British Theatre Companies: 1965-1979: CAST, The People Show, Portable Theatre, Pip Simmons Theatre Group, Welfare State International, 7:84 Theatre ... Theatre Companies: From Fringe to Mainstream)

This series of three volumes provides a groundbreaking study of the work of many of the most innovative and important British theatre companies from 1965 to the present. Each volume provides a survey of the political and cultural context; an extensive survey of the variety of theatre companies from the period, and detailed case studies of six of the major companies drawing on the Arts Council Archives to trace the impact of funding on the work produced. 1965–1979, covers the period often accepted as the ‘golden age’ of British Fringe companies, looking at the birth of companies concerned with touring their work to an ever-expanding circuit of ‘alternative’ performance venues. Leading academics provide case studies of six of the most important companies, including: \* CAST, by Bill McDonnell (University of Sheffield, UK) \* The People Show, by Grant Tyler Peterson (Brunel University London, UK) \* Portable Theatre, by Chris Megson (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK) \* Pip Simmons Theatre Group, by Kate Dorney (The Victoria and Albert Museum, UK) \* Welfare State International, by Gillian Whitely (Loughborough University, UK) \* 7:84 Theatre Companies, by David Pattie (University of Chester, UK). FC 1 Half title 2 In the same series from Bloomsbury Methuen Drama: 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 8 Series Editors’ Preface 9 Preface to the Volume 13 Chapter 1 by John Bull Historical, Political and Cultural Context 16 In the Beginning 16 Whose History are we Talking About? 17 A Musical Interlude 19 The Establishment and its Discontents 21 Never Had It So Good 25 The 1964 General Election and Extra-Parliamentary Activity 27 May 1968 and its Aftermath 34 1966–70: The Ups 37 1966–70: The Downs 42 The 1970 General Election 46 The Troubles 49 The Oil Crisis and the Three-Day Week 51 Feminism and Gay Rights 54 1974–6 56 The Left against Racism 58 The Winter of Discontent and the 1979 General Election 61 Chapter 2 by John Bull Fringe and Alternative Theatre Companies, 1965–79 64 Fringe and Alternative 64 Funding and Subsidy 67 The Arts Council of Great Britain (ACGB) 69 The Workings of the Arts Council 71 Case Study: The Arts Council of Great Britain and its Clients: Pirate Jenny, ‘Oh lord won’t you buy me ...?’ 76 Venues and Touring 82 Popular Theatre Companies 87 Agit-Prop Theatre Companies 94 Agit-Prop Theatre Case Study: Red Ladder and Belts and Braces move towards the 1980s 95 British Black and Asian Theatre Companies 101 Feminist and Gay Theatre Companies 107 New Writing and Adaptation Companies 111 Theatre-in-Education (TiE) 115 Case Study: Key Perspectives and the demise of classic TiE 118 Community Theatre Companies 121 Case Study: Action Space 126 Performance Art Companies 130 Chapter 3 by Bill McDonnell Cast 136 Chapter 4 by Grant Peterson The People Show 162 Chapter 5 by Chris Megson Portable Theatre 186 Chapter 6 by Kate Dorney Pip Simmons Theatre Group 210 Chapter 7 by Gillian Whiteley Welfare State International 238 Chapter 8 by David Pattie 7:84 Theatre Companies 266 Bibliography 290 Notes on Contributors 320 Index 322 "This series of three volumes provides a groundbreaking study of the work of many of the most innovative and important British theatre companies from 1965 to the present. It charts the movement of much of this work from the fringe to the mainstream of British theatre culture. Each volume provides an overview of the political and cultural context, an extensive survey of the variety of theatre companies from the period, and detailed case studies of six of the major companies."--Publisher Each volume in this series provides a survey of the political and cultural context, an extensive survey of the variety of theatre companies from the period, and detailed case studies of some of the major companies. This volume covers the period often accepted as the 'golden age' of British fringe companies, looking at the birth of companies concerned with touring their work to an ever-expanding circuit of 'alternative' performance venues