Imagined Theatres

Imagined Theatres collects theoretical dramas written by some of the leading scholars and artists of the contemporary stage. These dialogues, prose poems, and microfictions describe imaginary performance events that explore what might be possible and impossible in the theatre. Each scenario is mirrored by a brief accompanying reflection, asking what they might mean for our thinking about the theatre.

Daniel Sack is Assistant Professor of English and Commonwealth Honors College at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

Introduction Imagined Theatres 137 Titles (I) Tim Etchells Gloss: Tim Etchells 137 Titles (II) Tim Etchells Gloss: Tim Etchells 137 Titles (III) Tim Etchells Gloss: Tim Etchells After Dinner Julia Jarcho Gloss: Julia Jarcho "All the world's a..." Baz Kershaw Gloss: Baz Kershaw Ancestor Call-Guerrero Cherríe L. Moraga Gloss: Brian Eugenio Herrera Ancestor Call-Malinche Cherríe L. Moraga Gloss: Helen Paris Anecdote of the Stage (after Stevens) John F. Muse Gloss: John F. Muse Animal Friendship: A Docudrama Minou Arjomand Gloss: Broderick D.V. Chow The Art of Forgetting Daniel Sack Gloss: Daniel Sack Astigmatisms Isaiah Matthew Wooden Gloss: Natalie Alvarez Candle Tears Meiling Cheng Gloss: Meiling Cheng Casting, Four Ways Brian Eugenio Herrera Gloss: Brian Eugenio Herrera A Chinese Actor's Late Style Broderick D.V. Chow Gloss: Broderick D.V. Chow Cities of Refuge Dominika Laster Gloss: Yelena Gluzman The Classroom Lin Hixson Gloss: Matthew Goulish Clockfire Jonathan Ball Gloss: Jonathan Ball , Colon;zations and Exclamations!: A Set Piece Staged for the Page Jennifer DeVere Brody Gloss: Jennifer DeVere Brody The Copper Thieves Irma Mayorga Gloss: Irma Mayorga Court Theatre Petra Kuppers Gloss: VK Preston Crow Takes Hat Erik Ehn Gloss: Irma Mayorga Crowds with the Shape of Reason Missing Alan Read Gloss: Alan Read Dance for Baghdad Pavol Liska Gloss: Nicholas Ridout dat Black Mermaid Man Lady/Home Sharon Bridgforth Gloss: Nia Witherspoon Dealing W.B. Worthen Gloss: Aaron C. Thomas Disappearing Act Fintan Walsh Gloss: Aaron C. Thomas A Displacement Patrick Anderson Gloss: Rajni Shah Dreams on Screen Rachel Joseph Gloss: Rachel Joseph Earthly Joe Kelleher Gloss: Joe Kelleher Eavesdropping in on a Cyclical Conversation Carl Hancock Rux Gloss: Jennifer DeVere Brody Enema of the People Stephen Bottoms Gloss: Stephen Bottoms esprit de corps Kimberly Jannarone Gloss: Joshua Abrams Extremely poor children Romeo Castellucci Gloss: Joe Kelleher FADE TO BLACK: Notes toward a re-performance of gestures that never occurred Ricardo Dominguez Gloss: Ricardo Dominguez Feminist Theory Theatre Yelena Gluzman Gloss: Yelena Gluzman The Fort Yvette Nolan Gloss: Minou Arjomand Friedrichshain Nicholas Ridout Gloss: Kimberly Jannarone A Garden Party Hamlet Rachel Joseph Gloss: Kyle Gillette Ghost Light, an Animal Congress Jennifer Parker-Starbuck Gloss: Jennifer Parker-Starbuck Ghost Practice Sara Jane Bailes Gloss: Andrew Sofer Give, Take, and Shake Rodrigo Toscano Gloss: Carla Harryman The Greatest Show on Earth Darren O'Donnell Gloss: Darren O'Donnell Gun Jonathan Ball Gloss: John H. Muse Gut Body Petra Kuppers Gloss: Petra Kuppers A Happy Life Aaron C. Thomas Gloss: Aaron C. Thomas Heaven's Stenographer Shines the Guiding Light Nick Salvato Gloss: Brian Eugenio Herrera Holding Time Helen Paris Gloss: Sara Jane Bailes How Does it Go Again? Rebecca Schneider Gloss: Rebecca Schneider Human Too Una Chaudhuri Gloss: Petra Kuppers I can't breathe... Thomas F. DeFrantz Gloss: Thomas F. DeFrantz I, Marjorie Jen Harvie Gloss: Jen Harvie Imagined Cities (after Calvino) Kyle Gillette Gloss: Daniel Sack The Impossible Magic Show Augusto Corrieri Gloss: Augusto Corrieri In Character Harvey Young Gloss: Harvey Young IRL Joshua Chambers-Letson & Josh Rains Gloss: Chambers-Letson & Rains it comes back together Karen Christopher Gloss: Andy Field It could be a forest