Geraldine Cousin
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719061974
- eISBN:
- 9781781700976
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719061974.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
This book explores connections between theatre time, the historical moment, and fictional time. It argues that a crucial characteristic of contemporary British theatre is its preoccupation with ...
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This book explores connections between theatre time, the historical moment, and fictional time. It argues that a crucial characteristic of contemporary British theatre is its preoccupation with instability and danger, and traces images of catastrophe and loss in a wide range of recent plays and productions. The diversity of the texts that are examined is a major strength of the book. In addition to plays by contemporary dramatists, the book analyses staged adaptations of novels, and productions of plays by Euripides, Strindberg and Priestley. A key focus is Stephen Daldry's award-winning revival of Priestley's An Inspector Calls, which is discussed in relation both to other Priestley ‘time’ plays and to Caryl Churchill's apocalyptic Far Away. Lost children are a recurring motif. Bryony Lavery's Frozen, for example, is explored in the context of the Soham murders, which took place while the play was in production at the National Theatre, whilst three virtually simultaneous productions of Euripides' Hecuba are interpreted with regard to the Beslan massacre of schoolchildren.Less
This book explores connections between theatre time, the historical moment, and fictional time. It argues that a crucial characteristic of contemporary British theatre is its preoccupation with instability and danger, and traces images of catastrophe and loss in a wide range of recent plays and productions. The diversity of the texts that are examined is a major strength of the book. In addition to plays by contemporary dramatists, the book analyses staged adaptations of novels, and productions of plays by Euripides, Strindberg and Priestley. A key focus is Stephen Daldry's award-winning revival of Priestley's An Inspector Calls, which is discussed in relation both to other Priestley ‘time’ plays and to Caryl Churchill's apocalyptic Far Away. Lost children are a recurring motif. Bryony Lavery's Frozen, for example, is explored in the context of the Soham murders, which took place while the play was in production at the National Theatre, whilst three virtually simultaneous productions of Euripides' Hecuba are interpreted with regard to the Beslan massacre of schoolchildren.
Frances Babbage
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719067525
- eISBN:
- 9781781701782
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719067525.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
This book examines the diverse ways in which classical myth narratives have been reworked by women playwrights for the European stage. An in-depth assessment of ‘re-vision’ as a phenomenon in women's ...
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This book examines the diverse ways in which classical myth narratives have been reworked by women playwrights for the European stage. An in-depth assessment of ‘re-vision’ as a phenomenon in women's drama, it explores the ideological and aesthetic potential of such practice and simultaneously exposes the tensions inherent in attempts to challenge narratives that have fundamentally shaped western thought. The book examines plays from the 1960s to the twenty-first century, providing contextualised readings of fourteen theatrical works originating from France, Italy, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, the UK and Ireland. It introduces contemporary playwrights to English-speaking readers and audiences, placing them and their works into dialogue with others more widely known. From tracing the persistence of classical myths in contemporary culture and the significance of this in shaping gendered identities and opportunities, through to analysis of individual plays and productions, the book reveals how myths have served in the theatre as ‘pretexts’ for ideological debate and have enabled exploration of the fragile borders between mythic and the everyday, and how revision has been regarded, not unproblematically, as a route towards restructuring the self. It also explores the intersection of re-vision within the contrasting trends of ‘in-yer face’ and post-dramatic theatre, and the unique potential for myth rewriting offered by autobiographical solo performance.Less
This book examines the diverse ways in which classical myth narratives have been reworked by women playwrights for the European stage. An in-depth assessment of ‘re-vision’ as a phenomenon in women's drama, it explores the ideological and aesthetic potential of such practice and simultaneously exposes the tensions inherent in attempts to challenge narratives that have fundamentally shaped western thought. The book examines plays from the 1960s to the twenty-first century, providing contextualised readings of fourteen theatrical works originating from France, Italy, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, the UK and Ireland. It introduces contemporary playwrights to English-speaking readers and audiences, placing them and their works into dialogue with others more widely known. From tracing the persistence of classical myths in contemporary culture and the significance of this in shaping gendered identities and opportunities, through to analysis of individual plays and productions, the book reveals how myths have served in the theatre as ‘pretexts’ for ideological debate and have enabled exploration of the fragile borders between mythic and the everyday, and how revision has been regarded, not unproblematically, as a route towards restructuring the self. It also explores the intersection of re-vision within the contrasting trends of ‘in-yer face’ and post-dramatic theatre, and the unique potential for myth rewriting offered by autobiographical solo performance.
Gilli Bush-Bailey
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719072505
- eISBN:
- 9781781701935
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719072505.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
This book challenges the traditional boundaries that have separated the histories of the first actresses and the early female playwright, bringing the approaches of new histories and historiography ...
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This book challenges the traditional boundaries that have separated the histories of the first actresses and the early female playwright, bringing the approaches of new histories and historiography to bear on old stories to make alternative connections between women working in the business of theatre. Drawing from feminist cultural materialist theories and historiographies, it analyses the collaboration between the actresses Elizabeth Barry and Anne Bracegirdle and women playwrights such as Aphra Behn and Mary Pix, tracing a line of influence from the time of the first theatres royal to the rebellion that resulted in the creation of a players' co-operative. This is a story about public and private identity fuelling profit at the box office and gossip on the streets, investigating how women's on- and off-stage personae fed each other in the emerging commercial world of the business of theatre. Employing the narrative strategy of the micro-history, it offers a fresh approach to the history of women, seeing their neglected plays in the context of performance. Competition with the patent house resulted in a dirty tricks campaign that saw William Congreve supporting the female rebels or, as this book suggests, being supported by them. By combining detailed analysis of selected plays within the broader context of a playhouse managed by its leading actresses, the book challenges the received historical and literary canons, including a radical solution to the mysterious identity of the anonymous playwright ‘Ariadne’. It is a story of female collaboration and influence.Less
This book challenges the traditional boundaries that have separated the histories of the first actresses and the early female playwright, bringing the approaches of new histories and historiography to bear on old stories to make alternative connections between women working in the business of theatre. Drawing from feminist cultural materialist theories and historiographies, it analyses the collaboration between the actresses Elizabeth Barry and Anne Bracegirdle and women playwrights such as Aphra Behn and Mary Pix, tracing a line of influence from the time of the first theatres royal to the rebellion that resulted in the creation of a players' co-operative. This is a story about public and private identity fuelling profit at the box office and gossip on the streets, investigating how women's on- and off-stage personae fed each other in the emerging commercial world of the business of theatre. Employing the narrative strategy of the micro-history, it offers a fresh approach to the history of women, seeing their neglected plays in the context of performance. Competition with the patent house resulted in a dirty tricks campaign that saw William Congreve supporting the female rebels or, as this book suggests, being supported by them. By combining detailed analysis of selected plays within the broader context of a playhouse managed by its leading actresses, the book challenges the received historical and literary canons, including a radical solution to the mysterious identity of the anonymous playwright ‘Ariadne’. It is a story of female collaboration and influence.
A.S. Byatt
Abandoning Historical Conflict?
Abject Visions
The Absurdity of Bureaucracy
Acceptable Words
The Activation of Citizenship in Europe
The African presence
After '89
