Books

Antitheatricality and the Body Public. By Lisa A. Freeman. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017; 376 pp.; illustrations. $55.00 cloth, e-book available.

In the summer of 2017, nearly two and a half millennia after Plato banished players from his Republic, a kerfuffle over a familiarly coiffured Julius Caesar in New York’s Central Park reminded us that performance can still pose a threat to the pub- lic. In her dazzlingly ambitious and meticulously researched second book, Lisa A. Freeman gives us the historical con- text and methodological tools to understand why. The Public Theater’s production of Julius Caesar — which angered conser- vatives in featuring the assassination of a sovereign who bore a striking resemblance to Donald Trump (see Paulson and Deb 2017) — debuted after Antitheatricality and the Body Public was already in print (though Freeman has written about the incident elsewhere — see Freeman [2017]). Yet it is a testament to the perspicacity of Freeman’s thought that her ideas shed light not only on the theatre as a key to understanding how societies have defined and debated their con- stituents in the near and distant past, but also on how we might use the theatre to think through the constitutional crises of the present and the future. Freeman opens the book by questioning an underlying assumption made by previous schol- ars of antitheatricality, from Jonas Barish to Martin Puchner — that is, that antitheatricality is as “endemic” to Western culture as theatricality, a natural reaction to “a fundamental distrust of representation and an equally strong discomfiture with the bodies that lend themselves to the art of performance” (1). “To construe the antitheatrical prejudice simply as a natural or onto- logical condition,” Freeman counters, “occludes our ability to elucidate the ways in which anti- theatrical discourse has been historically leveraged and antitheatrical campaigns often waged for political purposes” (3). Antitheatrical discourse isn’t constant throughout Anglo-American thought, she notes; historically, it has intensified in the very moments in which the relation- ship between the sovereign (head of church or of state) and the individual subject is being rad- ically rethought. Analyzing a variety of legal, philosophical, and literary texts as well as legal, social, and theatrical performances, Freeman brilliantly illuminates “the particular ways that the theater as both physical space and metaphorical realm has been taken up repeatedly as a site of contestation for positing and projecting publics” and how “competing groups” have used the theatre “to define themselves as representatives not simply of a‘ public’ but of ‘the public’” (5). This is not only a book about the theatre, then; it is a book about how societies decide who possesses the bodies that make up the body politic or whom the US Constitution means by “We the People” — and it is a book about how, at crucial junctions in history, the theatre has been the most incisive tool for thinking through the contexts and the consequences of such decisions. The theatre is threatening to its detractors, Freeman reasons, because it gathers together the individuated bodies whose differences are elided by vague phrases like “the American people” or “the public sphere” and forces us to consider which bodies and what kinds of bodies, exactly,

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152 Books courtroom proceedingswithinsightful analysesoftheperformancesthatinspiredthem. One aprivatepatron(290–91). according tothewhimsofagovernment actinginthecapacityof” tic, butitalsoprovidedfor apracticewherebyvariousbodiespublicmightbedifferently valued that thedecision “not onlygave thelietoabstract, rhetoricalidealofaninclusive bodypoli- to fourperformanceartists(withspecialattentionKarenFinley and Tim Miller), arguing be countedtoday. Freemanturnstothe1990Supreme CourtdecisionthatdeniedNEAgrants tinue toshapehowwethinkaboutsovereignty, publics, andwhichbodiesshouldnot nation” (191). The finalchapteremphasizeshow suchdebatesfromthelong18thcenturycon- selves intoabodypublicthatwouldbededicatedtoreinvigoration ofChristianreligioninthe in 1811leveragedgothicimageryandracialprejudices “to call upon Americans toformthem- Atlantic toexaminehowsermonsandperiodicalsreacting a fatalfirein Virginia theatre lar andsecularizingforcesoftheScottishEnlightenment” (151). Chapterfourmovesacrossthe tion inadecades-longstrugglebetweenorthodoxfactionsof the Scottishkirkandsecu- around JohnHome’stragedyDouglas(stagedinEdinburgh1756)as “a pointofculmina - rely onthejudgmentsofhierarchicalauthority” (105). Chapter threereadsthecontroversy encouraged audiencesintheircapacityasabodypublictoformownopinionsratherthan and Profaneness oftheEnglishStage (1698)as “attending tothewaysthatplaysthemselves and theGloriousRevolutiontocontextualizeJeremyCollier’sAShort View oftheImmorality two usesthedoctrinaldebatesof1690s, thepoliticalupheavalsofEnglishCivil War, the 18thcenturyandeveninto20thasclashesbetweenthesethreeinstitutions. Chapter sovereignty throughouttherestofbook. State, andthe “body public” mademostvisibleinthetheatre analysis andperformancestudies. Shealsointroducesthethreeinstitutions ereign bodypolitic” (17) powers andcultivatedintereststhatweredistinctfrom, andevenatoddswith, thoseofthesov- and atheatricalprocessionbywhichtheking’slawyers, “acting asabodypublic[...]demarcated court andproclaimingtheking’ssovereigntyagainstPrynne’sallegedattemptstoundermineit; his tractto “call intobeing” a “constituency ofthegodly” (31, 32);amasqueperformedforthe politic” strugglingforsovereignty. Focusingonthreeobjectsofanalysis Prynne’s workas “a criticalelementinbridgingthegapbetweenthesetwobodies referred initsstrictestsenseonlytothoseofficialactionstakenbythestate” (30)andexposes was beginningtobeappliedthecommunalendeavorsofbroaderpopulousbutwhichstill situates Prynne’smanuscriptwithin “a periodoftransition” inEngland, “when thetermpublick Mastix aswellthecourtandcourtroomperformancesthatsurroundeditspublication. She performance studies, toexamine William Prynne’s voluminous1633antitheatricaltractHistrio- analysis andtheattentiontobodies, settings, andcostumesborrowedfromtheatrehistory and lengthiestofherchapters, Freemanusesboththeclose-readingmethodologiesofliterary scholar interestedinantitheatricality, thepublicsphere, orperformanceandthelaw. Inthefirst and thebook(whosecasestudiesspanfrom1633to1990)hasimportantimplicationsforany ing journals)turningmoreandtothestage. Society forEighteenth-CenturyStudiesandwithspecialissuesonperformancebyseverallead- (with theestablishmentofatheatreandperformancestudiescaucuswithin American the theatreto18th-centurystudies, afieldlongdominatedbypoetryandthenovelbutrecently the bestencapsulationofnation’spublics, Freemanmakesastrongcaseforthecentralityof positing theindividuatedbodiesoftheatreratherthanstandardizedprintpageas aphor like “body politic” butalsothedisembodiednessofJürgenHabermas’spublicsphere. In “body public” ofhertitle, atermmeanttocounternotonlytheseeminghomogeneityofmet- such phrasesdescribe. ItisthesevisibleandindividuatedbodiesthatFreemanevokesinthe Here asthroughoutherwork, Freemancombinesnuancedclosereadingsofthelaws and Later chapterssuggestwaysthatwemightreadantitheatricalcontroversiesthroughout Yet Freemandoesn’tlimitherselftothelong — Freeman introduceshercombinedmethodologyofliteraryandlegal — or eventotheverylong — that structureherdiscussionsof — Prynne’s attemptsin — — the Church, the 18th century, — public and Books 153 Julia — Julia H. Fawcett

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that of the majority, or those of all political sub- that of the majority, — turning their treatises into performances-in-print that call that treatises into performances-in-print turning their — Spectacular Disappearances: Celebrity and Privacy, 1696–1801 1696–1801 and Privacy, Celebrity Disappearances: Spectacular Edited by Anne Basting, Maureen Anne Basting, Edited by is wisely deceptive. Its accessible language and Its accessible language is wisely deceptive.

Project must it give voice to? And how might the ghosts of theatres past help us understand And how might the ghosts of theatres past must it give voice to?

— www.publicseminar.org/2017/07 Accessed 24 July 2017. 10 July. , Public Seminar theatrical Controversy.” /protesting-shakespeare-in-central-park/#.WXY6CNPytmA. www.nytimes.com/2017/06/12/theater/donald-trump Accessed 24 July 2017. 10 June. , Times New York -julius-caesar-public-theater-oskar-eustis.html. It is almost too perfect for Freeman’s argument, then, that the theatre that staged the that the theatre then, argument, too perfect for Freeman’s It is almost Editors Anne Basting, Maureen Towey, and Ellie Rose index Towey, Maureen Anne Basting, Editors The Penelope Project: An Arts-Based Odyssey to Arts-Based Odyssey to An Project: Penelope The Change Elder Care. [email protected] ©2018 2018. Summer (T238) 62:2 Review Drama The TDR: Technology of Institute Massachusetts the and University York New Julia H. Fawcett is Assistant Professor in the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies Studies Performance Dance, and in the Department of Theater, is Assistant Professor H. Fawcett Julia is the author of She at UC Berkeley. Paulson, Michael, and Sopan Deb. 2017. “How Outrage Built Over a Shakespearean Depiction of Trump.” Trump.” “How Outrage Built Over a Shakespearean Depiction of 2017. and Sopan Deb. Michael, Paulson, titled a second book, tentatively on at work 2016) and is currently Press, of Michigan (University of 1666.” Fire after the Great and Urbanization Performance London: “Unmapping References Anti- of in Central Park: Reflections on the Meaning “Protesting Shakespeare 2017. A. Lisa Freeman, - In highlight oppose. they so virulently way as the theatres public in much the same together a strategy merely a possible that theatre is not profoundly, Freeman suggests, ing this language, powerful one. it is the most together a body public; for gathering The brilliant and called the Public. Caesar in our own day was of Julius offending performance this book give us deft Anglo-American theatres and publics throughout nuanced readings of does it include and who does Who means in such a context: “public” tools for examining what or viewpoints What viewpoint it exclude? jects today? American people” “the a term like what is contained in - the antitheatrical is the extent to which her readings reveal interesting points that of the most language of the stage ists adopt the sity students, professional theatre artists, staff, and residents at staff, professional theatre artists, sity students, Towey, and Ellie Rose. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, and Ellie Rose. Towey, e-book available. $24.95 paper, 230 pp.; illustrations. 2016, who fends off a house full of suitors Like Penelope herself, The by daily weaving and nightly unraveling a funeral shroud, Penelope even its use of seemingly conventional dramaturgy of process, conceals layers of weaving as a structural and thematic trope, dramaturgy, temporality, un-doing: of assumptions about aging, this multi- like Penelope, Thus, and the space of performance. centered on a long-term performance project, vocal anthology, both weaves and undoes. the distinct yet overlapping disciplinary perspectives that struc- The Penelope project brought together univer ture the book. Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021

