Aleks Sierz - Böcker

A guide to all of the plays of Martin Crimp. For a decade, Martin Crimp has been in the vanguard of new writing for the British stage. His main stage plays include Dealing with Clair, The Treatment, Attempts on Her Life, The Country, and Cruel and Tender, with his 1997 masterpiece, Attempts on Her Life, arguably being one of the best plays of the past quarter century. By the author of the landmark study of contemporary British drama, In-Yer-Face Theatre, this is the first study of Martin Crimp's work for stage and radio. Arguing that Crimp is one of the most acute satirists of contemporary British society, Aleks Sierz provides an accessible and fascinating account of the playwright's work. As well as an account of each of Crimp's plays and an analysis of his oeuvre, the volume includes a wide-ranging interview with Crimp himself and interviews with all the key directors responsible for staging his work, including Sam Walters, Katie Mitchell, James Mcdonald and Lindsay Posner.

The most controversial and newsworthy plays of British theatre are a rash of rude, vicious and provocative pieces by a brat pack of twentysomethings whose debuts startled critics and audiences with their heady mix of sex, violence and street-poetry.In-Yer-Face Theatre is the first book to study this exciting outburst of creative self-expression by what in other contexts has been called Generation X, or Thatcher's Children, the 'yoof' who grew up during the last Conservative Government. The book argues that, for example, Trainspotting, Blasted, Mojo and Shopping and F**king are much more than a collection of shock tactics - taken together, they represent a consistent critique of modern life, one which focuses on the problem of violence, the crisis of masculinity and the futility of consumerism. The book contains extensive interviews with playwrights, including Sarah Kane (Blasted), Mark Ravenhill (Shopping and F**king), Philip Ridley (The Pitchfork Disney), Patrick Marber (Closer) and Martin McDonagh (The Beauty Queen of Leenane).

"Look Back in Anger" is one of the few works of drama that are indisputably central to British culture in general, and its name is one of the most well-known in postwar cultural history. Its premiere in 1956 sparked off the first 'new wave' of kitchen-sink drama and the cultural phenomenon of the Angry Young Man. The play's anti-hero, Jimmy Porter, became the spokesman of a generation. Osborne's play is a key milestone in 'new writing' for British theatre, and the Royal Court - which produced the play - has since become one of the most important new writing theatres in the UK.This guide provides a comprehensive critical introduction to the play, giving students an overview of the background and context; detailed analysis of the play's structure, style, characters etc; analysis of key production issues and choices; overview of the performance history from the 1956 Royal Court premiere to recent revivals; and an annotated guide to further reading highlighting key critical approaches.It offers accessible, informative critical introductions to modern plays for students in both Theatre/Performance Studies and English.Offering up-to-date coverage of a broad range of key plays throughout modern drama, the guides include accounts of performance history, production analysis, screen adaptations and summaries of important critical approaches and debates.

"Look Back in Anger" is one of the few works of drama that are indisputably central to British culture in general, and its name is one of the most well-known in postwar cultural history. Its premiere in 1956 sparked off the first 'new wave' of kitchen-sink drama and the cultural phenomenon of the Angry Young Man. The play's anti-hero, Jimmy Porter, became the spokesman of a generation. Osborne's play is a key milestone in 'new writing' for British theatre, and the Royal Court - which produced the play - has since become one of the most important new writing theatres in the UK.This guide provides a comprehensive critical introduction to the play, giving students an overview of the background and context; detailed analysis of the play's structure, style, characters etc; analysis of key production issues and choices; overview of the performance history from the 1956 Royal Court premiere to recent revivals; and an annotated guide to further reading highlighting key critical approaches.This guide provides accessible, informative critical introductions to modern plays for students in both Theatre/Performance Studies and English.Offering up-to-date coverage of a broad range of key plays throughout modern drama, the guides include accounts of performance history, production analysis, screen adaptations and summaries of important critical approaches and debates.

London’s West End is a global success story, staging phenomenal hit shows that have delighted millions of spectators and generated billions of pounds in revenue. In Good Nights Out, Aleks Sierz provides a thematic survey of such popular theatre shows that were enormous commercial successes over the past 75 years. He argues that these outstanding hits have a lot to say about the collective cultural, social and political attitudes and aspirations of the country, and about how our national identity — and theatre’s role in creating it — has evolved over the decades. The book spans a range of work from almost forgotten plays, such as R. F. Delderfield’s Worm’s Eye View and Hugh Hastings’s Seagulls Over Sorrento, to well-known mega-hits, such as The Mousetrap and The Phantom of the Opera. Such popular work has tended to be undervalued by some critics and commentators mainly because it has not been thought to be a suitable subject for inclusion in the canon of English Literature. By contrast, Sierz demonstrates that genres such as the British musical, light comedy, sex farce or murder mystery are worth appreciating not only for their intrinsic theatrical qualities, but also as examples of the dream life of the British people. The book challenges the idea that mega-hits are merely escapist entertainments and instead shows how they contribute to the creation of powerful myths about our national life. The analysis of such shows also points towards the possibility of creating an alternative history of postwar British theatre.

