While the infamous Théâtre du Grand-Guignol in Paris closed its doors in 1962, the particular form of horror theatre it spawned lives on and has, moreover, witnessed something of a resurgence over the past twenty years. During its heyday it inspired many imitators, though none quite as successful as the Montmartre-based original. In more recent times, new Grand-Guignol companies the world over have emerged to reimagine the form for a new generation of audiences. This book, the fourth volume in University of Exeter Press’s series on the Grand-Guignol by Richard J. Hand and Michael Wilson, examines the ongoing influence and legacy of the Théâtre du Grand-Guignol through an appraisal of its contemporary imitators and modern reincarnations.
As with the previous volumes, Grand-Guignolesque consists of a lengthy critical introduction followed by a series of previously unpublished scripts, each with its own contextualizing preface. The effect thereof is to map the evolution of horror theatre over the past 120 years, asking where the influence of the Grand-Guignol is most visible today, and what might account for its recent resurgence. This book will be of interest not only to the drama student, theatre historian and scholar of popular theatre, but also to the theatre practitioner, theatregoer and horror fan.
Table of Content
Contents
Preface
Chapter 1. Establishing the Grand-Guignolesque
Chapter 2. The Grand-Guignol’s Contemporary Imitators and Competitors
Chapter 3: The New Wave
Chapter 4: Afterword
Appendix: The Molotov Manifesto, or Acting Grand Guignol, Molotov Style
Thirteen Plays of Grand-Guignol and the Grand-Guignolesque
Professor Verdier’s Operations (Les Opérations du Professeur Verdier, 1907) by Élie de Bassan
Short Circuit (Le Court-Circuit, 1916) by Benjamin Rabier and Eugène Joullot
The Little House at Auteuil (La Petite Maison D’Auteuil, 1917) by Robert Scheffer and Georges Lignereux
The Unhinged (Les Détraquées, 1924) by Palau and Olaf
The Eyes of the Phantom (Les Yeux du Spectre, 1924) by Jean Aragny
The Lover of Death (L’Amant de Mort, 1925) by Maurice Renard
Orgy in the Lighthouse (L’Orgie dans le phare, 1956) adapted by Eddie Muller from Alfred Machard’s play
The Sticking Place (2008) by Lucas Maloney and Michael Mc Mahon, with Alex Zavistovich
A Room With No View (2009) by James Comtois
The Ghost Hunter (2013) by Stewart Pringle
We’ll Fix It! (2013) by Les Williams
Leviticus: Evil Resides Within (2014) by Antonio Rimola
Abel Hartmann’s Grand-Guignol: A History of Violence (2015) by Dreamcatcher Horror Theatre
Bibliography
Webography
Index
About the author
Michael Wilson is Professor of Drama at Loughborough University. He was previously Professor of Drama and Dean of the School of Media and Performance at University College Falmouth and prior to that was Head of Research at the Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries at the University of Glamorgan and Co-Director (with Hamish Fyfe) of the George Ewart Evans Centre for Storytelling.His main research interests lie in the field of popular and vernacular performance and he has published extensively on Storytelling, Grand-Guignol and Brecht and his collaborators. In particular, his work on storytelling has led him to work on the interface between storytelling and digital technology and the way in which the internet has enabled the telling and sharing of ‘extraordinary’ stories of the everyday experiences of people.Together with Richard Hand he has delivered workshops on Grand Guignol, and presented Grand Guignol performances at universities, international conferences and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Richard and Michael are the authors of Grand-Guignol: The French Theatre of Horror (2002), London’s Grand Guignol and the Theatre of Horror (2007) and Performing Grand-Guignol – Playing the Theatre of Horror (2016), all published by UEP.More ebooks from the same author(s) / Editor
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