British theatre of the past fifty years has been brilliant, varied, and controversial, encompassing invigorating indigen
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English Pages 304 [279] Year 2008
Table of contents :
Contents
Preface
Table of Significant Events
Chapter 1. 1945-1954
Chapter 2. 1955-1962
Chapter 3. 1963-1968
Chapter 4. 1969-1979
Chapter 5. 1980-1997
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
British Theatre Since The War
British Theatre Since The War
Dominic Shellard
Yale University Press New Haven and London
Copyright © 1999 by Dominic Shellard First published in paperback 2000 All right s reserved. T his book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form
( beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press) \vithout written permission from the publishers. Set in Simoncini Garamond by Northern Phototypesetting Co. Ltd, Bolton, Lanes. Printed in Great Britain by Redwood Books, 1l:owbridge, Wtlts. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shellard, Dominic. British theatre since the war/by Dominic Shellard.
Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-300-07684-3 (hbk.) ISBN 0-300-08737-3 (pbk.) 1. T heater-Great Britain-History-20th century. PN2595.S42
I. Title.
1999
792' .0941.0945-dc21
98-53505 CIP
For permission to reprint extracts from copyright material the author and publishers gratefully acknowledge the following: Faber and Faber for Look Back in Anger (1986) by John Osborne; Methuen for Separate Tables in Plays (1985) by Terence Rattigan; Faber and Faber for Waiting/or Godot ( 1965) by Samuel Beckett; Penguin Books for The Good Person ofSetzuan by Bertolt Brecht translated by Eric Bentley in Parables for the Theatre (1982); Methuen for The Room (1959) by Harold Pinter; Faber and Faber for The Entertainer (1990) by John Osborne; Hodder & Stoughton for Knight Errant (1995) by Robert Stephens; Marion Boyars for Marat/Sade (1991) by Peter Weiss, translated by Geoffrey Skelton; Methuen for Orton - 1 The Complete Plays (1987) by Joe Orton; Methuen for The Orton Diaries (1987) edited by John Lahr; Penguin Books for Empty Seats (1984) by Michael White; Methuen for Saved by E dward Bond in Plays One (1995); Redburn Productions Ltd for Absurd Person Singular ( 1997) by Alan Ayckboum; Methuen for Our Country's Good (1988) by Tunberlake Wertenbaker. The author and publishers would also like to thank the Estate of Kenneth Tynan for kind permission to quote extracts from letters by Kenneth Tynan: Jocelyn Herbert and the Estate of George Devine for kind permission to quote from a letter by George Devme; Joan Plowright and the Estate of Laurence Olivier for kind permission to quote from a letter by Laurence Olivier; and Crown Copyright for kind permission ' to quote from the Lord Chamberlain's Papers. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
For my nephew) Ross
Contents
Preface
ix
Table of Significant Events
Chapter 1
X
1945-1954
Post-War Uncertainty - Warning Voices - A Congested West End - Olivier, Richardson and the Old Vic Company - Olivier's Oedipus - T he Foundation of CEMA and the Arts Council - Institutions 1 ( H.M. Tennent Ltd; The Lord Chamberlain and Censorship; The Shakespeare Memorial T heatre) - 1946: London - The Foreign Revelation Theatre Criticism 1: Harold Hobson - The Influence of the French -American Musical Theatre -A Streetcar Named Desire and Entertainment Tax - Necrology or Propaganda? -1948-195 1 - Institutions 2: the Old Vic and the Concept of the National Theatre The Festival of Britain and 1952-1954 - Theatre Criticism 2: Kenneth Tynan
Chapter 2
1955-1962
37
The Arts Theatre (The Lesson; Waiting/or Godot: August 1955; Hobson and 'Tomorrow'; The Old Guard Miscalculates) - The English Stage Company (Genesis; Look Back in Anger) -Separate Tables and the Lord Chamberlain's Secret Memorandum - T heatre Workshop (Genesis; Reinterpretation of Classics; Behan and The Quare Fellow; Waiting for Godot, Look Back in Anger, A Taste ofHoney: a Reassessment) - Brecht (Pre-1956 Productions; T he Berliner Ensemble in London: August 1956; The ESC's The Good Woman of Setzuan: November 1956; Legacy) - The First Wave Consolidates (The Royal Court as a T heatre Complex; The Entertainer; The Royal Court: 1957 -1962; The Belgrade Theatre, TIE and Arnold Wesker) - Harold Pinter ( Harold Hobson and The Birthday Party; The Pinteresque: The Room, The Birthday Party• and The Caretaker) Into the Sixties (Battles to be Fought; T he Royal Shakespeare Company)
Chapter 3
1963-1968
98
