British Theatre Since the War 9780300147919

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British Theatre Since The War

British Theatre Since The War

Dominic Shellard

Yale University Press New Haven and London

Copyright © 1999 by Dominic Shellard First published in paperback 2000 All right s reserved. T his book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form

( beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press) \vithout written permission from the publishers. Set in Simoncini Garamond by Northern Phototypesetting Co. Ltd, Bolton, Lanes. Printed in Great Britain by Redwood Books, 1l:owbridge, Wtlts. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Shellard, Dominic. British theatre since the war/by Dominic Shellard.

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-300-07684-3 (hbk.) ISBN 0-300-08737-3 (pbk.) 1. T heater-Great Britain-History-20th century. PN2595.S42

I. Title.

1999

792' .0941.0945-dc21

98-53505 CIP

For permission to reprint extracts from copyright material the author and publishers gratefully acknowledge the following: Faber and Faber for Look Back in Anger (1986) by John Osborne; Methuen for Separate Tables in Plays (1985) by Terence Rattigan; Faber and Faber for Waiting/or Godot ( 1965) by Samuel Beckett; Penguin Books for The Good Person ofSetzuan by Bertolt Brecht translated by Eric Bentley in Parables for the Theatre (1982); Methuen for The Room (1959) by Harold Pinter; Faber and Faber for The Entertainer (1990) by John Osborne; Hodder & Stoughton for Knight Errant (1995) by Robert Stephens; Marion Boyars for Marat/Sade (1991) by Peter Weiss, translated by Geoffrey Skelton; Methuen for Orton - 1 The Complete Plays (1987) by Joe Orton; Methuen for The Orton Diaries (1987) edited by John Lahr; Penguin Books for Empty Seats (1984) by Michael White; Methuen for Saved by E dward Bond in Plays One (1995); Redburn Productions Ltd for Absurd Person Singular ( 1997) by Alan Ayckboum; Methuen for Our Country's Good (1988) by Tunberlake Wertenbaker. The author and publishers would also like to thank the Estate of Kenneth Tynan for kind permission to quote extracts from letters by Kenneth Tynan: Jocelyn Herbert and the Estate of George Devine for kind permission to quote from a letter by George Devme; Joan Plowright and the Estate of Laurence Olivier for kind permission to quote from a letter by Laurence Olivier; and Crown Copyright for kind permission ' to quote from the Lord Chamberlain's Papers. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

For my nephew) Ross

Contents

Preface

ix

Table of Significant Events

Chapter 1

X

1945-1954

Post-War Uncertainty - Warning Voices - A Congested West End - Olivier, Richardson and the Old Vic Company - Olivier's Oedipus - T he Foundation of CEMA and the Arts Council - Institutions 1 ( H.M. Tennent Ltd; The Lord Chamberlain and Censorship; The Shakespeare Memorial T heatre) - 1946: London - The Foreign Revelation­ Theatre Criticism 1: Harold Hobson - The Influence of the French -American Musical Theatre -A Streetcar Named Desire and Entertainment Tax - Necrology or Propaganda? -1948-195 1 - Institutions 2: the Old Vic and the Concept of the National Theatre­ The Festival of Britain and 1952-1954 - Theatre Criticism 2: Kenneth Tynan

Chapter 2

1955-1962

37

The Arts Theatre (The Lesson; Waiting/or Godot: August 1955; Hobson and 'Tomorrow'; The Old Guard Miscalculates) - The English Stage Company (Genesis; Look Back in Anger) -Separate Tables and the Lord Chamberlain's Secret Memorandum - T heatre Workshop (Genesis; Reinterpretation of Classics; Behan and The Quare Fellow; Waiting for Godot, Look Back in Anger, A Taste ofHoney: a Reassessment) - Brecht (Pre-1956 Productions; T he Berliner Ensemble in London: August 1956; The ESC's The Good Woman of Setzuan: November 1956; Legacy) - The First Wave Consolidates (The Royal Court as a T heatre Complex; The Entertainer; The Royal Court: 1957 -1962; The Belgrade Theatre, TIE and Arnold Wesker) - Harold Pinter ( Harold Hobson and The Birthday Party; The Pinteresque: The Room, The Birthday Party• and The Caretaker)­ Into the Sixties (Battles to be Fought; T he Royal Shakespeare Company)

