The Routledge Companion to Twentieth Century British Theatre and Performance: Volume Two: 1950–2000(Routledge Companions)

The Routledge Companion to Twentieth Century British Theatre and Performance provides a broad range of perspectives on the multiple models and examples of theatre, artists, enthusiasts, enablers and audiences that emerged over this formative hundred‑year period. This second volume covers the second half of the century, constructing an equitable and inclusive history that is more representative of the nation's lived experience than the traditional narrative of British theatre. Its approach is intra-national - weaving together the theatres and communities of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, as well as being thematic, breaking down its coverage into sections that address nation, power and identity; fixity and mobility; bodies in performance; theatre communities, and the materiality of theatre. This approach exposes the synergies, convergences and divergences of the theatre world in Britain during this period, giving a sense of the sheer variety of performance that was taking place at any given moment in time. This is a fascinating and indispensable resource for undergraduate and graduate students, postgraduate researchers and scholars across theatre and performance studies, cultural studies, and twentieth century history.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures List of Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction Claire Cochrane, Lynette Goddard, Catherine Hindson & Trish Reid PART I Nation/s, Power and Identity 1 A Black History of English Theatre in the 1950s Kate Dorney 2 Versions of State Intervention Ian Brown 3 Canon Formation Before and After the 1968 Theatres Act Benjamin Poore 4 Re-envisioning European Theatre: adaptation as strategy and metaphor in the British South Asian Theatre Companies of Tara Arts and Tamasha Jerri Daboo 5 Theatre and Performance in Northern Ireland Through and Beyond the Troubles Tom Maguire 6 Institutions: The Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre Sophie Duncan PART II Fixity and Mobility 7 Performing (in the Sites of) Changing National Landscapes: British Site-Specific and Site-Related Theatre of the 1960s-1990s Alex Watson 8 ‘The Art of Closeness’: The Case of Rural Touring Theatre in the English Midlands Gemma Edwards and Jo Robinson 9 The World Theatre Season 1964-1975: International work on the British Stage Helen Gush 10 Chapter Arts Centre in the 1970s Kerrie Reading PART III Bodies in Performance 11 Constituency Theatres: Women’s Collectives 1973-1990 Sarah Gorman 12 LGBTQ+ theatre from the 1980s to the end of the millennium Stephen Greer 13 Black British Women Theatre Directors as Artistic Leaders: The Careers of Yvonne Brewster, Denise Wong, and Paulette Randall Lynette Goddard 14 Disability Theatres: 1970-2000 Kirsty Johnston 15 Physical Theatre: Outbreak and Absorption Franc Chamberlain PART IV The Materiality of Theatre 16 The ‘Ignoble Ambition’: English Regional Producing Theatre and Popular Priorities Claire Cochrane 17 A Background of Slog: Work and the British Theatre, 1950-1999 Tom Six 18 Theatre and Television Plays, Personnel and Practices Stephen Lacey 19 ‘Why’d you choose such a backward time and such a strange land?’: Transforming technologies and practices in the megamusicals of the 1970s and 80s. Millie Taylor 20 Threads in the Skein: Scenography in Britain 1950-2000 Christopher Baugh 21 Theatre Archives and Archiving Jill Sullivan PART V Communities of Theatre 22 Community Theatre: 1950-2000 Kerrie Schaefer 23 Theatre and Younger Audiences Ben Fletcher-Watson 24 Making Your Own: Amateur Theatre 1950-2000 Cara Gray 25 Playwriting and its Contexts: The Traverse Trish Reid 26 ‘Who Are Yous? What Ye Gannae Do?’: The British Alternative Theatre Movement and Regional Comedy Rosalind Haslett Index

About the Author :
Claire Cochrane is Professor Emeritus of Theatre Studies at the University of Worcester, UK. Lynette Goddard is Professor of Black Theatre and Performance at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Catherine Hindson is Professor of Theatre History at the University of Bristol, UK. Trish Reid is Professor of Theatre and Performance at the University of Reading, UK.