Brecht and Post-1990s British Drama

Anja Hartl is Assistant Professor at the Department of Literature, Art and Media Studies at the University of Konstanz, Germany. She has published essays on contemporary British theatre, Brecht and Shakespearean adaptation. Her research focuses on political theatre, adaptation studies, Shakespeare, and Victorian fiction.

An impressive and persuasive study, paying close and scrupulous attention to a selection of well-chosen and significant dramatic works to show how the Brechtian mode has endured through adaptation to a transformed political and critical context.

• AcknowledgementsIntroductionRevisiting Brecht’s Dialectical TheatreRethinking Dialectics via Adorno and RancièreTowards a Post-Brechtian Theatre1. ‘In-Yer-Face’ Theatre and the Crisis of Dialectics: Mark Ravenhill’s Post-Brechtian Drama in Anti-Dialectical Times1.1 The Post-Brechtian Parable: Some Explicit Polaroids1.2 Resisting the Banal Dialectic of (Counter-)Terrorism: Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat1.3 Conclusion2. Reimagining Brecht: David Greig’s Theatre of Dissensus2.1 Appropriating the Imagination in Dunsinane2.2 Interrupting Empathy: The Events2.3 Conclusion3. Strategic Naivety: The Dialectic of Sincerity in Andy Smith and Tim Crouch’s Work3.1 Post-Brechtian Meta-Theatre: all that is solid melts into air3.2 The Limits of Sincerity: The Author3.3 Conclusion4. Political Theatre Between Dialectics and Absurdity: Caryl Churchill’s Twenty-First-Century Plays4.1 Dystopian Negativity: Escaped Alone4.2 Deconstructing the Dialectic: Here We Go4.3 ConclusionConclusionBibliography