This volume initiates a long-overdue reassessment of mid-twentieth-century British theatre cultures.

British theatre from 1900 to 1950 has been subject to radical re-evaluation with plays from the period setting theatres alight and gaining critical acclaim once again; this book explains why, presenting a comprehensive survey of the theatre and how it shaped the work that followed. Rebecca D'Monte examines how the emphasis upon the working class, 'angry' drama from the 1950s has led to the neglect of much of the century's earlier drama, positioning the book as part of the current debate about the relationship between war and culture, the middlebrow, and historiography. In a comprehensive survey of the period, the book considers: - the Edwardian theatre; - the theatre of the First World War, including propaganda and musicals; -the interwar years, the rise of commercial theatre and influence of Modernism; - the theatre of the Second World War and post-war period. Essays from leading scholars Penny Farfan, Steve Nicholson and Claire Cochrane give further critical perspectives on the period's theatre and demonstrate its relevance to the drama of today. For anyone studying 20th-century British Drama this will prove one of the foundational texts.

This volume continues the recent trend towards expanding definitions of war experience through considering a range of different landscapes and voices. Not all landscapes were comprised of trenches and barbed wire. Voices, supporting or dissenting, were many and varied. Collectively, they combine to offer fresh insights into the multiplicity of war experience, alternate spaces to the familiar tropes of mud and mayhem.

A groundbreaking compilation of the key movements in the history of modern theatre. Each of the book’s parts comprises full reproductions of the plays that defined the period and key critical writings that inform and contextualise their reading. "Here is an anthology of plays and criticism that all teachers of drama should take seriously. The fresh angles and approaches the volume offers on topics such as naturalism, the historical avant-garde, and breakthrough works by innovative performance artists (e.g., Laurie Anderson, SuAndi) all argue in favor of this collection as required reading in courses on modern stagecraft." CHOICE, Feb 2011

An authoritative reference covering primarily actors, playwrights, directors, styles and movements, companies and organizations.

This book explores the ways that pre-existing ‘national’ works or ‘national theatre’ sites can offer a rich source of material for speaking to the contemporary moment because of the resonances or associations they offer of a different time, place, politics, or culture. Featuring a broad international scope, it offers a series of thought-provoking essays that explore how playwrights, directors, theatre-makers, and performance artists have re-staged or re-worked a classic national play, performance, theatrical form, or theatre space in order to engage with conceptions of and questions around the nation, nationalism, and national identity in the contemporary moment, opening up new ways of thinking about or problematizing questions around the nation and national identity. Chapters ask how productions engage with a particular moment in the national psyche in the context of internationalism and globalization, for example, as well as how productions explore the interconnectivity of nations, intercultural agendas, or cosmopolitanism. They also explore questions relating to the presence of migrants, exiles, or refugees, and the legacy of colonial histories and post-colonial subjectivities. The volume highlights how theatre and performance has the ability to contest and unsettle ideas of the nation and national identity through the use of various sites, stagings, and performance strategies, and how contemporary theatres have portrayed national agendas and characters at a time of intense cultural flux and repositioning.