Modern British Playwriting: The 1980’s

Dr Jane Milling is Senior Lecturer in the department of Drama at the University of Exeter, UK. Series editors: Richard Boon, Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Drama and Music, University of Hull, and Philip Roberts, Emeritus Professor in the School of English, University of Leeds.

Modern British Playwriting: The 1980s equips readers with a fresh assessment of the theatre and principle playwrights and plays from a decade when political and economic forces were changing society dramatically. It offers a broad survey of the context and of the playwrights and companies such as Complicité and DV8 that rose to prominence at this time. Alongside this it provides a detailed examination based on fresh research of four of the most significant playwrights of the era and considers the influence they had on later work.The 1980s volume features a detailed study by four scholars of the work of four of the major playwrights who came to prominence: Howard Barker (by Sarah Goldingay), Jim Cartwright (David Lane), Sarah Daniels (Jane Milling) and Timberlake Wertenbaker (Sara Freeman).Essential for students of Theatre Studies, the series of six decadal volumes provides a critical survey and study of the theatre produced from the 1950s to 2009. Each volume features a critical analysis of the work of four key playwrights besides other theatre work from that decade, together with an extensive commentary on the period. Readers will understand the works in their contexts and be presented with fresh research material and a reassessment from the perspective of the twenty-first century. This is an authoritative and stimulating reassessment of British playwriting in the 1980s.

Each volume features new research analysing primary material on writers and productions of their work

General Preface by series editors Richard Boon and Philip RobertsAcknowledgementsIntroduction to the 1980sDomestic lifeEducationCultureMediaScience, technology and industryPolitical eventsTheatre in the 1980sThinking about the recent pastInstitutions, policies and fundingNew writing and playwrights in the 1980sCultures of protest: issue as subject matterPresent pastsIntroducing the PlaywrightsCrafting careersHoward BarkerJim CartwrightSarah DanielsTimberlake WertenbakerPlaywrights and PlaysHoward Barker by Sarah GoldingayJim Cartwright by David LaneSarah Daniels by Jane MillingTimberlake Wertenbaker by Sara FreemanDocumentsHoward Barker: Interview with Jane MillingJim Cartwright: In His Own WordsSarah Daniels: Interview with Jane MillingTimberlake Wertenbaker: In Her Own WordsAfterwordNotesSelect BibliographyIndexNotes on Contributors