Strategies of Political Theatre: Post-War British Playwrights (Cambridge Studies in Modern Theatre)

This volume provides a theoretical framework for some of the most important play-writing in Britain in the second half of the twentieth century. Examining representative plays by Arnold Wesker, John Arden, Trevor Griffith, Howard Barker, Howard Brenton, Edward Bond, David Hare, John McGrath and Caryl Churchill, the author analyses their respective strategies for persuading audiences of the need for a radical restructuring of society. The book begins with a discussion of the way that theatre has been used to convey a political message. Each chapter is then devoted to an exploration of the engagement of individual playwrights with left-wing political theatre, including a detailed analysis of one of their major plays. Despite political change since the 1980s, political play-writing continues to be a significant element in contemporary play-writing, but in a very changed form.;Rewriting Shakespeare : Edward Bond's Lear (1971) -- Stragegy of play : Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine (1979).;Strategies of political theatre : a theoretical overview -- 'Reflectionist' strategy : 'kitchen sink' realism in Arnold Wesker's Roots (1959) -- 'Interventionist' strategy : poetic politics in John Arden's Serjeant Musgrave's Dance (1959) -- Dialectics of comedgy : Trevor Griffith's Comedians (1975) -- Appropriating middle-class comedy : Howard Barker's Stripwell -- Staging the future : Howard Breton's The Churchill Play (1974) -- Agit-prop revisited : John McGrath's The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black, Black Oil (1973) -- Brecht revisited : David Hare's Fanshen (1975). Frontmatter Acknowledgments (page ix) Brief chronology, 1953-1989 (page x) Introduction (page 1) Part 1: Theory 1 Strategies of political theatre: a theoretical overview (page 11) Part 2: Two model strategies 2 The 'reflectionist' strategy: 'kitchen sink' realism in Arnold Wesker's Roots (1959) (page 27) 3 The 'interventionist' strategy: poetic politics in John Arden's Serjeant Musgrave's Dance (1959) (page 44) Part 3: The reflectionist strain 4 The dialectics of comedy: Trevor Griffiths's Comedians (1975) (page 65) 5 Appropriating middle-class comedy: Howard Barker's Stripwell (1975) (page 83) 6 Staging the future: Howard Brenton's The Churchill Play (1974) (page 94) Part 4: The interventionist strain 7 Agit-prop revisited: John McGrath's The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil (1973) (page 109) 8 Brecht revisited: David Hare's Fanshen (1975) (page 125) 9 Rewriting Shakespeare: Edward Bond's Lear (1971) (page 138) 10 The strategy of play: Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine (1979) (page 154) Conclusion (page 175) Notes (page 180) Select bibliography (page 202) Index (page 223) This volume provides a theoretical framework for some of the most important play writing in Britain in the second half of the twentieth century. Examining representative plays by Arnold Wesker, John Arden, Trevor Griffiths, Howard Barker, Howard Brenton, Edward Bond, David Hare, John McGrath and Caryl Churchill, the author analyses their respective strategies for persuading audiences of the need for a radical restructuring of society. The book begins with a discussion of the way that theatre has been used to convey a political message. Each chapter is then devoted to an exploration of the engagement of individual playwrights with left-wing political theatre, including a detailed analysis of one of their major plays. Despite political change since the 1980s, political playwriting continues to be a significant element in contemporary playwriting, but in a very changed form.--Publisher description "This volume provides a theoretical framework for some of the most important play writing in Britain in the second half of the twentieth century. Examining representative plays by Arnold Wesker, John Arden, Trevor Griffiths, Howard Barker, Howard Brenton, Edward Bond, David Hare, John McGrath and Caryl Churchill, the author analyses their respective strategies for persuading audiences of the need for a radical restructuring of society. The book begins with a discussion of the way that theatre has been used to convey a political message. Each chapter is then devoted to an exploration of the engagement of individual playwrights with left-wing political theatre, including a detailed analysis of one of their major plays. Despite political change since the 1980s, political playwriting continues to be a significant element in contemporary playwriting, but in a very changed form."--Jacket

Michael Patterson analyzes a group of twentieth century British playwrights' respective strategies for persuading audiences of the need for radical restructuring of society. He examines plays by Arnold Wesker, John Arden, Trevor Griffith, Howard Barker, Howard Brenton, Edward Bond, David Hare, John McGrath and Caryl Churchill. Each chapter is devoted to an exploration of the engagement of individual playwrights with left-wing political theatre, including a detailed analysis of one of their major plays.

Provides a theoretical framework for some of the most important play-writing in Britain in the second half of the twentieth century. Examining plays by Arnold Wesker, Edward Bond, David Hare, and Caryl Churchill, among others, the author analyses their respective strategies for persuading audiences of the need for restructuring society. Michael Patterson. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 202-222) And Index.