EN107 British Theatre Since 1939
British Theatre Since 1939
Module Convenor 2023-24: Dr. Ronan HatfullLink opens in a new window
SEE BELOW FOR TEACHING TIMES FOR 2023/24 | |
DAY / TIME / LOCATION | |
MON / 10-12 / FAB5.02 | |
MON / 12-2 / FAB6.05 | |
OVERVIEW
The module will serve both as an introduction to contemporary theatre in Britain post-1939 and as a first investigation of the relationship between literary texts and the conditions of performance. Major plays of the period will be studied in their own right but also as examples of trends and developments in the period.
Each week involves focus on one or more playwrights, with designated primary and secondary texts. It is essential that you read the primary text, but also strongly encouraged to read the secondary text. By doing so, you will gain an understanding of each playwright's development as an artist and begin to hone your skills of comparative literary and theatrical analysis.
Design, theatrical architecture, performance styles, organisations and repertoires will be studied, with special attention to assumptions concerning the social role of the drama. Playtexts will be related to specific productions, and you are encouraged to watch or listen to stage, screen and radio adaptations, where these are available. The module will be taught through a combination of mini-lectures, roundtable discussions and practical explorations.
'It wasn't until director Dominic Cooke arrived at Warwick University in 1985 that he began to understand theatre's capacity to be both a political and a moral force. Fittingly enough, it was the Royal Court that seized his attention:
"We did this brilliant course, which was basically all about the Court – about the shift from TS Eliot's The Cocktail Party to Look Back in Anger, right through Wesker, Bond, all those writers. Plays that really engaged, which were asking questions."'
Dominic Cooke, Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre (Guardian, 29.1.2011)
TERM 1
Week 1: Terence Rattigan
- Primary text: The Deep Blue Sea (1952)Link opens in a new window
- Secondary text: The Winslow Boy (1946)Link opens in a new window
Week 2: John Osborne
- Primary text: Look Back in Anger (1956)Link opens in a new window
- Secondary text: The Entertainer (1957)Link opens in a new window
Week 3: Shelagh Delaney / Joan Littlewood
- Primary text: A Taste of Honey (1958)Link opens in a new window
- Secondary text: Joan Littlewood and the Theatre Workshop, Oh, What a Lovely War! (1963)
Week 4: Arnold Wesker
- Primary text: Roots (1959)Link opens in a new window
- Secondary text: Chicken Soup With Barley (1958)Link opens in a new window
Week 5: Harold Pinter
- Primary text: The Birthday Party (1958)Link opens in a new window
- Secondary text: Mountain Language (1988)Link opens in a new window
Week 6: Reading Week
Week 7: Samuel Beckett
- Primary text: Waiting for Godot (1953)Link opens in a new window
- Secondary text: Not I (1972)Link opens in a new window
Week 8: Brian Friel
- Primary text: Translations (1980)Link opens in a new window
- Secondary text: Dancing at Lughnasa (1990)Link opens in a new window
** FORMATIVE ESSAY DUE **
Week 9: Martin McDonagh
- Primary text: The Beauty Queen of Leenane (1996)Link opens in a new window
- Secondary text: The Pillowman (2003)Link opens in a new window
Week 10: Marina Carr
- Primary text: Portia Coughlan (1996)
- Secondary text: The Cordelia Dream (2008)Link opens in a new window
TERM 2
Week 1: David Greig
- Primary text: Europe (1994)Link opens in a new window
- Secondary text: Dunsinane (2010)Link opens in a new window
- BBC Radio 3 production (2013)Link opens in a new window
Week 2: Jez Butterworth
- Primary text: Jerusalem (2009)Link opens in a new window
- Secondary text: Mojo (1995)Link opens in a new window
Week 3: Caryl Churchill
- Primary text: Top Girls (1982)Link opens in a new window
- Secondary text: Vinegar Tom (1976)Link opens in a new window
Week 4: Lucy Prebble
- Primary text: The Effect (2012)Link opens in a new window
- Secondary text: A Very Expensive Poison (2019)Link opens in a new window
** ESSAY 1 ESSAY DUE **
Week 5: Ella Hickson
- Primary text: OilLink opens in a new window (2016)Link opens in a new window
- Secondary text: Eight (2008)Link opens in a new window
Week 6: Reading Week
Week 7: Phoebe Waller-Bridge
- Primary text: Fleabag (2013)Link opens in a new window
Week 8: Michaela Cole
- Primary text: Chewing Gum Dreams (2013)Link opens in a new window
Week 9: Inua Ellams
- Primary text: Barber Shop Chronicles (2017)Link opens in a new window
Week 10: Silent Faces
- Primary text: Godot is a Woman (2022)Link opens in a new window
TERM 3
Student-led seminars on plays by British playwrights not yet studied on the module.
Examples might include: Bola Agbaje, Mike Bartlett, Alice Birch, Alan Bennet, Breach Theatre, Helen Edmundson, debbie tucker green, Lucy Kirkwood, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Liz Lochhead, Duncan Macmillan, Alistair McDowall, Gary Owen, Nick Payne, Nina Raine, Ambreen Razia, Sam Steiner, Simon Stephens, Tom Stoppard and Laura Wade.
