Overview

In a context of financial crisis that has often produced a feeling of identity crisis for the individual, the theatre has provided a unifying forum, treating spectators as citizens. This book critically deals with representative plays and playwrights who have stood out in the UK and internationally in the post-recession era, delivering theatre that in the process of being truthful to the contemporary experience has also redefined theatrical form and content. Built around a series of case-studies of seminal contemporary plays exploring issues of social and political crisis, the volume is augmented by interviews with UK and international directors, artistic directors and the playwrights whose work is examined. As well as considering UK stage productions, Angelaki analyses European, North American and Australian productions, of post-2000 plays by writers including: Caryl Churchill, Mike Bartlett, Dennis Kelly, Simon Stephens, Martin Crimp, debbie tucker green, Duncan Macmillan, Nick Payne and Lucy Prebble. At the heart of the analysis and of the plays discussed is an appreciation of what interconnects artists and audiences, enabling the kind of mutual recognition that fosters the feeling of collectivity. As the book argues, this is the state whereby the theatre meets its social imperative by eradicating the distance between stage and spectator and creating a genuinely shared space of ideas and dialogue, taking on topics including the economy, materialism, debt culture, the environment, urban protest, social media and mental health. Social and Political Theatre in 21st-Century Britain demonstrates that such contemporary playwriting invests in and engenders moments of performative reciprocity and spirituality so as to present the audience with a cohesive collective experience.

Full Product Details

Author:   Vicky Angelaki (Lecturer in Drama, University of Reading, Reading, UK) ,  Prof. Enoch Brater (University of Michigan, USA) ,  Mark Taylor-Batty (University of Leeds, UK)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Methuen Drama
Dimensions:   Width: 13.80cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 21.60cm
Weight:   0.327kg
ISBN:  

9781474213165

ISBN 10:   1474213162
Pages:   280
Publication Date:   23 February 2017
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction: Theatres of Crisis 1. Too Much Information: Caryl Churchill and Post-millennial Angst 2. Occupy the Audience: Mike Bartlett and the Collectivity of Resistance 3. Defined by Debt: Dennis Kelly and Capitalist Dependencies 4. Austerity VS Prosperity: Duncan Macmillan, Nick Payne and the Economy of Emotion 5. Utopia to Dystopia: Martin Crimp and the Illusion of Insularity 6. The Darkness within: Simon Stephens and the Depth of Melancholy 7. Residues of Violence: debbie tucker green and Desolate Urban Landscapes 8. Trials of Happiness: Lucy Prebble and the Human Experiment Conclusion Epilogue Index

Reviews

In so far as theatre holds up the mirror to our society, this detailed examination of plays from writers concerned with the current crises of individual alienation ... makes the book a timely exercise. * Morning Star * The very premise of the book - that a new theatrical discourse has developed, one that interrogates acts of spectatorship within an ethical frame - is its key strength: exciting, novel and intellectually robust. The topicality of the book is refreshing and very welcome. The commitment to an international perspective, rooted very much in the ambition to pursue and define how shared pre-occupations are articulated through live theatre, is also a positive aspect of this proposal. The book will be the first time many of the plays addressed will feature within a monograph of this substance. Incorporating interviews as a means of consolidating that original survey and analysis, this book promises to be a key text for years to come. * Mark Taylor-Batty, University of Leeds, UK * This work first appeared in 2002, in a costly two-volume set. This expanded paperback edition is welcome, and it has the added benefit of including an addendum with 38 new primary sources (and some editorial corrections to the earlier edition). Otherwise, the paperback is much like the cloth: it demonstrates Scottish philosopher David Hume's profound influence on both early US political leaders (Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, et al.) and early politics in the US. Among Hume's influential essays is Of the Liberty of the Press, in which he argues that a free press is essential to a republic. First published in 1742, that essay was adapted for the American context and circulated in outlets such as the South-Carolina Gazette and the Virginia Gazette, and it was, as Spencer (history, Brock Univ., Canada) observes in chapter 4, used to help buttress the Revolutionary cause. In another essay, Of National Characters, Hume presents his opinion of blacks as inferior, a view that generated much controversy especially given slavery in the US. Those who own the original two-volume set can probably pass on this single-volume paperback edition, but Spencer's collection remains a valuable resource for those interested in early American philosophy and politics. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. * C. S. Johnson, Middle Tennessee State University *

The very premise of the book - that a new theatrical discourse has developed, one that interrogates acts of spectatorship within an ethical frame - is its key strength: exciting, novel and intellectually robust. The topicality of the book is refreshing and very welcome. The commitment to an international perspective, rooted very much in the ambition to pursue and define how shared pre-occupations are articulated through live theatre, is also a positive aspect of this proposal. The book will be the first time many of the plays addressed will feature within a monograph of this substance. Incorporating interviews as a means of consolidating that original survey and analysis, this book promises to be a key text for years to come. Mark Taylor-Batty, University of Leeds, UK

Author Information

Vicky Angelaki is Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of Reading, UK. She has published extensively on modern and contemporary British and European theatre and her research focuses on internationalism, translation, adaptation, philosophy, spectatorial perception, and the politics of experimental performance. Major publications include The Plays of Martin Crimp: Making Theatre Strange (2012) and Contemporary British Theatre: Breaking New Ground (2013).

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