Review

'...a timely, intriguing book.' - Whatsonstage.com 'Real. Realistic. Realism. Attempts to clearly delineate each have plagued study of live theater and performance at least since the late 19th century. Further complicating this have been generational debates regarding what truth is within a given aesthetic frame. With this volume, Martin (Tisch School of the Arts, NYU) adds a unique voice to this long-standing disciplinary dialogue...Summing up: Recommended Graduate students through faculty and professionals' - S. R. Irelan, Choice 2010 title '!Dramaturgy of the Real on the World Stage [is] an important marker for the field of theatre studies, concerned as it currently is with notions of political efficacy, representational innovation, and an ethical engagement with theatre in its entire global context. The range of dramaturgical methods these texts employ will inspire practitioners looking to devise such theatre pieces in their own contexts!Meanwhile, students and scholars will find in this same methodological range a wealth of resources for consideration. Ultimately, Martin's collection will be useful not just for students of documentary theatre, but also for those working in any context in which global performance receives a full and justified treatment.' -- Ryan Claycomb, Theatre Journal 'Martin has gathered a rich set of examples that vary along geographical, cultural and political lines. Her choices allow for a conversation among world artists who deal with the 'dramaturgy of the real' in very different ways as well as an acknowledgement of how artists can and do look beyond past and future to each other for inspiration. Thought of as a paradigm, 'dramaturgy of the real' can become helpful as an inclusive yet critical way of looking at the line between art and life, fiction and reality, fact and lies and truth.' -- Sara Brady, TDR

About the Author

CAROL MARTIN is Associate Professor of Drama at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.