Whose History?: The ESC, 'A Mixed Bag of Actors' - A National Theatre at Last (Genesis; Rationale; Olivier's Reign Phase 1 : 1963 -1968) - The Royal Shakespeare Company (Hall's Reign: 1963 -1967; The Wars of the Roses ( 1963 ); Peter Brook: Marat/Sade (1964) and US (1966); Highs and Lows: Harold Pinter, Emile Littler and 'Dirty Plays') - Joe Orton: Disdaining Authority (Agents: Peggy Ramsay; Edna \X1elthorpe, Entertaining Mr Sloane ( 1964) and Loot ( 1966); Diaries, Death and Iconography) - Staging Change: New Forms for Drama (Theatre Workshop: Oh What a Lovely War' (March 1963 ); New Spaces: Real and Imagined; Happenings; The Method Scorned: Lee Strasberg's The Three Sisters ( 1965); Female PlaY'wTights) - Television Drama - The End of the Lord Chamberlain's Blue Pencil (An Indefensible Position (Matron); A Patriot for Me ( 1965); Saved (1965)) ,
viii
Contents
Chapter 4
1969-1979
147
1\fter Censorship: More Gains than Losses - Political Theatre (The Panacea of Socialism?; Avant-Garde or Ag:it Prop?: Portable, Joint Stock, 7:84; Gay Sweatshop and
Bent
(1979); Female P laywrights; Black and Asian Theatre in Britain)-The End of an
Era: The National Theatre, Olivier's Reign P hase 2: 1969-19 73- Commercial Angst, Subsidised Joy- War: Peter Hall at the National Theatre 1: 1973-1979
(Amadeus
( 1979); Last Days at the Old Vic; The South Bank; Crises Off-Stage, New Writing On-: 197 7-1979) -Alan Ayckbourn- Drama Away From London (Scotland; Regional; Peter Cheeseman at Stoke)-Musicals-The Royal Shakespeare Company 1969-19 79 (Trevor Nunn Takes Charge; Peter Brook's A Midsummer Night's Dream; The Search for Smaller Spaces; Mid-Decade Crisis and Recovery)
Chapter 5
1980-1997
186
Continuity and Change: Institutions 3 (The Pr oblematics of Funding: Thatcherism, the National Lottery and 'Stabilisation' Grants; Musicals; Crisis and Hope: The Return of Actors' Theatre 19 79-1986)-Gay Drama- Continuity and Change: Institutions
4 (The
West End: Sclerosis, 198 7 ; The National Theatre: Peter Hall1979-1988; The National
Theatre: Richard Eyre 1988-1997; The Royal Shakespeare Company: 1979-1997) Yorkshire Born and Bred: Northern Broadsides-The Royal Court: The National Theatre of New Writing - Blurred Parameters: the Fringe, the West End and the Subsidised Sector-Towards the Millennium and Beyond
Notes Select Bibliography Index
230 241 246
Preface
Over recent years I have been frustrated by the absence of a book that provided an overview of significant developments in the evolution of British theatre since the Second World War.
In an age
where modularisa
tion at universities has decreased the amount of time students have available for research and reflection, the need for such a work has become ever more pressing. So, spurred on by my students at the University of Sheffield, I decided to write one myself. Given the vast amount of material that deserves to be covered, I have inevitably had to prioritise some topics over others. On re-reading my manuscript, I was surprised at the extent to which London recurs through out the narrative, but then London has been the site of theatrical activity throughout the period. A debate about the advisability of such centralisa tion is long overdue. The book, therefore, is not intended to be definitive but introductory. If it succeeds in providing useful signposts that help orientate the reader towards further investigation, it will have achieved its aim. The writing of history is, like the very process of creating drama itself, fluid. Subsequent historians will advance different perspectives on the period, and my conclusions will necessarily be challenged. Given the vacuum of works that provide an account of the history of post-war British theatre, I hope that I have created a first and useful map. I would like to acknowledge the help and support of the following: Jack Reading, whose advice has been invaluable; Fiona Kavanagh Fearon for permission to read and refer to her unpublished thesis; Professor David Lewis and the University of Sheffield Research Fund; Sally Brown and Kathryn Johnson at the British Library; John Walker; Mum, Dad, Sonya, Bobby and Jessica; my Editor at Yale University Press, Robert Baldock; Pete and Carol Lilleker; and, inevitably, QPR.
Table of Significant Events Date
Theatrical events in the UK
Other events in the UK
Other international events
Jul. General Election. Labour wins with majority of 146. Clement Atdee hecomes
7 May Germany surrenders 6 Aug. Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima 9 Aug. Atomic Bomb dropped on Nagasaki 14 Aug. Japan surrenders, Second World War
CHAPTER1: 1945-54
1 945
(1944
Old Vic Company opens at New
Theatre
Aug. Peer Gynt) Jan. Uncle Vanya Sept. Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 (Richardson's
Prime Minister
ends
Falstaff) Oct. Oedipus (Olivier)
1 946
Apr. SMT Love's Labour's Lost (dir. Brook) May Rattigan, 11Ie Winslow Boy Aug. Foundation of the Arts Council Sept. King Lear (Olivier)
Oct. Priestley, An Inspector Calls Pirst issue of Theatre Notebook Creation of first university drama department at Bristol
1947
Jan. Old Vic Theatre reopens Apr. Oklahoma!
