My Essay is in the Book ‘The politics of American Actor Training’ published by Routledge.

I am very happy to share the news of a book release- ‘The Politics of American Actor training’ on September 23rd, 2009. Routledge the leading publishers in performance and literary theory, includes this book in their series, “Routledge advances on Theatre & performance studies’. This book is edited by Ellen Margolis is Chair and Director of Theatre, Pacific University in Oregon and Lissa Tyler Renaud is Director of the Actors' Training Project in California, and the English Language Editor for the International Association of Theatre Critics.

This book addresses the historical, social, colonial, and administrative contexts that determine today's U.S. actor training, as well as matters of identity politics, access, and marginalization as they emerge in classrooms and rehearsal halls. It considers persistent, questioning voices about our nation’s acting training as it stands, thereby contributing to the national dialogue the diverse perspectives and proposals needed to keep American actor training dynamic and germane, both within the U.S. and abroad. Prominent  academics and artists view actor training through a political, cultural or ethical lens, tackling fraught topics about power as it plays out in acting curricula and classrooms. The essays in this volume offer a survey of trends in thinking on the subject, engaging in how American theatre expresses our national identity, in the globalization of arts education policy, and in the politics of curriculum decisions wherever our actor training is keeping American actors relevant.

The book has two parts, comprising a total of 14 essays written by 13 authors. My essay is in the first part and is titled ‘The Politics of Western Pedagogy in the Theatre of India’.

The contents of the Book & Authors

Acknowledgments

Introduction, Ellen Margolis and Lissa Tyler Renaud,

Part I 1: Stanislavsky and Politics: Active Analysis and the American Legacy of Soviet Oppression, Sharon Marie Carnicke

2: Actor Training Meets Historical Thinking, Jonathan Chambers

3: The Politics of Western Pedagogy in the Theatre of India, Chandradasan

4: Degrees of Choice, Leigh Woods

5: Training Artists or Consumers? Commentary on American Actor Training, Lissa Tyler Renaud

6: Changing Demographics: Where is Diversity in Theatre Programs in Higher Education and National Associations? Donna B. Aronson

7: The Wild, Wild East: Report on the Politics of American Actor Training Overseas, Lissa Tyler Renaud

Part II 8: Beyond Race and Gender: Reframing Diversity in Actor Training Programs, David Eulus Wiles

9: "Typed" for What?, Mary Cutler

10: "They accused me of bein’ a homosexual": Playing Kerry Cook in The Exonerated, Derek S. Mud

11: Identity Politics and the Training of Latino Actors, Micha Espinosa and Antonio Ocampo-Guzman

12: Keeping It Real Without Selling Out: Toward Confronting and Triumphing Over Racially Specific Barriers in American Acting Training, Venus Opal Reese

13: Disability and Access: A Manifesto for Actor Training, Victoria Ann Lewis

14: Arrested or Paralyzed? Reflections on the Erotic Life of an Acting Teacher, Ellen Margolis

Notes on Contributors

Index

Details of the ‘Politics of American Actor Training’

Price: $95.00

• ISBN: 978-0-415-80121-8
• Binding: Hardback
• Published by: Routledge
• Publication Date: 23rd September 2009 (Available for Pre-order)
• Pages: 244

Routledge has announced the details of the book in their site and the link is

http://www.routledgeeducation.com/books/The-Politics-of-American-Actor-Training-isbn9780415801218

Amazon has listed the book in the link

http://www.amazon.com/Politics-American-Training-Routledge-Performance/dp/0415801214

I am deeply indebted to Lissa Tyler Renaud, who believed in me and invited to join this writing project and to my friend Shobha Menon for continuously insisting, monitoring and motivating me so that I keep up with the schedule.