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•  Product Page  •This is an exclusive product!  Help us keep elib.tech all the more special for its exclusivity.  Out of respect for the original authors and publishers, please do NOT make this product freely available to those outside of our community.You will be banned if you disregard this notice.Maria Aitken – Acting in High ComedyProduct Description:”High Comedies are not bloodless, refined, wordy plays – their themes are sex, money and social advancement. They contain a splendid contradiction: wit and elegance at the service of man’s basest drives. The whole reason that high comedy has proved such a durable form is that it reveals the truth about human nature, arts and all, but does so with glorious pyrotechnics of language and behavior. It uses society’s most sophisticated social accomplishments, intellect and wit, to mock society itself; the glitter reveals the grubbiness.style is not a manner of performing. It is the relationship between content and form. The content includes the society of the play, the genre of the play, and the period both of play and author. The form is the manner in which we express these characteristics. There are unfortunately no short cuts to discovering this relationship.style must avoid cliché: it has to be based on the creation of a world. If it’s second-hand then we’ve failed to make the playwright’s vision real. Reality is a fresh concept newly minted by a particular playwright for each particular play.” Maria Aitken Among the subjects Maria Aitken covers:What is High Comedy?Delivery: Naturalism and EnergyWit: Repartee and IronyCharacter“A lively session on high comedy, with examples from Coward, Wilde, Sheridan, and Congreve revealing the spark that transforms a routine reading into a vibrant one in a scene from Private Lives, which by the time Aitken has finished with it has attained something close to brilliance.” – The London Times “Maria Aitken’s clear thinking, logic and natural good taste make her analysis of high comedy a delight.” – Sunday Telegraph Maria Aitken is on the artistic board of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and the International Foundation for Training in the Arts, and enjoys a long association with the Juilliard School and the Yale School of Drama.Maria Aitken’s theatre credits include leading roles at the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company’s productions. Her film performances include A FISH CALLED WANDA, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA award.