British Playwrights, 1956-1995: A Research and Production Sourcebook [Hardcover]

William W. Demastes (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0313287597 | ISBN-13: 978-0313287596 | Publication Date: October 30, 1996

The year 1956 marked a point when British drama and theater fell into the hands of a group of young playwrights who revolutionized the stage. During that time, playwrights such as Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter made the British theater as rich, varied, and vital as any national theater in history. This reference chronicles the history of British theater from 1956 to 1995 by providing detailed information about the playwrights of that period. Included are entries for some three dozen British playwrights active between 1956 and 1995. Entries are arranged alphabetically to facilitate use. Each entry supplies biographical information, the production history for particular plays, a survey of the playwright's critical reception, an assessment of the dramatist's work, and primary and secondary bibliographies. A selected, general bibliography at the end of the volume directs the reader to important sources of additional information about this period in theater history.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Theater historians generally agree that the 1956 premiere of John Osborne's Look Back in Anger marked a turning point in British drama, signaling the dawn of an era in which the London stage became an outlet for a new social consciousness. Focusing on 35 playwrights who reflect the vitality and diversity of the British theater during the 40 years since that landmark event, this compilation of bio-critical essays features a mixture of well-established figures, such as Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, and Michael Frayn, and the more recent dramatists David Hare, Louise Page, and Snoo Wilson.

The alphabetically arranged essays follow the format of those in American Playwrights, 1880^-1945 (Greenwood, 1995) and British Playwrights, 1880^-1956 (Greenwood, 1996), which were also edited by Demastes, an English professor at Louisiana State University who specializes in twentieth-century theater. Generally, each essay includes a biographical overview; a section devoted to major plays that notes the dates of significant productions and provides excerpts from critical reviews; a less extensive treatment of additional plays; and an overall assessment of the playwright's career. Concluding each essay is a bibliography that identifies the location of archival materials in addition to listing published plays and other writings by the playwright and selected secondary publications. Contributed primarily by academics in the U.S. and Britain and ranging in length from six pages for Hugh Whitemore to 29 for Samuel Beckett, the essays vary in quality and depth of coverage. A name index includes playwrights, actors, directors, and other individuals mentioned in the essays, while a title index provides references to discussions, plays, films, and other works.

In his preface, Demastes acknowledges that "few if any of the essays should be viewed as comprehensive in their bibliographic references." This is quite understandable regarding the secondary references, which actually are commendably extensive and are particularly valuable for locating reviews of productions. However, one would have expected the primary bibliographies in a compilation covering so few individuals to provide a complete listing of each writer's plays, adaptations, and screenplays, and it is both unfortunate and potentially misleading that this is not always the case.

All the playwrights in this volume are among the 210 covered by Contemporary British Dramatists (St. James, 1994). Although the entries in that publication lack the depth of those in British Playwrights, their primary bibliographies are more complete. In addition, the two-volume British Dramatists since World War II (Gale, 1982), published as volume 13 of the Dictionary of Literary Biography, treats all except eight of these playwrights. However, for writers who are still active, those articles are now somewhat out-of-date.

In spite of its flaws, this compilation offers drama students and scholars a unique and valuable resource by concentrating on the performance aspects of each dramatist's plays rather than on their literary merit. Most academic libraries will want to add this work to their collections.

Review

“The biographical sketches, descriptions of theatrical reception, and assessments of playwrights' careers are very informative, and the sections on archival sources are welcome....recommmended for college and university libraries.”–Choice

“Theater historians generally agree that the 1956 premiere of John Osborne's Look Back in Anger marked a turning point in British drama, signalling the dawn of an era in which the London stage became an outlet for a new social consciousness. Focusing on 35 playwrights who reflect the vitality and diversty of the British theater during the 4o years since that landmark event, this compilation of bio-critical essays features a mixture of well-established figures such as Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, and Michael Frayn and the more recent dramatists David Hare, Louise Page, and Snoo Wilson....this compilation offers drama students and scholars a unique and valuable resource by concentrating on the performance aspects of each dramatist's plays rather than their literary mert. Most academic libraries will want to add this work to their collections.”–Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Greenwood Press (October 30, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313287597
• ISBN-13: 978-0313287596
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,518,930 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)