Group 1
Week 1:
- Jonathan Harvey, Beautiful Thing (1993) – Dylan, Luke, Lucy, Ife
Available on Drama Online: https://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/playtext-overview?docid=do-9781408164549&tocid=do-9781408164549-div-00000005&st=Jonathan+Harvey%2C+Beautiful+Thing
- Polly Stenham, That Face (2007) – Alessandro, Edie, Soroya
Available on Drama Online: https://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/playtext-overview?docid=do-9780571285471&tocid=do-9780571285471-div-00000005&st=Polly+Stenham%2C+That+Face
Week 2:
- Nick Payne, Constellations (2012) – Holly, Matthew, Casi
Available on Drama Online: https://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/playtext-overview?docid=do-9780571313655&tocid=do-9780571313655-div-00000006&st=Nick+Payne%2C+Constellations
- Suzie Miller, Prima Facie (2019) – Katherine, Tamara
Available on eBook Central: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/warw/detail.action?docID=6280540
Week 3:
- Chris Bush, Standing at the Sky’s Edge (2022) – Emma, Vi, Sinead
Not available in the Library. Currently on at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in London: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/standing-at-the-skys-edge/
Group 2
Week 1:
- Julian Mitchell, Another Country (1981) – Harry, Somi
Physical copy available in the Library: https://warwick.summon.serialssolutions.com/#!/search/document?ho=t&include.ft.matches=f&fvf=ContentType,Newspaper%20Article,t%7CContentType,Book%20Review,t&l=en-UK&q=Julian%20Mitchell,%20Another%20Country&id=FETCHMERGED-warwick_catalog_b121013212
- Alan Bennet, The History Boys (2004) – Famke, Matty, Freya, Fred
Available on Drama Online: https://0-www-dramaonlinelibrary-com.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/playtext-overview?docid=do-9780571289325&tocid=do-9780571289325-div-00000008&st=
Week 2:
- Nick Payne, Constellations (2012) – Felix, Emily, Isabel, Angelina, Clemi
Available on Drama Online: https://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/playtext-overview?docid=do-9780571313655&tocid=do-9780571313655-div-00000006&st=Nick+Payne%2C+Constellations
- Simon Stephens, Bluebird (2012) – Rowan, Fathima
Available on Drama Online: https://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/playtext-overview?docid=do-9781408168431&tocid=do-9781408168431-div-00000005&st=%E2%80%A2Simon+Stephens%2C+Bluebird
Week 3:
- Gecko Show TBC (I suggest Institute, as this is available to watch on Box of Broadcasts) – Shona, Bethan, Fred
Institute available on Box of Broadcasts: https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/1677666B?bcast=132394077
Week 4: ** ESSAY 2 ESSAY DUE **
LIVE THEATRE OPPORTUNITIES
Several of the plays which we're studying will be staged during the 2023-24 academic year. Seeing live theatre is the best way to engage with playwrights and their work, so I'd encourage you to try and see as much as you are able. I've listed below relevant productions and will add to this list if and when new ones are announced. If you hear of any productions taking place, please let me know and I will add them. The productions are ordered by date:
- Lucy Prebble, The Effect: Running until 7 Oct 2023, Lyttleton Theatre @ National Theatre, LondonLink opens in a new window
- Jez Butterworth, Mojo: Wed 27—Sat 30 Sep 2023, Studio Theatre @ South Hill Park, BracknellLink opens in a new window
- Roy Williams, Days of Significance: Mon 23—Sat 28 Oct 2023, Milton Court Studio Theatre @ Barbican Centre, LondonLink opens in a new window
- Marina Carr, Portia Coughlan: Tue 10 Oct—Sat 18 Nov 2023, Almeida Theatre, LondonLink opens in a new window
- Brian Friel, Translations: Wed 21 Feb—Sat 2 Mar 2024, Loft Theatre, Leamington SpaLink opens in a new window
TEACHING
Teaching is seminar-based, with weekly 2 hour sessions.
ASSESSMENT
Assessment is by two essays, each of 2,500 words - one due Term 2, Week 4 and another in Term 3, Week 4.
There is also a 1,500-word formative essay due in Term 1, Week 9 - this is compulsory, but its mark does not count towards the final module mark. You do need to complete this essay to pass the module, however.
Each essay will have the following elements:
- A full bibliography, including publication details, showing evidence of secondary critical reading.
- The essay will be anonymous, but will have your student number on every page.
READING LIST
The reading list for this module is on Talis AspireLink opens in a new window. All books can be purchased either from the University or other bookshops, or secondhand online; any edition is fine. The Library has a very limited number of physical copies of all books. It is essential for all students to bring copies of the week's reading (book, printout, or laptop/e-reader; not mobile phone copy) to seminar.
SUGGESTED BACKGROUND READING
Michael Billington, State of the Nation: British Theatre Since 1945 (London: Faber, 2007)
Colin Chambers, Black and Asian Theatre in Britain: A History (London: Routledge, 2011)
Claire Cochrane, Twentieth-Century British Theatre: Industry, Art and Empire (Cambridge: CUP, 2011)
Dominic Dromgoole, The Full Room (London: Methuen, 2000)
David Edgar, ed. State of Play (London: Faber, 1999)
Christopher Innes, Modern British Drama: The Twentieth Century (Cambridge: CUP, 2002)
Stephen Lacey, British Realist Theatre: The New Wave in its Context 1956-1965 (London: Routledge, 1995)
Mary Luckhurst, ed. A companion to modern British and Irish drama, 1880-2005 (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006)
Dan Rebellato, 1956 And All That - The Making of Modern British Drama (London: Routledge, 1999)
Dominic Shellard, British Theatre Since the War (New Haven: Yale UP, 2000)
Aleks Sierz, In Yer Face Theatre (London: Faber, 2001)
John Russell Taylor, Anger and After (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1964)
Micheline Wandor, Look Back in Gender (London: Methuen, 1987)
Photo credit: Trafalgar Studios production of A Taste of Honey (2019)