The Contemporary Political Play

What does it mean for a play to be political in the 21st century? Does it require explicit engagement with events and situations with the aim of bringing about change or highlighting social wrongs? Is it purely a matter of content or is it also a matter of structure?

The Contemporary Political Play: Rethinking Dramaturgical Structure examines the politics of contemporary 'political' drama. It traces the origins of the contemporary British political play to the emergence of the idea of 'serious drama' in the late 19th century through the work of Bernard Shaw, and argues that a Shavian version of serious drama was inextricably linked to the social and political structures of British society at the time. While political drama is still often thought of as adhering to a Shavian model in which social issues are presented through a dialectical structure, Grochala argues that the different political structures of contemporary Britain give rise to formally inventive dramaturgies that are no less 'serious' or political than their Shavian forebears.

Through analysing the experimental dramaturgies of contemporary plays by playwrights including Caryl Churchill, Simon Stephens, Anthony Neilson, debbie tucker green and Mark Ravenhill, among others, it offers a set of new principles for understanding how a play functions politically and reveals how today the dramaturgical structure of a play is as political as its content.

Auteur

Sarah studied English at St John's College Oxford and Playwriting Studies at Birmingham University. She is the current holder of Off West End.com's Adopt a Playwright Award. Her play S-27 (Finborough 2009; Griffin Theatre Sydney 2010) won the 2007 Amnesty International Protect the Human Playwriting Competition, and was also shortlisted for the Kings Cross Award and the Leah Ryan Award for Emerging Women Writers. Other plays include Waiting for Romeo (Pleasance Islington 2009; Edinburgh Festival 2006) and Open Ground (Theatro Technis 2005). She has also written several short plays for The Miniaturists and for Theatre 503.

Contenu

Contents


Forward

Introduction

1 - Serious Drama

2 - The Politics of Structure

3 - Time

4 - Space

5 - Plot

6 - Character

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index