#tjpda

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Stagestruck!

In which archivist Andrew Jones examines the book "Stagestruck" and talks about the Lunt-Fontannes and their place in Broadway history.

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Shakespeare in a Divided America

In which our head archivist examines James Shapiro's new book and his unlikely connection to some other, slightly illicit plays already in the archive's collection.

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A Primer on Brechtian Theatre

In Brecht on Theatre, a new addition to the archive, legendary playwright, director, and agitator Bertolt Brecht lays out his artistic philosophy in a number of brilliant, dense essays and articles. While these writings are invaluable for a theatre student learning about his idea of "Epic Theatre" and alienation, they can be heady and conceptual for those unfamiliar with his work. The National Theatre has therefore created an excellent, short video introduction for Brechtian theatre featuring Pulitzer-prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner (of Angels in America fame) discussing what goes into making Brecht such a brilliant, ahead-of-his-time artist. Being able to see Brecht's theatre live and in action helps drive home his concepts by making them a concrete reality, hopefully sparking the interest of new theatre-goers or makers.

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The Search for Vital Drama, or, How I Learned to Start Thinking and Not Give Everything a Standing Ovation

Have you ever seen a show that bored you? Did you ever leave a Broadway show you paid too much for and thought: "That wasn't worth it"? Think criticism has lost its bite? Well the Jones-Pfeiffer Drama Archive is proud to include critic Jordan Tannahill's biting new work Theatre of the Unimpressed. In it, Tannahill examines where dull, lifeless plays come from and why they keep being produced. He explores what he calls the "risk aversion" modern theatre culture is beholden to and the causes of that timidness such as the nightmare that is the funding and production system most plays have to go through. The argument that was the most interesting to me as a theatre artist was Tannahill's point that a major reason most plays are dull is that they do not take enough risks where they could fail. In his mind, this chance of failure in the production is what sets "Vital Theatre" from the merely dull: the chance that the work might fail is the very livewire tightrope that makes the live theatre thrilling in the first place. Check out this insightful new text for yourself by visiting the JPDA website today!

-Andrew Jones, Archive Director of the JPDA

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Lucy Barton's Historic Costume For The Stage remains a seminal text on the history and construction of historical costumes and how it might be rendered onstage. Of special notice are the brilliant illustrations by David Sarvis which vividly capture the details of each costume throughout thousands of years of history with a clear, charming style all its own. Above is a selection of illustrations from the text, with special attention paid to how Sarvis captures the textures of fabric while keeping the illustrations simple, as well as the lifelike details he adds to his renderings such as the pets and props he gives to his figures.

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A Conversation with James Shapiro, Author of Shakespeare in a Divided America

One of the most intriguing additions to the archive from our new collection of nonfiction titles is James Shapiro's 2020 book Shakespeare in a Divided America. In this text, Shapiro examines the impact Shakespeare and his works have had over hundreds of years of American history and how various historical figures and movements have interpreted and utilized Shakespeare to advance their own interests. From John Quincy Adams's amateur scholarship on race relations in Othello to the 2017 Shakespeare in the Park production of Julius Caesar which featured a Trumpian Ceasar that sparked major protests and press. The director of that infamous production was the artistic director of the Public Theatre, Oskar Eustis who just so happens to be the other speaker on this panel. Considering Shapiro's issues with the production as laid out in his book, the conversation is fasciating as two men each with a passion for The Bard discuss how his works fit in to our increasingly fractured society.

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ARCHIVAL MYSTERIES:

When processing the new nonfiction arrivals, we at the archive noticed that our first edition copy of Ted Chapin's fabulous book on the making of Stephen Sondheim's Follies had an inscription from the author on the front cover! It reads: "To Rebecca, with thanks for all your help + good cheer- Ted Chapin. 9/19/03". This sweet inscription has not been verified by an appraiser or Ted himself, so the archive did some digging to try and find out who this mysterious person might have been. After cursory research, our team found that the only possible answer might be actress Rebecca Luker, who appeared with Ted on his NJTV program American Songbook in 2014, admittedly years after this inscription but Luker would have been appearing in the revival of Maury Yeston's musical Nine at the time which Chapin would have likely been aware of. From watching the episode we can see that they are longtime friends, and have both been involved in the world of Broadway musicals for decades. While this is only a hunch, it is interesting to consider and more research will be done to try and suss out who this mysterious person might be!