Chapter 3

1963-1968

98

Whose History?: The ESC, 'A Mixed Bag of Actors' - A National Theatre at Last (Genesis; Rationale; Olivier's Reign Phase 1 : 1963 -1968) - The Royal Shakespeare Company (Hall's Reign: 1963 -1967; The Wars of the Roses ( 1963 ); Peter Brook: Marat/Sade (1964) and US (1966); Highs and Lows: Harold Pinter, Emile Littler and 'Dirty Plays') - Joe Orton: Disdaining Authority (Agents: Peggy Ramsay; Edna \X1elthorpe, Entertaining Mr Sloane ( 1964) and Loot ( 1966); Diaries, Death and Iconography) - Staging Change: New Forms for Drama (Theatre Workshop: Oh What a Lovely War' (March 1963 ); New Spaces: Real and Imagined; Happenings; The Method Scorned: Lee Strasberg's The Three Sisters ( 1965); Female PlaY'wTights) - Television Drama - The End of the Lord Chamberlain's Blue Pencil (An Indefensible Position (Matron); A Patriot for Me ( 1965); Saved (1965)) ,

viii

Contents

Chapter 4

1969-1979

147

1\fter Censorship: More Gains than Losses - Political Theatre (The Panacea of Socialism?; Avant-Garde or Ag:it Prop?: Portable, Joint Stock, 7:84; Gay Sweatshop and

Bent

(1979); Female P laywrights; Black and Asian Theatre in Britain)-The End of an

Era: The National Theatre, Olivier's Reign P hase 2: 1969-19 73- Commercial Angst, Subsidised Joy- War: Peter Hall at the National Theatre 1: 1973-1979

(Amadeus

( 1979); Last Days at the Old Vic; The South Bank; Crises Off-Stage, New Writing On-: 197 7-1979) -Alan Ayckbourn- Drama Away From London (Scotland; Regional; Peter Cheeseman at Stoke)-Musicals-The Royal Shakespeare Company 1969-19 79 (Trevor Nunn Takes Charge; Peter Brook's A Midsummer Night's Dream; The Search for Smaller Spaces; Mid-Decade Crisis and Recovery)

Chapter 5

1980-1997

186

Continuity and Change: Institutions 3 (The Pr oblematics of Funding: Thatcherism, the National Lottery and 'Stabilisation' Grants; Musicals; Crisis and Hope: The Return of Actors' Theatre 19 79-1986)-Gay Drama- Continuity and Change: Institutions

4 (The

West End: Sclerosis, 198 7 ; The National Theatre: Peter Hall1979-1988; The National

Theatre: Richard Eyre 1988-1997; The Royal Shakespeare Company: 1979-1997)­ Yorkshire Born and Bred: Northern Broadsides-The Royal Court: The National Theatre of New Writing - Blurred Parameters: the Fringe, the West End and the Subsidised Sector-Towards the Millennium and Beyond

Notes Select Bibliography Index

230 241 246

Preface

Over recent years I have been frustrated by the absence of a book that provided an overview of significant developments in the evolution of British theatre since the Second World War.

In an age

where modularisa­

tion at universities has decreased the amount of time students have available for research and reflection, the need for such a work has become ever more pressing. So, spurred on by my students at the University of Sheffield, I decided to write one myself. Given the vast amount of material that deserves to be covered, I have inevitably had to prioritise some topics over others. On re-reading my manuscript, I was surprised at the extent to which London recurs through­ out the narrative, but then London has been the site of theatrical activity throughout the period. A debate about the advisability of such centralisa­ tion is long overdue. The book, therefore, is not intended to be definitive but introductory. If it succeeds in providing useful signposts that help orientate the reader towards further investigation, it will have achieved its aim. The writing of history is, like the very process of creating drama itself, fluid. Subsequent historians will advance different perspectives on the period, and my conclusions will necessarily be challenged. Given the vacuum of works that provide an account of the history of post-war British theatre, I hope that I have created a first and useful map. I would like to acknowledge the help and support of the following: Jack Reading, whose advice has been invaluable; Fiona Kavanagh Fearon for permission to read and refer to her unpublished thesis; Professor David Lewis and the University of Sheffield Research Fund; Sally Brown and Kathryn Johnson at the British Library; John Walker; Mum, Dad, Sonya, Bobby and Jessica; my Editor at Yale University Press, Robert Baldock; Pete and Carol Lilleker; and, inevitably, QPR.