Jul. Harold Hobson becomes theatre critic of the Sunday Times Aug. Pirst Edinburgh Festival
Aug. Britain grants independence to India
1948
Mar. Fry, The Lady's Not for Burning
Jul. National
Health Service inaugurated
Sept. to May
1949 Berlin blockade
Sept. Jean-Louis Barrault and the Comedie
Fran�aise at the Edinburgh Festival Sept. Rattigan, The Browning Version
Foundation of the Society for Theatre Research 1949
Aug. Eliot, The Cocktail Party Oct. Williams,
A Streetcar Named Desire
(Vivien Leigh ) 1950
Jan.
Fry,
Venus Observ'd
Feb. General Election. Labou r wins with
majority of 5
Feb. Fry, Ring Round the Moon
Jun. Rodgers and Hammerstein, 1951
May Antony and Cleopatra (Olivier and
May Festi val of Britain Jun. Burgess and Madean defect to the USSR Oct. General Election. Conservatives win with
Leigh )
majority of 17. Winston Churchill becomes
Oct. Claude!, Partage de Midi (Edwige
bomb
Jun. North Korea invades Somh Korea
Carousel
Apr. llenry IV, Part One (Richard Burton) Apr. Hunter, Waters of the Moon
Mar. USSR announces it possesses the atom
Oct. Renewal of Korean Armistice talks
Prime Minister
Feuillere) 1952
1953
Mar. Rattigan, The Deep Blue Sea Oct. Gershwin, Porgy and Bess
Feb. Ge org e VI dies
May Guys and Dolls
Jun. Coronation uf Eli:t.abeth II
Nov. Rattigan, The Sleeping Prince Dec. Hunter, A Day by the Sea
First issue of Plays and Players Theatre Workshop takes up the lease of the Theatre Royal, Stratford East
Nov. General Eisenhower ch:ctcd US President
Jun. Korean Armistice signed Sept. Khrushchev becomes First Secretary of
the Communist Party, USSR
UK
Date
Theatrical events in the
19.54
Mar. Whiting, Marching Song Sept. Rattigan, Separate Tables Sept. Kenneth Tynan becom es theatre critic of the Observer
Other events in the
UK
jut. Food rationing ends
Other international events
Dec. US senate 'condemns' McCarthy 'witch trials'
CHAPTER 2: 1955-62 1955
1956
Jan. TI1eatre Workshop's Richatd II Mar. Ionesco, The Lesson (Arts) Jul. Brecht, Mother Courage (Joan Littlewood ) Aug. Beckett, Waiting for Godot (Arts) Au,R. Titus Andronicus (Olivier, dit. Brook)
Minister .Jul. Execution of Ruth Ellis spurs camp11ign ro end capital punishment Sept. Commercial TV introduced
Apr. Openin g season of the English Stage Com
Apr. Khrushchev visits Britain
May General Election. Conservatives win with majority of60. Anthony Eden becomes Prime
pany (ESC) at the Royal Court 8 May Osborne, Look Back in Anger May Behan, The Quare Fellow Aug. Berliner Ensemble's Mother Courage (Helene Weigel)
Jul. European Parliament holds first meeting in Strasbourg
.Jul.
Nass ar nationalises the Suez Canal
Oct. Sov ie t
troops invade Hungary
Nov. B ritish and French troops land at Port
Said; intervention aborted two days later NntJ. Re-election of President Eisenhower
Nov. ESC's TI1e Good Woman ofSetzuan
Foundation of the National Youth l11eatre 1957
Osborne , The Entertainer Apr. Beckett, Fin de Partie
Apr.
EEC established with the Treaty of Rome
}an. Eden resigns as Prime Minister
Mar.
following Suez debacle, Harold Macmillan succeeds him
Oct. Sputniks launched
jul. Macmillan 'Most of our people have never had it so good'
Sept.
Wolfenden Report on homosexuality
195!5
Jan., Wcskcr, Chicken Soup With Bnrley
Feb. Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
May Pinter, The Birthday Party
launched
Jan. Common Market comes into force
Oct. Behan, The Hostage
Nov. Delaney, A Taste of Honey Dec. Bernstein, West Side Story
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, opens Lord Chamberlain's secre t mfa! Crew, A 2 1 6
