Jordan Tannahill

Theatre of the Unimpressed (eBook, ePUB)

In Search of Vital Drama

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

How dull plays are killing theatre and what we can do about it.

Had I become disenchanted with the form I had once fallen so madly in love with as a pubescent, pimple-faced suburban homo with braces? Maybe theatre was like an all-consuming high school infatuation that now, ten years later, I saw as the closeted balding guy with a beer gut he'd become. There were of course those rare moments of transcendencethat kept me coming back. But why did they come so few and far between?

A lot of plays are dull. And one dull play, it seems, can turn us off theatre for good. Playwright and theatre director Jordan Tannahill takes in the spectrum of English-language drama - from the flashiest of Broadway spectacles to productions mounted in scrappy storefront theatres - to consider where lifeless plays come from and why they persist. Having travelled the globe talking to theatre artists, critics, passionate patrons and the theatrically disillusioned, Tannahill addresses what he considers the culture of 'risk aversion' paralyzing the form.

Theatre of the Unimpressed is Tannahill's wry and revelatory personal reckoning with the discipline he's dedicated his life to, and a roadmap for a vital twenty-first-century theatre - one that apprehends the value of 'liveness' in our mediated age and the necessity for artistic risk and its attendant failures. In considering dramaturgy, programming and alternative models for producing, Tannahill aims to turn theatre from an obligation to a destination.

'[Tannahill is] the poster child of a new generation of (theatre? film? dance?) artists for whom "interdisciplinary" is not a buzzword, but a way of life.' -J. Kelly Nestruck, Globe and Mail

'Jordan is one of the most talented and exciting playwrights in the country, and he will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.' -Nicolas Billon, Governor General's Award-winning playwright (Fault Lines)

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Coach House Books
• Seitenzahl: 160
• Erscheinungstermin: 11. Mai 2015
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781770564114
• Artikelnr.: 42941233

Autorenporträt

Jordan Tannahill is a multidisciplinary artist based in Toronto described by The Toronto Star as '...one of Canada's most exciting independent theatre artists'. Through his company Suburban Beast, Jordan writes and directs performances for theatres, galleries, and found spaces. His performances often incorporate extensive multimedia, blend documentary elements with magic realism, and explore themes of queer identity, youth culture, masculinity, and suburbia. In November 2013 he directed All Our Happy Days are Stupid by Sheila Heti, with music by Dan Bejar, which will be remounted by McSweeney's in New York City in the winter of 2014.

In April 2014 he choreographed Christopher House in Toronto Dance Theatre's On Display. Jordan's plays have been honored with 6 Dora Award nominations (winning 'Best New Play for Young Audiences' for rihannaboi95 in 2013), four awards at the SummerWorks Festival including 'Best Production' and 'Best New Play', the 2012 Enbridge playRites Award, InsideOut's 2012 Emerging Canadian Artist Award, and the 2011 Ken McDougall Award for Emerging Directors. His 'live-film' Post Eden was named one of 'Canada's Best Theatre Productions of 2012' by The Globe and Mail. His short films and media installations have been presented at festivals and galleries across Canada and internationally including Pleasure Dome, Images Festival, the British Film Institute, and the Vancouver Int. Film Festival. In 2012 he was shortlisted for the Ingmar Bergman Prize at the Uppsala Int. Short Film Festival in Sweden. With his partner William Christopher Ellis, Jordan runs a storefront arts space called Videofag in Toronto's Kensington Market. Videofag was named a 'Superhero of 2013' by the Torontoist and Toronto's 'Best New Gallery' by BlogTO in 2012. Jordan is currently developing new performances for the PuSh Festival, UK's Panic Lab, Necessary Angel/bluemouth inc. and the National Theatre School of Canada.