Table of Significant Events Date

Theatrical events in the UK

Other events in the UK

Other international events

Jul. General Election. Labour wins with majority of 146. Clement Atdee hecomes

7 May Germany surrenders 6 Aug. Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima 9 Aug. Atomic Bomb dropped on Nagasaki 14 Aug. Japan surrenders, Second World War

CHAPTER1: 1945-54

1 945

(1944

Old Vic Company opens at New

Theatre

Aug. Peer Gynt) Jan. Uncle Vanya Sept. Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 (Richardson's

Prime Minister

ends

Falstaff) Oct. Oedipus (Olivier)

1 946

Apr. SMT Love's Labour's Lost (dir. Brook) May Rattigan, 11Ie Winslow Boy Aug. Foundation of the Arts Council Sept. King Lear (Olivier)

Oct. Priestley, An Inspector Calls Pirst issue of Theatre Notebook Creation of first university drama department at Bristol

1947

Jan. Old Vic Theatre reopens Apr. Oklahoma!

Jul. Harold Hobson becomes theatre critic of the Sunday Times Aug. Pirst Edinburgh Festival

Aug. Britain grants independence to India

1948

Mar. Fry, The Lady's Not for Burning

Jul. National

Health Service inaugurated

Sept. to May

1949 Berlin blockade

Sept. Jean-Louis Barrault and the Comedie

Fran�aise at the Edinburgh Festival Sept. Rattigan, The Browning Version

Foundation of the Society for Theatre Research 1949

Aug. Eliot, The Cocktail Party Oct. Williams,

A Streetcar Named Desire

(Vivien Leigh ) 1950

Jan.

Fry,

Venus Observ'd

Feb. General Election. Labou r wins with

majority of 5

Feb. Fry, Ring Round the Moon

Jun. Rodgers and Hammerstein, 1951

May Antony and Cleopatra (Olivier and

May Festi val of Britain Jun. Burgess and Madean defect to the USSR Oct. General Election. Conservatives win with

Leigh )

majority of 17. Winston Churchill becomes

Oct. Claude!, Partage de Midi (Edwige

bomb

Jun. North Korea invades Somh Korea

Carousel

Apr. llenry IV, Part One (Richard Burton) Apr. Hunter, Waters of the Moon

Mar. USSR announces it possesses the atom

Oct. Renewal of Korean Armistice talks

Prime Minister

Feuillere) 1952

1953

Mar. Rattigan, The Deep Blue Sea Oct. Gershwin, Porgy and Bess

Feb. Ge org e VI dies

May Guys and Dolls

Jun. Coronation uf Eli:t.abeth II

Nov. Rattigan, The Sleeping Prince Dec. Hunter, A Day by the Sea

First issue of Plays and Players Theatre Workshop takes up the lease of the Theatre Royal, Stratford East

Nov. General Eisenhower ch:ctcd US President

Jun. Korean Armistice signed Sept. Khrushchev becomes First Secretary of

the Communist Party, USSR

UK

Date

Theatrical events in the

19.54

Mar. Whiting, Marching Song Sept. Rattigan, Separate Tables Sept. Kenneth Tynan becom es theatre critic of the Observer

Other events in the

UK

jut. Food rationing ends

Other international events

Dec. US senate 'condemns' McCarthy 'witch­ trials'

CHAPTER 2: 1955-62 1955

1956

Jan. TI1eatre Workshop's Richatd II Mar. Ionesco, The Lesson (Arts) Jul. Brecht, Mother Courage (Joan Littlewood ) Aug. Beckett, Waiting for Godot (Arts) Au,R. Titus Andronicus (Olivier, dit. Brook)

