Arnott, Peter,
The Theater in Its Time, An Introduction
, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1981. This book is out of print, but it is available in the Cross Campus Library. It is a very readable source for information about theater history.
Carlson, Marvin and Shafer, Yvonne.
The Play’s the Thing
An Introduction to the Theatre. New York: Longman, 1990.
This book begins each era with a three column time line: Theater, Culture and History. A prose section follows and eight of the chapters conclude with a narrative account of what the experience of going to a play during that time period was like. An excellent reference for very current theater events as well though it is expensive at $33.95 in soft cover.
Coger, Leslie Irene.
Readers Theatre Handbook
. Glenville Illinois:. Scott Foresman and Company, 1967. This book has lots of practical suggestions for sources and ideas for staging dramatic readings.
Gassner, John Ed. and Quinn, Edward, editors.
The Reader’s
Encyclopedia of World Drama
. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1969. This is an excellent reference book. Particularly useful were descriptions of eras and concepts in the theater.
Grenough, Millie, Barry Marshall, Linda McGuire, Kelley O’Rourke, Paul Spector.
Bananas and Fifty Four Other Varieties, a book of
activities to do with kids
. Booklet funded by U.S. office of Education, Title VII Emergency School Aid Act, Board of Education, City of New Haven, 1980. Created by local teachers, this little soft cover book contains a number of fun games. The directions are easy to understand.
Spolin, Viola.
Improvisation for the Theater
. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press. 1963. This book is essential to many new teachers of theater. Spolin’s games provide activities which explore the Who, What and Where.
Tchudi, Steven and Mitchell, Diana,
Explorations in the Teaching of
English
, New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1989. This book was the primary textbook in Yale’s Teacher Preparation Program for the teaching of English. It’s full of practical ideas, contains lists of materials, and is easy to read.
Vaughn, Jack A. Drama A to Z A Handbook
. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, 1978. A terrific source for easy to read definitions of basic theater terminology. Contains a chronology of dramatic theory and criticism and a list of suggestions for further reading.