Jumpers
1 62
Leigh, Vivien 7, 24-5, 32, 86
Lennon, John 1 48 Lepage, Robert 2 12
Junction Theatre, C ambridge 1 89, 190
Lessing, Doris 129, 134
]uno and the Paycock 73
Les Liasions Dangereuses 194 Les Fausses Confidences 2 1
Kane, Sarah 225 Karge, Manfred 222
Les Miserables 1 87, 1 9 0 , 1 9 1 , 2 1 4 Letters to George 222
Kaut-Howson, Helena 156
Levin, Bernard 109, 1 14, 133, 202
Kaye, Danny 29
on The Mysteries 204
Kazan, Elia 17, 132
Lewenstein, Oscar 49
Keith, Penelope 193
Lewin, David 43
Kelly, Jude 156
Lewis, Stephen 89
Kemp, Robert 175, 176
Libertine, The 224
Kemsley; Lord 1 8- 1 9
Libra0· Theatre, Manchester 1 69
Kenny, Sean 65 , 105
Lzje of Galtleo , The 200-1
Khan-Din, Ayub 226
Light Shining in Buckinghamshire 156
King Lear 1 1 3 , 1 1 5
L 'Invltation au Chateau 21
King and I, The 23
Lion and the Jewel, The 128
Index
Lion in Love, The 85, 134 Lister, Laurier 48 Littler, Emile 97, 1 17, 122 Littler, Prince 97 Littlewood, Joan 37, 60-61, 62, 63, 64, 67-9, 70, 7 1 , 87, 89, 96, 105, 127, 128, 134 Live Like Pigs 84, 224 Liverpool Everyman Theatre 181 Living Room, The 33 Livings, Henry 1 19 Lloyd, Phyllida 212, 223, 228 Lloyd Webber, Andrew 180, 186, 191, 1 92 Loach, Ken 13 5 London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAJJDA) 17, 1 15 Lung and the Short and the Tall, The 84 Long Day's Journey Into Night 160 Look After Lulu 84, 86 Look Back in Anger 7 , 17, 18, 26, 47, 50, 51 first run o f 5 1-7, 60, 68, 69-70, 74, 75, 83, 86, 98, 99 Loot 122-6, 127 , 138 Lope d e Vega 61, 2 1 1 Lord Chamberlain 8-- 1 3, 25, 33, 38, 57 secret memorandum on homosexuality
58-9, 95, 1 15, 1 17, 136-46, 186 Love's Labour's Lost 14, 96, 182 Love ofa Nightingale, The 2 1 6 Lower Depths, The 1 75 Luther 80, 85, 138 Lyceum, Crewe Lyceum Theatre
3, 205 191 Lyric Theatre 2 1 , 193 Lyric, Hammersmith 29, 90 Lynne, Gillian
Lyttleton, Oliver (Lord Chandos)
1 12,
158-9 Lyttleton Theatre
166, 167, 203, 2 1 1
Macbeth 1 18, 1 8 1 , 1 83, 184 Macdonald, David 174, 175 MacDonald, Sharman 218 MacGowan, Jack 97 Machinal 212 Macintosh, Genista 156 Mackintosh, Cameron 186, 192, 214 Macleish, Robert 17 6 MaColl, Ewan (Jimmie Miller) 60, 61, 62 Maddermarket Theatre 177 Mad Forest 222
Madness ofGeorge III, The 212 Mahabhharata, The 194 Make ,\Ie an Offer 127 Mamet, David 224 Man ofMode, The 224 Man for All Seasons, The 80 Man With a Flower in his Mouth , The 134 Manchester Guardian 5 1 Marathon Man, The 132 Marat/Sade, The 1 14-17, 182 Marber, Patrick 2 1 2 Marching Song 8 , 3 3 Marcus, Frank 1 19, 1 66 Marivaux, Pierre 2 1 Marlowe, A. 26, 6 1 Marlowe, Christopher 168 Marowitz, Charles 130 Martin Guerre 192 l'vfaster Builder, The 108 Masterpieces 218 l'vfatchmaker, The 177 Mating Game, The 162 Maugham, Somerset 55 May Day Dialogues 222 Maydays 193, 2 1 4 McCowen, Alec 1 13, 2 1 6 :'\IcDonagh, Martin 225 McEwan, Geraldine 96, 2 15 McGrath, John 1 19, 129, 149, 152, 176 McKellen, Ian 155 , 184, 203, 2 1 1 McLellan, Robert 176 McPherson, Conor 226 hie and My Girl 192 Measure for Afeasure 15, 130 Meet Afy Father 1 7 1 Mendel, Vera 1 1 Mendes, Sam 2 1 6 Mercer, David 1 19, 135, 148, 192 Merchant o/ Venice, The 159, 200 Merry Wives of Windsor, The 2 1 7 Metamorphosis 199 Method Acting 13 1-3 Midsummer Night's Dream, A 85, 162, 181-2, 1 83 , 212, 2 17 Millennium Approaches 2 12 "Miller, Arthur 17, 30, 5 1 , 8 1 , 207 "Miller, Jonathan 159, 166 Miracle at Verdun 6 1 Mirvish, David 229 Mirvish, Ed 229 Mirren, Helen 95, 181 Misfits, The 132
253
254
Index
