Theater buffs will welcome historian Freund's comprehensive survey of classical drama, with its excellent coverage of modern productions of ancient plays. After surveying the origins of Western drama, including chant and dance theater, puppetry and the Dionysian cults, the author focuses on the great Greek and Roman playwrights. The richness is in the details, and nothing is omitted. Consider Euripedes' Medea
. The index cites Broadway, Off-Broadway and non–English language productions, as well as films, operas, ballets, TV adaptations and even parodies. The text also features many of the actresses audiences have cherished in the title role, along with ample photo inserts, from Judith Anderson's unforgettable 1947 performance through those by Zoë Caldwell, Diana Rigg and Fiona Shaw (whose 2000 Dublin production alternated English and Gaelic). Perhaps the best clue to the evergreen timelessness of this emeritus professor's critical judgments is his emphasis in the preface on Falstaff, "the most celebrated (classic) revenant." By glorious chance, a recent New York hit was Kevin Kline's roistering portrayal of Falstaff in Shakespeare's Henry IV
. (Feb. 4)
Forecast:
Given the high price tag and its status as an import, this one's more for libraries and institutions, but nonscholars will find its prose refreshingly nonacademic. Two further volumes
, Oriental Theatre and
Dramatis Personae: The Rise of Medieval and Renaissance Theatre, will complete Freund's trilogy on drama.