Minister .Jul. Execution of Ruth Ellis spurs camp11ign ro end capital punishment Sept. Commercial TV introduced

Apr. Openin g season of the English Stage Com­

Apr. Khrushchev visits Britain

May General Election. Conservatives win with majority of60. Anthony Eden becomes Prime

pany (ESC) at the Royal Court 8 May Osborne, Look Back in Anger May Behan, The Quare Fellow Aug. Berliner Ensemble's Mother Courage (Helene Weigel)

Jul. European Parliament holds first meeting in Strasbourg

.Jul.

Nass ar nationalises the Suez Canal

Oct. Sov ie t

troops invade Hungary

Nov. B ritish and French troops land at Port

Said; intervention aborted two days later NntJ. Re-election of President Eisenhower

Nov. ESC's TI1e Good Woman ofSetzuan

Foundation of the National Youth l11eatre 1957

Osborne , The Entertainer Apr. Beckett, Fin de Partie

Apr.

EEC established with the Treaty of Rome

}an. Eden resigns as Prime Minister

Mar.

following Suez debacle, Harold Macmillan succeeds him

Oct. Sputniks launched

jul. Macmillan 'Most of our people have never had it so good'

Sept.

Wolfenden Report on homosexuality

195!5

Jan., Wcskcr, Chicken Soup With Bnrley

Feb. Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

May Pinter, The Birthday Party

launched

Jan. Common Market comes into force

Oct. Behan, The Hostage

Nov. Delaney, A Taste of Honey Dec. Bernstein, West Side Story

Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, opens Lord Chamberlain's secre t mfa! Crew, A 2 1 6

Jumpers

1 62

Leigh, Vivien 7, 24-5, 32, 86

Lennon, John 1 48 Lepage, Robert 2 12

Junction Theatre, C ambridge 1 89, 190

Lessing, Doris 129, 134

]uno and the Paycock 73

Les Liasions Dangereuses 194 Les Fausses Confidences 2 1

Kane, Sarah 225 Karge, Manfred 222

Les Miserables 1 87, 1 9 0 , 1 9 1 , 2 1 4 Letters to George 222

Kaut-Howson, Helena 156

Levin, Bernard 109, 1 14, 133, 202

Kaye, Danny 29

on The Mysteries 204

Kazan, Elia 17, 132

Lewenstein, Oscar 49

Keith, Penelope 193

Lewin, David 43

Kelly, Jude 156

Lewis, Stephen 89

Kemp, Robert 175, 176

Libertine, The 224

Kemsley; Lord 1 8- 1 9

Libra0· Theatre, Manchester 1 69

Kenny, Sean 65 , 105

Lzje of Galtleo , The 200-1

Khan-Din, Ayub 226

Light Shining in Buckinghamshire 156

King Lear 1 1 3 , 1 1 5

L 'Invltation au Chateau 21

King and I, The 23

Lion and the Jewel, The 128

Index

Lion in Love, The 85, 134 Lister, Laurier 48 Littler, Emile 97, 1 17, 122 Littler, Prince 97 Littlewood, Joan 37, 60-61, 62, 63, 64, 67-9, 70, 7 1 , 87, 89, 96, 105, 127, 128, 134 Live Like Pigs 84, 224 Liverpool Everyman Theatre 181 Living Room, The 33 Livings, Henry 1 19 Lloyd, Phyllida 212, 223, 228 Lloyd Webber, Andrew 180, 186, 191, 1 92 Loach, Ken 13 5 London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAJJDA) 17, 1 15 Lung and the Short and the Tall, The 84 Long Day's Journey Into Night 160 Look After Lulu 84, 86 Look Back in Anger 7 , 17, 18, 26, 47, 50, 51 first run o f 5 1-7, 60, 68, 69-70, 74, 75, 83, 86, 98, 99 Loot 122-6, 127 , 138 Lope d e Vega 61, 2 1 1 Lord Chamberlain 8-- 1 3, 25, 33, 38, 57 secret memorandum on homosexuality