Miss Julie 1 83 Miss Saigon 192 Mister X 153--4
New Statesman 45, 46, 108, 1 1 8 New Theatre 4, 16, 3 1 , 127, 159, 160
Nicholas Nickleby 1 87 , 2 1 3
l'vfitchell, Adrian 1 15
Nichols, Peter 1 1 9, 1 3 5 , 1 5 9 , 185
l'vfitchell, Julian 1 95
Nightingale, Benedict 182, 2 1 2, 224, 227
Mojo 225, 226
Night ofthe Iguana, The 2 1 2 Night Out, A 1 3 4
Moliere 6 1 , 157 Moiseiwitsch, Tanya 28
Noble, Adrian 2 12, 2 1 6
Monck, �ugent 1 77
Noguchi, Isamu 4 9
Monroe, Marilyn 132 Monstrous Regiment 157
No Man's Land 1 6 6 , 1 69 Normal lfearl, The 194
Moonlight 227 Moon on a Rainbow Shawl 84, 157
Norman Conquests, The 17 1 , 174
Morley, Christopher 181
Northem Broadsides 2 17
Norman, Frank 89
Morley, Sheridan 193, 215
Nottingham Playhouse 162, 178, 209
Morrison, Blake 217
Nunn, 1Ievor 1 1 9, 1 8 1 , 183, 1 88, 1 9 1 ,
Mother Courage 7 1-3, 1 1 1 Mountain Language 2 1 2 Mousetrap, The 134 Much Ado About Nothing 15, 75, 1 1 1 , 2 15 Muggeridge, Malcolm 69
Mulberry Bush, The 50, 5 1 Murder in the Cathedral 29 Murdoch, Iris 134
Murmuring Judges 2 1 0 Musicals 190-2 Hall 28-9
Music
My Fair Lady 5 1 , 86 My Mother Says I Never Should 156 My Night With Reg 195, 196, 224 Mysteries, The 169, 203-4 Napier, John 1 9 1 , 2 1 3
192, 194, 207, 2 12, 2 14, 225 O'Casey, S ean 73
Observer 4, 18, 25, 26, 27, 33, 34, 54, 55, 72, 102, 1 1 1 , 133, 144
Occupations 1 83 Octagon, Bolton 89, 1 29-30
Oedipus 1 1 1 , 2 1 6 Oh ' Calcutta! 147 Oh, What a Lovely War' 128 Oklahoma! 7 , 1 7 , 22-3 , 24, 190 Old Ones, The 1 62 Old Times 162 Old 'Iron Kirk 17 6 Old Vic 3, 4, 30, 3 1 , 47, 48, 50, 65-6, 80, 98, 100, 1 03, 1 04, 1 1 1 , 1 12, 160, 162, 163, 1 86, 187, 192, 229
National Health, The 1 5 9
Old Vic Theatre Centre 3 1
1\'ational Lottery 1 8 7 , 189, 225
Oleanna 224 Oliver' 65
l\'ational Theatre as a concept 3 1 , 80, 95-6, 97, 98, 99
Olivier, Laurence 2, 3-4
genesis 100-1
as Archie Rice 8 1--4, 85, 96, 99-100,
rationale 10 1-3 1963-68 era 103-1 1 , 1 1 8 , 1 1 9, 122,
as director of the )Jational Theatre
140, 141, 156, 157 1969-73 era 158-161 1973-79 era 1 63-70, 178, 185, 186, 1 88, 1 93 1979-88 era 200-8 1 988-97 era 208-12, 225 National Youth Theatre 95 Naughton, Bill l35
Nekrassov 84 Neville, John 65-6, 178
Newman, Paul l32 Newman, Stanley 135
101 102-1 1 as King Lear 1 6-- 1 7, 20, 2 1 , 24 as Oedipus 5, 7 as Othello 107-8, 1 12-1 3 , 132, 146, 158-6 1 , 1 66, 1 83, 2 14, 236-7 as Richard III 27-8, 29, 3 1 , 32, 80 Olivier Theatre 166, 1 67, 1 68, 2 0 1 , 203, 205, 2 1 0 O'Neill, Eugene 160
One Way Pendulum 85 Orange 'Ii:ee, Richmond 1 93 , 228
Oresteia, The 203-4
I ndex
Ormerod, Nick 2 1 1 Orpheus Descending 84 Orton, Joe 1 19-27, 138, 159 Osborne, John 7, 17, 28, 5 1 , 74 , 75, 80, 81-3, 84, 85, 90, 91, 98, 102, 1 19, 138--40, 162 Othello 105, 1 12, 130 O'Toole, Peter 100, 103, 168 Otway, liavers 203 Our Country's Good 1 99, 220-2, 223, 224 Out of]oint 2 13, 224 Owen, Alun 129, 135 Oxford Playhouse 87
Pack a/Lies 193 Page, Anthony 81 Page, Geraldine 132 Page, Louise 215 Paice, Eric 12 Paige, Deborah 156 Paines Plough 169, 227 Palace Theatre 23, 75, 191, 192 Palace Theatre, Manchester 88 Pal Joey 23 Park Theatre 175 Partage de Midi 2 1 Party, The 160, 163 Patriotfor Me, A 138--40, 144 Patterson, Michael 79 Pearce, Edward 53 Pear Tree Players 87 Peck, Bob 2 1 4 Peer Gynt 4 Perestrozka 212 Pericles 212 Perry, John 109 Persona Grata 8 Peter, John 196, 210, 223 Peter Hall Company, The 1 87, 200, 229 Petherbridge, Edward 213 Phantom ofthe Opera 192 Phoenix Theatre, Leicester 169, 178 Phoenix Theatre, London 200, 215 Pia/ 157 Pierrepoint, Albert 68 Pilgrim liust, The 6 Pillars ofSociety 185 Pimlott, Stephen 2 1 1 Pinter, Harold 4 1 , 85, 89-95, 1 13, 1 1 7-18, 122, 134, 1 4 1 , 162, 166, 169, 2 12, 224, 226, 227 Pirandello 134
