An edited collection of essays exploring the work and legacy of the academic and theatre-maker Clive Barker. Together, the essays trace the development of his work from his early years as an actor with Joan Littlewood's company, Theatre Workshop, via his career as an academic and teacher, through the publication of his seminal book, Theatre Games (Methuen Drama).
The book looks beyond Barker's death in 2005 at the enduring influence of his work upon contemporary theatre training and theatre-making.
Each writer featured in the collection responds to a specific aspect of Barker's work, focusing primarily on his early and formative career experiences with Theatre Workshop and his hugely influential development of Theatre Games. The collection as a whole thereby seeks to situate Clive Barker's work and influence in an international and multi-disciplinary context, by examining not only his origins as an actor, director, teacher and academic, but also the broad influence he has had on generations of theatre-makers.
Fryer, Paul: - Paul Fryer recently retired as Head of Research Degrees and Director of The Stanislavski Centre at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance (UK). He was awarded a Professorship of the College in Summer 2015. He now holds Visiting Professor posts at Leeds and London South Bank Universities. Holder of a Masters' degree in Drama from the University of London, and a PhD from the University of Manchester, Paul's research specialism is centred on opera, opera singers and the early (pre-sound) film industry. In collaboration with the British composer, Barry Seaman, Paul has worked on the restoration of several rare silent films, making them newly accessible to a contemporary audience. He has presented film screenings/programmes and lectures at The British Film Institute, The Buxton Festival, The State Museum of Theatre and Music (St Petersburg, Russia), Oxford University, Emory University (Atlanta), University of Pennsylvania, George Washington University, The University of Cincinnati and The Library of Congress (Washington DC). He presented a series of film programmes for Seattle Opera as part of The Ring Cycle, and for Canadian Opera as part of the inaugural season at the Four Seasons Opera House in Toronto. He has published widely as both an author and an editor, and his most recent book, Eleonora Duse and Cenere (Ashes): Centennial essays (with MariaPia Pagani) was published by McFarland in Spring 2017. He has also completed a new collection, Composers on Screen, which is due early in 2018. In January 2013, he curated the exhibition, Stanislavski on Stage, at Pushkin House in London, and he is currently planning a new exhibition of the work of the designer Viktor Simov. Paul is editor-in-chief of the journal Stanislavski Studies, published by Routledge/Taylor and Francis, and co-convenor of the international research project The S Word, which explores the influence of Stanislavski on contemporary theatre.
Jones, Nesta: - Nesta Jones recently retired as a Professor and Director of Research at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance. She has long associations with several higher education institutions: Goldsmiths, University of London, where she was Reader in Theatre Arts and Head of Drama for many years; Trinity College, University of Dublin, as a researcher and lecturer; the founding and development of The Lir, Ireland's National Academy of Dramatic Art; and New York University at its base in London where she lectures in Modern Drama in Performance. She has published books on J.M. Synge, Sean O'Casey, Brian Friel, and David Mamet, and articles on performance and production processes in several peer reviewed journals; contributed numerous papers to international conferences in Europe, the Middle East and North America; and has worked in the professional theatre directing productions and conducting workshops in the UK, across mainland Europe and the USA. She is on the Editorial Board of Stanislavski Studies (Taylor & Francis) and a Contributing Editor for New Theatre Quarterly (Cambridge University Press) for both of which she has also written articles; and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
