Modern British Playwriting: The 1980's Voices, Documents, New Interpretations

by Milling, Jane; Lane, David; Roberts, Philip; Freeman, Sara; Boon, Richard; Goldingay, Sarah

• ISBN13: 9781408129593
• ISBN10: 1408129590
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-08-15
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama

Summary

Essential for students of theatre studies, this series of 6 decadal volumes provides a critical survey and study of the theatre produced in each decade from the 1950s to the present. Each volume features a critical analysis of the work of four key playwrights from that decade together with an extensive commentary on the period. The 80s volume provides a detailed study of the work of four of the major playwrights who came to promience: Howard Barker, Jim Cartwright, Sarah Danielsand Timberlake Wertenbaker. As with other volumes in the series, it offers an analysis of some of its most important and representative plays and playwrights; provides the appropriate contextual information, and revisits each decade from the perspective of the twenty first century. Contents: 1. A chronological survey of the decade: the social, cultural and technological changes and the playwrights of the time. 2. The decade as it looked then: theatrical activity, political circumstances and historical context. 3. The four writers from their beginnings up to the start of the decade. 4. An analysis of their plays within the decade combined with a study of primary material such as early play drafts, interviews and critical receptions of the time. 5. A new interview with the writers, reflecting on the period and the plays under discussion. 6. An Afterword: what the writers went on to do next. 7. Select bibliographies. Edited by Jane Milling and with essays from three further leading scholars, this is an authoritative and stimulating reassessment of British playwriting in the 1980s.

Author Biography

Dr Jane Milling is Senior Lecturer in the department of Drama at the University of Exeter, UK.

Table of Contents

General Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgements	p. xi
Introduction to the 1980s	p. 1
Domestic life	p. 1
Education	p. 5
Culture	p. 8
Media	p. 14
Science, technology and industry	p. 18
Political events	p. 22
Theatre in the 1980s	p. 30
Thinking about the recent past	p. 30
Institutions, policies and funding	p. 36
New writing and playwrights in the 1980s	p. 57
Cultures of protest: issue as subject matter	p. 68
Present pasts	p. 89
Introducing the Playwrights	p. 91
Crafting careers	p. 91
Howard Barker	p. 95
Jim Cartwright	p. 99
Sarah Daniels	p. 100
Timberlake Wertenbaker	p. 102
Playwrights and Plays	p. 107
Howard Barker by Sarah Goldingay	p. 107
The two lives of a play	p. 107
The slippery Howard Barker	p. 109
Victory: Choices in Reaction (1983)	p. 112
The Castle: A Triumph (1985)	p. 121
The Last Supper: A New Testament (1988)	p. 132
Jim Cartwright by David Lane	p. 136
Career and context	p. 136
Commonalities in Cartwright	p. 139
Road: venue and programming	p. 146
Bed: process and collaboration	p. 153
Two: popular culture and performance	p. 158
Conclusion	p. 164
Sarah Daniels	p. 165
The question of realism	p. 166
A laughing matter: issues, politics and comedy	p. 169
Masterpieces	p. 172
The Devil's Gateway	p. 179
Neaptide	p. 186
Still laughing	p. 191
Timberlake Wertenbaker	p. 192
The moment: 1988	p. 192
The plays: brisk sensuality	p. 197
The Grace of Mary Traverse	p. 198
Our Country's Good	p. 204
Love of the Nightingale	p. 212
An assessment: interrogative affirmation	p. 216
Documents	p. 220
Howard Barker	p. 220
Jim Cartwright	p. 224
Sarah Daniels	p. 228
Timberlake Wertenbaker	p. 237
Afterword	p. 243
Making a name: critical reputations	p. 243
Howard Barker	p. 244
Jim Cartwright	p. 247
Sarah Daniels	p. 251
Timberlake Wertenbaker	p. 253
Other histories	p. 257
Notes	p. 263
Select Bibliography	p. 292
Index	p. 299
Notes on Contributors	p. 313
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