Modern British Playwriting: The 1980's: Voices, Documents, New Interpretations

by Jane Milling, Sara Freeman (Contribution by), David Lane (Contribution by), Sarah Goldingay (Contribution by), Richard Boon (Editor)

Overview

Modern British Playwriting: The 1980s equips readers with a fresh assessment of the theatre and principle playwrights and plays from a decade when political and economic forces were changing society dramatically. It offers a broad survey of the context and of the playwrights and companies such as Complicite and DV8 that rose to prominence at this time. Alongside this it provides a detailed examination based on fresh research of four of the most significant playwrights of the era and considers the influence they had on later work.

The 1980s volume features a detailed study by four scholars of the work of four of the major playwrights who came to prominence: Howard Barker (by Sarah Goldingay), Jim Cartwright (David Lane), Sarah Daniels (Jane Milling) and Timberlake Wertenbaker (Sara Freeman).

Essential for students of Theatre Studies, the series of six decadal volumes provides a critical survey and study of the theatre produced from the 1950s to 2009. Each volume features a critical analysis of the work of four key playwrights besides other theatre work from that decade, together with an extensive commentary on the period. Readers will understand the works in their contexts and be presented with fresh research material and a reassessment from the perspective of the twenty-first century. This is an authoritative and stimulating reassessment of British playwriting in the 1980s.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781408129593
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	12/20/2012
Series:	Decades of Modern British Playwriting , #3
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Dr Jane Milling is Senior Lecturer in the department of Drama at the University of Exeter, UK. Series editors: Richard Boon, Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Drama and Music, University of Hull, and Philip Roberts, Emeritus Professor in the School of English, University of Leeds.

Table of Contents

General Preface Richard Boon Philip Roberts ix

Acknowledgements xi

Introduction to the 1980s 1

Domestic life 1

Education 5

Culture 8

Media 14

Science, technology and industry 18

Political events 22

1 Theatre in the 1980s 30

Thinking about the recent past 30

Institutions, policies and funding 36

New writing and playwrights in the 1980s 57

Cultures of protest: issue as subject matter 68

Present pasts 89

2 Introducing the Playwrights 91

Crafting careers 91

Howard Barker 95

Jim Cartwright 99

Sarah Daniels 100

Timberlake Wertenbaker 102

3 Playwrights and Plays 107

Howard Barker by Sarah Goldingay 107

The two lives of a play 107

The slippery Howard Barker 109

Victory: Choices in Reaction (1983) 112

The Castle: A Triumph (1985) 121

The Last Supper: A New Testament (1988) 132

Jim Cartwright by David Lane 136

Career and context 136

Commonalities in Cartwright 139

Road: venue and programming 146

Bed: process and collaboration 153

Two: popular culture and performance 158

Conclusion 164

Sarah Daniels Jane Milling 165

The question of realism 166

A laughing matter: issues, politics and comedy 169

Masterpieces 172

The Devil's Gateway 179

Neaptide 186

Still laughing 191

Timberlake Wertenbaker Sara Freeman 192

The moment: 1988 192

The plays: brisk sensuality 197

The Grace of Mary Traverse 198

Our Country's Good 204

Love of the Nightingale 212

An assessment: interrogative affirmation 216

4 Documents 220

Howard Barker 220

Jim Cartwright 224

Sarah Daniels 228

Timberlake Wertenbaker 237

Afterword 243

Making a name: critical reputations 243

Howard Barker 244

Jim Cartwright 247

Sarah Daniels 251

Timberlake Wertenbaker 253

Other histories 257

Notes 263

Select Bibliography 292

Index 299

Notes on Contributors 313