Robert M. Post

The Noise of Freedom: J. M. Coetzee's Foe

(1989). The Noise of Freedom: J. M. Coetzees Foe. Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction: Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 143-154.

Towards a poor readers theatre

Jerzy Grotowskis dramatic theory is characterized, first by the concept of poor theatre, which reduced basic components of theatre to the interaction of the actor and the audience, and, second, by performance as an act of transgression in which the performer rids himself of his unique personal behavior and is reborn a character. When Grotowskis theory is applied to Readers Theatre, we have a poor Readers Theatre, composed of the literary text, the holy interpreter, and the audience.

“To read as a poet”: Major performances of Edith Sitwell

Edith Sitwell, a figure surrounded by controversy during her lifetime and after, was a prolific writer who frequently lectured about literature and performed her own works. Her writing, personality, physical appearance, and vocal characteristics were unique and combined to make her both an interesting and worthwhile subject for the student of performance. Her landmark performance was of Facade, a program which consisted of her poems set to music. Other well‐documented major performances by Sitwell include one at Shakespeare and Company in Paris, the reading in 1943 attended by royalty, a memorable recitation of “Still Falls the Rain” during World War II, several tours of America during which she made an infamous interpretation of Lady Macbeth, a tumultuous time at the Edinburgh Festival, and her final public reading at the celebration of her seventy‐fifth birthday.

Interpreting Literature for Young Children.

Reading literature effectively to pre‐school, kindergarten, and first‐grade children is an important challenge. Good reading of literature for this group should be encouraged by including a unit in the basic college course, or by introducing a course devoted solely to the performance of childrens literature.

“Turning” in the interpretation of verse

In the performance of poetry oral interpreters are obliged to indicate the ends of lines or where the poet “turns” from one verse to the next. These turnings are significant clues to meanings of both nontraditional verse, such as e.e. cummings” “in Just‐,” as well as imagistic and traditional poetry. Run‐on lines produce especially interesting tensions. In addition to pausing there are many ways in which oral interpreters may indicate turnings of a poem.

The outsider in the plays of John Osborne

Colin Wilson described the Outsider as one who sees life as it really is and who does something about those aspects of society he believes need changing. John Osborne is an Outsider who attacks society through his plays. His spokesman may be a character who is a true Outsider, or he may be only a partial Outsider. At other times Osbornes perspective emerges mainly through situation rather than character.

Forensic activities at Trinity college, Dublin, in the eighteenth century

At Trinity College, Dublin, in the eighteenth century, the Academy of Belles Lettres and its successors, first the Historical Club and later the College Historical Society, made important contributions to speech preparation of students who later played significant roles in the history of Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Performance in reviews

Simon Callow Reads Shakespeares Sonnets. Arranged by John Padel. Directed by Michael Kustow. Lyttleton Theatre, London, September 4, 5, and 8,1980. The Odyssey. Translated by Robert Fitzgerald. Performed by Richard Dyer‐Bennet, New York University, New York, October 29, 1980. Whitmore, James. An Evening With James Whitmore. Laurie Auditorium, San Antonio, October 31, 1980.

Impotency in Pinter's No Man's Land.

Impotency characterizes the dramatis personae of Harold Pinters drama, No Mans Land, and illuminates at least one level of the plays meaning.

Oral interpretation and the Stanislavski method

The purpose of this article is to discuss ways in which the famous Stanislavski system for scientifically training the actor can be applied to the study of the oral interpretation of literature. It includes a summary of the Stanislavski method and a discussion of the application of this method to oral interpretation, stressing the differences between interpretative reading and acting.