Losing It
Description
This monograph is a study of American (U.S.) stage representations of dementia mounted between 1913 and 2019. Its imbricated strands are playtexts; audiences as both the targets of the productions (artifacts in the marketplace) and as anticipated determinants of legibility; and medical science, both as has been (and is) known to researchers and, more importantly, as it has been (and is) known to educated general audiences. As the Baby Boom generation finds itself solidly in the category of "Senior," interest in plays that address personal and social issues around cognitive decline as a potentially frightening and expensive experience, no two iterations of which are identical, have, understandably, burgeoned. This study shines a spotlight on eleven dementia plays that have been produced in the United States over the past century, and seeks, in the words of medical humanities scholar Anne Whitehead, to "open up, and to hold open , central ethical questions of responsiveness, interpretation, responsibility, complicity and care."
Reviews / Votes
"Dorothy Chansky, one of the foremost historians of modern American drama, demonstrates once again her ability to work at the cutting edge of the discipline, bringing her considerable skills and insight to bear on the ways that theatre - and the society around it - struggles to comprehend the phenomenon of cognitive decline." (Henry Bial, Professor and Chair, Department of Theatre and Dance, University of Kansas, USA)" Losing It is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and evocative look at representations of dementia on the American stage from the early 1900's to today. Chansky demonstrates how the stories and characters onstage evolve alongside the medical research, making the stage a place to think with the changing conceptions of cognitive impairment." (Amy Cook, Associate Dean for Research and Innovation, College of Arts and Sciences , Stony Brook University, USA)
" Losing It exemplifies the best of contemporary theatre scholarship, advancing the study and practice of theatre while offering profound implications for society at large. Its authority stems from Chansky's broad and deep knowlege of her subject, keen critical insight, aesthetic training and gifts, communicative skill, and lived experience. It is a clarion call, not only to theatre-makers, but also to all human beings to think and act differently about living with dementia and caring for those living with dementia." (Cheryl Black, Curators Distinguished Professor Emerita, University of Missouri, USA)
"This masterwork integrates deep discussions of plays about dementia, their historical contextualization, and research on views of these illnesses, including discussions of current work (and arguments) about treatment. Chansky's interweaving of the research with meticulous investigations of the plays and how they "work" not only illuminates the plays themselves, but also, possibly more significantly, reframes how we might understand dementia and its meaning for those experiencing it and their loved ones." (Rhonda Blair, Professor Emerita, Meadows School of the Arts, Division of Theatre, Southern Methodist University, USA)
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Person
Dorothy Chansky is a Professor in the School of Theatre and Dance at Texas Tech University, USA, where she is a President's Excellence in Research Professor. She was Founding Director of Tech's Humanities Center and a past President of the American Theatre and Drama Society as well as Vice President for Publications of the American Society for Theatre Research. Dorothy's previous publications include Composing Ourselves: The Little Theatre Movement and the American Audience (2004) and Kitchen Sink Realisms: Domestic Labor, Dining, and Drama on the American Stage (2015). She was editor of Theatre Annual: A Journal of Theatre and Performance of the Americas from 2011-2016 and is a former Book Review Editor of Theatre Journal . She is a current member of the Translation, Adaptation, and Dramaturgy Working Group of the International Federation for Theatre Research.
Content
PART I: ORIENTATION.- Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Dementia, Alzheimer's, Age: Intersectionalities.- Chapter 3: Bodies in the Audience/Bodies Onstage: Intersectionalities.- PART II: SOCIAL INSECURITY.- Chapter 4: Walk-on: Joint Owners in Spain.- Chapter 5: Supporting Role: All the Living.- Chapter 6: Willy Loman Center Stage: Death of a Salesman.- PART III: TAKING IT PERSONALLY Chapter 7: From the Inside Brain Crash: Wings "I am an Archive": Ruff.- Chapter 8: Inside (and) Out "Who exactly am I?": The Father.- PART IV: HUMAN. RESOURCES.- Chapter 9: Memory. Loss. Or, Understanding Memory (for Dummies).- Chapter 10: Family Affairs Sign on the Dot(ty)ed Line: Dot Brief me on this: Our Mother's Brief Affair.- Chapter 11: Ready for Prime Time: Marjorie Prime.- Chapter 12: Cellular Data.- Chapter 13: No. Regrets. Wav(erly)ing Goodbye: The Waverly Gallery Humans. Resources.: The Humans.- Chapter 14: Who Cares?.