Harold Clurman Libri

Harold Clurman's extensive body of work spans six decades, showcasing his profound influence on American arts and culture through reviews, essays, and lectures. This collection features over six hundred pieces reflecting his insights on significant events in American theatre, alongside his enthusiastic appreciation for dance, music, art, and film. Presented chronologically, it provides a comprehensive perspective on the evolution of American theatre, highlighting Clurman's role as a leading critic and cultural commentator.

This comprehensive volume contains nine of the most important, most indispensable plays of the modern theatre. What Harold Clurman has done in this seminal collection is to create for us a portrait of the progress and turmoil of the twentieth century. Ranging from the eerie realism of Pinter's sinister "Birthday Party," to the absurd literalism of Ionesco's conformist city in "Rhinoceros," to the baroque fantasy world of Genet's brothel in "The Balcony," to the tragic hilarity of Stoppard's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," these nine plays, each entirely distinct, together form an incisive, compelling, and sometimes heartbreaking mosaic of our time.

“A straightforward, tasteful, and articulate account of what it is to bring a play to palpitating life upon a stage” ( The New York Times Book Review ).In this classic guide to directing, we are taken logically from the choice of the play right through ever aspect of its production to performances and beyond. Harold Clurman, director of such memorable productions as A Member of the Wedding and Uncle Vanya , describes the pleasures and perils of working with such celebrated playwrights and actors as Marlon Brando, Arthur Miller, Julie Harris, and Lillian Hellman. He also presents his own directing notes for ten of his best-known productions.