1st Edition

Post-war British Drama: Looking Back in Gender

By Michelene Wandor Copyright 2001
    284 Pages
    by Routledge

    282 Pages
    by Routledge

    In this extensively revised and updated edition of her classic work, Look Back in Gender, Michelene Wandor confirms the symbiotic relationship between drama and gender in a provocative look at key, representative British plays from the last fifty years.
    Repositioning the text at the heart of hteatre studies, Wandor surveys plays by Ayckbourn, Beckett, Churchill, Daniels, Friel, Hare, Kane, Osborne, Pinter, Ravenhill, Wertenbaker, Wesker and others. Her nuanced argument, central to any analysis of contemporary drama, discusses:
    *the imperative of gender in the playwright's imagination
    *the function of gender as a major determinant of the text's structural and narrative drives
    *the impact of socialism and feminism on post-war British drama, and the relevance of feminist dynamics in drama
    *differences in the representation of the fmaily, sexuality and the mother, before and after 1968
    *the impact of the slogan that the 'personal is political' on contemporary form and content.

    PART I 1 The imperative of gender 2 The imperative of context: family and gender PART II 3 The 1950s 4 The 1960s 5 The Lady Macbeth syndrome ± The 1950s and 1960s: conclusions 6 The Royal Smut-Hound by Kenneth Tynan PART III 7 New contexts, 8 A theatrical legacy, PART IV 9 The 1970s, 10 The 1970s: conclusions, PART V 11 The 1980s, 12 The 1980s : conclusions, PART VI 13 the 1990s, 14 The 1990s: conclusions, Part VII 15 Turning the tables, 16 Coda, Epilogue

    Biography

    Michelene Wandor

    'Wandor strides out of the Spare Rib years to give us a salutary shake.' - Plays International

    'There is something unabashedly radical about Wandor's writing which makes it a pleasure as well as a challenge to read. Her language is immediate, her motives and politics transparent, and her grasp of her subject matter is simply unparalleled. Looking Back in Gender remains a forcefully engaging, fascinating read. ' - Lucy PowellHam & High Books