London’s West End is a global success story, staging phenomenal hit shows that have delighted millions of spectators and generated billions of pounds in revenue. In Good Nights Out, Aleks Sierz provides a thematic survey of such popular theatre shows that were enormous commercial successes over the past 75 years. He argues that these outstanding hits have a lot to say about the collective cultural, social and political attitudes and aspirations of the country, and about how our national identity — and theatre’s role in creating it — has evolved over the decades. The book spans a range of work from almost forgotten plays, such as R. F. Delderfield’s Worm’s Eye View and Hugh Hastings’s Seagulls Over Sorrento, to well-known mega-hits, such as The Mousetrap and The Phantom of the Opera. Such popular work has tended to be undervalued by some critics and commentators mainly because it has not been thought to be a suitable subject for inclusion in the canon of English Literature. By contrast, Sierz demonstrates that genres such as the British musical, light comedy, sex farce or murder mystery are worth appreciating not only for their intrinsic theatrical qualities, but also as examples of the dream life of the British people. The book challenges the idea that mega-hits are merely escapist entertainments and instead shows how they contribute to the creation of powerful myths about our national life. The analysis of such shows also points towards the possibility of creating an alternative history of postwar British theatre.

British theatre is booming. But where do these beautiful buildings and exciting plays come from? And when did the story start? To find out we time travel back to the age of the first Queen Elizabeth in the 16th century, four hundred years ago when there was not a single theatre in the land. In the company of a series of well-characterized fictional guides, the eight chapters of the book explore how British theatre began, grew up and developed from the 1550s to the 1950s.The Time-Traveller's Guide to British Theatre tells the story of the movers and shakers, the buildings, the playwrights, the plays and the audiences that make British theatre what it is today. It covers all the great names — from Shakespeare to Terence Rattigan, by way of Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw — and the classic plays, many of which are still revived today, visits the venues and tells their dramatic stories. It is an accessible, journalistic account of this subject which, while based firmly on extensive research and historical accuracy, describes five centuries of British creativity in an interesting and relevant way. It is celebratory in tone, journalistic in style and accurate in content.

"Informative, provocative and entertaining all at the same time." - Michael BillingtonThis is a wide-ranging and accessible account of new writing in British theatre during the 2010s, written in a boldly experimental style. A guide to the key plays and playwriting innovations, it enlightens, amuses and provokes in equal measure.Across 15 chapters, each written in a different form, it takes the reader on an engaging tour of new drama in British theatre from 2010 until the arrival of COVID-19. It considers mega hits such as Fleabag and Matilda the Musical, as well as offering accounts of some 250 plays that premiered in those years. Structured around the big concerns of the decade, it explores social issues, politics, Brexit, dystopias, experimental theatre, family, gender, race, history, adaptations and the West End.­­A decade of drama is thrown into sharp relief through the symphony of literary styles and voices that characterize the chapters: from dialogues, monologues, a diary and a listings magazine, to an experimental A to Z, informal notes, quotations from real-life interviews, a documentary script and a memoir. The variety of perspectives mirrors the richness of our contemporary culture and the innovations in theatre that are celebrated in New British Drama in 15 Scenes.

"Informative, provocative and entertaining all at the same time." - Michael BillingtonThis is a wide-ranging and accessible account of new writing in British theatre during the 2010s, written in a boldly experimental style. A guide to the key plays and playwriting innovations, it enlightens, amuses and provokes in equal measure.Across 15 chapters, each written in a different form, it takes the reader on an engaging tour of new drama in British theatre from 2010 until the arrival of COVID-19. It considers mega hits such as Fleabag and Matilda the Musical, as well as offering accounts of some 250 plays that premiered in those years. Structured around the big concerns of the decade, it explores social issues, politics, Brexit, dystopias, experimental theatre, family, gender, race, history, adaptations and the West End.­­A decade of drama is thrown into sharp relief through the symphony of literary styles and voices that characterize the chapters: from dialogues, monologues, a diary and a listings magazine, to an experimental A to Z, informal notes, quotations from real-life interviews, a documentary script and a memoir. The variety of perspectives mirrors the richness of our contemporary culture and the innovations in theatre that are celebrated in New British Drama in 15 Scenes.

This is an essential guide for anyone interested in the best new British stage plays to emerge in the new millennium. For students of theatre studies and theatre-goers Rewriting the Nation: British Theatre Today is a perfect companion to Britain's burgeoning theatre writing scene. It explores the context from which new plays have emerged and charts the way that playwrights have responded to the key concerns of the decade and helped shape our sense of who we are.In recent years British theatre has seen a renaissance in playwriting accompanied by a proliferation of writing awards and new writing groups. The book provides an in-depth exploration of the industry and of the key plays and playwrights. It opens by defining what is meant by 'new writing' and providing a study of the leading theatres, such as the Royal Court, the Traverse, the Bush, the Hampstead and the National theatres, together with the London fringe and the work of touring companies.In the second part, Sierz provides a fascinating survey of the main issues that have characterised new plays in the first decade of the new century, such as foreign policy and war overseas, economic boom and bust, divided communities and questions of identity and race. It considers too how playwrights have re-examined domestic issues of family, of love, of growing up, and the fantasies and nightmares of the mind. Against the backdrop of economic, political and social change under New Labour, Sierz shows how British theatre responded to these changes and in doing so has been and remains deeply involved in the project of rewriting the nation.

