Exposed by the Mask - Form and Language in Drama

In four main parts they reveal a lifetime's discoveries about classical theatre, Shakespeare, opera and modern drama - The Greek Stage/ Shakespeare's Verse/Mozart's Ensembles/The Metaphors of Beckett and Pinter

The central argument is that form and structured language paradoxically give freedom to power of thought and feeling, much like the masks which enabled actors in early Greek drama to express extreme emotion

The mask may take many forms - the precise language of Beckett and Pinter, the classical form of Mozart's operas, or Shakespeare's verse

"The wisest and most stimulating short book about theatre since Peter Brook's 'The Empty Space'" ~ Charles Spencer, Sunday Telegraph