ALTERNATIVES WITHIN THE MAINSTREAM BRITISH BLACK AND ASIAN THEATRES; ED. BY DIMPLE GODIWALA

Alternatives Within the Mainstream: British Black and Asian Theatres is the first comprehensive collection of critical essays on the subject. Edited by Dimple Godiwala, the anthology is in six parts: A lengthy Introduction is followed by Part II (Histories and Trajectories) which contains chapters which survey the work of the Black Theatre Forum and the histories of Black and Asian theatres in Britain. Part III (Histories of Theatre Companies and Arts Venues) charts brief histories of the major theatre companies, Talawa, Tara and Tamasha and contains a survey of Birmingham s changing arts venues. Part IV called simply Controversies is a document of the Sikh diaspora s uproar over Behzti and issues of censorship. Part V (The Dramatists) critically explores the work of several dramatists such as Killion M. Gideon, Liselle Kayla, Roselia John Baptiste, Trish Cooke, Zindika, Jackie Kay, Valerie Mason-John, Wole Soyinka, Sol B. River, Roy Williams, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Anu Kumar, Rukhsana Ahmad, Bettina Gracias, Bapsi Sidhwa, Tanika Gupta, Deepak Verma, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti and Yasmin Whittaker Khan. Part V (Theatre Voices) consists of autobiographical essays by some of Britain s theatremakers. This contains contributions by Jatinder Verma, Yvonne Brewster, Sol B. River, Valerie Mason-John, Bapsi Sidhwa. A long overdue book which examines in imaginative depth the universe inside an often trivialised area of British theatre. Alternatives Within The Mainstream provides serious academic opinion and detailed textual analysis in abundance. The book s impressive collection of facts and analyses challenge the culture of myth which too often obscures the relevance of Black and Asian work. There are also many absorbing revelations: did you know, for instance, that Ignatius Sancho was Garrick s friend? Yvonne Brewster Alternatives Within The Mainstream: British Black And Asian Theatres : An Introduction / Dimple Godiwala -- Mainstreaming African, Asian And Caribbean Theatre : The Experiments Of The Black Theatre Forum / Alda Terracciano -- Writing Black Back : An Overview Of Black Theatre And Performance In Britain / Deirdre Osborne -- The State Of The Nation : Contemporary Black British Theatre And The Staging Of The Uk / Deirdre Osborne -- Genealogies, Archaeologies, Histories : The Revolutionary 'interculturalism' Of Asian Theatre In Britain / Dimple Godiwala -- Talawa Theatre Company: The 'likkle' Matter Of Black Creativity And Representation On The British Stage / Victor Ukaegbu -- 'a Local Habitation And A Name' : The Development Of Black And Asian Theatre In Birmingham Since The 1970s / Claire Cochrane -- Tara Arts And Tamasha : Producing Asian Performance -- Two Approaches / Dominic Hingorani -- Drama In The Age Of Kalyug : Behzti And Sikh Self-censorship / Anthony Frost --^ 'black And Female Is Some Of Who I Am And I Want To Explore It' : Black Women's Plays Of The 1980s And 1990s / Kathleen Starck -- The Search For Identity And The Claim For An Ethnicity Of Englishness In Jackie Kay's Chiaroscuro And Valerie Mason-john's Brown Girl In The Ring / Dimple Godiwala -- A Scourge Of The Empire : Wole Soyinka's Notorious Theatre At The Royal Court / Zodwa Motsa -- Theatre As Edutainment : Sol B. River's Dramatic Burden / Ashley Tellis -- Beyond Victimhood : Agency And Identity In The Theatre Of Roy Williams / Elizabeth Barry And William Boles -- Aspects Of Madness And Theatricality In Kwame Kwei-armah's Drama / Samuel Kasule -- Kali : Providing A Forum For British-asian Women Playwrights / Dimple Godiwala -- 'they Call Me An Asian Writer As Well -- Tanika Gupta's Sanctuary, Skeleton And Inside Out / Kathleen Starck -- 'shameless' -- Women, Sexuality And Violence In British-asian Drama / Valerie Kaneko Lucas -- The Shape Of A Heart / Jatinder Verma --^ My Work In The Theatre / Yvonne Brewster -- Uncensoring My Writing / Valerie Mason-john (aka Queenie) -- Serious Business / Sol B. River -- My Experience As A Rookie Playwright / Bapsi Sidhwa. Edited By Dimple Godiwala. Includes Bibliographical References. This is a comprehensive collection of critical essays on the alternatives within the mainstream for British Black and Asian Theatres. This anthology is in six parts and contains contributions by Jatinder Verma, Yvonne Brewster, Sol B River, Valerie Mason-John, and Bapsi Sidhwa