SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Books on the 1990s

Blandford, Steve, Film, Drama and the Break-Up of Britain (Bristol: Intellect, 2007). Wide-ranging study of the cultural politics of the second part of decade, the book looks at both theatre and film in the context of the election of a New Labour government in 1997, and subsequent devolution.

Garnett, Mark, Anger to Apathy: The British Experience Since 1975 (London: Jonathan Cape, 2007). Contemporary political, economic and cultural history as seen through the eyes of a polemical historian who challenges received ideas about how Britain is a better place now than it was in the 1970s. Provocative chapter on the 1990s.

Marr, Andrew, A History of Modern Britain (London: Pan, 2008). BBC journalist offers a very readable account of Britain in the post-war era that is rich in detail, controversial opinion and anecdotes, with solid chapters about the governments of John Major and Tony Blair, plus reflections on the cultural history of the 1990s.

Marwick, Arthur, British Society Since 1945 (London: Penguin, 2003). The most comprehensive social history of Britain in the post-war era, rich in detail, statistics and considered judgement, with comprehensive chapters on class, gender and race, plus fascinating information on national identity, social attitudes and cultural trends.

Wilson, A. N., Our Times: The Age of Elizabeth II (London: Arrow, 2009). An angry and opinionated look at British politics and culture during the reign of Elizabeth II, spanning the years between 1953 and 2009.

2. Key books on British theatre in the 1990s

The following books, most of them written in the immediate aftermath of the 1990s, focus in detail on British theatre of that decade and are very useful sources of first-hand information.

Ansorge, Peter, From Liverpool to Los Angeles: On Writing for Theatre, Film and Television (London: Faber, 1997).

Aragay, Mireia, Hildegard Klein, Enric Monforte and Pilar Zozaya (eds), British Theatre of the 1990s: Interviews with Directors, Playwrights, Critics and Academics (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).

Aston, Elaine, Feminist Views on the English Stage: Women Playwrights, 1990–2000 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003).

Bradwell, Mike, The Reluctant Escapologist: Adventures in Alternative Theatre (London: Nick Hern, 2010).

D’Monté, Rebecca, and Graham Saunders (eds), Cool Britannia? British Political Drama in the 1990s (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008).

Dromgoole, Dominic, The Full Room: An A–Z of Contemporary Playwriting, 2nd edn (London: Methuen Drama, 2002).

Edgar, David (ed.), State of Play: Playwrights on Playwriting (London: Faber, 1999).

Gottlieb, Vera and Colin Chambers (eds), Theatre in a Cool Climate (Oxford: Amber Lane, 1999).

Knapp, Annelie, Erwin Otto, Gerd Stratmann and Merle Tönnies (eds), British Drama of the 1990s (Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag C Winter, 2002).

Little, Ruth, and Emily McLaughlin, The Royal Court Theatre Inside Out (London: Oberon, 2007).

Nightingale, Benedict, The Future of Theatre (London: Phoenix, 1998).

Sierz, Aleks, In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today (London: Faber, 2001).

Stephenson, Heidi, and Natasha Langridge, Rage and Reason: Women Playwrights on Playwriting (London: Methuen Drama, 1997).

Wallace, Clare, Suspect Cultures: Narrative, Identity and Citation in 1990s New Drama (Prague: Litteraria Pragensia, 2006).

Wolf, Matt, Sam Mendes at the Donmar: Stepping into Freedom (London: Nick Hern, 2002).

3. Recommended books on post-war British theatre

The following books offer broader coverage but include insightful material pertaining to 1990s theatre.

Aston, Elaine, and Janelle Reinelt (eds), The Cambridge Companion to Modern British Women Playwrights (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000).

Billington, Michael, State of the Nation: British Theatre Since 1945 (London: Faber, 2007).

Boon, Richard, About Hare: The Playwright and the Work (London: Faber, 2003).

Brown, Mark (ed.), Howard Barker Interviews 1980–2010: Conversations in Catastrophe (London: Oberon, 2011).

Bull, John, Stage Right: Crisis and Recovery in British Contemporary Mainstream Theatre (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1994).

