Description |
ix, 206 pages ; 23 cm |
Contents |
1. Representing Contemporary Britain: Anger, Affluence and Hegemony -- 2. Institutions and Audiences -- 3. Realism, Class and Culture -- 4. 'Beyond Naturalism Pure': Realism, Naturalism and the New Wave -- 5. Redefining Realism -- 6. The Two New Waves: Realism in Theatre and Film -- In Conclusion: The 1960s - New Definitions of 'What Britain is Like' |
Summary |
The period of 1956-1965 was a defining moment in post-war British theatre history, in which new possibilities arose for a contemporary and engaged drama. Drawing on a range of sources, Stephen Lacey argues that the new theatre should be seen in relation to other developments in post-war culture and politics, including social science, the novel and cinema. The new theatre was regarded as a realist theatre, dramatising the social experience of a working-class under threat from the new prosperity. However, despite the currency of the term, 'realism' in the period is imperfectly understood and often crudely applied. Arguing that realism is both a tradition of representation and a critical prespective, Lacey examines the connection between particular plays and productions, and the assumptions about theatrical form and oppositional politics that shaped the way that this theatre was valued by its contemporaries |
Analysis |
Great Britain |
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Theatre History |
Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 192-201) and index |
Subject |
English drama -- 20th ceftury -- History and criticism
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English drama -- 20th century -- History and criticism.
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Realism in literature.
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Theater -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century.
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LC no. |
94044677 |
ISBN |
0415077826 |
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0415123119 (PB) |
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