British Playwrights, 1880-1956

by Demastes, William W.; Kelly, Katherine E.

• ISBN13: 9780313287589
• ISBN10: 0313287589
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-10-01
• Publisher: Greenwood Pub Group

Summary

Contemporary British theater has its roots in the work of dramatists active from the closing decades of the 19th century through John Osborne's 1956 Look Back in Anger. The dramatic achievements from 1880 to 1956 are also memorable in their own right; and many of the most significant dramatists, such as T. S. Eliot, W. Somerset Maugham, D. H. Lawrence, and Graham Greene, are also noteworthy for their poetry, short fiction, and novels. The plays of this period continue to be studied and performed, and the influence of these playwrights is strong and lasting. Included in this reference book are alphabetically arranged entries for some 40 British playwrights active from 1880 through 1956. Entries are written by expert contributors, with each entry providing a biographical overview; a list of major plays, premieres, and significant revivals, along with a summary of the critical reception of these works; a listing of additional plays, adaptations, and productions; an assessment of the playwright's career and contributions, with reference to published evaluations in magazines, journals, dissertations, and books; a listing of locations housing unpublished archival material, if available; a selected bibliography of the dramatist's published plays and of essays and articles by the playwright on aspects of the theater; a selected bibliography of secondary sources; and, when available, a listing of previously published bibliographies on the playwright.

Table of Contents

Preface by Katherine E. Kelly and William W. Demastes

William Archer (1856-1924) by Vincent F. Petronella

W. H. Auden (1907-1973) by Jane Seay Haspel

Sir James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937) by Valerie C. Rudolph

Sir Max Beerbohm (1872-1956) by Colette Lindroth

Gordon Bottomley (1874-1948) by Ronald E. Shields

James Bridie (Osborne Henry Mavor) (1888-1951) by Colette Lindroth

Harold Brighouse (1882-1958) by Libby Smigel

Noel Coward (1899-1973) by Sarah Duerden

Clemence Dane (Winifred Ashton) (1887-1965) by Janice Oliver

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) by Randy Malamud

Christopher Fry (1907- ) by Jackie Tucker

John Galsworthy (1867-1933) by Lue Morgan Douthit

W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911) by Mary Lindroth

Harley Granville-Barker (1877-1946) by James Fisher

Graham Greene (1904-1991) by Lawrence Jasper

Cicely Hamilton (1872-1952) by Sue Thomas

St. John Hankin (1869-1909) by Ted Bain

W. Stanley Houghton (1881-1913) by Ted Bain

Laurence Housman (1865-1959) by Pamela Monaco

Henry Arthur Jones (1851-1929) by Colette Lindroth

D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930) by Robert Wilcher

John Masefield (1878-1967) by Ronald E. Shields

W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) by Robert F. Gross

Allan Monkhouse (1858-1936) by Libby Smigel

Arthur Wing Pinero (1855-1934) by Arthur Gewirtz

J. B. Priestley (1894-1984) by Lincoln Konkle

Terence Rattigan (1911-1977) by Robert F. Gross

Elizabeth Robins (1862-1952) by Katherine E. Kelly

George Bernard Shaw by Tramble T. Turner

R. C. Sherriff (1896-1975) by Mark A. Graves

Alfred Sutro (1863-1933) by Arthur Gewirtz

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) by Elizabeth M. Richmond-Garza

Selected Bibliography

Index of Names

Index of Titles