154 Books full “beings” evenafter death: the “bad daughter,” seesthesePenelope-elders asholisticfragmentsofthemselves-in-action, as final stagemomentasachorus ofPenelopes. Theaudience, positionedasbothOdysseus and journey throughLutherManor, wheretheyencounterresidents insitu and refigurethe “story” ofwaitingandeldersthemselvesasactiveengaged. The playandprojectconfrontthefearofagingperception ofagingaslossanddecay, deficits, butasalternativeiterationsoftheexperience of timeandconventionalstorytelling. mented. ItisthisexistentialfragmentationthatBasting andtheprojectpickupon ologically progressive, whencoupledwithlong-termmemory loss, lifenarrativesbecomefrag- aging itself, isiterativeandcyclicalratherthanstrictly linear. While agingmightseemchron- to forgettheforwardmovementoftime” (7). Penelope’s story, likethatoftheproject, andof course,” theNurseinBasting’splaysingsalsoof Penelope, thewoman, “driven timeandagain While Odysseus’sjourneyisfiguredasthatofamythicmale hero, “driventimeandagainoff Odysseus withthatofa “bad daughter” whohasneglected tovisithermotherforaslongatime. nization andthematics. The playinterweavesthestory ofPenelope’s20yearswaitingfor to makeahome. part throughafeministdramaturgyfocusedontheactandartofwaitingwhatitmeans deconstruct. This undoingofassumptionsaboutaginganditscomplement, memory, emergesin journey ofagingitself performance (thatreaderscanconjureupthroughtestimonies, maps, andphotos), andthe playscript (whichwe, asreaders, accessthroughexcerptedscenes), thesite-specificprocessional “We hadbeenthroughsomethingtogether” (xix). scholar andwitnessElinorFuchsstruggleswithwordstoaccountforherexperiencenoting, ­performance arship isbothmarkedandqueried. A secondforeworddoessimilarworkfortheprojectas visible inciviclifewhileundoingdisciplinaryandacademicdivisions. Thus, academicschol- Life, anendeavorfiguredasa “thirdspace” ofcollaborativescholarship(xi)thatdoessomething situates ventional academicandtheatricalframeswhileundoingboth. Forexample, thefirstforeword progressive, yetinterruptedbyinterstitials, thisorganizationalstructurealsointerweavescon- course syllabi, fundingpartners, andevaluativesurveyquestions), andanindex. Chronologically rewards, andimpacts. This structureisbookendedbytwoforewords, anappendix(including formance process five-part structurethatlooselymapsontoRichardSchechner’sdramaturgicalmodeloftheper tinctive frames. The anthologyinterlacesdramatictextandimagesfromtheprojectwithina the shiftingcultureofpatient-centeredeldercare. Luther Manor, bringstogethervoicesfromthisinstitutionalstrandoftheproject, focusedon from participatingartists(includingLutherManorresidents). Rose, avisualartistworkingwith renowned foritspubliclyengagedperformances, directedFinding Penelope and curateschapters the projectasawhole. Towey, amemberofthePortland-basedSojourn Theatre company, ries sharedbyLutherManorresidents which studentsconductedresearchonPenelopeandcreatedaperformancepiecebasedsto- the anthologythatdiscussassociatedUniversityof Wisconsin–Milwaukee theatrecourses project visionaryandplaywright. As wellasthesecontributions, Bastingoverseeschaptersin Finding Penelope (2011). Basting, atheatreprofessorand2016MacArthur “genius,” servedas storytelling workshops, proliferatingartprojects, andasite-specificimmersiveperformance, the LutherManoreldercarefacilityinMilwaukeeforatwo-yearcollaborationthatincluded Finding Penelope’s journeythroughthesetropes andthemesisphysicalizedbytheaudience’s The dramaturgicalstructureofFinding Penelope complements The journeythatFuchsalludestooccursinthreeoverlappingrealms:theFinding Penelope Both The Penelope Finding Penelope andThePenelope Project are structuredasdoubleweaveshousedindis- — accounted forasstrikingbeyond “a meretheatricalexperience” (xix). Drama — with sectionsoninstitutionalframes, buildingpartnerships, challenges, Project withintheUniversityofIowaPressseriesHumanitiesasPublic — which theanthology, play, andproductionallworktoilluminate — and achapteronevaluativemechanismsthatassessed The Penelope Project’sorga- who laterreappearina — not as — in - Books 155 — Sonja Arsham Kuftinec -

and of aging as confrontations with and of aging as confrontations Odyssey Edited by E. Patrick Edited by E. particularly as it pertains to these subjectivities frames its revisions of The Project frames its revisions of —

You are the one that made a cake shaped like a castle [...] shaped like a castle one that made a cake are the You your walker [...] one that dances with are the You (125) Tuesday. last one that passed away are the You additionally ani- the project as progressive deterioration, images of aging While revising The Penelope mates institutional revisions: of elder care, theatre training, and humanities scholarship, each of each scholarship, and humanities theatre training, elder care, revisions: of mates institutional - in large-scale partnerships that undo institu This revisioning occurs which informs the other. as having actors and students and in such everyday transactions tional rituals and hierarchies, rehearse with residents in dining halls. eat with residents or Johnson and Ramón H. Rivera-Servera. Durham, NC: Duke Durham, Rivera-Servera. Johnson and Ramón H. $119.95 cloth, 2016; 573 pp.; illustrations. University Press, $34.95 paper. collects the scripts of nine black Queer Performance Blacktino fol- and Latina/o queer playwrights and performance artists, lowing each with both a critical essay and an interview with the These essays and interviews are written and con- playwright. and queer expres- Latina/o, ducted by leading scholars of black, who collaborated in the or by scholar-artists sive practices, this volume puts in conversa- As such, production of the works. tion a diversity of voices around performances that have recently and per queerness, Latinidad, engaged the notions of blackness, formance itself now and historically. and their expressions onstage and in life, Blacktino Queer Performance. Queer Performance. Blacktino TDR: The Drama Review 62:2 (T238) Summer 2018. ©2018 2018. Summer (T238) 62:2 Review Drama The TDR: Technology of Institute Massachusetts the and University York New the blind spots of who or what is remembered and how. The project and its documentation has The or what is remembered and how. the blind spots of who for the editors to discuss not only for example, I would have liked, own. a few blind spots of its forces that structure the but also the social and economic care culture, the changes in elder capital. and labor, class, of race, and how they map onto dynamics emergence of such facilities Are there alternative familial spatially as well as experientially separated? When did elders get emerge for me next to moments these blind spots Yet to this separation? or economic narratives the culture of aging, performance, Arguments about community-engaged of astounding beauty. only through vivid and theoretically informed prose, and the production of memory appear not a ceil- poems that evoke intimate observation of participants, but also through elegiac memoirs, moments and The anthology that brings these sky. ing painted by custodial staff to evoke the of similar collaborations and revisions elsewhere. memories together attests to the possibilities and She has created Minnesota. of University at the of Theatre is Professor Kuftinec Arsham Sonja as a technique of conflict and theatre public scholarship, published widely on community-based theatre, Middle East Balkans and in the Formation Nation Facilitation and transformation, including Theatre, focuses on infused pedagogy Festival research Shakespeare current at the Oregon 2009). Her (Palgrave, students. [email protected] drama with K–12 creative and teaching critical literacy through Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021

156 Books ing, andindeed, performingofinterracialintimacy perhaps moresignificantly, aspurposefulpractice,” suggestingthatitistheactualdoing, mak- alongside queernessandperformance, “not simplyasanassumedcontinuumofidentitybut, more solidaryfutures” (4). These authorsandartiststogetheractivate “blacktino” inthisway, and socialintimaciesinthepresent, andcentersculturalpoliticaldesiresthatmightyield tation between African American andLatina/ocommunities, animatesblackandbrownsexual of thesenineworks(7). They write: “Blacktino asadesignationrecognizeshistoryofcohabi- and performance” thattogetherservesbothasthetitleandananalyticframeincollection Masculinity” by Tamara Roberts, inresponsetoMachos, focus oftheseplaysonthemale experience. Onthistopic, thecollection’sessay “Voicing ters ofcolor;indeed, several ofthecriticalessaysintextcommentonsomewhat narrow linity. The majority oftheperformanceworkscollectedherefocusonmale, cisgendercharac- then consciouslycrafted “to performactivism” (335). with blackmenwhosecretlyhavesexothermen, andthewaysinwhichplaywas ways inwhichMcCune’sDancin’theDownLowwasdevelopedbasedoninterviewsconducted with JeffreyQ. McCuneJr. isparticularlyelucidatingonthistopic, withitsdiscussionofthe methods willfindawealthofresourcesinBlacktino QueerPerformance. JohnKeene’sinterview practices. Those withaninterestinscriptsproducedfrom alternativedramaturgicalresearch formance fromethnographic, autoethnographic, andautobiographical writingandresearch and criticalcommitmenttointerracialqueerintimacy, anditsworld-makingpotential: 2004. Bridgforth’sworkalsoincludesalinethatperhapsbestcapturesthecollection’slyrical Ah mén(translatedby Andreea MicuandRamónH. Rivera-Servera), bothfirstperformedin in thisregardareSharonBridgforth’sThelove conjure/blues Text InstallationandJavierCardona’s of text, character, andperformerincontemporaryperformancework. Particularly noteworthy tal approachestostagingnarrative;incorporatingmediaandtechnologies;conceiving The worksarequitediverseaesthetically. Readerswilldelightinfindingarangeofexperimen- Jeffrey Q. McCuneJr., CedricBrown, PamelaBooker, PaulOutlaw, andCharlesRice-González. the group Teatro Luna, whichshecofoundedanddirects), E. PatrickJohnson, JavierCardona, surrounds them(3). politically, orinperformance, andofteninresistanceoftheheteronormative, racistculturethat in whichmarginalizedpeopleshavemixedandmovedalongsideeachother, whether erotically, work of “comparative interarticulation” perspectives ofcolorandqueerness(5). Instead, onesensesthroughoutacommitmenttothe lapse ofdifference” thattheirprojectmightoccasionindrawingtogethersuchamultiplicityof studies” (3). They willalsonoticethecarewithwhichtheseeditorsavoid “troublesome col- mance inthecaseofblackandLatina/ostudies, andraceinthecaseofqueerperformance tion productivelyintervenesinthehistoryof “stubborn elisionsofgender, sexuality, andperfor idea of “blacktino” throughouttheirintroduction, readersacrossfieldswillseethatthiscollec- of theverynotionintersectionality. While theeditorsperhapstoofrequentlyeroticize rary artistsidentifyingasinterracialandqueer, andasaninterdisciplinary, lyricalimagining effort anditsgoalofqueer-of-color culturalcritique(7). In theirintroduction, theeditorsaptlydescribe “this ‘unholy’ trinity[...]ofblacktino, queer, Thematically, thecollection takesanotableinterestintheorizingblackandLatinomascu - Furthermore, manyworksinthecollectionengageavariety of approachestocreatingper all becausethedustgotstirred/bychange. (38) that nightisaw/wasn’tnothingthesame i sawthedamnbreakloveflowstarssparkle isawthelightshift yes sir/isawit. The artistsconsideredinthiscollectionareSharonBridgforth, CoyaPaz(representing Blacktino QueerPerformance thusservesasatimelyconsiderationoftheworkcontempo-

