Acting - An International Encyclopedia

The 370-plus cross-referenced entries are alphabetically arranged. Each concludes with a list of references, which are repeated in the 32-page bibliography at the end of the book. There is no introduction that could have provided the rationale for the inclusion or exclusion of subjects. Entries cover actors (the Barrymores, Sarah Bernhardt, Marlon Brando, John Wayne); playwrights (Jean Cocteau, Athol Fugard, Sophocles); acting companies (Abbey Theatre, Group Theater); conventions and devices (Clown, Deus ex machina); movements (Romanticism, Symbolism); and dramatic forms (Kabuki, Spaghetti Western, Vaudeville). Many entries relate the history of performance in a specific country or region. Puppet theater, the circus, and film and television performance are all included. Most of the coverage is up-to-date, but the entry on Whoopi Goldberg stops at 1992, and Kenneth Branagh's latest listed work is a 1993 film.