Playing for time : stories of lost children, ghosts and the endangered present in contemporary theatre / Geraldine Cousin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cousin, Geraldine, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

English drama.

English drama--20th century--Themes, motives.

Missing children--Drama.

Missing children.

Anxiety--Drama.

Anxiety.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 173 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book explores connections between theatre time, the historical moment, and fictional time. It argues that a crucial characteristic of contemporary British theatre is its preoccupation with instability and danger, and traces images of catastrophe and loss in a wide range of recent plays and productions. The diversity of the texts that are examined is a major strength of the book. In addition to plays by contemporary dramatists, the book analyses staged adaptations of novels, and productions of plays by Euripides, Strindberg and Priestley. A key focus is Stephen Daldry's award-winning revival of Priestley's An Inspector Calls, which is discussed in relation both to other Priestley 'time' plays and to Caryl Churchill's apocalyptic Far Away. Lost children are a recurring motif. Bryony Lavery's Frozen, for example, is explored in the context of the Soham murders, which took place while the play was in production at the National Theatre, whilst three virtually simultaneous productions of Euripides' Hecuba are interpreted with regard to the Beslan massacre of schoolchildren.

Contents:

Contents; Preface; 1 The collapsing house; 2 Past present: dramatisations of 'return'; 3 Enter the revenant; 4 Nunc Instantis: Arcadia and Copenhagen; 5 Stories of lost futures; 6 The Skriker's progeny; 7 Blood sacrifice; 8 Daughters' tales; 9 Coram Boy: a final story; Bibliography; Index;

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 30 Apr 2026).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-78170-097-4

1-84779-168-9

OCLC:

818847164