Neil Coppen's Books

Tin Bucket Drum

A play

By: Neil Coppen

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Through a lyrical script and the creative use of lighting and sound, one woman, the Narrator, succeeds in evoking a host of characters as this allegorical tale of oppression and liberation plays itself out. On a 'cold and starless night' a young pregnant widow, Nandi, arrives in Tin Town, a bleak, drought-stricken place ruled by silence and fear. Little do the inhabitants know that Nandi is carrying the baby who will, in time, change that. Taken in by Umkhulu (grandfather), whose father established the tin bucket factory that gave the town its name, Nandi gives birth to Nomvula, the Little Drummer Girl. Umkhulu remembers a past when 'people were free to sing and dance', when the rain came and the townsfolk held up their tin buckets to catch the precious, life-giving drops. And then came the Silent Sir and his spokesman, the Censor, and the town went silent. As the singing and dancing and drumming dried up, so did the rain. The tin bucket factory closed, taking with it the life and purpose of Tin Town?s inhabitants. Only the Little Drummer Girl can bring back that life, but at enormous personal cost. In Tin Bucket Drum, Neil Coppen achieves a small miracle. Through his lyrical script and the creative use of lighting and sound, one woman, the Narrator, succeeds in evoking a host of characters as this allegorical tale of oppression and liberation plays itself out. It is a story that offers a host of lessons for many places and many times.

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NYU Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1776146425

ISBN 13

9781776146420

Isidlamlilo / the Fire Eater

A Play

By: Neil Coppen,Mpume Mthombeni,Kira Erwin

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Isidlamlilo / the Fire Eater

A Play

By: Neil Coppen,Mpume Mthombeni,Kira Erwin

Isidlamlilo / The Fire Eateris a one-woman play inspired by the true story of a woman who served as a political assassin in the build-up to South Africa's first democratic elections. Zenzile Maseko, the protagonist, is a 60-year-old grandmother living in a women's hostel in Durban. Falsely declared dead by the Department of Home Affairs, she finds herself cast into a Kafkaesque nightmare that forces her to confront her past. Flown in on the wings of the Impundulu (the lightning bird), in Zulu folklore a shapeshifting bird associated with witchcraft and the harbinger of storms and death, Zenzile's story weaves a magical and terrifying tapestry. She draws on myth, religious symbolism and traditional beliefs as she shares the realities - at times brutal, at times forgiving - of survival in South Africa. Her story touches on what it means to live through political violence, the transition to democracy, the brutality of inequality, health epidemics like HIV/AIDS, patriarchy, and the apathetic bureaucracy of government departments. Ultimately, Isidlamlilo / The Fire Eateroffers a critical and unflinching look at the eddying cycles of violence and revenge that play out across generations. Yet it is most of all a story about regeneration and redemption that speaks to both the country's haunted past and its present-day complexities. Written with pathos and empathy, this playscript will appeal to teachers, high school learners, and tertiary students in theatre, drama and English studies.

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128

Publisher

NYU Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1776148797

ISBN 13

9781776148790

Batboys and the World of Baseball

By: Neil D. Isaacs

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Batboys and the World of Baseball

By: Neil D. Isaacs

A unique look at baseball's clubhouse culture through the eyes of batboys

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Page Count

252

Publisher

Univ. Press of Mississippi

Published Date

ISBN 10

0878057722

ISBN 13

9780878057726

The Holocene

An Environmental History

By: Neil Roberts

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The Holocene

An Environmental History

By: Neil Roberts

The Holocene provides students, researchers and lay-readers with the remarkable story of how the natural world has been transformed since the end of the last Ice Age around 15,000 years ago. This period has witnessed a shift from environmental changes determined by natural forces to those dominated by human actions, including those of climate and greenhouse gases. Understanding the environmental changes - both natural and anthropogenic - that have occurred during the Holocene is of crucial importance if we are to achieve a sustainable environmental future. Revised and updated to take full account of the most recent advances, the third edition of this classic text includes substantial material on the scientific methods that are used to reconstruct and date past environments, as well as new concepts such as the Anthropocene. The book is fully-illustrated, global in coverage, and contains case studies, a glossary and more than 500 new references.

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Page Count

391

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons

Published Date

ISBN 10

1405155213

ISBN 13

9781405155212

Grim Almanac Jack the Ripper's Lond

By: Neil Storey

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Grim Almanac Jack the Ripper's Lond

By: Neil Storey

Jostling for position in this cornucopia of the criminal and the curious are diverse tales of baby farmers, garrotters, murderers, poisoners, prostitutes, pimps, rioters and rebels. Other tales tell of those who walked the poverty-stricken streets of 'the abyss', trying to earn a few honest coppers by the most unusual and desperate occupations, from tater man to tosher. This colourful cast of characters is accompanied by accounts of prisons and punishments, as well as a liberal smattering of funerals, executions, disasters and bizarre events. If it's horrible, if it's ghastly, if it's strange, its here - and if you have the stomach for it, then read on.

