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The Routledge Companion to Twentieth Century British Theatre and Performance: Volume One: 1900–1950 book cover

1st Edition

The Routledge Companion to Twentieth Century British Theatre and Performance Volume One: 1900–1950

Edited By Claire Cochrane, Lynette Goddard, Catherine Hindson, Trish Reid Copyright 2025
404 Pages 24 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

404 Pages 24 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

404 Pages 24 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
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 100-year period. This first volume covers the first half of the century, constructing an equitable and inclusive history that is more representative of... Read more

List of contributors

Acknowledgements

 

Introduction

       Claire Cochrane, Lynette Goddard, Catherine Hindson and Trish Reid

 

1     Setting the Scene: Ambivalent Encounters/Visibilities

       David Linton

 

PART I

Nation/s, Power and Identity

 

2     The Theatre and the State, 1900–1950

       Trevor R. Griffiths

 

3     Irish National Drama and the British Theatre, 1897–1951

       Patrick Lonergan

 

4     Theatre, Education and Recreation

       Jane Milling

 

5     “National” Theatres

       Anselm Heinrich

 

6     Collective Laughter and Political Empowerment in the Comedies of the Suffrage Era

       Eleanor Stewart

 

PART II

Fixity and Mobility

 

7     Theatre Buildings, 1900–1950

       Alistair Fair

 

8     Miles from London: Edinburgh and Bristol’s West End Cultures

       Catherine Hindson

 

9     Popular Places

       Nick Havergal

 

10   Transatlantic Exchanges

       Paul Maloney

 

11   Theatre in World War Two: Taking on the Myths

       Ros Merkin

 

 

PART III

Bodies in Performance

 

12   Between Representation and Agency: Black Artists in the UK, 1900–1950

       Tiziana Morosetti

 

13   ‘A Twitchy and Pugnacious Male Culture’: Women and Scottish Theatre, 1900–1950

        Claire Cochrane and Ksenija Horvat

 

14   Ensembles and Companies

       Philippa Burt

 

15   The Performing Body in Music Hall and Variety Theatre: Ambiguities and Blurred Boundaries

      Louise Peacock

 

16   The Influence of the European Avant-Garde

      Claire Warden

 

17   British Actor Training, 1900–1950: The Drama-School Turn

       Peter Zazzali

 

PART IV

The Materiality of Theatre

 

18   The Labour of Theatre, 1900–1950

       Lucie Sutherland

 

19   Theatrical Publishing, 1900–1950

      Andrew Nash

 

20   Consumer Economies

       Matthew Franks

 

21   Postcards, Letters and Magazines: Fan Culture in the early Twentieth Century

       Helen Grime

 

22   Fashioning Costume on the British Stage, 1900–1950

       Susan Marshall

 

PART V

Communities of Theatre

 

23   Theatre in ‘Other’ Spaces: Welsh Drama and Theatre, 1900–1950

      Anwen Jones

 

24   Ulster Kitchen Comedy: ‘A Faithful if Unpleasant Picture of the National Fragments’

      Roy Connolly

 

25   Elite Private Theatricals and the ‘Professional’ Amateur

      David Coates

 

26   Early Twentieth-Century Festival Cultures

       Soudabeh Ananisarab

 

27   The Children’s Theatre Movement in Early Twentieth-Century London and Birmingham

       Catherine Hindson and Gemma Colclough

 

 

Index


Biography

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

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