Great Lengths: Seven Works of Marathon Theater

240 Pages·2011·1.49 MB·English

by  Jonathan Kalb

Great Lengths

Great Lengths
Seven Works of Marathon Theater
jonathan kalb
the university of michigan press
ann arbor
Copyright © Jonathan Kalb 2011
All rights reserved
This book may not be reproduced,in whole or in part,including illustrations,
in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 ofthe
U.S.Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press),
without written permission from the publisher.
Published in the United States ofAmerica by
The University ofMichigan Press
Manufactured in the United States ofAmerica
cPrinted on acid-free paper
2014 2013 2012 2011 4 3 2 1
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kalb,Jonathan.
Great lengths :seven works ofmarathon theater / Jonathan Kalb.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn978-0-472-11795-6 (cloth :acid-free paper) —
isbn978-0-472-02776-7 (e-book)
1.Experimental theater. 2.Drama—History and criticism—Theory,
etc. I.Title.
pn2193.e86k35 2011
792.9'5—dc22 2011011851
for my mother and father
Saundra Segan and Gerald Kalb

acknowledgments
The following people offered various forms of advice,assistance,and sup-
port to this project,for which I am extremely grateful:Rustom Bharucha,
Henning Bochert,Barbara Bosch,Una Chaudhuri,Peter Chelkowski,Sarah
Cockburn, Elmar Engels, Mira Felner, Dan Gerould, Rob Gomes, Frank
Hentschker,Jeffrey Horowitz,Samuel Leiter,Judith Milhous,Claudia Oren-
stein, Theresa Rebeck, Nigel Redden, Mark Ringer, Alisa Solomon, Terry
Stoller,Louisa Thompson,Vinson Valega,and Edwin Wilson.I am grateful
as well to President Jennifer Raab and Provost Vita Rabinowitz of Hunter
College for providing me writing time and travel funds,and to all the inter-
viewees for the time and insights they generously offered.LeAnn Fields at
University of Michigan Press has my warm appreciation for the unalloyed
enthusiasm she expressed for the book from the beginning.Finally,for their
many wise,loving,and perceptive comments,I thank my wife,Julie Heffer-
nan, who read everything, including the ugly baby drafts, and Stanley
Kauffmann,who,at age ninety-four,read the completed manuscript.

Contents
chapter one:Introduction 1
chapter two:Nicholas Nickleby 23
chapter three:The Mahabharata 45
chapter four:Angels in America 71
chapter five:Einstein on the Beach 97
chapter six:Quizoola!and Speak Bitterness 124
chapter seven:Faust I + II 158
chapter eight:Conclusion 189
Notes 193
Bibliography 213
Index 223