New series of theater books
KOAN Publishers is building up a highly original and interesting library on theater with its new series, «Books on the Theater.» With some 10 titles at present and several more on the way, the series focuses mainly on theory and personal accounts, while also including plays such as Thomas Moschopoulos’s translation of Chekhov’s «Cherry Orchard.» The first book in the series to generate widespread interest was «Threads of Time: Recollections,» an autobiography by director Peter Brook; this title boosted sales of KOAN’s growing educational archive of works about the theater. Local publishers often embark on projects intended to fill the large gaps in theme-based publications, but, more often than not, such initiatives run out of steam well before their completion. By contrast, KOAN’s efforts, so far, demonstrate a commitment to continuity. They have already produced more than 10 books, which suggests that this is to be a fully fledged series. «Books on the Theater» boasts a wide range of ideological approaches. There is a collection of studies, «Theater: Loneliness, Skill, Uprising,» by Eugenio Barba, director, theoretician and founder of the Odin Theater, as well as a book on Stendhal’s texts, «Racine and Shakespeare.» The series offers another title by Brook, «Open Door: Thoughts on Theater.» And there are plans for another book by Barbas. «The Secret Art of the Actor – A Dictionary of Theatrical Anthropology.» Another title worth noting is Yoshi Oida’s «An Actor Adrift» in which he talks about his own career in the theater as well his work with Brook. Other titles are «My Life on the Stage» by Mei Lan Fan, and «The Three Units of Theater» by Corneille.The «Books on the Theater» series has made an ambitious beginning.
