OU professor’s new book examines the evolution of farce

365英国上市官网 Professor David Gram’s first book, Contemporary Farce on the Global Stage: Or, Serious Laughter, was recently published by Routledge Publishing. The book examines the evolution of farce as a theatrical genre in the 21^st 世纪.

“My love and appreciation for farce goes back many, 许多年,克拉姆说。, an assistant professor of theatre at OU. “It’s a genre of theatre that has been around since the Greeks and the Romans, and continues to endure because the comedic situations that characters find themselves in are not only recognizable but universal.”

Unlike farces of the past, where a successful resolution was a given and audiences could laugh uproariously at adulterous behavior, farce no longer guarantees an audience a happy ending where everything works out.

“一般说来, up to the end of the 20th 世纪, one could argue that the biggest element at stake in a farce was one's reputation,奶奶说。. “Almost 25 years into the new millennium, I think the stakes are much higher.

“Inspired by modern playwrights like Joe Orton, 达里奥·福, 还有迈克尔·弗雷恩, contemporary farceurs recognize that the genre can be an effective vehicle to explore race, 性别, 性取向, social and political issues, 文化, and the craft of theatre,他补充道. “Classic tropes of the genre remain ever present; the difference is that farces today no longer guarantee happy endings. Cartoon violence has been replaced with a greater element of danger, even the death of characters. We are no longer being 'diverted' with laughter. The laughter is reflecting our fractured world.”

With a foreword by award-winning playwright Ken Ludwig, Contemporary Farce on the Global Stage: Or, Serious Laughter introduces readers to the Mechanics of Farce, 和4p,’ which are key elements for understanding, 欣赏, 探索形式.

Designed specifically to give theatre-makers a rounded understanding that will underpin their own productions, this book will also be of use to theatre and performance studies students.

“Over the course of writing the book, I had the opportunity to interview over 60 award-winning playwrights, 董事, 演员, 设计师, 舞台经理, and scholars from all over the world, 关于闹剧,奶奶说。. “In conversation with them, I asked why we should take farce seriously? 不用说, in these troubled and uncertain times, the most common response was: laughter is a great antidote, 也是一种宣泄. This modality of storytelling can help us make sense of a world in disarray. Farce is an attempt to restore order. 就我个人而言, I believe comedy is a powerful weapon, and farce is comedic resilience in the face of chaos, 障碍, 潜在的失败.”

Contemporary Farce on the Global Stage: Or, Serious Laughter is available for purchase on the Routledge Publishing website, www.劳特利奇.com/Contemporary-Farce-on-the-Global-Stage-or-Serious-Laughter/Gram/p/book/9780367219284.