British Theatre and the Red Peril: The Portrayal of Communism 1917-1945

Erscheinungsjahr 2000
ISBN: 978-0-85989-637-5
Verlag: UNIV OF EXETER

Buch, Englisch, 224 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 372 g

Reihe: Exeter Performance Studies

British Theatre and the Red Peril examines how communism was portrayed in plays in the British theatre between 1917 and 1945, and how at a time when the capitalist system seemed on the verge of collapse, the theatre played a significant part in communicating and manipulating political propaganda in order to influence audiences. It reveals explicit right-wing propaganda produced within mainstream British theatre and questions the assumption that political theatre is almost always left-wing.

The book draws on published and unpublished scripts and archive documents to demonstrate how the theatre became a key site for propaganda and ideological warfare. It discusses the methods by which the Lord Chamberlain, the government and even royalty exerted control over the political views voiced on stage in an age when contemporary commentators described the theatre as second only to the press in terms of its significance as a medium of communication.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Nicholson, Steve

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Theater- und Filmwissenschaft | Andere Darstellende Künste Theaterwissenschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Ideologien Marxismus, Kommunismus
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft | Kulturwissenschaften Kulturwissenschaften

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Illustrations

Preface and Acknowledgements

Brief Chronology

1. Not a Political Arena?

2. The Revolution will not be Dramatised

3. No More than a Bad Smell from the North East

4. Wakening the Devil

5. When England goes Communist

6. The Land of the Free

Afterword

Notes

Appendix: Biographies and Production Details

Select Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Nicholson, Steve
Steve Nicholson is Emeritus Professor at the University of Sheffield. He is a series editor for Exeter Performance Studies and the author of British Theatre and the Red Peril: The Portrayal of Communism, 1917-1945, also published by UEP.

Steve Nicholson is Professor of 20th-Century and Contemporary Theatre, and Director of Drama, in the School of English at the University of Sheffield. He is the series editor for Exeter Performance Studies and the author of UEP's four-volume series Censorship of British Drama 1900-1968.