Chambers, Colin (ed.), The Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre (London: Continuum, 2002).

——, Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company: Creativity and the Institution (London: Routledge, 2004).

——, Black and Asian Theatre in Britain: A History (London: Routledge, 2011).

Davis, Geoffrey V., and Anne Fuchs (eds), Staging New Britain: Aspects of Black and South Asian British Theatre Practice (Brussels: Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes, 2006).

Devine, Harriet (ed.), Looking Back: Playwrights at the Royal Court 1956–2006 (London: Faber & Faber, 2006).

Dorney, Kate, The Changing Language of Modern British Drama 1945–2005 (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).

Dorney, Kate, and Ros Merkin (eds), The Glory of the Garden: English Regional Theatre and the Arts Council 1984–2009 (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2010).

Eyre, Richard, and Nicholas Wright, Changing Stages: A View of British Theatre in the Twentieth Century (London: Bloomsbury, 2000).

Graham, Scott, and Steven Hoggett, The Frantic Assembly Book of Devising Theatre (Abingdon: Routledge, 2009).

Griffin, Gabriele, Contemporary Black and Asian Women Playwrights in Britain (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003).

Hewison, Robert, Culture and Consensus: England, Art and Politics Since 1940, rev. edn (London: Methuen, 1997).

Howe Kritzer, Amelia, Political Theatre in Post-Thatcher Britain: New Writing 1995–2005 (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008).

Innes, Christopher, Modern British Drama: The Twentieth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002).

Kershaw, Baz (ed.), The Cambridge History of British Theatre, Volume 3, Since 1895 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 412–25.

Kustow, Michael, theatre@risk (London: Methuen, 2000).

Lane, David, Contemporary British Drama (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2010).

Lonergan, Patrick, Theatre and Globalization: Irish Drama in the Celtic Tiger Era (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).

Middeke, Martin, Peter Paul Schnierer and Aleks Sierz (eds), The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary British Playwrights (London: Methuen Drama, 2011).

Rabey, David Ian, English Drama Since 1940 (Harlow: Longman, 2003).

Rebellato, Dan, Theatre & Globalization (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009). Roberts, Philip, The Royal Court Theatre and the Modern Stage (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999).

Roberts, Philip and Max Stafford-Clark, Taking Stock: The Theatre of Max Stafford-Clark (London: Nick Hern Books, 2007).

Shellard, Dominic, British Theatre Since the War (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1999).

Sierz, Aleks, The Theatre of Martin Crimp (London: Methuen Drama, 2006).

Sinfield, Alan, Out on Stage: Lesbian and Gay Theatre in the Twentieth Century (New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press, 1999).

Stark, Kathleen, ‘I Believe in the Power of Theatre’: British Women’s Drama of the 1980s and 1990s (Trier: Wissenschafter Verlag Trier, 2005).

Wandor, Michelene, Post-War British Drama: Looking Back in Gender (London: Routledge, 2001).

Wyllie, Andrew, Sex on Stage: Gender and Sexuality in Post-War British Theatre (Bristol: Intellect, 2009).

4. The playwrights

For each of the four playwrights included in this volume, a key critical book is recommended along with selected further reading. The editions of plays are those cited in Chapter 2.

Philip Ridley

Plays

Ridley, Philip, Plays One: The Pitchfork Disney; The Fastest Clock in the Universe; Ghost from a Perfect Place (London: Faber, 2002).

Key book

Sierz, Aleks, In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today (London: Faber, 2001).

Recommended books

Middeke, Martin, Peter Paul Schnierer and Aleks Sierz (eds), The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary British Playwrights (London: Methuen Drama, 2011).

Sierz, Aleks, Rewriting the Nation: British Theatre Today (London: Methuen Drama, 2011).

Sarah Kane

Plays

Kane, Sarah, Complete Plays: Blasted; Phaedra’s Love; Cleansed; Crave; 4.48 Psychosis; Skin (London: Methuen Drama, 2001).

Key book

Saunders, Graham, About Kane: The Playwright and the Work (London: Faber, 2009).

