{"product_id":"sight-unseen-beckett-pinter-stoppard-and-other-contemporary-dramatists-on-radio-hardcover","title":"Sight Unseen: Beckett, Pinter, Stoppard, and Other Contemporary Dramatists on Radio - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eElissa S. Guralnick\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eSight Unseen\u003c\/i\u003e radio drama, a genre traditionally dismissed as popular culture, is celebrated as high art. The radio plays discussed here range from the conventional (John Arden's \u003ci\u003ePearl\u003c\/i\u003e) to the docudramatic (David Rudkin's \u003ci\u003eCries from Casement\u003c\/i\u003e), from the curtly conversational (Harold Pinter's \u003ci\u003eA Slight Ache\u003c\/i\u003e) to the virtually operatic (Robert Ferguson's \u003ci\u003eTransfigured Night\u003c\/i\u003e), testifying to radio drama's variety and literary stature. Two of the plays included in this study pose aesthetic questions-the role of art in politics (Howard Barker's \u003ci\u003eScenes from an Execution\u003c\/i\u003e), and the nature of artistic excellence (Tom Stoppard's \u003ci\u003eArtist Descending a Staircase\u003c\/i\u003e). \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Guralnick contends that well-crafted radio plays tend to meld to their medium so naturally that they cannot be transferred to the theater or to film without being diminished. Each play is thus shown to exploit, to special effect, one of radio's fundamental features: its invisible stage (Barker and Stoppard), its affinity to music (Ferguson and Beckett), its ability to imitate the mind's subjectivity (Kopit and Pinter), its association with world events through features and the news (Rudkin). As for the question of radio's relation to the theater, the issue is engaged in the work of John Arden, who dares to portray a theatrical stage on the airwaves, while intimating that the radio offers contemporary playwrights an incomparable boon: creative conditions roughly equivalent to those enjoyed by Shakespeare.\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Sight Unseen radio drama, a genre traditionally dismissed as popular culture, is celebrated as high art. The radio plays discussed here range from the conventional (John Arden's Pearl) to the docudramatic (David Rudkin's Cries from Casement), from the curtly conversational (Harold Pinter's A Slight Ache) to the virtually operatic (Robert Ferguson's Transfigured Night), testifying to radio drama's variety and literary stature. Two of the plays included in this study pose aesthetic questions - the role of art in politics (Howard Barker's Scenes from an Execution); and the nature of artistic excellence (Tom Stoppard's Artist Descending a Staircase). Guralnick contends that well-crafted radio plays tend to meld to their medium so naturally that they cannot be transferred to the theater or to film without being diminished. Each play is thus shown to exploit, to special effect, one of radio's fundamental features: its invisible stage (Barker and Stoppard), its affinity to music (Ferguson and Beckett), its ability to imitate the mind's subjectivity (Kopit and Pinter), its association with world events through features and the news (Rudkin). As for the question of radio's relation to the theater, the issue is engaged in the work of John Arden, who dares to portray a theatrical stage on the airwaves, while intimating that the radio offers contemporary playwrights an incomparable boon: creative conditions roughly equivalent to those enjoyed by Shakespeare.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eElissa S. Guralnick\u003c\/b\u003e is Professor of English at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Co-Director of the University Writing Program.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 256\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.91 x 9.29 x 6.27 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e December 01, 1995\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42130371051655,"sku":"9780821411285","price":62.91,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/85d88ba5e671bb4fd73f6d6a1e98a8b2.webp?v=1732610236","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/sight-unseen-beckett-pinter-stoppard-and-other-contemporary-dramatists-on-radio-hardcover","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}