Pitlochry Festival Theatre 175 Plantagenets, The 216 Plater, Alan 1 19, 120, 135 Platonov 85 Play 105-7 Play for Today 86 Playing with Fire 158 Play With a Tiger 134 Playsfor England 85 Plays and Players 18, 36 Plenty 163 Plough and the Stars, The 73 Plowright, Joan 50, 51, 81, 82, 101, 102, 104 Pogodin, Nikolai 73 Poke, Greville 146 Polanski, Roman 148 Polliakoff, Stephen 150 Porgy and Bess 23, 30, 32 Portable Theatre 150, 161 Porter, Eric 97 Posener, Jill 153 Potter, Dennis 135 Pravda 194, 205-7, 209 Priestley, J.B. 2, 16, 52, 2 12, 223 Prince and the Showgirl, The 132 Prince's Theatre 23 Princess Alice 25 Privates on Parade 1 85 Prowse, Philip 174, 175 Pryce, Jonathan 163 Public Enemy 2 15
Quare Fellow, The 60, 67-9, 89 Quatermass Experiment, The 135 Quayle, Anthony 1, 15, 48, 86 Queen and I, The 224 Queen's Theatre 3, 193 Racing Demon 210 Raffles, Gerry 64, 67, 68, 89, 95, 128 Ramsay, Peggy 1 19-20, 122 Rat in the Skull 225 Rattigan, Terence, 7, 14, 15, 30, 32-3, 35 on plays of ideas 45-6 use of Aunt Edna 35, 38 on Waiting/or Godot 46, 53, 57-9, 120, 196, 226 Ravenhill, Mark 195, 196, 225 Ravensdale, Baroness 25, Rayne, Max 159 Reading, Jack 69-7 1 , 236--7
255
256
Index Recruiting Officer, The 1 03 , 1 04, 1 1 0, 220, 222, 224 Redgrave, Michael 28, 103, 104 Redgrave, Vanessa 1 12, 1 13 Rees, Roger 2 13 Rees-Mogg, William 205
Royal National Theatre see National Theatre Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( RSAlvlD) 1 8 Royal Shakespeare Company 6 , 14, 15, 96-7, 98, 102
Relatively Speaking 120 , 1 7 1-2
controversy 1 1 7-18, 140, 155, 1 60, 1 69
Renaud, Madeline 2 1 Requiem for a Nun 84
The 'dirty plays', 122
Resistible Rise ofArturo Ui, The 2 15
Les Zvfisirables 1 9 1-2, 193
Rhinoceros 85 Rhys Jones, Griff 2 10
under Peter Hall ( 1 963-7) 1 1 2-1 3 , The
Rice, Tim 180
1 969-79 era 1 80-5, 1 86, 1 87
Richard II 65, 2 12 Richard III 4, 3 L 1 13 , 1 77 , 1 94, 2 1 0- 1 1 , 2 17 Richardson, Ian 97 Richardson, Ralph 2, 3-4 as Falstaff 4 as Trresias 5, 16, 2 1 , 3 1 , 32, 1 0 1 , 159, 1 66, 236-7
The Marat/Sade and US 1 14-117
Wars ofthe Roses 1 1 3-14 1979-97 era 2 12-6 Rudkin, David 1 1 3, 1 19 Rudolf Steiner Hall 1 1 Ruling Class, The 179 Russell Taylor, John 1 1 9 Rutter, Barrie 2 1 7 Rustaveli Company 177 Rylance, Mark 227
Richardson, Tony 47, 48-9, 5 1 , 52, 83, 98, 1 08, 144 Rickman, Alan 194 Rickson, Ian 226 Rigg, Diana 1 1 3
St Denis, ;'1.1ichel 3 1 , 73 St James' s Theatre 32, 57 Sandford, Jeremy 135 Sartre, Jean-Paul 17, 84, 85
Ring Round the lvioon 7 , 2 1 , 2 9 , 96 Ripen Our Darkness 2 1 8
Saved 1 3 8, 1 40-6, 225
Road 2 1 9, 224
Schell, Maximilian 139, 169
Robinson, Ann 8
Schiller, Friedrich 6 1
Saunders, James 1 1 9
Rodgers, Richard 1 7 , 22, 2 3
Sclumberg, Hans 6 1
Romans in Britain , The 162, 1 86 , 1 94,
Schoolfor Scandal, The 3 1
201-2
Schwartz, Stephen 180
Romeo and Juliet 1 59, 2 1 5
Scofield, Paul 1 5 , 29, 1 1 3 , 1 1 5, 1 65
Romersholm 85 Rosenthal, Jack 1 3 5
Scott, Elizabeth 14
Room, The 85, 9 1 , 92-3
Scott, JD. 47
Roots 84, 85, 86,
Scottish Theatre Archive 17 6 Scullion, Adrienne 177
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead 111 Roundhouse, The 148 Rowell, George 4 Royal Academy of D ram atic Art (RADA) 1 8, 60, 94 Royal Court 47-5 1 , 59, 75, 80, 8 1 , 83 1 957-62 era 84-6, 89, 9 1 , 97, 98, 99, 1 05, 122, 139, 144, 155, 159, 1 6 1 , 1 62, 1 87, 193, 195, 199, 2 1 7-26 Royal Exchange, Manchester 89, 163, 2 1 3 , 218 Roya! Hunt ofthe Sun, The 109- 1 1 , 1 15, 1 64
