Santa Monica resident Amnon Kabatchnik’s latest book, Blood on the Stage, 480 B.C. to 1600 A.D.: Milestone Plays of Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem, An Annotated Repertoire has been awarded the Gold Medal in the 2015 Benjamin Franklin Awards (Reference Category) as well as the Gold Medal in the Independent Publisher (IPPY) Awards (Reference Category).
Named for America’s most cherished publisher, the Benjamin Franklin Awards is a national juried awards program now in its 27th year. Sponsored by the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), the Benjamin Franklin Awards program recognizes excellence in independent publishing. Judges include librarians, book critics, retail and wholesale buyers, and other industry experts.
Launched in 1996, the IPPY Awards were created to bring increased recognition to deserving titles published by independent authors and publishers. This annual awards program honors those exemplary independent, university, and self-published titles published each year.
Blood on the Stage, 480 B.C. to 1600 A.D. serves as a prequel to Kabatchnik’s four previous Blood on the Stage volumes, Blood on the Stage, 1900-1925; Blood on the Stage, 1925-1950; Blood on the Stage, 1950-1975; and Blood on the Stage, 1975-2000.
In Blood on the Stage, 480 B.C. to 1600 A.D., Kabatchnik analyzes more than fifty of those blood-splattered plays that have withstood the test of time.
Beginning with masterpieces such as Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, and Medea by Euripides, Blood on the Stage, 480 B.C. to 1600 A.D. spans centuries of equally compelling dramas such as The Haunted House (200 B.C.), Phaedra (c. 60 A.D.), and The Killing of Abel (mid-15th century).
Moreover, Blood on the Stage, 480 B.C. to 1600 A.D covers such noteworthy works as Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy, Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, and William Shakespeare’s Richard III, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet. The wide-ranging selection of plays in Blood on the Stage, 480 B.C. to 1600 A.D. represents ancient Greece, ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, and Elizabethan England.
Arranged in chronological order, entries include plot synopses, biographical sketches of playwrights and actors, details about productions, and when available, information regarding critical reception.
From the killing of Abel by his brother Cain to best replica watches Hamlet’s revenge of his father’s murder, Blood on the Stage, 480 B.C. to 1600 A.D. provides a critical overview of some of the most significant dramatizations of criminal behavior on stage.
Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Amnon Kabatchnik received his BS degree in theatre and journalism from Boston University where he graduated summa cum laude, and won the Rodgers & Hammerstein Award. Kabatchnik also holds an MFA degree in directing from the Yale School of Drama.
He served as Professor of Theatre at several universities, including Stanford University and Ohio State University, and directed numerous dramas, comedies, thrillers and musicals for off-Broadway, national road companies, resident theatres, summer stock, and abroad.
In addition to the Blood on the Stage volumes, Kabatchnik is also the author of Sherlock Holmes on the Stage: A Chronological Encyclopedia of Plays Featuring the Great Detective. Visit Amnon Kabatchnik online at www.amnonkabatchnik.com.