— a rigorousexplorationofthetimes, places, andways — understood broadly directed/developed byCoyaPaz and — that groundsthis - - Books 157

- - per to disrupt, to disrupt, of queer peo- —

— Nevarez — Nevarez Encinias shines for its radical potential shines for its radical — -

By Karen Gonzalez Rice. Ann Arbor: Ann By Karen Gonzalez Rice. stands somewhat alone in a collection full of stories about men. about men. full of stories alone in a collection stands somewhat

She comments on Johnson’s use of the term, offering that it suggests that “all that offering that it suggests use of the term, She comments on Johnson’s

However, the editors do interestingly draw together a range of salient, political comments political of salient, draw together a range do interestingly the editors However, by Witness Art as Prophetic American Endurance Long Suffering: on the topic of “misperformance,” first introduced as a concept in the collection by Jennifer the collection by Jennifer as a concept in first introduced “misperformance,” of on the topic about Identity A Performance Fruit: Johnson’s Strange Patrick discusses E. Brody as she DeVere Politics. formance is a reaction to certain regulations which are therefore subject to failure and per to certain regulations which are therefore formance is a reaction on Jeffrey Q. Thompson comments along similar lines Lisa B. Later, (223). haps born of fear” interested in the ways McCune’s play “I am particularly : Dancin’ the Down Low McCune Jr.’s of black masculinity and how and subsequent performances expectations, explores pressures, sexuality in the public sphere as helps shape performances of black males’ they form a vice that brings together sev- Queer Performance Blacktino Along these lines, (321). well as in private lives” “misperform” to to performance as a powerful opportunity eral works that attest peoples inevitably face in to productively employ the fears that marginalized to fail expectations, metaphor-concept this Among others in the collection, contemporary culture. but with intention performing wrongly, ple of color somehow in our chaotic times. University Dance at the and candidate in the Department of Theatre is an MFA Encinias Nevarez RepertoryFlamenco American Company, The Yjastros: in is also a soloist dancer He Mexico. of New and Herald, Yale Yale, The at Journal New in The writing has appeared His based in Albuquerque. . [email protected] Dimensions New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology of Institute Massachusetts the and University York New Art as American Endurance Long Suffering: Prophetic Witness. TDR: The Drama Review 62:2 (T238) Summer 2018. ©2018 2018. Summer (T238) 62:2 Review Drama The TDR: created by Teatro Luna, provides the most insight, crucially reminding that “while masculinity masculinity “while that reminding crucially insight, the most provides Luna, Teatro created by this Unfortunately, (158). and other genders” harder on women it is still overall men, is hard on Machos critique of formance art, but also at the psychological reasons artists cre- formance art, Rice answers this call Karen Gonzalez ate the work that they do. in and art history, psychology, bringing together religious studies, Athey well as Ron as by Montano, to analyze works ethnography such While other performance art scholars, and John Duncan. as Kathy O’Dell (1998) and Meiling Cheng (2002) have labeled respec- “extreme,” or “masochistic” works in the same lineage as “disciplined Gonzalez Rice introduces instead the terms tively, to emphasize the sub- “enactments of survival” and hardship” how these individuals Her focus is on jecthood of these artists. and minds. use art processes to intervene in or manage the way power operates on their bodies “recuperate she hopes to By examining specifically how trauma and religion inform their work, (10) and destigmatize trauma religion as a crucial area of contemporary art historical concern” University of Michigan Press, 2016; 206 pp.; illustrations. 2016; 206 pp.; illustrations. University of Michigan Press, $34.95 paper. $85.00 cloth, Linda Montano suggests that we In her 2005 volume of letters, technology of per should look not just at the aesthetics and Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021

158 Books cific post-traumaresponse:Montano artist thatfocusesononeormoreworksGonzalezRiceanalyzesasrepresentativeofaspe- lived experiencesoftrauma(12). Eachchapteristhereforea “spiritual biography” ofaparticular Skin (1998)towardsprivilegingpsychologicalandpsychiatricviewsthataremorerootedin wishes tomoveawayfromtheFreudiananalysisKathyO’DellpresentedinContract withthe munal actsofethical witnessing. endurance artasalogicalpersonalresponsetosufferingthatalsooffersopportunitiesforcom- as the “foundational humanexperience” thatitis(4). Inthisway, GonzalezRicepositions and JohnDuncan the frameworkof American prophetic witnessingthatDuncanwasultimatelyostracizedby the have likedtoseenmore. The Duncanchapteralsoleavesmequestioningwhat it meansin Gonzalez Ricegivesabriefnod tothisbodyofworkonthelastpagechapter, butIwould wonder, however, ifthispossibilitymightexistinDuncan’smostrecent venturesinsoundart? Gonzalez Rice, butitprecludes thepossibilityofanyintegrativeortranscendentpotential. I inability toimaginethefuture” (121). jeremiad againstpatriarchalviolence, GonzalezRiceconcludes thatitsimplymarkshis “suicidal followed byavasectomy. While hemayhaveintended forthispiecetofunctionasaCalvinist especially hismostnotoriousworkBlindDate(1980), inwhichDuncanhadsexwithacorpse reasonably fromherchoicetofocusonpiecesthatexpresshis rageagainstpatriarchalviolence, Rice, “remains caughtinpatternsofcyclicalvictimization” (124). This conclusionflowsquite work, establishathemeofhealingandtranscendence. Duncan, however, accordingtoGonzalez Catholicism inawaythatsupportsherwellbeing. art andotherreligiouspracticesasalternativewaystoseekpurity; tofinallyre-envisioning from: usingreligionasawaytoescapefromthetraumaofsexualabuse;performance tion andhealingoftrauma(72). InthecaseofMontano, GonzalezRicenarratesanevolution Favazza toexplainhowNSSIcanbeseenasaformofself-care, andastrategyfortheintegra- ment of1960sand1970sSouthernCalifornia” (60). Shealsocitesculturalpsychiatrist Armando and isaconscious “homage toandreconsiderationofthePentecostalhealingrevivalmove- points outthat Athey’s Torture Trilogy (1992–1997)beginswiththequestion “what ishealing?” images fromthesepracticesinordertoconsciouslyseekhealing. Forexample, GonzalezRice for MontanoandPentacostalism Athey), andhowtheybothcontinuetousetools artists feltbetrayedordisappointedbytheirfamiliesandfamilies’religions(Catholicism of howreligionandtraumashapethewhytheseartists’acts. ing theartists’suffering. What GonzalezRiceaddstotheexistingscholarshipisadetailedstudy viewers tocontendwithhowlook, ourabilitytolook, andhowwemaybecomplicitincaus- Doyle, Antonio Viejo, andothers:thatenduranceartdemands ethicalreflectionbyforcing gious studiesvariation consciousness byalsodemandinganethicalresponse” (7). This ideaisarepetition endurance artists, explainingthattheyaretestifying “to realconditionsoflifeandraisingmoral movement, totheworkofReverendMartinLutherKing, Jr. Shethendraws aparallelwith were ledorsupportedbyfaith-basedactivism, rangingfromabolitiontotheNewSanctuary ethical response. GonzalezRiceoffersusseveralexamplesof American radicalmovementsthat of anencounterorobservation, andatestifyingtoorprotestagainstinjusticethatdemandsan in thetraditionbegunby18th-century American religiousreformers. Here, witnessingconsists nized aroundherclaimthatallthreeartistsofferustheopportunityforpropheticwitnessing The self-professeddaughterofaresearchpsychologist, GonzalezRiceexplainsthatshealso The choicetoassociateDuncan’sworkwithcyclicalvictimization iswellsupportedby In otherwords, the Athey andMontanochapters, whichprecedethechapteronDuncan’s Gonzalez Ricedrawsaconnectionbetween Athey andMontanobyhighlightinghowboth The linksGonzalezRicedrawsbetweenreligion, spirit, trauma, andartmakingareorga- — cyclical victimization. — on athemepresentedbeforebyscholarssuchas Amelia Jones, Jennifer — dissociation; Athey — Non-Suicidal SelfInjury(NSSI); — with areli- Books 159 Joyce — Joyce Lu

By Miranda Joseph. Minneapolis: University of By Miranda Joseph. By Randy Martin. Philadelphia: Temple Temple Philadelphia: By Randy Martin.

California Press. Press. University of Minnesota In the end, the cross-disciplinary approach and the questions that this text raises are its most text raises are its most questions that this approach and the the cross-disciplinary In the end, New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology of Institute Massachusetts the and University York New of the a Social Logic Toward Knowledge Ltd: Derivative. Debt to Society: Accounting for Life under Accounting for Life under to Society: Debt Capitalism. TDR: The Drama Review 62:2 (T238) Summer 2018. ©2018 2018. Summer (T238) 62:2 Review Drama The TDR: Joyce Lu is a performing artist and Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Dance at and in the Department is a performing of Theatre artist Lu and Associate Professor Joyce Department of Asian Intercollegiate Colleges is also affiliated with the Claremont She College. Pomona [email protected] Studies. American References University of Berkeley: . Art Multicentric Performance Angeleses: In Other Los 2002. Meiling. Cheng, Routledge. London: Montano. from Linda M. Letters 2005. Linda M. Montano, Minneapolis: and the 1970s. Art, Performance Masochism, with the Skin: Contract 1998. Kathy. O’Dell, compelling features. The way in which Gonzalez Rice connects different fields and concepts fields and concepts Rice connects different in which Gonzalez The way features. compelling artists so bravely see the humanity that various disciplines to door to readers from opens the Art as Prophetic Endurance American Long Suffering: vulnerable. they make themselves share when - practice a radical human as emotional and spiritual activists who helps us to see artists Witness a more just society. ity in order to call for American art community and forced to pursue his subsequent work in Japan and Europe. What and Europe. work in Japan to pursue his subsequent art community and forced American away by US audiences? of this total turning and implications are the ethics University Press, 2015; 276 pp. $89.50 cloth, $29.95 paper, $29.95 paper, cloth, $89.50 2015; 276 pp. University Press, e-book available. of the insolvency of When the news broke in September 2017 the world-renowned art exhibition that takes Documenta 14, the story quickly assumed the place in Germany every five years, the fiscally respon- with familiar dimensions of a morality tale, sible Germany bailing out the overspending of yet another Under “debtor country”). (an offensive term for Schuldenland Szymczyk, Adam the leadership of Polish artistic director Documenta 14 had expanded from its traditional small-town a move blamed Greece, Athens, to Germany, location in Kassel, for leaving the exhibition nearly $8.3 million in the red and and urged While German media bemoaned this profligacy, almost forcing an early shutdown. the the return of the festival to its former status as a driver of tourism to regional Germany, signato- the among was I disclosure, (full 14 Documenta in participated who artists and curators pointing out how the media framing ries of a letter in defense of the curators) quickly hit back, Learningof the budget scandal ironically proved one of the major goals of an exhibition titled Minnesota Press, 2014; 240 pp. $75.00 cloth, $25.00 paper. $25.00 paper. cloth, $75.00 2014; 240 pp. Minnesota Press, Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021

