Twenty-First Century Drama

Siân Adiseshiah is Reader in English Literature and Drama in the School of Humanities at the University of Lincoln, UK. She is a specialist in contemporary theatre and twenty-first century literature, and her previous publications include Twenty-First Century Fiction (co-edited with Rupert Hildyard, Palgrave, 2013), Churchill's Socialism (CSP, 2009) and a variety of book chapters and articles. She is also co-organiser of the biennial international conference series, 'What Happens Now: 21st Century Writing in English'. Louise LePage is a Teaching Fellow in the Drama and Theatre Department at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Her previous publications include articles in journals such as Culture, Language and Representation, Modern Drama and Platform.

“The volume offers fascinating glimpses into current trends in British drama with occasional forays to other English-speaking countries like Australia and the USA, to Japan and mainland Europe.” (Anette Pankratz, Journal of Contemporary Drama in English, Vol. 6 (02), November, 2018)

• Introduction. What Happens Now; Siân Adiseshiah and Louise LePage.- PART I. Beyond Postmodernism.- 1. Room for Realism?; Elaine Aston.- 2. Beyond belief; Chris Megson.- 3. The Emancipated Shakespeare; Stephen Bottoms.- 4. The Twenty-First Century History Play; Paola Botham.- PART II. Austerity and Class Returns.- 5. Back to the Future; Louise Owen.- 6. Translating Austerity; Mark O’Thomas.- 7. ‘Chavs’, ‘Gyppos’ and ‘Scum’?; Siân Adiseshiah.- PART III. Borders, Race, Nation.- 8. These Green and Pleasant Lands; Nadine Holdsworth.- 9. ‘Sexy Kilts with Attitude’; Trish Reid.- 10. The Politics of Innocence in Contemporary Theatre About Refugees; Emma Cox.- Part IV. New Humans, New Dramaturgies, New Worlds.- 11. The New Genetics, Genocide, and Caryl Churchill; Mary Luckhurst.- 12. Twenty-First Century Casting; Marie Kelly.- 13. ‘Thinking Something Makes It So’; Louise LePage.- 14. Anthropo-Scenes; Una Chaudhuri.- Bibliography.