The Bible and modern British drama : from 1930 to the present day / Mary F. Brewer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brewer, Mary F., author.

Series:

Routledge advances in theatre and performance studies

Routledge advances in theatre & performance studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bible--In literature.

Bible.

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

Religious drama, English.

Religious drama, English--21st century--History and criticism.

Literature.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

vii, 198 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, [2020]

Summary:

"The Bible and Modern British Drama: 1930 to the Present-Day is the first full-length study to explore how playwrights in the modern period have adapted popular biblical stories such as Abraham and Isaac, Moses and the Exodus from Egypt, and the life and death of Jesus, for the stage. The book offers detailed and accessible interpretations of the work of well-known dramatists such as Christopher Fry, Howard Brenton, and Steven Berkoff, alongside the work of writers whose plays have been neglected in recent criticism, such as James Bridie and Laurence Housman. The drama is analyzed within the context of changes in religious belief and practice over the course of the modern period in Britain, comparing plays that approach the Bible from a traditional religious perspective with those that offer alternative viewpoints on the text, including the voices of gay, feminist, black, Jewish and Muslim dramatists. In doing so, the author offers a broad and in-depth exploration that is grounded in current scholarship, ranging from the past to present, across boundaries of race and gender. Ideal for students, researchers and general readers interested in understanding how the Bible has served as an important source text for British playwrights in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, The Bible and Modern British Drama shows how Bible-based drama has been influential in creating and disseminating ideas of what constitutes a 'good' life, both on an individual and social level"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction

Chapter 1 James Bridie's Apocryphal Plays

Chapter 2 Laurence Housman's Biblical Drama

Chapter 3 Christopher Fry's Old Testament Drama and Replacement Theology

Chapter 4 From Dogma to Doubt: Dorothy L. Sayers's The Man Born to be King and Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar

Chapter 5 The Origins of Christianity Reassessed

Chapter 6 Bible, Church, Nation and Theatre

Afterword

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Brewer, Mary F., The Bible and modern British drama

ISBN:

9780367352325

036735232X

OCLC:

1102473526