160 Books de Goedetermsit(2009:298). As asystemofwriting, financeissusceptibletodeconstruction; them (1968). system byimproperactorswho revealorexpressitsworkings, ratherthansimplyprotesting rant forarevivedsystemsaesthetics : JackBurnham’snameforthe tactical interventionwithina enthralled andpersuaded. Joseph’s exegesisofaccountingandaccountabilityhelpsgiveuswar to readacontribution “critical accountingstudies” in myshorttimeonearth, Ifoundmyself of a “debt tosociety” determinelifechancesinexcarceral spacesaswell. Havingneveraspired trative laborintheneoliberaluniversitytolandwhatitbecame: avividexposéofhowlogics tique oftheprison-industrialcomplex, beforeveering through herownexperienceofadminis- fungibility. Byherownaccounting, theproject beganasacontributiontoanabolitionistcri- knowledge regimesthatnaturalizeandmystifyourrepression, exploitation, accumulation, and who remainconvincedthattheory’svocationremainsof a hand-to-handcombatwiththe codes andnormsitseekstocontestinterrupt, DebttoSociety isanidealprimerforthose ity, andabstraction. performance studiesthatcanoperateateitherendofthespectrum, intermsofscale, complex- for itsownsake. Sheinsteadlaysthegroundworkforconceptualandethicalimperativeofa tice of “critical abstraction,” onethatdoesnotcelebratethelocal, thelive, ortheunmediated these stylesofradicalwill, Josephisneverthelessdedicatedtoaqueerfeministmaterialistprac- the hegemonicorder(debtforGraeber, socialreproductionforPhelan). Deeplysympatheticto out acknowledginghowthatidealizedoutsidetermexistsinsupplementaryrelationtotermsof orize anoutsideofcapitalrelations(localknowledgeforGraeber, the “live” forPhelan), with- Joseph restoresdialecticalthinkingthroughherreadingofaradicaltextthatstrivestoglam- to betaughtalongsidePeggyPhelan’s “The OntologyofPerformance” (1993). Inbothcases, essay, “The PerformanceofProductionandConsumption” (1998), hasbecomeanecessarytext rights beassignedasrequiredreadingalongsideGraeber’sDebt, ing chapter, “Toward aMethodologyofCritical Abstraction,” onesolucidthatitshouldbyall in thesebooksarewardingsetof provocations. occupation camp(howeverneededsuchtacticsarenowandwillbeinthefuture)alsofind for amorerobustintersectionbetweenperformanceandpoliticsthaneithertheprotestrallyor less populist, butultimately, imaginativeandhopefulworksofleftistthinking. Those looking widely creditedwithinspiring, woulddowelltoalsoimmersethemselvesinthesetwo, perhaps Both ofthebooksunderreview then, take “finance asaperformativepractice,” asMarieke In atextthatmirrorsthesystematicrigorandsobrietyof discipline (accounting)whose Joseph inparticularhasofferedapersuasivesympatheticcritiqueofGraeberheropen- in theOccupy Wall StreetandStrikeDebtcampaignsheis Fans ofGraeber’scommittedprose, nottomentionparticipants rors ofdebt, slavery, andaccumulationthroughdispossession). of capitalisminvirtuousmarketexchange(ratherthanthehor so storiesthatneoliberalapologistslovetotellabouttheorigins First5,000 Years (2011), abookthatforcefullydisruptedthejust- wake ofDavidGraeber’sswashbucklingbestseller, Debt:The under CapitalismbyMirandaJoseph. They bothappearinthe the lateRandyMartin, andDebttoSociety: Accounting forLife studies: example ofthetopicalrelevancetwobooksinperformance means both “blame” and “debt” inGerman)providesavivid to expectationsforconstanteconomicgrowth. reduces thesocialfunctionofarttoatouristproductionsubject politics throughacalculusofaccountingandaccountability, and from Athens:thatamorality-infusedlanguageofdebtinhibits This sordidepisodeof “shaming throughdebt” (Schuld Knowledge Ltd: Toward aSocialLogicoftheDerivative by in thesamewayasherearlier - - Books 161 critique I will not attempt to subject —

what Joseph calls “critical abstrac- what Joseph calls —

While the financial crisis of 2008 brought the language of debt, risk, accounting, and arbi- accounting, risk, crisis of 2008 brought the language of debt, While the financial all the obligation to keep going at Finance is indeed all about compulsory movement, But while finance to go forward into the future unencumbered by historical claims. costs, no sensibility it generates no language of movement, spreads movement everywhere, This silence and still- way and not another [...]. regarding how we are disposed to go one the a jubilee of practices that sing to dance, ness at the heart of finance stages the turn flight patterns by which friendly skies might praises of bodily indebtedness and provide (147) be known. Agreeing with the thesis of both books under review - cannot simply dis system aesthetician The state of the art. and informed one, must be an - their operative litera instead work through but must and quantification, miss financialization live in a world, We them inoperative. through which to render of a set of levers ture in search of men’s style blogging could find his hobby bro of my acquaintance in which a finance after all, fam- job and support his Street Wall his could actually quit lucrative that he so unexpectedly fashion magazines [...,] straight men” “men reading a topsy-turvy world of In such ily on selfies. a careful study of the social logic of once sardonically marveled (2003), Wainwright as Rufus Fully automated and not just the few. arbitrage may yet reward the many, and risk, derivatives, we come! luxury communism here mostly got off scot-free (while even as the engineers of disaster page, trage onto the front a deficit of critical theory ade- we continue to experience workers suffered), millions of ordinary fills this gap LTD Knowledge, the global 1% on its own terrain. quate to the task of challenging and culture” polity, of economy, “grand trinity demonstrating how the with dizzying virtuosity, of reconstituting the bourgeois any hope and with it, in recent decades, (217) has come undone Aptly described by Patricia study as we once thought we knew them. disciplines of academic of the enormous knowledge that Martin bequeathed “summa” Clough on the book jacket as a will remain a touchstone and a magic LTD Knowledge, he founded, “arts politics” to the field of on social sci- for subversive intellectuals who find themselves unexpectedly “Bag of Holding” and of the mincemeat of respectable economic analysis, The footnotes alone make ence terrain. In the place its pretensions of objective neutrality. bourgeois moralism that lies occulted under risk, skill, Martin invents a once-and-future social theory built around the of neoliberal cant, of hip hop will Students dance and expressive culture. and arbitrage of black social volatility, for its subtle corroboration of the “De-centered Social Kinesthetics” want to visit his chapter on As Martin writes there: song. corporeal intelligence of black dance and his own ideal- Martin voices a closing note of caution against At the same time as he says this, tendency in a prose style that can find in its own ization of movement and mobility (a perennial of In what can only be described as a closing queering ). exuberant erudition a form of eupraxia “the contem- that echoes “critique of mobilization” Martin offers his readers a the derivative, in alignment with movements of decoloniza- porary critique of representation [that] emerged of the unconscious and desire of the private sphere, but also World Third not only of the tion, In this more contemplative and nonrepresenta- (224). associated especially with queer studies” “a sensibility and a figure for reassessing value” as Martin champions the derivative tional mode, Joseph In parallel fashion, (224). move otherwise” “a unitary method for how to rather than ‘you’ are “Maybe A Loan.” Are Not “You issues her own caution against populist slogans such as as you might once have been “or at least a debtor, she provocatively suggests, a loan after all,” Affirming our mutual and constitutive indebtedness could be the (2). or a worker” a consumer, launching point for a different mode of militant accountability. as ideology, it is vulnerable to critique. Both authors assume that their deconstructive ­ assume that their Both authors to critique. it is vulnerable as ideology, tion” and what Martin terms “a social logic of the derivative” and what Martin terms tion” the complexity of the staging of either argument to a reductive summary here. Both texts will the complexity of the staging of either argument to a reductive summary here. Joseph’s ought to be Of the two, reward the slow and careful reading that their idiom demands. Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021

162 Books as axiomaticthatderivativeeconomiesofdebtanddispossessionareconstitutivethesocial. ingly optimisticabouttheprospectsforaperformanceanalysisandcriticaltheorythattakeit appear orbehealedifwesimplyignorethosediscourses. (3)Conversely, bothbooksaresurpris- below, neitherassumesthatthesocialwreckageexertedbyexpertsandtheirdiscourseswilldis- point fromwhichtoperformauthenticresistance. (2) While deeplyinvestedinknowledgefrom sionately decolonial, neitherbooklookstotheautochthonous, local, orsmall-scaleasastand- aspires toresistitsrealsubsumptionintotheprotocolsofimperialuniversity:(1) While pas- ies offinancialperformativity, orforthatmatter, anyinterdisciplinaryknowledgeprojectthat sters, MartinandJosephhavefinancialcapitalismdeadtorights. to earth. Butbetweenthegreen-visoredaccountantsandglobe-trottingspeculativehuck- metaphorical andthusperhapsmorespeculative. Itisabithardertobringthederivativedown counting andnumbers). Martin’sdeploymentofthefinancialderivativeisbycontrastmore as pronetodebt, compulsiveandfrivolouswithspending, andconfusedirresponsiblewith which forexamplewomen, African Americans, andevenentirenationslikeGreecearefigured ically reactionaryconsequencesofthegenderingandracializingaccounting(themannerin nearly everyadultisfamiliarbynecessity. Sheevenbrilliantlyweavesintoheranalysisthepolit- line ofaccountingandaccountability;financialdiscourses, practices, andnormswithwhich read first, simplyongroundsofitsclarityexpositionandadevotiontotangiblethrough- New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology TDR: The Drama Review 62:2 (T238) Summer 2018. ©2018 Text. [email protected] Tavia Nyong’o isProfessor ofAmerican Studies at Yale University Social andcoeditorofthejournal Wainwright,Rufus.2003.a World.” “OhWhat Phelan, Peggy. 1993. “The OntologyofPerformance:RepresentationwithoutReproduction.” InUnmarked: Joseph, Miranda. 1998. “The PerformanceofProductionandConsumption.” SocialText 54(Spring):25–61. Graeber, David.First5,000 Years 2011. Debt:The . New York: MelvilleHousePrinting. De Goede, Marieke. 2009. “Finance andtheExcess: The Politicsof Visibility intheCreditCrisis.” Burnham, Jack. 1968. “System Esthetics.”, Artforum References Taken together, MartinandJosephlayoutanagendaofdifficultiesforperformancestud- The Politics ofPerformance, 146–66. London:Routledge. Beziehungen Internationale 16, 2:295–306. Zeitschrift für Want One. DreamWorks Records. September:30–35.

