Breaking from Realism: A Map/Quest for the Next Generation...
introduces 15 concepts, methods, and tools for creative workshops, all of which guide playwrights away from conventions of realism and toward more theatrical and imaginative forms of theatre. The goal is for playwrights to write theatrical text that better reflects "life as it is" in the 21st century. This book also includes interviews with prominent playwrights, non-realistic plays, profiles on emerging playwrights, and a select list of American theaters producing non-realistic work.
"Michael Dixon is providing a must-read book that is clearly not only for playwrights but also for theatre adventurers everywhere. The book outlines the landscape of our theatrical future through the innovations of the most groundbreaking playwrights working today."
- Anne Bogart, Artistic Director, SITI Company
Available at www.Amazon.com.
See Breaking from Realism Workshops for more information.
Reviews from Amazon.com
A must-read for theatre makers.
By Lee Devin, Professor Emeritus, Swarthmore College on July 22, 2014
Michael Dixon probably knows more about the care and feeding of new scripts and plays than anyone else in the US. Breaking from Realism demonstrates this knowledge, but not as pompositions from a know-it-all. Instead, he presents and suggests in the form of exercises and projects. Readers who enter in, who perform their own versions of these will come away with an extended, practical, and experiential appreciation of potential theatres of the future.
An inspiration!
By Robert Jeffrey Ullom, Assistant Professor, Case Western University on March 3, 2015
Simply put, this book is an inspiration. The arguments presented by Dixon in his opening treatise are insightful and persuasive, and the contributions from the bevy of writers in this collection are powerful resources for any student trying to learn the basics of playwriting as well as how to challenge the conventions of "realism" as a genre. No one knows dramaturgy and new play development better that Dixon, and this book serves as a call to educators and practitioners alike to challenge both audiences and themselves as artists in order to create vital, imaginative theatre. This book has quickly become a staple in several of my theatre classes, and I encourage others to do the same.
A great book that combines new theory and practice for all playwrights, ensembles, theater makers
By Vincent Murphy, Professor, Emory University on August 8, 2014
A well organized,beautifully realized read. Dixon is the real deal -- one of the world's finest dramaturge/directors who knows how to listen to what a play is trying to say. My daughter Ariel (co-founder and co-artistic director of the internationally acclaimed Out of Hand company) and I have shared reading this insightful book on our vacation this week. Clarifying and inspiring. I will use it in my Creating New Works class at Emory this year as it answers questions I struggled with in my book on adaptation Page To Stage. Get it. Professor Vinnie Murphy, Emory University
introduces 15 concepts, methods, and tools for creative workshops, all of which guide playwrights away from conventions of realism and toward more theatrical and imaginative forms of theatre. The goal is for playwrights to write theatrical text that better reflects "life as it is" in the 21st century. This book also includes interviews with prominent playwrights, non-realistic plays, profiles on emerging playwrights, and a select list of American theaters producing non-realistic work.
"Michael Dixon is providing a must-read book that is clearly not only for playwrights but also for theatre adventurers everywhere. The book outlines the landscape of our theatrical future through the innovations of the most groundbreaking playwrights working today."
- Anne Bogart, Artistic Director, SITI Company
Available at www.Amazon.com.
See Breaking from Realism Workshops for more information.
Reviews from Amazon.com
A must-read for theatre makers.
By Lee Devin, Professor Emeritus, Swarthmore College on July 22, 2014
Michael Dixon probably knows more about the care and feeding of new scripts and plays than anyone else in the US. Breaking from Realism demonstrates this knowledge, but not as pompositions from a know-it-all. Instead, he presents and suggests in the form of exercises and projects. Readers who enter in, who perform their own versions of these will come away with an extended, practical, and experiential appreciation of potential theatres of the future.
An inspiration!
By Robert Jeffrey Ullom, Assistant Professor, Case Western University on March 3, 2015
Simply put, this book is an inspiration. The arguments presented by Dixon in his opening treatise are insightful and persuasive, and the contributions from the bevy of writers in this collection are powerful resources for any student trying to learn the basics of playwriting as well as how to challenge the conventions of "realism" as a genre. No one knows dramaturgy and new play development better that Dixon, and this book serves as a call to educators and practitioners alike to challenge both audiences and themselves as artists in order to create vital, imaginative theatre. This book has quickly become a staple in several of my theatre classes, and I encourage others to do the same.
A great book that combines new theory and practice for all playwrights, ensembles, theater makers
By Vincent Murphy, Professor, Emory University on August 8, 2014
A well organized,beautifully realized read. Dixon is the real deal -- one of the world's finest dramaturge/directors who knows how to listen to what a play is trying to say. My daughter Ariel (co-founder and co-artistic director of the internationally acclaimed Out of Hand company) and I have shared reading this insightful book on our vacation this week. Clarifying and inspiring. I will use it in my Creating New Works class at Emory this year as it answers questions I struggled with in my book on adaptation Page To Stage. Get it. Professor Vinnie Murphy, Emory University