Recommended books

Aston, Elaine, Feminist Views on the English Stage: Women Playwrights, 1990–2000 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003).

De Vos, Laurens, and Graham Saunders (eds), Sarah Kane in Context (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2010).

Howe Kritzer, Amelia, Political Theatre in Post-Thatcher Britain: New Writing 1995–2005 (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008).

Kane, Sarah, with ‘Commentary’ by Ken Urban, Blasted (London: Methuen Drama Student Edition, 2011).

Luckhurst, Mary (ed.), A Companion to Modern British and Irish Drama (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006).

Middeke, Martin, Peter Paul Schnierer and Aleks Sierz (eds), The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary British Playwrights (London: Methuen Drama, 2011).

Saunders, Graham, ‘Love Me or Kill Me’: Sarah Kane and the Theatre of Extremes (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002).

Sierz, Aleks, In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today (London: Faber, 2001).

Wallace, Clare, Suspect Cultures: Narrative, Identity and Citation in 1990s New Drama (Prague: Litteraria Pragensia, 2006).

Anthony Neilson

Plays

Neilson, Anthony, Plays One: Normal; Penetrator; Year of the Family; The Night Before Christmas; The Censor (London: Methuen Drama, 1998).

——, Plays Two: Edward Gant’s Amazing Feats of Loneliness!; The Lying Kind; The Wonderful World of Dissocia; Realism (London: Methuen Drama, 2008).

Key book

Sierz, Aleks, In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today (London: Faber, 2001).

Recommended books

Middeke, Martin, Peter Paul Schnierer and Aleks Sierz (eds), The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary British Playwrights (London: Methuen Drama, 2011).

Sierz, Aleks, Rewriting the Nation: British Theatre Today (London: Methuen Drama, 2011).

Mark Ravenhill

Plays

Ravenhill, Mark, Plays One: Shopping and Fucking; Faust Is Dead; Handbag; Some Explicit Polaroids (London: Methuen Drama, 2001).

—, Plays Two: Mother Clap’s Molly House; Product; The Cut; Citizenship; pool (no water) (London: Methuen Drama, 2008).

Key book

Sierz, Aleks, In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today (London: Faber, 2001).

Recommended books

Aragay, Mireia, Hildegard Klein, Enric Monforte and Pilar Zozaya (eds), British Theatre of the 1990s: Interviews with Directors, Playwrights, Critics and Academics (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).

Billingham, Peter, At the Sharp End: Uncovering the Work of Five Leading Dramatists (London: Methuen Drama, 2007).

Croall, Jonathan, Inside the Molly House: The National Theatre at Work (London: National Theatre Publications, 2001).

Howe Kritzer, Amelia, Political Theatre in Post-Thatcher Britain: New Writing 1995–2005 (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008).

Middeke, Martin, Peter Paul Schnierer and Aleks Sierz (eds), The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary British Playwrights (London: Methuen Drama, 2011).

Ravenhill, Mark, with ‘Commentary’ by Dan Rebellato, Shopping and Fucking (Methuen Drama Student Edition, 2005).

Sierz, Aleks, Rewriting the Nation: British Theatre Today (London: Methuen Drama, 2011).

Wallace, Clare, Suspect Cultures: Narrative, Identity and Citation in 1990s New Drama (Prague: Litteraria Pragensia, 2006).

5. Web resources

TheatreVoice: www.theatrevoice.com/

A terrific resource for audio content relating to British theatre, featuring interviews with playwrights and other practitioners, round-table discussions and reviews of contemporary productions. It includes contributions from, and interviews with, a number of key theatre people featured in this book. The site was established in 2003 by founding editor Dominic Cavendish and is now managed by the Department of Theatre and Performance at the V&A and Rose Bruford College.

In-Yer-Face Theatre: www.inyerface-theatre.com

Although originally set up in 2000 by Aleks Sierz to offer resources to support his book In-Yer-Face Theatre, this website was subsequently expanded to cover all of new writing for the British theatre 1990–2010. The archive section includes several key articles and there is an abundance of useful information.