Scott, George C. 133
Seagull, The 229 Secret Rapture, The 209- 1 0 See You Inside 1 3 6 Semi-Monde 1 75 Seneca 1 1 1 Senora Carrar's Rifles 7 1 Sense ofDetachment, A 1 62 Separate Tables 15, 35, 46, 5 7-9 Serious Money 199, 200, 2 1 9 Serjeant Afusgrave's Dance 7 9 , 85 7 : 84 152, 1 99 7 : 84 Scotland 152, 176 Severed Head, The 134
Index Shadwell, Thomas 199
Stewart, John 175
Shaffer, Peter 109- 1 1 , 160, 164
Stewart, Patrick 1 8 1
Shaftesbury Theatre 3
Stoddart, Hugh 150
Shakespeare, William 4, 27, 28, 30, 34, 6 1 ,
Stoll Theatre 23
66, 8 1 , 85, 100, 1 15 , 1 3 0, 159,
Stoppard, Tom 1 1 1 , 162, 163, 1 83 , 199, 208, 212
1 87, 2 17
Shakespeare Memorial Theatre (SMT) 1 ,
Storey, David 159, 1 6 1 , 225
Strange Case ofDr Jekyll and Mr Hyde 2 1 6
6 1945-50 era 14-15, 47, 48, 96, 97, 1 86,
Strasberg, Lee 1 7 , 1 07 , 1 3 1-3 Strauss, George 146
214
Shakespeare Our Contemporary
1 14
Streetcar Named Desire, A
Shaw, G.B. 48
Strinberg, August 1 1 1
Sheen, Martin 195 Sher, Antony 193 , 194, 2 14-15, 2 1 6
Suchet, David 224
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley 5 Sherman, Martin 154
Shopping and Fucking
7, 8, 24-6, 193
film version 132
Shaw, Fiona 2 1 1 , 212
195, 196--8 , 225
Shulman, Milton 43, 54, 196 Simpson, N.F. 8 1 , 85, 102
Summerfolk 169 Sunday Express 5 1 Sunday in the Park With George 2 1 1 Sunday Telegraph 1 66 Sunday Times 2, 1 7 , 18, 3 8 , 4 3 , 54, 55,
Sinclair, Upton 60
Sunset Boulevard
Singing Jailbirds 60 Sink the Belgrano 1 200 Six Degrees of Separation 223 Sl.rylight 212
Suzman, Janet 1 14 , 1 8 1
192
Swan Theatre, Stratford 2 1 4 , 2 1 6
Smith, Dodie 134
Table Number Seven 5 7 , 5 9 Tales/rom Hollywood 203 Tales/rom the Vienna Woods 169 Tamburlaine 168, 2 15, 2 1 6 Taming ofthe Shrew, The 1 1 3
Smith, Maggie 102, 105
Tara Arts Group 157, 1 89, 190
Society for Theatre Research, The ( STR)
Taste a/Honey, A 58,
Slade, Peter 87 Sleep, Wayne 191
Small Family Business, A 207
1 8, 193
64, 69-70, 86, 89,
127, 134
Sondheim, Stephen 180, 2 1 1
Tatler, The 25 Tartuffe 157
Sophocles 6 1 , 2 1 1 , 2 1 6
Taylor, Lib 134
South Pacific 23, 30,
147
Television Drama 1 3 4-5
89 127
Tenschert, Joachim 160 Terson, Peter 95, 1 1 9
Soldiers
90 ,
137, 139, 164, 196, 2 1 0, 223
103, 158
Tempest, The 22,
Soyinka, Wole 128
Sparrers Can't Sing Spectator 193
Spender, Stephen 8 1
Theatr Clwyd 156 Theatre Centre 87, 95
Spinetti, Victor 128
Sport ofMy Mad Mother, The
166, 179
84, 134
St Barbe-West, Frances 8
Theatre de Complicite 2 12 Theatre-in-Education 86--9
Stafford Clark, Max 2 13 , 2 1 9
Theatre Notebook
Stanley, Kim 133
Theatre of Action 7 1
Starlight Express Steaming 2 1 8
Theatre Royal, Lincoln 8 8 , 1 7 8
191
18
Theatre of Cruelty 1 17 , 1 1 8, 1 3 0
Stein, Peter 169
Theatre Royal, Newcastle 88, 2 1 3
Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough 1 3 0
Theatre Royal, Norwich 88
Stephens, Robert 5 0 , 8 1 , 98-100, 102, 103, 106, 1 1 0, 1 1 1 , 2 1 6
Stevenson, Juliet 2 16
Theatre Royal, Nottingham 89 Theatre Royal, Stratford East 37, 59, 60, 63, 64 , 90, 127, 2 1 8
257
258
Index Theatre Workshop 33, 35, 37 genesis of 60-63 production of The Quare Fellow 67-9, 86, 89, 105, 1 13 , 127-8, 176, 179, 192 reinterpretation of classics 63-7 Theatres Act 1968 146, 147
Thebans, The 2 16 They Might Be Giants 128
on Separate Tables 35, 47, 49 Soldiers affair 158-9, 186, 192
