London's Grand Guignol and the Theatre of Horror

by Hand, Richard J.

• ISBN13: 9780859897921
• ISBN10: 0859897923
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-03-15
• Publisher: Univ of Exeter Pr

Summary

London's Grand Guignola macabre theatre of naturalistic horrorwas established in the early 1920s at the Little Theatre in the West End. Taking its cue from Le Theatre du Grand-Guignol in Paris, this high-profile venture enjoyed as much critical controversy as popular success. On its side were some of the finest actors of the English stage, such as Sybil Thorndike and Lewis Casson, as well as a team of extremely able writers, including the legendary Noel Coward.London's Grand Guignol and the Theatre of Horrorconsiders the importance and influence of the Grand Guignol within its social, cultural, and historical contexts, while presenting a selection of ten remarkable Grand Guignol plays, several of which were banned by the Lord Chamberlain, the censor of the day, and have never been publicly performedincluding a previously unpublished work by Coward. The companion volume toGrand-Guignol: The French Theatre of Horror, already in its third edition, this book is an essential addition to any gore-loving student of drama and the twentieth-century theatre of horror.

Author Biography

Richard J. Hand and Michael Wilson are professors of drama at the Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries. Together they have delivered workshops on Grand Guignol and presented Grand Guignol performances at universities, international conferences, and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Table of Contents

Section 1
A History of London's Grand Guignol	p. 3
Issues of Genre and Writing	p. 18
Performers and Performing	p. 34
Censorship and Reception	p. 51
London's Grand Guignol and the Reviewers	p. 67
Aftermath and Legacy	p. 76
Ten Plays of London's Grand Guignol
Eight O'Clock	p. 91
A Man in Mary's Room	p. 108
Private Room Number 6	p. 122
The Person Unknown	p. 147
Latitude 15[degrees] South	p. 160
The Old Women	p. 176
The Nutcracker Suite	p. 198
The Sisters' Tragedy	p. 219
The Better Half	p. 239
I Want To Go Home	p. 258
Appendices
London's Grand Guignol, 1920-1922	p. 273
The Complete Repertoire of London's Grand Guignol, 1920-1922	p. 276
Extract from Oh, Hell!!! A 'Revuette' by Reginald Arkell and Russell Thorndike	p. 278
Bibliography	p. 281
Index	p. 285
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.