Background
Dessen, Alan Charles was born on November 16, 1935 in Baltimore. Son of Maurice M. and Shirley (Kaplan) Dessen.
(Each volume in the "Shakespeare in Performance" series an...)
Each volume in the "Shakespeare in Performance" series analyzes a particular play, choosing for detailed discussion a small number of stage productions which seem to throw the most light on the play in question. This volume provides a comparative account of various British productions of "Titus Andronicus", including the Peter Brook-Laurence Olivier production of 1955 and the Deborah Warner-Brian Cox rendition of 1987. Alan Dessen focuses on particular moments in the play, the problems encountered by actors facing the daunting script, and strategies that have evolved to deal with such problems as editing the script or stylizing its violent scenes.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0719027446/?tag=2022091-20
(Alan Dessen samples about four hundred manuscripts and pr...)
Alan Dessen samples about four hundred manuscripts and printed plays to record the original staging conventions of the age of Shakespeare. After studying the stage properties, movements and configurations implicit in recurrent phrases and stage directions, he concludes that Elizabethan spectators, less concerned with realism than later generations, were used to receiving a kind of theatrical shorthand transmitted by the actors from the playwright. Professor Dessen both describes this shorthand (e.g. the use of nightgowns, boots and dishevelled hair) and draws attention to the implications of his findings for modern interpreters, addressing not only critics and teachers but also editors, actors and directors.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521311616/?tag=2022091-20
Dessen, Alan Charles was born on November 16, 1935 in Baltimore. Son of Maurice M. and Shirley (Kaplan) Dessen.
Bachelor magna cum laude, Harvard University, 1957; Master of Arts, Johns Hopkins University, 1961; Doctor of Philosophy, Johns Hopkins University, 1963.
From instructor to associate Professor of English, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1963-1969; associate Professor of English, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, 1969-1973; Professor of English, U. North Carolina, Chapel Hill, since 1973; Peter G. Phialas Professor of English, U. North Carolina, Chapel Hill, since 1994; director ACTER, U. North Carolina, Chapel Hill, since 1994.
(Each volume in the "Shakespeare in Performance" series an...)
(Alan Dessen samples about four hundred manuscripts and pr...)
Member Modern Language Association, Shakespeare Association of America (trustee 1987-1990), The Malone Society, Phi Beta Kappa.
Married Cynthia Sheldon, August 4, 1963. Children: Michael Joel, Sarah Elizabeth.