ai Nyong’o— Tavia Books 163 -

— kusemai, shi, ­ \ and kami- ruri to rakugo \ ritual forms such as By Satoko By Satoko ; and bugaku , sangaku ji-kabuki) and traveling theatre troupes (tabi-shibai). Edited by Jonah Salz. Jonah Salz. Edited by it has its limitations. — often stemming from a desire to shore up areas of neglect in earlier often stemming from a desire to shore up — many of them mentored, trained, or otherwise inspired by Brandon or otherwise inspired by trained, many of them mentored, — By Maki Isaka. Seattle: University of Washington Washington University of Seattle: By Maki Isaka.

not just rural performance traditions, but also spaces and practices where urban and rural but not just rural performance traditions,

biwa ho\shi and jo biwa kugutsu; storytelling ranging from the chanting of — The boundaries of “Japanese theatre” are stretched and reconfigured in other ways, too. A too. are stretched and reconfigured in other ways, “Japanese theatre” The boundaries of for the most part overcomes such problems. It surpasses its pre- for the most part overcomes such problems. Theatre A History of Japanese Brandon concludes his foreword with the observation that it has been more than two Brandon concludes his foreword with the and rice-planting performance; traveling entertainments including shirabyo and rice-planting performance; traveling kagura and misemono sideshows and manzai com- shibai; classical dance and avantgarde butoh; carnivalesque and postdramatic performance; and multimedia, (underground), edy duos; postwar angura revue. Takarazuka musicals to the Western-style contemporary commercial theatre from as well as , broad geographic perspective leads to the inclusion of Okinawa’s hybrid kumiodori Japanese theatre’s mutually and Indonesia. Korea, the theatre of colonial and wartime China, for instance, with sections devoted, is a recurring theme, West constructive relationship with the American to the adaptation of Shakespeare into traditional forms and early European and domestic peripheries receive their share of attention, Japan’s encounters with noh and kabuki. too ( such as regional kabuki come into contact, sections that stand in short appropriately enough, topics are explored, “marginal” Many of these (depending on length and “Interlude” or “Focus,” “Spotlight,” Titled apart from the main text. but also not only to less familiar forms of performance, these sections give space subject matter), decessor in depth and detail, in breadth and diversity of perspectives, and in its inclusion of in breadth and diversity of perspectives, decessor in depth and detail, of the vol- One key element other reference material. and up-to-date bibliographies, images, (pre)conceptions and seek an inclusive perspec- ume’s approach is to move beyond Eurocentric in Japan (xxxvii). and dramatic genres” dance, “the full range of musical, tive that encompasses readers are also intro- then, and modern theatre, In addition to the major forms of traditional , gigaku duced to the ancient continental forms of Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016; 589 pp.; illustra- 2016; 589 Press, Cambridge University Cambridge: cloth. $155.00 tions. carries forward his tireless efforts to bring the full richness and carries forward his tireless efforts to bring Theatre A History of Japanese audiences outside Japan. variety of Japanese theatre to readers and a comprehensive history of Japanese theatre in decades since the single previous effort at Theatre: Japanese this predecessor is Benito Ortolani’s Although not identified by name, English. Ortolani’s volume has served ([1990] 1995). Pluralism Shamanistic Ritual to Contemporary From of its monopoly on the market) and will surely admirably for many years (not just by virtue and diver manageably sized overview of the grand progression retain its appeal as a coherent, as well as for its self- as the work of a single scholar, Nevertheless, sity of Japanese theatre. acknowledged imbalances Press, 2016; 272 pp. $50.00 cloth, $30.00 paper. $50.00 cloth, 2016; 272 pp. Press, that Jonas Salz’s new history of Japanese It is a fitting tribute a the late James Brandon and begins with theatre is dedicated to Bringing shortly before his death in 2015. foreword he penned nearly 60 scholars of Japanese theatre from together the work of West Japan and the English-language scholarship Shimazaki. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016; 392 2016; 392 Columbia University Press, York: New Shimazaki. e-book available. cloth, $60.00 pp.; illustrations. Onnagata: A Labyrinth of Gendering in Kabuki A Labyrinth of Gendering in Kabuki Onnagata: Theater. Edo Kabuki in Transition: From the Worlds of the of the Worlds the From Transition: in Edo Kabuki Ghost. Female Vengeful to the Samurai A History of Japanese Theatre. Theatre. A History of Japanese Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021

164 Books cultural influences to topicsorthemes and timeperiodisreflectedinthevolume’sverystructure, withfourofitssix “parts” devoted simultaneity informsmuchofwhatfollows, whilethedesiretocutacrossboundariesofform kind oflivingmuseumtheatricalculture” (xxviii). This attunementtohistoricallayeringand tions builduponthelayersofpast. Brandon, forhispart, characterizesthe21stcenturyas “a (xxxiv), borrowedfromDonaldRichie(1992), tohighlightthewaysinwhichsuccessivegenera- music topedagogy, training, andgovernmentfunding. to significantindividuals, famousproductions, andtopicsrangingfromcostumingtheatre theatricality of onstage costumechanges, orofactorssteppingoutcharacter? Through these largely neglected. What oftherichtraditionactor-audience interaction? What ofthemeta- elements thatmightcontribute toanunderstandingofkabukiaspresentationaltheatreare in passing, andkabuki’s reliance onbravura, spectacle, andstagetricksisduly stressed. Yet other ter. The useoffixedpatterns(kata)andthecentralityactors themselvesaretouchedon kabuki actingas “presentational,” thiskeyconceptisscarcelyelaboratedelsewhere inthechap- understanding whatsetsitapartfromotherforms. While theveryfirstsentencecharacterizes by Mokuami.)Moreimportantly, shortshriftisgiventofeatures ofkabukithatarecentralto (It hasbeenestimatedthatoneinfourkabukiperformances the20thcenturywasofaplay the modernageandwhose360playsaccountforanoutsizeportion ofthecurrentrepertoire. most prolificplaywright, KawatakeMokuami(1816–1893), whohelpedushertheforminto thread withtheothertwobooksunderconsiderationhere. Rather, thechoiceof focusisforthesimplereasonthatitkabukiprovidescommon has doneafinejobproducingreadableoverviewofcomplex, multifacetedformoftheatre. the chapterisdeservingofparticularcriticism. Onthecontrary, itsprimaryauthor, JulieIezzi, and idiosyncrasiesthatariseinaprojectofthisnature. Itisnotmyintentiontosuggestthat Edo evenintothe1800s. cannot bedeniedthatthetheatre’sheydaylaybehindit, newplayscontinuedtobewrittenin the inclusionofawelcome, ifshort, discussionofpuppettheatreinthecityEdo. Although it written” afterChikamatsuHanjiandSugaSensuke(174)isalsopuzzling, especiallyinlightof they cametoexistintheirmodernstageversions. The assertionthat “new playsceasedtobe performed, suchtreatmentignorestheprocessesofrevivalandreconstructionthroughwhich after Chikamatsu’sdeath. Aside fromgivingafalseimpressionofhowhisplayswereoriginally Chikamatsu doreaderslearnthatthethree-manpuppetwasnotdevelopeduntil1734, adecade teers. OnlyafterproceedingthroughtheearlyhistoryofJapanesepuppetryandplays for example, isinitiallydescribedasaformofpuppetryperformedbyteamsthreepuppe- sional tendencytopresenthistoricalmaterialthroughthelensofcurrentpractice. Bunraku, Of course, abookthisambitiousisboundtoincludefewinfelicities. Oneproblemistheocca- tion andsophisticationontheonehand, andconvenientstructureaccessibilityontheother. greater depth, eachchapterincludessuggestionsforfurtherreading. pleasures ofdramatictextsandperformance. Forthosedesiringtoexploreagiventopicin afford readersopportunitiestostepoutsidethehistoricalnarrativeanddelveintoaesthetic and culturalcontexts. Subsectionstitled “Elements ofPerformance” and “Representative Plays” that islargelyhistorical, buttemperedbythematicconcernsandattentiontoreligious, social, tion oftheatricalformsfromtheeighthcenturytopresent. PartsIandIIadoptanapproach ful featurefornewcomersisatimelinechartingthedevelopment, consolidation, andpreserva- provide abroadoverviewofthemajortraditionsandtheirhistoricaldevelopment. Oneuse- In turningtothemodernandcontemporaryperiods, Salzusesthemetaphorof “strata” Let usbeginwithwhatisnotincluded. Forone, onlybriefmentionismadeofkabuki’s The chapteronkabukiaffordstheopportunitytodelvefurtherintosortsofimbalances All inall, Salzhassucceededinchoreographingadelicatebalancebetweenscholarlyinnova- For allitoffersthatisnew, ofJapanese AHistory Theatre doesnotneglectitscoremissionto — — that transcendsuchdivisions. including playwriting, architecture, connoisseurship, criticism, andcross- Books 165 - (Scarlet \ ghosts of women who died during child- to trace a fun- — — an example that reminds us of the long history of an example that reminds — in a dreamlike encounter in Yotsuya kaidan (Ghost Stories at Yotsuya \ Highway, 1825). In the second (and 1825). Highway, \ ji-derived repertoire \ kaido \ jo \ kaido \ the play’s spurned wife who is driven to her death the play’s spurned wife who is driven to her —

explores what is Transition Satoko Shimazaki’s Edo Kabuki in What is chosen for emphasis is as important as what is omitted. Puzzlingly, the chapter’s the chapter’s Puzzlingly, is omitted. as important as what for emphasis is What is chosen meaning and association beneath each element Shimazaki adroitly excavates the layers of a script Implicit in much of this analysis is the question of the playwright’s role in shaping such characters onstage prior to kabuki. such characters onstage - one identi female kabuki archetype, arguably a more significant This subtitle: the vengeful female ghost. fied in the book’s very around Nanboku’s rich and stimulating monograph centers To most famous play, To on the Yotsuya largest) of the volume’s three parts, Shimazaki uses the charac- largest) of the volume’s three parts, ter of Oiwa vindictive ghost and reemerges as a gruesome, ward representation. kabuki as one of two key “superhero”) the (along with fatale” “femme out the subtitle singles “femme where the phrase in the body text, is not elaborated Although this choice archetypes. bunsho azuma Nanboku’s Sakura-hime Tsuruya of the selection appears, nowhere fatale” points to Princess Sakura plays” “representative as one of the chapter’s 1817) Princess of Edo, is more sexual however, Sakura, as the presumed exemplar. heroine, the play’s (Sakura-hime), through circumstance at the play’s and is only pushed into the latter role victim than seductress, more common female character to insist on the femme fatale over other If we are very end. a more apt example might be Kiyo- wife or the love-struck courtesan, such as the dutiful types, hime in kabuki’s Do of the female body damental transformation in the imagination briefly assumes the Although Oiwa’s ghost on the kabuki stage. role of the seductive femme fatale she is by and large the opposite of the erot- the play’s final act, scene in which she the famous Indeed, ically charged female. a grotesque grooms herself in front of her mirror constitutes eroticism. parody of what is usually a moment of heightened the hair rips from her scalp in Black dye smears across her lips, and blood streams through her fingers. large clumps, mandalas and legends were filled with Into the Edo period (1600–1868), of Nanboku’s vision. Gradually, and resentment. jealousy, through lust, images of women transformed into serpents the In some sense, to the figure of the vengeful female ghost. the serpent gave way however, Nanboku chose to Yet less obvious. retention of human form made female transformation female-role specialists but to not to onnagata assign the parts of Oiwa and others like her any hint of the eroticism and physical appeal of he avoided In so doing, actors of male roles. Internal emo- of unrelenting ugliness and abjection. presenting instead a vision the onnagata, Nanboku further modeled aspects tion remained very much bound up in the visible exterior. of Oiwa’s appearance on the figure of the ubume selfless fig- ubume had tended to portray them as noble, Earlier onstage depictions of the birth. Nanboku unmoored the ubume from these ures who die that their lineages might be preserved. and this emphasis of personal desire over not selfless, His female ghosts are selfish, associations. a key part of what allowed Nanboku to escape the grasp Shimazaki argues, social obligation was, of conventional historical settings and build a theatre grounded in the present. of what exactly constitutes a kabuki play in the more fundamentally, and its production and, Only in the Meiji Shimazaki grapples with these questions directly. In Parts I and III, first place. a play’s Western notions of the script as constituting of under the influence period (1868–1912), The of authority shift from actors to the playwright. do we see the location literary essence, and other conventions, kabuki continually foregrounds its theatricality and subverts straightfor its theatricality continually foregrounds kabuki conventions, and other Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021

