Overview

London’s West End is a global success story, staging phenomenal hit shows that have delighted millions of spectators and generated billions of pounds in revenue. In Good Nights Out, Aleks Sierz provides a thematic survey of such popular theatre shows that were enormous commercial successes over the past 75 years. He argues that these outstanding hits have a lot to say about the collective cultural, social and political attitudes and aspirations of the country, and about how our national identity — and theatre’s role in creating it — has evolved over the decades. The book spans a range of work from almost forgotten plays, such as R. F. Delderfield’s Worm’s Eye View and Hugh Hastings’s Seagulls Over Sorrento, to well-known mega-hits, such as The Mousetrap and The Phantom of the Opera. Such popular work has tended to be undervalued by some critics and commentators mainly because it has not been thought to be a suitable subject for inclusion in the canon of English Literature. By contrast, Sierz demonstrates that genres such as the British musical, light comedy, sex farce or murder mystery are worth appreciating not only for their intrinsic theatrical qualities, but also as examples of the dream life of the British people. The book challenges the idea that mega-hits are merely escapist entertainments and instead shows how they contribute to the creation of powerful myths about our national life. The analysis of such shows also points towards the possibility of creating an alternative history of postwar British theatre.

Full Product Details

9781350200913

Table of Contents

Reviews

In a terrific new book, Good Nights Out, the critic Aleks Sierz flies the flag for a strand of work he feels has been consistently undervalued despite - or rather because of - its box office success. * The Telegraph * This is that rare thing: an absolutely necessary theatre book. Aleks Sierz examines popular theatre seriously but not solemnly, sets it in its historical context and, above all, understands its social significance. An indispensable addition to the bookshelf. * Michael Billington OBE, The Guardian * Aleks Sierz has written a fascinating and highly entertaining book about the shows that packed them in. He brings back to life entire genres that appealed to vast numbers of people but have been more or less forgotten by theatre historians. He asks why these blockbuster successes spoke so vividly to their audiences, and what they say about the world that formed them. It's a book for anyone who has ever worried that they're enjoying themselves too much in the theatre, as well as for those who want to know how central the theatre has been in the formation of popular taste. * Sir Nicholas Hytner, Director, UK *

Author Information

Aleks Sierz FRSA is a well-known author, broadcaster, journalist and theatre critic whose books include In-Yer-Face Theatre (2001), Rewriting the Nation (Methuen Drama, 2011) and Modern British Playwriting: The 1990s (Methuen Drama, 2012).

Tab Content 6

Countries Available