Ralph Lemon Gloss: Ralph Lemon It was a large rubble space Claire MacDonald Gloss: Ant Hampton LAST RESORT [No One Can Stop You Now] Sylvan Oswald Gloss: Jen Harvie The Last Wor(l)d VK Preston Gloss: Kyle Gillette The Lost Notebooks of the Painter's Wife Diane Glancy Gloss: Diane Glancy The Means of Production Jen Harvie Gloss: Patrick Anderson A Meta-theatre Bush Moukarzel Gloss: Claudia La Rocco The monster when she opened her wings Claudia La Rocco Gloss: Claudia La Rocco Motion Capture Christopher Grobe Gloss: Sarah Bay-Cheng Music for Charlie Morel Aaron C. Thomas Gloss: Joseph Cermatori The Night Everything Happened Augusto Corrieri Gloss: Isaiah Matthew Wooden No Subject Wendy Houstoun Gloss: Wendy Houstoun NOT I (not) Ant Hampton Gloss: Peggy Phelan Ocean Oration Una Chaudhuri Gloss: Una Chaudhuri Oh, Have I Died, Then? Howard Barker Gloss: Daniel Sack On Location & Context Ricardo A. Bracho Gloss: Ricardo A. Bracho On Scale Joshua Abrams Gloss: Kimberly Jannarone Onboard Entertainment Joe Kelleher Gloss: Kyle Gillette or, The Whale (for Tess) Laura Cull Ó Maoilearca Gloss: Laura Cull Ó Maoilearca An Orogeny Caden Manson & Jemma Nelson Gloss: Karen Christopher Otto's Self Board Meeting Pablo Helguera Gloss: Fintan Walsh Passenger Pigeons Yvette Nolan Gloss: Una Chaudhuri Plant Life (excerpt from a play in three acts) Peggy Phelan Gloss: Una Chaudhuri Poolside Claudia La Rocco Gloss: Joe Kelleher Precipitation Karen Christopher Gloss: Helen Paris The Previous Cry Timothy McCain Gloss: Matthew Goulish Private Language Argument I Andrew Sofer Gloss: Nick Salvato Private Language Argument II Andrew Sofer Gloss: Andrew Sofer Questions for Women in Prison Rhodessa Jones Gloss: Rhodessa Jones Realism Kyle Gillette Gloss: Joshua Abrams Remains Andy Field Gloss: Aaron C. Thomas Rock Performance Nick Salvato Gloss: Nick Salvato SHE Nia Witherspoon Gloss: Irma Mayorga Spiked Claire MacDonald Gloss: Augusto Corrieri Stress Melody Christopher Grobe Gloss: Christopher Grobe Surveillance Jonathan Ball Gloss: Rachel Joseph TALES Natalie Alvarez Gloss: Ju Yon Kim Tectum Theatre Suk-Young Kim Gloss: Suk-Young Kim Th'Eater Joshua Abrams Gloss: Joshua Abrams Theatre of the Blind (or: Description) Patrick Anderson Gloss: Thomas F. DeFrantz The Theatre at Calpurnia Nadine George-Graves Gloss: Nadine George-Graves Theatre generated by a probabilistic language model, with grammatical artifacts retained Caden Manson & Jemma Nelson Gloss: W.B. Worthen Theatre of Intimacy and Abandon Casey Llewellyn & Claudia Rankine Gloss: Peggy Phelan The Theatre of the Town Joe Kelleher Gloss: Erin Manning Theatre/Duty Ju Yon Kim Gloss: Ju Yon Kim A Theatrical Revenge Melodrama with Ring-Tones Sarah Bay-Cheng Gloss: Jennifer Parker-Starbuck Thee Thy Thou Thine (a fragment) Rose English Gloss: Wendy Houstoun Then a Cunning Voice and A Night We Spend Gazing at Stars Emily Johnson Gloss: Emily Johnson Three dramaturgical miniatures (after Nietzsche) Joseph Cermatori Gloss: Daniel Sack Thresholding Erin Manning Gloss: Erin Manning Touching Touches Isaiah Matthew Wooden Gloss: Isaiah Matthew Wooden Triptych Kyle Gillette Gloss: Patrick Anderson Two Dances Susan Leigh Foster Gloss: Susan Leigh Foster TwoDoor Drama Rebecca Schneider Gloss: Daniel Sack Universal Theatre Machine (for Leibniz, Turing, Brecht, and Boal) Annie Dorsen Gloss: Christopher Grobe Unstill Lifes Bonnie Marranca Gloss: Bonnie Marranca Untitled (Imaginary Theatre #1) André Lepecki Gloss: Rebecca Schneider Untitled (Imaginary Theatre #2) André Lepecki Gloss: Matthew Goulish Variations (I-III) Deirdre Heddon Gloss: Deirdre Heddon Vocabulary VK Preston Gloss: VK Preston The Waiting Room Michael McMillan Gloss: Michael McMillan Wanderspiele Natalie Alvarez Gloss: Deirdre Heddon What to, where (A Poets Theatre) Carla Harryman Gloss: Carla Harryman Women & Children & an Old Man Godot Richard Schechner Gloss: Richard Schechner Rajni Shah Gloss: Rajni Shah