166 Books this tensioniskeytounderstandingtheaestheticoffemale-likeness(2005). arguing thatspectatorsarealwaysfullyawareofthemalebodybeneathsurface, andthat others, likeKatherineMezur, haveresistedsuchclaimsofatranscendentfeminineessence, achieve preciselybecauseofhisrelianceonabstraction, convention, anddistillation. Bycontrast, ist infemalerolesisseentocreatesomethingmorefemininethanabiologicalwomancould ideal womancanbeexpressedonlybyanactor” (1956:195). Inotherwords, themalespecial- exploitation ofherphysicalcharacteristics, andthereforenotexpressthesyntheticideal. The appear onthestageshecouldnotexpressidealfemininebeauty, forshewouldrelyonlyonthe (1673–1729), thatappearsinEarleErnst’sformativestudyofkabuki: “If anactresswereto view isencapsulatedbyanoften-citedpassage, attributedtotheonnagata Yoshizawa Ayame books consideredhere. Conventionalaccountsoftheonnagatatendtofallintotwocamps. One attracting greaterattentionthanintheartofonnagata, thesubjectoflastthree than inactorsandtheirembodiedpractices. wright producingnotafinishedproduct, butaprovisionaledifice. Meaninglaylessinthetext period, playswerefluidthingsthatevolvedfromperformancetoperformance, withtheplay- vision ofkabukiscriptsasrigidandinviolableisamoderncreation. Through muchoftheEdo around theonnagata, cal. The choiceofsourcesisafurtherlimitingfactor. Optingtofocusondiscoursesaboutand For theseandotherreasons, thebookstrugglestomove beyondthehypotheticalandpolemi- ject ofa “Focus” sectioninSalz’shistory to thesubject, andwhyisKumehachi it, centraltoanunderstandingofonnagata actors. Ifrecognitionofthemodern “abjection” ofthefemale onnagatais, asIsakawouldhave mary sourcetowhichitisattributed(seeErnst1956:195). Donald KeeneandatleastoneJapanesecritic interviews, nothowitexisted inspecificinstancesorvisualrepresentations. Theproblem, gata was “understood, conceptualized, andtheorized” (15)inactors’writings, criticism, and away fromthediscussionofindividual performances. The aimistounderstandhowtheonna - of (xiii).‘naturalness’” Sureenough, thevolume includesnotasingleimage. Isakaalsoshies would havedemandedsubstantial argumentsothatwewouldnotbemisledbyourownsense rationale beingthat “the grammar oftheimages(suchaspaintingwithnovanishingpoint) Of course, thetransmissionofpracticeremainscentraltokabukitoday, perhapsnowhere Still, therealityremainsthathistoryofonnagata Isaka intentionallyavoidsreferencetovisualdepictions, the­ ­example enduring misperceptions. Ernst’squotationfrom Ayame, for tion offemininityleadtoimportantinsightsandcorrections ical ruminationsonthemeaningofimitationandconstruc- “female male andfemaleroles, ispresentedasareal-lifeexampleof Ichikawa KumehachiI(1847–1913), whoperformedboth well astheirshort-livedMeijisuccessors, femalekabukiactors. privately forwealthysamuraipatronsintheEdoperiod of theokyo tions. Notsurprisingly, achapterisdevotedtothephenomenon construct analternativeunderstandingleadsinvariousdirec- Isaka asks, whymustitresideonlyinmaleactors? The effortto ininity isalreadyanabstractiondivorcedfrombiologicalsex, atively setsouttochallengethisassumption. Ifonnagatafem- Onnagata: A Labyrinth ofGenderinginKabuki Theater provoc- gata performanceistheexclusiveprovinceofmen. MakiIsaka’s Implicit inbothviews, however, istheassumptionthatonna- — onnagata.” Hereandelsewhere inthevolume, theoret - — a relativelywell-knownfigurewhoisalsothesub- — \ genshi subsequently reproducedbymanyothers, including femininity, thenwhyisonlyasinglechapterdevoted the onlysignificantexamplethatcanbemustered? — — turns outtobecompletelyabsentinthepri- women whotaughtandperformedkabuki is, byandlarge, ahistoryofmale unpersuasive — as Books 167 - - theatre considerable William D. Fleming Fleming D. William —

not atypical of the volume’s —

“Moving Real on Procrustean Beds”) that, however thought-provoking they may “Moving Real on Procrustean Beds”) that, — not just Japan specialists or theatre scholars, but also those with interests in social and but also those with interests in social not just Japan specialists or theatre scholars,

—

Palgrave Macmillan. Press. Princeton: Princeton University ed. CA: Stone Bridge Press. Berkeley, 133–38. Japan, Contemporary Reservations aside, Isaka’s book, like the others considered here, points to the ­ points to the others considered here, like the Isaka’s book, Reservations aside, There are other puzzling choices of emphasis. The book’s introduction positions kabuki book’s introduction The of emphasis. other puzzling choices There are TDR: The Drama Review 62:2 (T238) Summer 2018. ©2018 2018. Summer (T238) 62:2 Review Drama The TDR: Technology of Institute Massachusetts the and University York New William D. Fleming is Assistant Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies at the at the Studies Asian Languages and Cultural of East is Assistant Professor D. Fleming William of the early modern literature focuses on Japanese research His Barbara. of California, Santa University period. [email protected] References Grove Press. York: The New 1956. . Kabuki Theatre Earle. Ernst, New York: . Beautiful Boys/Outlaw Bodies: Devising Kabuki Female-Likeness 2005. Katherine. Mezur, . Rev. Pluralism Ritual to Contemporary Shamanistic From Theatre: The Japanese (1990) 1995. Benito. Ortolani, and Style in on Culture Essays View: In A Lateral Drama.” “The Strata of Japanese 1992. Donald. Richie, be, ultimately lead nowhere in particular where the central argument is concerned. be, as “queer” theatre, both in terms of gender and in the literal etymology of the word “kabuki” “kabuki” of the word in the literal etymology terms of gender and both in theatre, “queer” as more but also suggesting, “to lean,” meaning literally the verb kabuku, (which derives from there is little fur Yet from accepted norms of dress and behavior). a departure abstractly, of kabuki’s early history that of meaning in the short account ther attempt at the excavation - of early women’s kabuki are men The cross-gender performances appears a few pages later. Surely a vol- (in an endnote). while the name Okuni appears just once tioned only in passing, would benefit from greater the gender dynamics of the onnagata ume that aims to complicate of constructed feminin- historical layers that underlie the emergence engagement with the is not an archaeological its subtitle, per the central metaphor of the volume, Then again, ity. Where an archaeologi- the labyrinth. but rather or the palimpsest, strata, one such as layering, as layers are cut through or the expectation of methodical progress, cal metaphor might foster and cir mis-starts, one of dead-ends, labyrinth suggests a different trajectory: the peeled away, devoted portions of the book (such as the sixth chapter, there are large Indeed, cuitous detours. inscrutable subtitle and featuring the “human locomotion” to prose style however, is that Isaka’s preferred sources do not exist in a vacuum of pure abstraction. Rather, Rather, vacuum of pure abstraction. do not exist in a preferred sources is that Isaka’s however, As their performances. individual actors and constant reference to they make like Isaka herself, with entire bodies by the refusal to engage and much to be lost is little to be gained there such, of material. cultural history, religious studies, and gender studies. They will also lend themselves, whether in They will also lend themselves, and gender studies. religious studies, cultural history, to adoption in undergraduate surveys of Japanese theatre. part or in whole, breadth and theoretical sophistication of current scholarly engagement with Japanese ­ breadth and theoretical sophistication of swaths of all three volumes will be of interest to broad In their different ways, West. in the ­readers Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021

