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Staging Beckett in Great Britain


Staging Beckett in Great Britain

Paperback by Tucker, Dr David (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK); McTighe, Trish (Queen's University Belfast, UK)

Staging Beckett in Great Britain

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£28.89

ISBN:
9781474240161
Publication Date:
19 Oct 2017
Language:
English
Publisher:
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:
Methuen Drama
Pages:
288 pages
Format:
Paperback
For delivery:
Estimated despatch 24 - 29 May 2024
Staging Beckett in Great Britain

Description

Beckett's relationship with British theatre is complex and underexplored, yet his impact has been immense. Uniquely placing performance history at the centre of its analysis, this volume examines Samuel Beckett's drama as it has been staged in Great Britain, bringing to light a wide range of untold histories and in turn illuminating six decades of drama in Britain. Ranging from studies of the first English tour of Waiting for Godot in 1955 to Talawa's 2012 all-black co-production of the same play, Staging Samuel Beckett in Great Britain excavates a host of archival resources in order to historicize how Beckett's drama has interacted with specific theatres, directors and theatre cultures in the UK. It traces production histories of plays such as Krapp's Last Tape; presents Beckett's working relationships with the Royal Court, Riverside and West Yorkshire Playhouse, as well as with directors such as Peter Hall; looks at the history of Beckett's drama in Scotland and how the plays have been staged in London's West End. Production analyses are mapped onto political, economic and cultural contexts of Great Britain so that Beckett's drama resonates in new ways, through theatre practice, against the complex contexts of Great Britain's regions. With contributions from experts in the fields of both Beckett studies and UK drama, including S.E. Gontarski, David Pattie, Mark Taylor-Batty and Sos Eltis, the volume offers an exceptional and unique understanding of Beckett's reception on the UK stage and the impact of his drama within UK theatre practices. Together with its sister volume, Staging Samuel Beckett in Ireland and Northern Ireland it will prove a terrific resource for students, scholars and theatre practitioners.

Contents

Acknowledgements Information on Contributors Foreword, James Knowlson Introduction, David Tucker and Trish McTighe Section 1: Origins, Theatres, Directors 1. The Arrival of Godot: Beckett, British Theatre and the 1950s, by David Pattie 2. Beckett at the Royal Court, by S.E. Gontarski 3. Beckett at the Riverside Studios, by Matthew McFrederick, 4. Beckett at The West Yorkshire Playhouse, by Mark Taylor-Batty 5. Beckett in London's West End, by John Stokes 6. Beckett and Peter Hall, by Sos Eltis Section 2: Productions, Locations, Legacies 7. A Production History of Krapp's Last Tape in the UK, by Andrew Head 8. Staging Beckett's Shorts, by Derval Tubridy 9. Talawa's Waiting for Godot, by Kene Igweonu 10. Mindscapes Amongst Thistle: Producing Samuel Beckett's Plays in Scotland, by Ksenija Horvat 11. Beckett Goes Nude: Breath, Oh! Calcutta! and the Sexual Revolution, Graham Saunders 12. 'That first last look in the shadows': Beckett's Legacies for Harold Pinter, David Tucker Endnotes Bibliography Index

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