{"product_id":"howard-barker-plays-two-paperback","title":"Howard Barker: Plays Two - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eHoward Barker\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIncludes the plays The Castle, Gertrude - The Cry, Animals in Paradise and 13 Objects.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHoward Barker is one of the most significant and controversial dramatists of his time. His plays challenge, unsettle and expose. The plays in this volume examine collisions of culture, gender and creed at moments of turmoil, developing the tragic form Barker defines as Theatre of Catastrophe. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Castle \u003c\/b\u003eis set at the end of Crusades and describes the clashes that occur when returning soldiers bring an Arab architect home with them as a prisoner. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBarker's abiding interest in interrogating the great classics for their 'silences' is shown in \u003cb\u003eGertrude - The Cry\u003c\/b\u003e, his re-writing of the Hamlet story. Scarcely examined in Shakespeare, the passion of Gertrude for Claudius is made the centre of this harrowing tragedy, casting new light on the personality of Hamlet himself. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eAnimals in Paradise\u003c\/b\u003e was commissioned by the Swedish and Danish governments to celebrate their connection by bridge, a symbolic finish to centuries of antagonism. Barker's unexpected treatment of the theme provoked unrest on its first showing. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e13 Objects\u003c\/b\u003e movingly reveals the investment we make in inanimate things, their power to unsettle us, and how their talismanic qualities license new ways of seeing the world.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eHoward Barker is an internationally renowned dramatist, whose first plays were performed at the Royal Court and by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Since 1992 his work has been presented by his own company The Wrestling School. Barker's theatre is characterized by its poetic, non-naturalistic form and inhabits worlds of contradiction, suffering and sexual passion. Barker is also a poet and theorist of theatre, whose 'Theatre of Catastrophe' defines a new form of tragedy for our times.\u003c\/p\u003e\n        \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 336\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.73 x 8.32 x 5.22 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 01, 2006\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42741919383615,"sku":"9781840026481","price":43.66,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0105\/8226\/1823\/files\/a08d3f25c68f3dac6118055afc06184c.webp?v=1765162184","url":"https:\/\/dhlswag.com\/products\/howard-barker-plays-two-paperback","provider":"BBB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}