Strategies of political theatre : post-War British playwrights / Michael Patterson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Patterson, Michael.

Series:

Cambridge studies in modern theatre.

Cambridge studies in modern theatre

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English drama--20th century--History and criticism.

English drama.

Politics and literature--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Politics and literature.

Theater--Political aspects--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Theater.

Political plays, English--History and criticism.

Political plays, English.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xviii, 232 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This volume provides a theoretical framework for some of the most important play-writing in Britain in the second half of the twentieth century. Examining representative plays by Arnold Wesker, John Arden, Trevor Griffith, Howard Barker, Howard Brenton, Edward Bond, David Hare, John McGrath and Caryl Churchill, the author analyses their respective strategies for persuading audiences of the need for a radical restructuring of society. The book begins with a discussion of the way that theatre has been used to convey a political message. Each chapter is then devoted to an exploration of the engagement of individual playwrights with left-wing political theatre, including a detailed analysis of one of their major plays. Despite political change since the 1980s, political play-writing continues to be a significant element in contemporary play-writing, but in a very changed form.

Contents:

Strategies of political theatre : a theoretical overview

'Reflectionist' strategy : 'kitchen sink' realism in Arnold Wesker's Roots (1959)

'Interventionist' strategy : poetic politics in John Arden's Serjeant Musgrave's Dance (1959)

Dialectics of comedgy : Trevor Griffith's Comedians (1975)

Appropriating middle-class comedy : Howard Barker's Stripwell

Staging the future : Howard Breton's The Churchill Play (1974)

Agit-prop revisited : John McGrath's The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black, Black Oil (1973)

Brecht revisited : David Hare's Fanshen (1975).

Rewriting Shakespeare : Edward Bond's Lear (1971)

Stragegy of play : Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine (1979).

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 202-222) and index.

ISBN:

9780511096990

0511096992

9781107126343

1107126347

9781280159855

1280159855

9780511115912

0511115911

9781139145732

1139145738

9780511065279

0511065272

9780511058943

0511058942

9780511325960

0511325967

9780511486197

0511486197

9780511067402

0511067402

OCLC:

56938802

Publisher Number:

2027/heb07610 hdl