Other theatres : the development of alternative and experimental theatre in Britain

IX social context -how, for example, can one discuss alternative theatre without at least sketching out what it is that it is meant to be alternative to? -in contrast to those historians of theatre and drama, few of whom, in Eric Bentley's words, 'seem to have noticed anything in this universe except theatre and drama'. Two final points. Academic books nowadays are often clogged up with lengthy footnotes, so exhaustive as to rival the text itself. I have referenced all quotations from whatever source together with references for contentious or little-known 'facts'. There is also an essay on further reading at the end. I think this should enable anyone who wants to explore the subject further to do so. The footnotes contain neither additional information nor asides, queries or jokes and therefore can be safely ignored by the general reader. Front Matter....Pages i-xx The Great Bard and All That: Some Traditions of British Theatre....Pages 1-11 Castles, Ghosts and Chartists: Stage Melodrama in the Nineteenth Century....Pages 12-24 The Rise of the West End — and Some Independent Theatres....Pages 25-45 Regional, Nationalist and Yiddish Theatre....Pages 46-65 Women in the Theatre: the Actresses’ Franchise League....Pages 66-78 Between the Wars: the ‘Little Theatre Movement’....Pages 79-95 Between the Wars: the Political Theatre Groups....Pages 96-123 The War Years....Pages 124-137 After 1945....Pages 138-161 Political Theatre in Britain Since the 1960s....Pages 162-174 Community Theatre Since the 1960s and ‘the Majors’....Pages 175-194 Alternatives within Radio and Television Drama....Pages 195-206 Conclusions....Pages 207-209 Back Matter....Pages 210-249 Andrew Davies. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.