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Answering to the Dead: Edward Bond's ‘Jackets’, 1989–90

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2009

Abstract

Sustaining his reputation for production work that is both original and challenging, Edward Bond worked closely with the directors of Jackets during its productions at Lancaster and in Leicester and London in 1989–90. After a mixed experience with the RSC directing his War Plays, Bond continued to develop his concept of ‘theatre events’, and to work towards the particular style of acting that is necessary for his work in performance. Ian Stuart, a doctoral candidate in dramatic art at the University of California, Santa Barbara, analyzes here how the resulting twin concepts of ‘theatre events’ and ‘theatre acting’ translated into practice, exploring both the workin-progress and its realization through setting, lighting, and critical response. Earlier reconstructions and analyses of Bond's plays in production in TQ and NTQ have included features on Lear in TQ5 (1972) and The Fool in TQ21 (1976), both at the Royal Court, and on his own production at the Cottesloe of Summer in NTQ6 (1986).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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References

Notes and References

All sources are unpublished unless an attribution is cited.

1. For further information, see Leiter, Samuel, The Art of Kabuki (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979)Google Scholar.

2. Edward Bond, quoted by Keith Sturgess, personal interview, 19 March 1990.

3. Bond, letter to Mohsen Baraket, 3 Feb. 1990.

5. , Bond, Notes on Theatre Events, 11 01 1990Google Scholar.

6. Bond, letter to Mohsen Baraket, 3 Feb. 1990.

7. Bond, letter to John Clemo, 12 Feb. 1990.

8. Bond, letter to John Chandler, 7 Dec. 1989.

9. Bond, personal interview, 12 June 1990.

10. , Bond, Notes on Theatre Events, 11 01. 1990Google Scholar.

11. Margaret Eddershaw, personal interview, 19 Mar. 1990.

12. , Bond, Notes on Theatre Events, 11 01 1990Google Scholar.

13. Bond, Notebook 52.

14. , Bond, speaking at rehearsals for Jackets II, London, 1990Google Scholar.

15. Ibid.

16. Legge, Janette, speaking at rehearsals for jackets II, London, 1990Google Scholar.

17. Eddershaw, personal interview, 19 Mar. 1990.

18. Bond, letter to Nick Philippou, 27 Jan. 1990.

19. , Bond, The Worlds, with the Activists Papers (London: Methuen, 1980), p. 99Google Scholar.

20. , Bond, comments to actors of The Fool, British Broadcasting Corporation, 21 02 1990Google Scholar.

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22. Bond, Notebooks 44 and 45.

23. Bond, letter to Tom H. Wild, 16 Jan. 1977, quoted in Hay, Malcolm and Roberts, Philip, Bond: a Study of His Plays (London: Methuen, 1980), p. 163Google Scholar.

24. Bond, letter to author, 10 Feb. 1990.

25. Bond, personal interview, 12 June 1990.

26. , Bond, Two Post-Modern Plays (London: Methuen, 1990), p. 84Google Scholar.

27. Bond, letter to John Chandler, 7 Dec. 1989.

28. Ibid.

29. Keith Sturgess, personal interview, 19 Mar. 1990.

30. Ibid.

31. Ibid.

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38. Thornber, Robin, The Guardian, 26 01 1989Google Scholar.

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50. Ibid.

51. Nick Philippou, personal interview, 9 Mar. 1990.

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54. Ibid.