The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary British Playwrights is an authoritative guide to the work of twenty-five playwrights who have risen to prominence since the 1980s. Written by an international team of scholars, it will be invaluable to anyone interested in, studying or teaching contemporary drama. Among the many playwrights whose work is examined are Sarah Daniels, Terry Johnson, Martin Crimp, Sarah Kane, Anthony Neilson, Mark Ravenhill, Simon Stephens, Debbie Tucker Green, Tanika Gupta and Richard Bean. Each essay features: A biographical sketch and introduction to the playwright A discussion of their most important plays An analysis of their stylistic and thematic traits, the critical reception and their place in the discourses of British theatre A bibliography of texts and critical material

The Methuen Drama Book of 21st Century British Plays showcases five of the best new plays from the first decade of the twenty-first century. A perfect reminder of the relevance, vitality and innovation of British theatre, this collection represents some of the most exciting plays to emerge in recent years. Joe Penhall's multi-award-winning Blue/Orange was heralded as 'one of the best new plays in the National's history' (Sunday Times). Set in a mental hospital it provides a riveting exploration of racism, health and power, and was the winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Play 2001. Elmina's Kitchen by Kwame Kwei-Armah, about gun crime and the struggle to make a living on Hackney's Murder Mile, marked the emergence of a major new writing talent. 'An exquisite tragi-comedy for our times' (Herald) Neilson's Realism dramatises the everyday life and increasingly bizarre fantasies and thoughts of its protagonist with comic zeal and inspired inventiveness. Gone Too Far! explores a London community divided by race and prejudice.The first play to be written about the London 7/7 terrorist bombings, Simon Stephens' Pornography tells seven entwining stories of people's lives during the day leading up to the catastrophic event.

British theatre of the 1990s witnessed an explosion of new talent and presented a new sensibility that sent shockwaves through audiences and critics. What produced this change, the context from which the work emerged, the main playwrights and plays, and the influence they had on later work are freshly evaluated in this important new study in Methuen Drama's Decades of Modern British Playwriting series.The 1990s volume provides a detailed study by four scholars of the work of four of the major playwrights who emerged and had a significant impact on British theatre: Sarah Kane (by Catherine Rees), Anthony Neilson (Patricia Reid), Mark Ravenhill (Graham Saunders) and Philip Ridley (Aleks Sierz). 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, 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 1990s.

British theatre of the 1990s witnessed an explosion of new talent and presented a new sensibility that sent shockwaves through audiences and critics. What produced this change, the context from which the work emerged, the main playwrights and plays, and the influence they had on later work are freshly evaluated in this important new study in Methuen Drama's Decades of Modern British Playwriting series.The 1990s volume provides a detailed study by four scholars of the work of four of the major playwrights who emerged and had a significant impact on British theatre: Sarah Kane (by Catherine Rees), Anthony Neilson (Patricia Reid), Mark Ravenhill (Graham Saunders) and Philip Ridley (Aleks Sierz). 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, 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 1990s.

First published in 2006, Alek's Sierz's The Theatre of Martin Crimp provided a groundbreaking study of one of British theatre's leading contemporary playwrights. Combining Sierz's lucid prose and sharp analysis together with interviews with Martin Crimp and a host of directors and actors who have produced the work, it offered a richly rewarding and engaging assessment of this acutely satirical playwright. The second edition additionally explores the work produced between 2006 and 2013, both the major new plays and the translations and other work. The second edition considers The City, the 2008 companion play to The Country, Play House from 2012 and the new work for the Royal Court in late 2012. The two works that have brought Crimp considerable international acclaim in recent years, the updated rewrite of The Misanthrope which in 2009 played for several months in the West End starring Keira Knightley, and Crimp's translation of Botho Strauss's Big and Small (Barbican, 2012), together with Crimp's other work in translation are all covered. The Theatre of Martin Crimp remains the fullest, most readable account of Crimps's work for the stage.

First published in 2006, Alek's Sierz's The Theatre of Martin Crimp provided a groundbreaking study of one of British theatre's leading contemporary playwrights. Combining Sierz's lucid prose and sharp analysis together with interviews with Martin Crimp and a host of directors and actors who have produced the work, it offered a richly rewarding and engaging assessment of this acutely satirical playwright. The second edition additionally explores the work produced between 2006 and 2013, both the major new plays and the translations and other work. The second edition considers The City, the 2008 companion play to The Country, Play House from 2012 and the new work for the Royal Court in late 2012. The two works that have brought Crimp considerable international acclaim in recent years, the updated rewrite of The Misanthrope which in 2009 played for several months in the West End starring Keira Knightley, and Crimp's translation of Botho Strauss's Big and Small (Barbican, 2012), together with Crimp's other work in translation are all covered. The Theatre of Martin Crimp remains the fullest, most readable account of Crimps's work for the stage.