Images of Mental Illness Through Text and Performance: No. 33 (Studies in Theatre Arts S.) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0773461256 ISBN 13: 9780773461253

Publisher: Edwin Mellen Press Ltd, 2005

Synopsis

Theoretical inquiry into the representation of mental illness on stage has not kept pace with theatre scholarship relating to images of marginalized populations as presented on stage, nor with developments in current thinking about mental disease. This collection examines the dynamics of characterization and the problematics of representation within the context of new trends in pharmacology and reconfigured definitions of mental disease, at a time when unprecedented attention is being given to the complex realities of living with mental disorders.

About this title

Review

"Although theatre practitioners have made great strides in altering customarily negative images of marginalized groups, perceptions of the mentally ill have received scant attention. The mentally ill are ridiculed with pejorative stereotypes and misconceptions frequently embedded in theatrical characterizations.. Images of Mental Illness Through Text and Performance is an innovative text that speaks to the complex manifestations of mental illness in dramatic literature... The employed methodology synthesizes the history of mental illness, with script analysis forging a comprehensive examination of mental illness through fact and fiction. The historical evolution of madness and its heterogeneous methods of treatment are contextualized within socio-political constructs mirrored in dramatic literature and film... Dramaturgy is the most pervasive genre subliminally disseminating cultural ideologies through theatre, television and film. Negative images of mental illness permeating media cerebrally formulate collective perspective and attitudes in the audience that are accepted as factual and are often embraced by civic and social institutions to differentiate between normative and aberrant behaviors; and determine how a person will respond to the mentally ill... Positing mental illness as the final bastion of societal intolerance, and cognizant that characterizations represented in entertainment are include to maintain the status quo of stereotypical images of the mentally ill, this text challenges students, actors, and artists to reassess interpretations of such images in an effort to create proactive compassionate paradigms. The essays inspire readers, playwrights, and performing artists to abandon the misconceptions in connection with mental illness, and assume the responsibility of transitioning beyond stereotypes of the mentally ill and advance to the noble calling of dramatists, that demands creation of honest characterizations of a marginalized, rapidly increasing subculture in today's society." - (from the Commendatory Preface) Elizabeth Amelia Hadley, Simmons College"

About the Author

Dr. Ellen W. Kaplan is Associate Professor of Acting and Directing at Smith College, A Fulbright Scholar in Costa Rica, Fulbright Artist-in-Residence in Hong Kong; and an actress and director who has performed internationally and across the U.S. Her plays have been performed in Europe and the U.S. She produced video documentaries, including Mixed Blessings, about Jews and Roma in Eastern Europe, and a CD-ROM about Juan Rulfo. She also works with at-risk adolescents to create spoken work drama for radio. Dr. Sarah J. Rudolph is Associate professor and Chair of the Department of Communication and Theatre Arts of the university of Wisconsin Colleges. As the director of the University of Wisconsin Marathon County Theatre, she works to link process and production to various efforts within the community. She served as Vice President of Conferences for the Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) and has been an active member of the Theatre as a Liberal Art Focus Group.

Edition details

• Publisher: Edwin Mellen Press Ltd
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0773461256
• ISBN 13: 9780773461253
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192
• Editor: Rudolph Sarah J., Kaplan Ellen W.