Modern Verse Drama explores the emergence of the form at the turn of the century and its development into the twenty-first, offering key case studies of well-known verse dramatists alongside explorations of less-discussed but equally influential writers within the form.

Dramatists discussed include T. S. Eliot, Gordon Bottomley, Charles Williams, W. H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood, Ronald Duncan, Christopher Fry, John Arden, Anne Ridler, Tony Harrison, Ted Hughes, and Caryl Churchill. The book explores the negotiation of these dramatists with the changing position of verse...

This critical introduction to British musical theatre since 1950 is the first book to discuss its post-war developments from the perspective of British - as opposed to American - popular culture. The genre is situated within the historical context of post-war British society in order to explore the range of forms through which significant sociocultural moments are represented.

Introductory chapters analyse the way British musicals have responded to social change, the forms of popular theatre and music from which they have developed and their originality in elaborating new narrative...

This Critical Companion to the American Stage Musical provides the perfect introductory text for students of theatre, music and cultural studies. It traces the history and development of the industry and art form in America with a particular focus on its artistic and commercial development in New York City from the early 20th century to the present. Emphasis is placed on commercial, artistic and cultural events that influenced the Broadway musical for an ever-renewing, increasingly broad and diverse audience: the Gilded Age, the Great Depression, the World War II era, the British...

This Critical Companion to the American Stage Musical provides the perfect introductory text for students of theatre, music and cultural studies. It traces the history and development of the industry and art form in America with a particular focus on its artistic and commercial development in New York City from the early 20th century to the present. Emphasis is placed on commercial, artistic and cultural events that influenced the Broadway musical for an ever-renewing, increasingly broad and diverse audience: the Gilded Age, the Great Depression, the World War II era, the British...

Anthony Neilson is one of the most exciting and challenging voices in contemporary British theatre. For two decades he has been in the vanguard of new writing and has acquired a reputation for innovation and experimentation. His major stage plays include Penetrator, The Censor, Stitching, Realism and his 2004 masterpiece The Wonderful World of Dissocia, arguably one of the best Scottish plays of the new millennium.

This volume provides the first full-length study of both Neilson's plays and his innovative rehearsal methodology. As well as providing...

Anthony Neilson is one of the most exciting and challenging voices in contemporary British theatre. For more than two decades he has been in the vanguard of new writing and has acquired a formidable reputation for innovation and experimentation. His major stage plays include Penetrator, The Censor, Stitching, Realism, Unreachable and his 2004 masterpiece The Wonderful World of Dissocia, arguably one of the finest Scottish plays of the new millennium.

This volume provides the first full-length study of Neilson's plays and his innovative rehearsal...

The Theatre of Eugene O'Neill offers a new comprehensive overview of O'Neill's career and plays in the context of the American theatre. Organised thematically, it considers his Modernist intervention in the theatre, offers readers detailed analysis of the plays, and assesses the recent resurgence in his reputation and new approaches to staging his work. It includes a study of all his major plays - The Emperor Jones, The Hairy Ape, The Iceman Cometh, Long Day's Journey into Night, A Moon for the Misbegotten and Desire Under the Elms - besides...

Obscured behind concrete and razor wire, the lives of the incarcerated remain hidden from public view while serving as fodder for performances which try to imagine or rationalize a nation's practices of imprisonment. Inside the walls, prisoners stage their own theatrical productions, articulating their identities and experiences for audiences carefully monitored by gatekeepers. Prison Theatre examines plays about incarceration and theatre within prisons across the globe, offering a uniquely international account and exploration of prison theatre. By discussing a range of performance...