The Cambridge Companion to British Theatre since 1945

The Cambridge Companion to British Theatre since 1945
Author: Jen Harvie
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2024-02-29
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1108386296

British theatre underwent a vast transformation and expansion in the decades after World War II. This Companion explores the historical, political, and social contexts and conditions that not only allowed it to expand but, crucially, shaped it. Resisting a critical tendency to focus on plays alone, the collection expands understanding of British theatre by illuminating contexts such as funding, unionisation, devolution, immigration, and changes to legislation. Divided into four parts, it guides readers through changing attitudes to theatre-making (acting, directing, writing), theatre sectors (West End, subsidised, Fringe), theatre communities (audiences, Black theatre, queer theatre), and theatre's relationship to the state (government, infrastructure, nationhood). Supplemented by a valuable Chronology and Guide to Further Reading, it presents up-to-date approaches informed by critical race theory, queer studies, audience studies, and archival research to demonstrate important new ways of conceptualising post-war British theatre's history, practices and potential futures.

A Companion to British-Jewish Theatre Since the 1950s

A Companion to British-Jewish Theatre Since the 1950s
Author: Jeanette R. Malkin
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2021-03-25
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1350135984

The first of its kind, this companion to British-Jewish theatre brings a neglected dimension in the work of many prominent British theatre-makers to the fore. Its structure reflects the historical development of British-Jewish theatre from the 1950s onwards, beginning with an analysis of the first generation of writers that now forms the core of post-war British drama (including Tom Stoppard, Harold Pinter and Arnold Wesker) and moving on to significant thematic force-fields and faultlines such as the Holocaust, antisemitism and Israel/Palestine. The book also covers the new generation of British-Jewish playwrights, with a special emphasis on the contribution of women writers and the role of particular theatres in the development of British-Jewish theatre, as well as TV drama. Included in the book are fascinating interviews with a set of significant theatre practitioners working today, including Ryan Craig, Patrick Marber, John Nathan, Julia Pascal and Nicholas Hytner. The companion addresses, not only aesthetic and ideological concerns, but also recent transformations with regard to institutional contexts and frameworks of cultural policies.

A Companion to Post-War British Theatre (Routledge Revivals)

A Companion to Post-War British Theatre (Routledge Revivals)
Author: Philip Barnes
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014-04
Genre: CAS TH 440
ISBN: 9780415639415

First published in 1986, this compilation offers a guide to the major aspects of contemporary British theatre. It contains entries on playwrights and their plays, on prominent directors, actors and theatre groups; on alternative theatre, schools of dramatic practice and stage history; on certain critical categories and theatre terminology.

The Cambridge Companion to British Theatre of the First World War

The Cambridge Companion to British Theatre of the First World War
Author: Helen E. M. Brooks
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2023-09-30
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1108754325

The first comprehensive guide to British theatre's engagement with the First World War over the last century, providing accessible and lively coverage of theatre's role in the representation and remembrance of events, focusing on topics including regionality, politics, popular performance, Shakespeare, class, race and gender.

British Culture of the Post-War

British Culture of the Post-War
Author: Alastair Davies
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2013-04-15
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 113510008X

From Angus Wilson to Pat Barker and Salman Rushdie, British Culture of the Post-War is an ideal starting point for those studying cultural developments in Britain of recent years. Chapters on individual people and art forms give a clear and concise overview of the progression of different genres. They also discuss the wider issues of Britain's relationship with America and Europe, and the idea of Britishness. Each section is introduced with a short discussion of the major historical events of the period. Read as a whole, British Culture of the Postwar will give students a comprehensive introduction to this turbulent and exciting period, and a greater understanding of the cultural production arising from it.

The Cambridge Companion to Theatre and Science

The Cambridge Companion to Theatre and Science
Author: Kirsten E. Shepherd-Barr
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2020-12-03
Genre: Art
ISBN: 110847652X

The first ever companion to theatre and science brings together research on key topics, performances, and new areas of interest.

A Companion to Modern British and Irish Drama, 1880 - 2005

A Companion to Modern British and Irish Drama, 1880 - 2005
Author: Mary Luckhurst
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 608
Release: 2008-04-15
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0470751479

This wide-ranging Companion to Modern British and Irish Drama offers challenging analyses of a range of plays in their political contexts. It explores the cultural, social, economic and institutional agendas that readers need to engage with in order to appreciate modern theatre in all its complexity. An authoritative guide to modern British and Irish drama. Engages with theoretical discourses challenging a canon that has privileged London as well as white English males and realism. Topics covered include: national, regional and fringe theatres; post-colonial stages and multiculturalism; feminist and queer theatres; sex and consumerism; technology and globalisation; representations of war, terrorism, and trauma.

World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre

World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre
Author: Irving Brown (Consulting Bibliographer)
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 546
Release: 2013-10-11
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1136119000

An annotated world theatre bibliography documenting significant theatre materials published world wide since 1945, plus an index to key names throughout the six volumes of the series.

The Routledge Companion to Twentieth Century British Theatre and Performance

The Routledge Companion to Twentieth Century British Theatre and Performance
Author: Claire Cochrane
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 588
Release: 2024-10-08
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 104011461X

The Routledge Companion to Twentieth Century British Theatre and Performance provides a broad range of perspectives on the multiple models and examples of theatre, artists, enthusiasts, enablers, and audiences that emerged over this formative 100-year period. This first volume covers the first half of the century, constructing an equitable and inclusive history that is more representative of the nation's lived experience than the traditional narratives of British theatre. Its approach is intra-national – weaving together the theatres and communities of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The essays are organised thematically arranged into sections that address nation, power, and identity; fixity and mobility; bodies in performance; the materiality of theatre and communities of theatre. This approach highlights the synergies, convergences, and divergences of the theatre landscape in Britain during this period, giving a sense of the sheer variety of performance that was taking place at any given moment in time. This is a fascinating and indispensable resource for undergraduate and graduate students, postgraduate researchers, and scholars across theatre and performance studies, cultural studies, and twentieth-century history.