth, Edward Petherbridge, Melanie Jessop, Gerrard Mcarthur -- Appendix Two: Howard Barker: A Chronology -- Selected Further Reading -- Index. David Ian Rabey. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 282-284) And Index. Cover 1 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Abbreviations and References 12 Part One: A Style and its Contexts 14 1 Gifts of Loss: An Introduction to Barker's Writing and Theatre 16 2 ‘The ecstasy of vanishing meaning': Arguments for a Theatre; Death, The One and The Art of Theatre 31 Part Two: Plays and Productions 44 3 Intimacy with the Unforgivable: The Last Supper, The Early Hours of a Reviled Man, Golgo, Judith, Rome, Ten Dilemmas 46 4 Cultural Re-Fashionings and Shakespearean Negotiations: Brutopia, Seven Lears, (Uncle) Vanya, Minna 64 5 Separation, Sacrifice and Sainthood: A Hard Heart, Terrible Mouth, Hated Nightfall, Ego in Arcadia, The Brilliance of the Servant, The Gaoler's Ache, Twelve Encounters with a Prodigy, Ursula 85 6 Facing the Wound: Wounds to the Face, Und, He Stumbled, A House of Correction 116 7 Infinite Reversibility: All He Fears, The Swing at Night, Albertina, Knowledge and a Girl, The Twelfth Battle of Isonzo, Animals in Paradise, The Ecstatic Bible, Found in the Ground 132 8 Wrestling with God: Defilo, All This Joseph, Five Names, N/A (Sad Kissing), Gertrude – The Cry, The Seduction of Almighty God, The Moving and the Still, Two Skulls, Acts (Chapter One) 174 9 Servitude and Servility: An Eloquence, The Blood of a Wife, A Rich Woman's Poetry, Stalingrad, Thirteen Objects, The Dying of Today, Dead Hands, Christ's Dog 209 10 The Boundary and Beyond: The Fence, Heroica, Adorations Chapter 1, Dead, Dead and Very Dead, The Road, The House, The Road, Let Me, A Wounded Knife, Lot and his God, The Forty (Few Words), I Saw Myself 229 11 Inconclusion: Consolations in Extremity: Howard Barker: A Style and its Origins 263 Appendices 267 One: Testimonies by Barker Actors: Julia Tarnoky, Justin Avoth, Edward Petherbridge, Melanie Jessop, Gerrard McArthur 267 Two: Howard Barker: A Chronology 274 Notes 278 A Selection of Further Critical Reading on Barker 295 Index 298 A 298 B 298 C 298 D 299 E 299 F 299 G 299 H 299 I 300 J 300 K 300 L 300 M 300 N 301 O 301 P 301 R 301 S 301 T 302 U 302 V 302 W 302 Y 302 Z 302 1403994730,9781403994738 Palgrave Macmillan, 2009