168 Books about sound under PierreSchaeffer, musique concrète, andacousmatics. What informshisbroadmusings before settlingonthatwhichinformedhisworkfromthebeginning ofhiscareer:tutelage readers onajourneyinwhichheexploresmultitudinousframeworks fortheorizingsound Organized intofiveparts, eachofwhichiscomprised of severalthematicessays, Chiontakes lost are atoncepartialandparadoxical. Sound, hedeclares, is “often associatedwithsomething against “general” and “abstract” qualitiesofsound, insteadrecognizingthatsonicexperiences what isconstitutedbyandthroughtheperceptionofacoustic phenomena. Chionpushesback English byJames A. Steintragerin2016, thissetofintertextualessaysisabroadexploration teaus ofsound. OriginallypublishedinFrench1998, revisedin2010, andtranslatedinto does gesturetohisextensiveworkoncinema), butpressesonwardtocoverthesweepingpla- media. InSound:AnAcoulogicalTreatise, hegenerallydoesnotrehearsethisdebate(though ment thatthecinematicexperiencedependsmoreoneffectsofaudioperceptionthanvisual aesthetic praxisandembodiedcommunicative processes. engage withsonicphenomenainwaysthatwillundoubtedlyenrichthefield’sdebatesabout role ofaurality, listening, andhearinginshapingrelationsbetweenselfsociety. These books and relatedembodiedmodalitiesofself-presentation, lessattentionhasbeendedicatedtothe and selfhood. While performancestudieshashistoricallytendedtofocusonorality, movement, the-world thatsetfortharichandcomplexterrainforfutureeffortsintheorizingembodiment ingly differentapproachestolistening, eachofthesestudiespresentssonicwaysbeing-in- of perceptionthatshapestheexperienceandobjecthoodsound. Though theytakestrik- review areamajorstepforwardinthisdirection. Bothpivotaroundlisteningasasensorymode both integrateandchallengeourunderstandingofaurality. The twobooksaddressedinthis “history ofthesenses,” andtooffernewwaysofknowingperceivinglifeworldsinthat logy thatrelatestobutisdistinct fromthesefields. Morespecifically, inbothchapters oneand in literarytheory, (post)structural linguistictheory, andfilmtheory to carveaspaceforacou- ence thataccountsforlistening andlisteners. The firstfourpartsofhisopusrehearse debates poser. Chionalsobringshislifelongexperienceasa pedagoguetobearonSound. rary composition, Chion’sforaysintofilmwereinformed byhisworkasarecordistandcom- established composerofmusiqueconcrète, theforerunner ofelectronicmusicandcontempo- Michel Chionishighlyregardedforhislifelongworkinfilmstudies, inparticular, hisargu- This workisatheartaneffort to mapout “acoulogy” asadomainofauditoryexperi - — with somethingthatfailsatthesametimeitiscaptured, andyetisalwaysthere” (3). — and itstranslationintoverse, drama, cinematicdesign, andmusic ena asavitaldimensionofsensorystudiesinordertorevisethe teme ofEnlightenmentculture. Scholarsframesonicphenom- on soundinparttodestabilizeandcomplicatethevisualepis- tique, amongotherapproaches, thismultifacetedfieldfocuses Vivified byculturalhistories, ethnographies, andaestheticcri- studies hasincreasinglyforegroundedthematerialityofsound. Cultural OriginsofSoundReproduction(2003), thefieldofsound Past:Since thepublicationofJonathanSterne’sTheAudible cloth, $24.95paper, e-bookavailable. NC: DukeUniversityPress, 2015;288pp.;illustrations. $89.95 Vibrational Practice. Sensing Sound:SingingandListeningas Sound: AnAcoulogical Treatise. paper, e-bookavailable. sity Press, 2016;312pp.;illustrations. $94.95cloth, $25.95 Translated byJames A. Steintrager. Durham, NC:DukeUniver By NinaSunEidsheim. Durham, By MichelChion. — is praxis. An - Books 169 - -

In addition to addressing discursive and ontological debates on sound, Chion is interested in sound, discursive and ontological debates on In addition to addressing Chion promotes Schaeffer’s expressing,” “listening, titled In the closing part of his treatise, of lis- For those familiar with his schematic modes Chion’s opus is itself a delight to read. bal linguistic idioms that communicate semantic meaning, and embodied sounds that we tend sounds that we tend and embodied semantic meaning, idioms that communicate bal linguistic a “language’s remainder, is sound In his words, of language. because they are outside not to hear (15). noise” zone that we call that so-called shapeless shaped by music and remainder calls he draws our attention to what he In particular, sound engenders. the affective zones that in which The Shining (1980), to a scene in Stanley Kubrick’s a reference the “Shining effect,” As the floor and then on a rug. first on a hardwood down the hallway, Danny rides his tricycle “delight of rediscov- the the listener experiences with different surfaces, tricycle makes contact The (97). sound and cause” between action and effect, ering systematic noncorrespondences the purported origins of that is, to the causal properties of sound, relationship of the listener the “banal,” Though loop.” “ergo-auditory undergirds what Chion terms an that which is heard, sonic phenomena is central through listening to distinctions between shift in perspective gained between cause and The fact that we are delighted by noncorrespondences to Chion’s treatise. Chion demystifies Here, (11). “egocentric and centripetal” itself is effect suggests that audition the listening sub- he argues, Rather, center of sound. that a listener can be at the “fantasy” the in or that which is heard, “auditum,” what he terms the ject emerges through how one perceives This process of localizing sound tends of that sound. relation to what we project as the source “do not even though these two localizations audition, to occur both through sight and through or , acousmêtre it is a short step into his well-known theory of the From here, (25). always match” and body in which there is a productive contradiction the cinematic relationship between voice condi- a contradiction that fundamentally sound, between the framed image and the unframed tions the cinematic experience. to the albeit imperfect, methodological solution, acousmatic listening as the theoretical and out by laid “morphological criterion” Chion details the issue of what is perceived as sound. sep- observations of the sound object in and of itself, Schaeffer through which a listener records that this He distances himself from Schaeffer’s methodology by arguing arated from its source. “the apparent and for how of sound across space, theory fails to account for the reverberations experience. (185) might affect the listening source” distance from the real or imaginary sound both ideal- Chion argues that Schaeffer a sound, about “constant” By privileging that which is (186). space” “outside of which is “of good form” izes and naturalizes the sound object as that is indetermi- (193) “sound as perceived” Chion argues that Rather than reify the sound object, that which is a medium for listening and how listening is The terrain of acoulogy explores nate. a site for epistemological inquiry. and surrounds he both touches upon these and reduced), semantic, figurative, tening (causal, He not only them with an abundance of texts and critical readings that extend their efficacy. articulates the effects of sonic experiences in every- he attests to the constructivism of sound, sound with- His writing miraculously foregrounds art. Western day life as well as the canon of he provides clarity through schematic Organizationally, out fixating upon its objecthood. has gener listings of key points throughout the essays and a helpful glossary of terms that he My main critique of Sound lies in the question of what exactly does ated throughout his career. mediate? In what ways does writing about sound perform acou- as a piece of writing, his work, and how to deconstruct the logy? Chion provides extensive examples of the effects of listening, but does not engage representation of sound within written texts and as cinematic experience, captures and loses the to recapitulate with his words, with the act of writing as an effort that, sonic experience. four, Chion traces the use of sound in language from prelinguistic infancy to the acquisition of infancy to the language from prelinguistic the use of sound in Chion traces four, “transforms which of the voice” “scotomization as the a process that he disparages ­language, we perceive as ver a gap between what he identifies hears himself”how the subject Here, (15). Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021

170 Books techniques thatdistractthemfromthedesiretocorrectorjudge thesoundstheyproduce. developed avocalpedagogyinwhichstudentsdiscovervocality throughplayandmovement sound-focused musicalpracticeinherdecades-longworkasa vocalteacher. To thisend, shehas Alba Feranda Triana). Shealsoadvocatesforsingingasanaction-basedprocessratherthana Clothes (2000, collaborationwithElodieBlanchard)and Body (2012, Music collaborationwith sound isaconsequenceofmovementthroughherworkasperformer inworksincludingNoisy akin toreducingpaintingvisualtracesoncanvas. Eidsheim arrivesatthepropositionthat a soundisproducedfromsingingbody. To reducesingingtotimbrallydistinctsoundsis vas, Eidsheimdemonstratesthatsingingisan “action thatproducessound” (130)evenbefore ing, inwhichtheworkofartincludeswhathappenspriortoarrivalpaintoncan- and vocalizedsounds, respectively. DrawingextensivelyonJacksonPollock’sactionpaint- that bringhumansintoethicalrelationswith “intermaterial vibrationalphenomena” (151). in andofthemselves, topostulatethatactsofvibrationtransmitandtransducematerialinways performance space. Overall, hertheoryfocusesonthatwhichvibrates, asopposedtovibrations soriality ofsonicexperience, italsoatteststotheroleofaudiencesasresonatingbodiesin nomena conductedthroughboneandflesh. Thisinsightnotonlydemonstratesthemultisen- under conditionsofwatersubmersion, sound-basedvibrationsareexperiencedastactilephe- Juliana Snapper’sunderwateropera, You Who Will Emerge from(2008), theFlood andfindsthat ing themtogetherintoherbroadertheoryofvibrationalpractice. Forinstance, sheexamines tal musicandsoundartineachchapterthatthemselvesexplorethesecomponents, andweav- these axiomsthroughoutthenarrativearcofbook, examiningcasestudiesinexperimen- tions; andmusic-makingcomprisesmorethantheproductionofsound. Sheaddresseseachof acoustics arenotnecessarilyexperiencedasfrontal, two-dimensional, andstaticspatialcondi- key componentsofthefiguresound:airisnotonlyelementthatpropagatesvibrations; experience. Though Odysseus heardonlytheSirens’silence, hebelievedthat he heardmore flesh ofthesailorswouldhave conductedtactilevibrationsandproducedacollectivelistening that theSirensweresilentrather thansongful. IftheSirenshadsung, sheposits, theboneand Odysseus andtheSirens. FollowingFranzKafka’srereadingofthemyth, Eidsheim postulates event. This perspective, anditsimplications, isbestmappedoutwhensherevisits themythof interactions withvibratoryphenomena, thatis, tothickenthecomplexexperience ofthesound Eidsheim suggeststhatweexpandourinterpretativeframeworks toincludemultisensorial of the “thick event” oflistening. Ratherthan hearingtheproverbialtreefallinforest, Eidsheim’s vibrationaltheoryofsingingandlisteningpivotsaround her­ Later chaptersconsidertheroleofembodiedactionsinproducingmusicalwork emphasis onsound’sobjecthood. ity ofsonicphenomena, herworkstandsincontrasttoChion’s event. Byengagingwithboththeephemeralityandmaterial- receive vibrations poses thatweconsiderthematerialityofsoundthroughsonic experience asalways-alreadysignified. Rather, Eidsheimpro- art musicasrestrictedandfixednotionsthatconstrainsonic duration, form, genre, andotherconceptsgermaneto Western tropes thatconstitutemusicalexperience. Eidsheimcastspitch, concept thatshecallsthe “figure ofsound,” inshort, thesonic approach tosound-makingandlistening. Sheaimstounpacka of ­publication ory (publishedinvariousessayspriortotheEnglish-language Practice, NinaSunEidsheimcriticallyexpandsonChion’sthe- Much ofSensingSoundiscommittedtodenaturalizingthree In Sensing Sound:SingingandListeningas Vibrational — in ordertodecouplethesonicobjectfrom — unbounded, yetsituatedbybodiesthatproduceand Sound) to formulateherownmultisensorial reinterpretation Books 171 -