Uncle Vanya 22, 102, 103-4, 105, 1 10 Unicorn Theatre Company 95 Unity Theatre 12-13, 7 1 University Theatre, Newcastle 1 7 8 Uranium 235 33, 62 us 1 1 4, 1 1 7
Thorndike, Sybil 32, 81
Three Birds Alighting On a Field 222 Threepenny Opera, The 207 Three Sisters, The 1 3 1 , 133, 224 Till Death Us Do Part 135 Times, The 14, 24, 148, 166, 204 Times Educational Supplement 201 Titus Andronicus 81, 96, 1 82 , 2 1 1 , 2 15
Valle Inclan, Ramon de 1 69 Vanbrugh, Irene 3
·variation on a Theme 58, 59 Venetian Twins, The 2 1 6 \1enice Preserv'd 203 Venus Observ'd 2 1 , 29 Verma, Jatinder 157
Toller, Ernst 1 1
Verner, James 147
Top Girls 2 1 8-19 Torch Song Trilogy, The 215
Veterans 1 62 Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-'frent 89, 129,
Townsend, Sue 224
Trackers of Oxyrhyncus, The 2 1 0 1bverse Theatre Club 17 6
Travesties 183 Treadwell, Sophie 2 1 2
Trees in the Wind 152 The Winslow Boy 16, 19, 23, 25 , 29, 30 Tribute to the Lady, A 168
'frewin, J.C., description of
Thcycle Theatre 227 Troubridge, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir St Vincent 1 3
1 7 1 , 179
\fiew from the Bridge, A 207 Vinegar Tom 157 \lisit, The 2 1 2 Volpone 65 , 207 Volunteers, The 199 Von Horvath, Odon 169
\Vaitingfor Godot 27, 38-45, 46, 56, 69-70, 96, 1 87, 229
Wall, Max 226 \Vall-Dog, The 222
Tushingham, Rita 81
Walter, Harriet 2 1 6
Tutin, Dorothy 97 Twelfth Night 96
Wannamaker, Sam 204
Tynan, Kenneth
Wansell, Geoffrey 59
description of Binkie Beaumont 8, 19, 22, 27; Ok.rier as Oeclipus 5 disagreement with George Devine over
Play 105-7, 1 09, 1 13 as Dramaturg of the National Theatre 1 02- 1 1
Obseruer criticism 34-6 on The Entertainer 83-4, 95-6 on Look Back in Anger 55-6, 57, 59,
early
68 on the Lord Chamberlain 13 7 on Mother Courage and Epic Theatre 7 1-3, 74, 80
V?altz ofthe Torreadors, The 96
Wardle, Irving 144, 148 Warner, David 1 1 8 Warner, Deborah 2 1 1 , 2 1 2 , 2 1 6, 228
\Fars ofthe Roses, The 80, 108, 1 85 \Faste 229 \.Faters ofthe lv!oon 32 Way, Brian 87, 95
Way of the \.'(/ortd, The 27 Wlay to the Tomb, The 29 Way Upstream 192, 203 Weapons ofHappiness 151 Webster, John 61
\Fednesday Play, The (BBC) 86 Weigel, Helene 49, 7 1-3
as producer of Qh t
\Veir, The 226
on
Weiss, Peter 1 15 , 17 6
Calcutta:' 147-8 The Quare Fellow 69
Index
Welles, Orson 85 Werkerth, Manfred 160 Wertenbaker, Timberlake 79, 1 99, 2 1 6, 219-22, 224 Wesker, Arnold 1 7 , 8 1 , 84, 85, 86-9, 9 1 , 102, 1 19, 128, 162, 224 West 199 West Side Story 50, 86 West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds 89, 156, 190, 196, 228 What the Butler Saw 126, 159 When I Was a Girl I Used to Scream and Shout 2 1 8 When We Are Married 2 White, Michael 127, 130, 136, 159 Whitehead, Robert Whitehall Theatre 3 Whitehead, Robert 58 Whitehouse, Mary 201-2 Whitemore, Hugh 94, 1 19, 193, 195 Whiting, John 8 , 3 3 Wilde, Oscar 88 Wild Honey 203 Wilder, Thornton 1 77 Wilkinson, Marc 109 Willett, John 79 Williams, Emlyn 7, 16 Williams, Stephen 43
Williams, Tennessee 7, 17, 24, 25, 45, 84, 196, 2 12 Willis, Ted 13 5 Wilson, Angus 50, 5 1 Wilson, Colin 54 Wilson, Donald 134 W!lson, Effingham 31, 100, 101 Wilson, Snoo 150 Wind in the Willows, The 210 Wmdsor, Barbara 64 Winslow Boy, The 7, 15-16 Winter's Tale, The 32 Wmters, Shelley 132 Wolfit, Donald 170 Woman, The 163 Wood, Charles 1 1 9, 162 Workhouse Donkey, The 80 Worm's Eye Viezo3 W)rcherle); William 84, 85 Wymark, Patrick 97 W)rndhams Theatre 127, 128 W)rnyard, Diana 8
Yeats, WB. 29 Z Cars 1 35 Zeffirelli, Franco 1 08 , 1 1 1, 1 12
Zigger Zagger 95
259