The Cambridge Companion to British Theatre since 1945
$29.99 (P)
Part of Cambridge Companions to Theatre and Performance
- Editors:
- Jen Harvie, School of English and Drama
- Dan Rebellato, Royal Holloway, University of London
- Date Published: March 2024
- availability: Available
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9781108432382
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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.
Read more- Explores diverse theatre makers, theatre sectors, and theatre communities, including Black and queer theatre, and examines theatre's relationship to the state
- Renders the conditions and contexts of British theatre production accessible and comprehensible, providing both rich detail and broad coverage across a range of important, complementary areas
- Up-to-date and reflective of recent critical turns, including the move to decolonise higher education, to decentralise British theatre studies, to address longstanding biases of gender and sexuality, and to expand audience studies
Reviews & endorsements
‘Harvie and Rebellato's comprehensive assessment of postwar British theatre is highly readable and superbly researched. This is an essential tool for students, scholars, and artists interested in understanding the ‘offstage' stories shaping British postwar performance.' Kim Solga, University of Western Ontario
See more reviews‘This is a valuable Companion to the contexts of British theatre, ranging from considerations of labour, through matters economic and civic, to theatre's relations with the State. Contributors to the volume commendably criss-cross seventy five years of British theatre. Doing so, they excavate past connections to present, persistent and pressing questions of equality, diversity, and inclusivity. A welcome addition to studies that renews our understanding of how material conditions contour theatre's (still unequal) landscape.' Elaine Aston, Lancaster University
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×Product details
- Date Published: March 2024
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9781108432382
- length: 326 pages
- dimensions: 228 x 152 x 16 mm
- weight: 0.47kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Introduction: Jen Harvie and Dan Rebellato
Part I. Theatre Makers:
1. Playwrights: collectivity and collaboration Dan Rebellato
2. Directors: organisation, authorship and social production Tom Cornford
3. Actors: a history of service Aoife Monks
Part II: Theatre Sectors:
4. West end and commercial theatre: crisis, change and continuity Rachel Clements
5. Subsidised theatre: strength, elitism, metropolitanism, racism Jen Harvie
6. The fringe: the rise and fall of radical alternative theatre Dan Rebellato and Jen Harvie
Part III. Theatre Communities:
7. Audiences: ownership, interaction, agency Helen Freshwater
8. Black British theatre: blackouts and spotlights Vanessa Damilola Macaulay
9. Queer theatre: reclaiming histories, historicising, and hope Sarah Jane Mullan
Part IV. Theatre and State:
10. Government, policy and censorship in post-war British theatre Louise Owen
11. Buildings and the political economy of theatre financing in Britain Michael Mckinnie
12. Regions and nations: the myth of levelling up Trish Reid
Acknowledgments.
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