Keith Johnstone
Subtitle: A Critical Biography
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 232
ISBN-13: 9781408183274
Subjects: Dramatists, biography; Theatrical producers and directors; Teachers, biography; Great britain, biography
Description: Keith Johnstone entered the Royal Court Theatre as a new playwright in 1956: a decade later he emerged as a groundbreaking director and teacher of improvisation. His decisive book Impro (1979), described Johnstone's unique system of training: weaving together theories and techniques to encourage spontaneous, collaborative creation using the intuition and imagination of the actors. Johnstone has since become world-renowned, inspiring theatre greats and beginners alike; and his work continues to influence practice within and beyond the traditional theatre. Theresa Robbins Dudeck is the first author to rigorously examine Johnstone's life and career using a combination of archival documents - many from Johnstone's personal collection - participant observation, and interviews with Johnstone, his colleagues and former students. [This] is a fascinating journey through the physical spaces that have served as Johnstone's transformative classrooms, and into the conceptual spaces which inform his radical pedagogy and approach to artistic work.