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Page Count

363

Publisher

The History Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0752496263

ISBN 13

9780752496269

Dictionary of American Classical Composers

By: Neil Butterworth

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Dictionary of American Classical Composers

By: Neil Butterworth

The Dictionary of American Classical Composers covers over 650 composers active from the 18th century to today. Covering all classical styles, it offers the most comprehensive overview of key composers in the United States available. Entries include basic biographical information and critical analysis of each composer's key works and ideas. Entries also include worklists and bibliographic information. Whenever possible, the entries will have been checked by the composers themselves to assure greatest possible accuracy. This new edition, completely updated and expanded from the 1984 edition, also includes over 200 historic photographs.

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Page Count

561

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1136790241

ISBN 13

9781136790249

Martha Graham

When Dance Became Modern

By: Neil Baldwin

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Martha Graham

When Dance Became Modern

By: Neil Baldwin

A major biography—the first in three decades—of one of the most important artistic forces of the twentieth century, the legendary American dancer and choreographer who upended dance, propelling the art form into the modern age, and whose profound and pioneering influence is still being felt today. "Brings together all the elements of Graham’s colorful life...with wit, verve, critical discernment, and a powerful lyricism.”—Mary Dearborn, acclaimed author of Ernest Hemingway Time magazine called her “the Dancer of the Century.” Her technique, used by dance companies throughout the world, became the first long-lasting alternative to the idiom of classical ballet. Her pioneering movements—powerful, dynamic, jagged, edgy, forthright—combined with her distinctive system of training, were the epitome of American modernism, performance as art. Her work continued to astonish and inspire for more than sixty years as she choreographed more than 180 works. At the heart of Graham’s work: movement that could express inner feeling. Neil Baldwin, author of admired biographies of Man Ray (“Truly definitive . . . absolutely fascinating” —Patricia Bosworth) and Thomas Edison (“Absorbing, gripping, a major contribution to our understanding of a remarkable man and a remarkable era” —Robert Caro), gives us the artist and performer, the dance monument who led a cult of dance worshippers as well as the woman herself in all of her complexity. Here is Graham, from her nineteenth-century (born in 1894) Allegheny, Pennsylvania, childhood, to becoming the star of the Denishawn exotic ballets, and in 1926, at age thirty-two, founding her own company (now the longest-running dance company in America). Baldwin writes of how the company flourished during the artistic explosion of New York City’s midcentury cultural scene; of Erick Hawkins, in 1936, fresh from Balanchine’s School of American Ballet, a handsome Midwesterner fourteen years her junior, becoming Graham’s muse, lover, and eventual spouse. Graham, inspiring the next generation of dancers, choreographers, and teachers, among them: Merce Cunningham and Paul Taylor. Baldwin tells the story of this large, fiercely lived life, a life beset by conflict, competition, and loneliness—filled with fire and inspiration, drive, passion, dedication, and sacrifice in work and in dance creation.

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Page Count

577

Publisher

Knopf

Published Date

ISBN 10

0385352336

ISBN 13

9780385352338

Tin Bucket Drum

A play

By: Neil Coppen

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Tin Bucket Drum

A play

By: Neil Coppen

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Publisher

NYU Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1868149730

ISBN 13

9781868149735

Isidlamlilo / the Fire Eater

A Play

By: Neil Coppen,Mpume Mthombeni,Kira Erwin

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Isidlamlilo / the Fire Eater

A Play

By: Neil Coppen,Mpume Mthombeni,Kira Erwin

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Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

128

Publisher

NYU Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1776148797

ISBN 13

9781776148790

Book's by Neil Coppen

Tin Bucket Drum

Tin Bucket Drum

Isidlamlilo / the Fire Eater

Isidlamlilo / the Fire Eater

Batboys and the World of Baseball

Batboys and the World of Baseball

The Holocene

The Holocene

Grim Almanac Jack the Ripper's Lond

Grim Almanac Jack the Ripper's Lond

Dictionary of American Classical Composers

Dictionary of American Classical Composers

Martha Graham

Martha Graham

Tin Bucket Drum

Tin Bucket Drum

Isidlamlilo / the Fire Eater

Isidlamlilo / the Fire Eater

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