`A most illuminating study.' - John Bayley Six Contemporary Dramatists explores, in a straightforward manner, the central concerns of six of the most important contemporary dramatists. It demonstrates how the work of Alan Bennett, Dennis Potter, Simon Gray, Howard Brenton, David Hare and Alan Ayckbourn is essentially moral, and relates their aspirations to the British romantic tradition of the last century. At the same time, Duncan Wu explores how each writer has responded to the changes that took place in personal and public ethics during the 1980s as a result of Thatcherism. He also includes an interview with Alan Ayckbourn, published here for the first time, in which the volume's themes are focused and summarised. For the paperback edition, a substantial preface discussing Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, David Hare's Skylight and David Edgar's Pentecost has been added. This is an essential and readable guide to televised and theatrical drama for students and theatregoers alike.

Fifty Modern and Contemporary and Dramatists is a critical introduction to the work of some of the most important and influential playwrights from the 1950s to the present day. The figures chosen are among the most widely studied by students of drama, theatre and literature and include such celebrated writers as: • Samuel Beckett • Caryl Churchill • Anna Deavere Smith • Jean Genet • Sarah Kane • Heiner Müller • Arthur Miller • Harold Pinter • Sam Shephard Each short essay is written by one of an international team of academic experts and offers a detailed analysis of the playwright’s key works and career. The introduction provides an historical and theatrical context to the volume, which provides an invaluable overview of modern and contemporary drama.

In this penetrating study Andrew Kennedy sets out to analyse the modern movement in drama through the theatrical language of six key figures writing in English - Shaw, Eliot, Beckett, Pinter, Osborne and Arden. Dr Kennedy argues that a study of theatrical language should be an exercise in 'practical criticism' and not merely narrowly linguistic. The whole range of theatrical expressiveness must be examined in detail from play text and performance alike and the conclusions correlated with the author's known intentions if a full evaluative judgement is to be attempted. Dr Kennedy shows how the modern movement in drama reveals a growing difficulty in creating any type of fully expressive dramatic language. He has written a work with an unusual breadth of reference, which should prove of value to all students of modern drama, modern English and European literature and to the theatre-going public.

A leading writer on American theatre explores the works and influences of ten contemporary American playwrights.

When Richard Steele remarked that the greatest Evils in human Society are such as no Law can come at, he was not able to forsee the spectacular success of John Gay's satire of society, the administration of law and crime, politics, the Italian opera and other topics. Gay's The Beggar's Opera, with its mixture of witty dialogue and popular songs, was imitated by 18th century writers, criticized by those on the seats of power, but remained a favourite of the English theatre public ever since. With N. Playfair's 1920 revival and B. Brecht's and K. Weill's 1928 Dreigroschenoper, Gay's play has been a starting-point for dramatists such as V. Havel (Zebrácká opera, 1975), W. Soyinka (Opera Wonyosi, 1977), Ch. Buarque (Ópera do Malandro, 1978), D. Fo (L'opera dello sghignazzo, 1981), A. Ayckbourn (A Chorus of Disapproval, 1984), as well as others such as Latouche, Hacks, Fassbinder, Dear, Wasserman, and Lepage. Apart from contributions by international scholars analysing the above-named plays, the editors' introduction covers other dramatists that have payed hommage to Gay. This interdisciplinary collection of essays is of particular interest for scholars working in the field of drama/theatre studies, the eighteenth century, contemporary drama, postcolonial studies, and politics and the stage.

Essential for students of Theatre Studies, this series of six decadal volumes provides a critical survey and reassessment of the theatre produced in each decade from the 1950s to the present. Each volume equips readers with an understanding of the context from which work emerged, a detailed overview of the range of theatrical activity and a close study of the work of four of the major playwrights by a team of leading scholars. Chris Megson's comprehensive survey of the theatre of the 1970s examines the work of four playwrights who came to promience in the decade and whose work remains undiminished today: Caryl Churchill (by Paola Botham), David Hare (Chris Megson), Howard Brenton (Richard Boon) and David Edgar (Janelle Reinelt). It analyses their work then, its legacy today and provides a fresh assessment of their contribution to British theatre. Interviews with the playwrights, with directors and with actors provides an invaluable collection of documents offering new perspectives on the work. Revisiting the decade from the perspective of the twenty-first century, Chris Megson provides an authoritative and stimulating reassessment of British playwriting in the 1970s.

This comprehensive collection gathers critical essays on the major works of the foremost American and British playwrights of the 20th century, written by leading figures in drama/performance studies.