Shayna — Shayna Silverstein

University Press. The ethical motivations that guide Eidsheim’s project are admirable, if lofty. She seeks to She seeks if lofty. are admirable, Eidsheim’s project motivations that guide The ethical constructivism of sound and identify gaps between both authors attest to the Ultimately, TDR: The Drama Review 62:2 (T238) Summer 2018. ©2018 2018. Summer (T238) 62:2 Review Drama The TDR: New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology of Institute Massachusetts the and University York New Shayna Silverstein is Assistant Professor of Performance Studies at Northwestern University. Her research research Her University. at Northwestern Studies of Performance is Assistant Professor Silverstein Shayna draws on performance ethnography and critical social theory to examine the intersection of sound and shayna.silverstein East. focus on the Middle as modalities of performance, with a regional movement Reference NC: Duke Durham, Origins of Sound Reproduction. Cultural Past: Audible The 2003. Jonathan. Sterne, @northwestern.edu ing. Singing and listening, therefore, are means for relating to other bodies that participate in bodies that participate for relating to other are means therefore, and listening, Singing ing. of complex sonic phenomena. the experience that constitutes event” “thick the depart from in so doing, and, “a priori identifications” from their emancipate sonic experiences Acknowledging but means. signification that tend to shape what sound the world of signs and by particularly those espoused critical discourses of race and gender, distancing herself from “porous and unbounded for a she aspires respectively, Esteban Muñoz, Stuart Hall and José Her (185). and its ramifications” and thus released from identification unattached to place, and culture in favor of sociality, practice eschews debates on sound, vibrational theory of we are like land, but, “are under our stewardship,” pleads, she “Vibrations,” political ecology. The (22). of transmission” as long as we are part of [its] field “entrusted with its stewardship against in Sound, he regales, is somewhat captured by Chion when fallacy of these aspirations against considering sound He warns “vibratory phenomena.” those who would mythologize - of a music with loftier, another vibratory reality that would be much “representative of as Therein (124). of a voice without a voice and beyond voices” out sound and beyond sounds, to define its object(s) of study and the signifi- lies part of the tension within sound studies at this is a productive tension that, Like performance studies, cance of its line(s) of critique. as the primary shuffles between objecthood and eventhood least between Chion and Eidsheim, object of inquiry. and structures. relations, to social conventions, what listeners do and do not perceive in relation the emergent status of the field in that both proj- Their work is in some ways indicative of their attempts to position sound as that that is, ambit, ects are quite strident in their theoretical ambitious proj- what weakens their Yet critical theory. which unsettles axiomatic frameworks of fail Both Chion and Eidsheim respective approaches. ects is the universalism inherent to their beyond the Enlightenment self that they seek to cri- and relating, to account for ways of being, positioning their projects in relation to scholars whose work acknowledges the Without tique. as a Chion and Eidsheim reproduce the false notion of selfhood range of human experiences, these two books offer exciting new theoretical pathways Together, universalizable phenomenon. and creating. thinking, being, that open our sensibilities to sonic ways of because he was caught in the sonic paradigm in which sound is only experienced as hearing. as hearing. sound is only experienced paradigm in which was caught in the sonic because he might miss about sonic what we as scholars is a metaphor for that this myth Eidsheim contends other than hear we fail to consider senses effects if and when and its performative experience Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021

172 Books visual arts. pedagogy makesitusefulforstudents, teachers, andpractitionersoftheatre, performance, and might birthnewrealities. This book’ssynthesisoftheory, performanceanalysis, andartistic cations, andpropositionsforwriting, staging, anddesigningexperienceshappeningsthat divide betweenhumansandnonhumans. Chaptersendwithunique “scores”: prompts, provo- and mixedrealities, questionednotionsoforiginalityandartisticautonomy, andmovedpastthe of categorizationandinterpretation; “The Digital Turn,” wheretheyembracedmultiple where shiftingunderstandingsofidentity, difference, andthebodyhelpedthemresistmodes searched fornewtechniquesandformsofaestheticauthenticity; “The Deconstructive Turn,” ical frameworkdivideshercenturyintothreemovements: “The Dynamic Turn,” whereartists Futurism andDadaism, actionpainting, femininewriting, and(h)activism. Lushetich’stheoret- tive realities(8). Shefocusesonadiverseseriesofexamplesbetween1910and2010, including ary performancesasplacestorefiguresociallyconstitutedrealityandinitiatenewalterna- Writing for “practitioners andpracticaltheorists,” NatashaLushetichproposesinterdisciplin- London: Palgrave, 2016;296pp.;illustrations. $105.00cloth, $36.99paper, e-bookavailable. His fourmemorablecasestudies includeMunich’sCuvilliés-Theater, whichwasmiraculously atre scholarstoconsiderandreemphasize nonhumanandoverlookedtheatricalphenomena. théâtre àl’italienne(or “Italianate stage”), arguing thatthepersistenceofspacesinvites- Augusto Corrieridemandsacritical considerationofdormant, repurposed, andsurviving illustrations. $94.00cloth, e-book available. Interdisciplinary Performance:Interdisciplinary Reality. Reformatting More Books Happening. In PlaceofaShow: What HappensInside Theatres When Nothing Is make thisbookusefultoawiderangeoftheatreandperformance studiesscholars. duction ofFilipinoanthropologists, sociologists, andhistorians toanEnglish-speakingaudience tics andhopeinthePhilippinesthroughartisticmeans. Peterson’syearsoffieldworkandintro- activist MaePanerandhersatiricalcharacter “Juana Change” asamodelforprogressivepoli- movement. The concludinganalysisproposesPeople’s Educational Theatre Association (PETA) ing streetfestivalsarguethatindividualsconstructnotionsof self andnationthroughphysical central oneintheirliveseveryyear?” (7). The nextthreechaptersonmassivelinedancesdur up weeksorevenmonthsofproductivelaborandplacethisactivityasthemostimportant ticipation, wondering “What rewardsaresogreatastomaketheparticipantsinthiseventgive sinakulos, orHoly Week pageantplays, exploreregionalparticularitiesandexperiencesofpar but alsointernalandpsychologicalforaudiencesperformersalike. Three chaptersonthe oretical treatmentsofhappinessandarguesthatthe “places” ofhistitlearenotjustphysical, identities andfulfilltheirneedforhappiness. Theintroductorychaptertracksmetricsandthe- positions community-basedperformancesasacentralcomponentofhowFilipinosconstruct Engaging withlocal, national, anddiasporicculturaltheatricaltraditions, William Peterson $59.00 cloth, $28.00paper, e-bookavailable. By William Peterson. Honolulu:University ofHawai‘iPress, 2016;263pp.;illustrations. Places forHappiness:Community, Self, andPerformance inthePhilippines. By Augusto Corrieri. London:BloomsburyMethuenDrama, 2016;208pp.; By NatashaLushetich. - - Books 173

By Joseph Anderton. By Anderton. Joseph Translated and edited by Sheldon Translated (1957), for Anderton, devalues language and reason and returns Anderton, for (1957),

Beckett’s Creatures: Art of Failure After the Holocaust. After the Holocaust. Art of Failure Creatures: Beckett’s Sheldon Pollock assembles prominent Indian texts on aesthetic theory, playwriting, poetry, poetry, playwriting, theory, prominent Indian texts on aesthetic Sheldon Pollock assembles into English for the first time. many of them rendered 15 centuries, and dramaturgy spanning the collection moves chronologically from the , on Drama Beginning with Bharata’s Treatise Pollock draws In his thorough critical introduction, third century to the Early Modern Period. detailed history offering a aesthetic theory, Western connections between Sanskrit scholars and Though it is most commonly as a concept. “rasa” of the ways many writers have deployed chooses not to render the Sanskrit word in his translations, Pollock wisely “taste,” translated as with a detailed Complete ways each author invokes it. allowing readers to consider the various scholars into Western Pollock’s volume invites notes, glossary of Sanskrit terms and extensive drama and beginning with texts focused on the world of classical Indian aesthetic thought, and architecture. painting, music, poetry and expanding into the fields of A Rasa Reader: Classical Indian Aesthetics. Aesthetics. Indian A Rasa Reader: Classical disassembled, hidden, and reconstructed to avoid Allied bombing runs; London’s Dalston London’s Dalston Allied bombing runs; to avoid and reconstructed hidden, ­disassembled, rave club and auction house, automobile venue, reggae as a cinema, refigured variously Theatre, tourist attrac- a museum and Olympico, Teatro Vincenza’s demolished in 2007; before it was built when the Amazonas, Teatro Manaus’s amphitheater; and an indoor Roman tion featuring 3,000 had less than three million residents, which now has over Brazilian city, contemporary the- philosophy, instances of performance seamlessly through writing moves Corrieri’s people. perspective and methodology offer His unique and travel blogging. analysis, visual atre history, of recent site-based and immersive and scholarship theory, history, new connections between theatre practices. Pollock. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016; 472 pp. $80.00 cloth, $35.00 paper, $35.00 paper, $80.00 cloth, 2016; 472 pp. Columbia University Press, York: New Pollock. e-book available. attention to the bodies of his creatures. Finally, Anderton explores the possibility of survival for Finally, attention to the bodies of his creatures. themselves Beckett’s creatures in the posthuman world: the stasis and repetition they find are useless performances of dead human structures. London: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2016; 264 pp. $114.00 cloth, e-book available. e-book $114.00 cloth, 2016; 264 pp. London: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, life and work where understandings of human- Focusing on the moment in Samuel Beckett’s and cen- this study considers the narrators down, ity and human relationships began to break inhumanity trapped between humanity and tral characters in his plays and prose as creatures, Anderton Joseph In his introduction, of survival. and forced to endure the existential crisis theorizations and literary theory, criticism, tracks and interconnects the histories of Beckett themes Four chapters are devoted to major II concept. War of the creature as a post–World Anderton sees Beckett’s creaturely and survival. humor, power, in Beckett’s work: testimony, argu- Auschwitz, of witnessing in the aftermath of as vehicles of a new form author-narrators for Godot (1953) in in Waiting Power, (31). of testimony” “fiction itself figures as a mode ing that inevitably backfires for the supposedly dominant creature in Beckett: by making his particular, master highlights his own dependence upon the servant. the partner subservient and subhuman, Beckett’s humor in Endgame Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00761 by guest on 29 September 2021

174 Books 1616: Shakespeare and Tang Xianzu’sChina. New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology TDR: The Drama Review 62:2 (T238) Summer 2018. ©2018 theatre [email protected] University. His research American andimmersive site-specific,ambulatory, centers oncontemporary Theater/MoscowRepertory TheaterSchoolArt Institutefor Advanced Theater TrainingatHarvard Theatre Management fromArts American from the University andanMFAAmerican inDramaturgy Sean isadoctoralcandidateinTheatre Bartley Studies at Florida State University. He holdsaBAin Shapiro’s approaches Shakespearebylookingatoneparticularturningpoint, muchinthestyleofJames tributes tothelimitedEnglish-languagescholarshipon Tang andMingDynastydrama and theirculturalcontextsoffersauniquemethodologythatothersmightfollow. 1616con- plays. The dialoguecreatedbetweentheessaysilluminatesbothShakespeare’sand Tang’s plays restaging ofhistoryintheplaywrights’work, andaudiences’contemporaneousreceptionofthe nections onacommontheme, includingtherelationshipbetweenstateandtheatre, the each writerexploresonlyShakespeareor Tang, thesetsofessaysinvitereadertomakecon- tualizing theplaywrights’worksas400thanniversaryoftheirdeathsapproached. Although dynasty. This editedcollectionprints10pairsofessaysfroma2014Londonconferencecontex- of BenJonson’sfirstfolioeditionandZangMaoxun’scollectionplaysfromthe Yuan The year1616sawthedeathsofShakespeareand Tang Xianzuaswellthepublications illustrations. $114.00cloth, $29.95paper, e-bookavailable. Edmondson, andShih-Pe Wang. London:Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare, 2016;352pp.; 1599: A Year intheLifeof William Shakespeare.

Edited by Tian YuanEdited Tan,Paul en Bartley —Sean