The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary British Playwrights

Description

The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary British Playwrights is an authoritative guide to the work of twenty-five playwrights who have risen to prominence since the 1980s. Written by an international team of scholars, it will be invaluable to anyone interested in, studying or teaching contemporary drama. Among the many playwrights whose work is examined are Sarah Daniels, Terry Johnson, Martin Crimp, Sarah Kane, Anthony Neilson, Mark Ravenhill, Simon Stephens, Debbie Tucker Green, Tanika Gupta and Richard Bean. Each essay features: A biographical sketch and introduction to the playwright A discussion of their most important plays An analysis of their stylistic and thematic traits, the critical reception and their place in the discourses of British theatre A bibliography of texts and critical material

Professor Martin Middeke is Chair of English Literature at the University of Augsburg and Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg. Professor Peter Paul Schnierer is Chair of English Literature at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. Dr Aleks Sierz is the author of The Theatre of Martin Crimp and Rewriting the Nation.

This book offers a rigorous, but accessible way of rectifying that lack [of young people's knowledge of the oeuvre and philosophy of British playwrights]. The introduction offers as good a succint overview of theatrical developments and new writing in the 1980s, 90s and 2000s as I've read anywhere...And any book which includes language such as "revelling in staccato Mametian rhythms and Pinteresque menace" gets my vote for verbal imaginativeness and refusal to dumb down. -- Susan Elkin * Teaching Drama * This substantial volume really lives up to the promise of its title - it is indeed an extremely helpful 'guide' in the best sense of the word, offering both an overview of its subject and very specific information on individual playwrights and playtexts and proving useful to newcomers to the field and specialists alike. * Anglia: Journal of English Philology (2012) * This makes for a highly informative compendium of biographies and critiques, and a coherent and timely statement on the formidable and continuing strength of British playwriting. -- Garry Lyons * Theatre Research International *