58-9, 95, 1 15, 1 17, 136-46, 186 Love's Labour's Lost 14, 96, 182 Love ofa Nightingale, The 2 1 6 Lower Depths, The 1 75 Luther 80, 85, 138 Lyceum, Crewe Lyceum Theatre

3, 205 191 Lyric Theatre 2 1 , 193 Lyric, Hammersmith 29, 90 Lynne, Gillian

Lyttleton, Oliver (Lord Chandos)

1 12,

158-9 Lyttleton Theatre

166, 167, 203, 2 1 1

Macbeth 1 18, 1 8 1 , 1 83, 184 Macdonald, David 174, 175 MacDonald, Sharman 218 MacGowan, Jack 97 Machinal 212 Macintosh, Genista 156 Mackintosh, Cameron 186, 192, 214 Macleish, Robert 17 6 MaColl, Ewan (Jimmie Miller) 60, 61, 62 Maddermarket Theatre 177 Mad Forest 222

Madness ofGeorge III, The 212 Mahabhharata, The 194 Make ,\Ie an Offer 127 Mamet, David 224 Man ofMode, The 224 Man for All Seasons, The 80 Man With a Flower in his Mouth , The 134 Manchester Guardian 5 1 Marathon Man, The 132 Marat/Sade, The 1 14-17, 182 Marber, Patrick 2 1 2 Marching Song 8 , 3 3 Marcus, Frank 1 19, 1 66 Marivaux, Pierre 2 1 Marlowe, A. 26, 6 1 Marlowe, Christopher 168 Marowitz, Charles 130 Martin Guerre 192 l'vfaster Builder, The 108 Masterpieces 218 l'vfatchmaker, The 177 Mating Game, The 162 Maugham, Somerset 55 May Day Dialogues 222 Maydays 193, 2 1 4 McCowen, Alec 1 13, 2 1 6 :'\IcDonagh, Martin 225 McEwan, Geraldine 96, 2 15 McGrath, John 1 19, 129, 149, 152, 176 McKellen, Ian 155 , 184, 203, 2 1 1 McLellan, Robert 176 McPherson, Conor 226 hie and My Girl 192 Measure for Afeasure 15, 130 Meet Afy Father 1 7 1 Mendel, Vera 1 1 Mendes, Sam 2 1 6 Mercer, David 1 19, 135, 148, 192 Merchant o/ Venice, The 159, 200 Merry Wives of Windsor, The 2 1 7 Metamorphosis 199 Method Acting 13 1-3 Midsummer Night's Dream, A 85, 162, 181-2, 1 83 , 212, 2 17 Millennium Approaches 2 12 "Miller, Arthur 17, 30, 5 1 , 8 1 , 207 "Miller, Jonathan 159, 166 Miracle at Verdun 6 1 Mirvish, David 229 Mirvish, Ed 229 Mirren, Helen 95, 181 Misfits, The 132

253

254

Index

Miss Julie 1 83 Miss Saigon 192 Mister X 153--4

New Statesman 45, 46, 108, 1 1 8 New Theatre 4, 16, 3 1 , 127, 159, 160

Nicholas Nickleby 1 87 , 2 1 3

l'vfitchell, Adrian 1 15

Nichols, Peter 1 1 9, 1 3 5 , 1 5 9 , 185

l'vfitchell, Julian 1 95

Nightingale, Benedict 182, 2 1 2, 224, 227

Mojo 225, 226

Night ofthe Iguana, The 2 1 2 Night Out, A 1 3 4

Moliere 6 1 , 157 Moiseiwitsch, Tanya 28

Noble, Adrian 2 12, 2 1 6

Monck, �ugent 1 77

Noguchi, Isamu 4 9

Monroe, Marilyn 132 Monstrous Regiment 157

No Man's Land 1 6 6 , 1 69 Normal lfearl, The 194

Moonlight 227 Moon on a Rainbow Shawl 84, 157

Norman Conquests, The 17 1 , 174

Morley, Christopher 181

Northem Broadsides 2 17

Norman, Frank 89

Morley, Sheridan 193, 215

Nottingham Playhouse 162, 178, 209

Morrison, Blake 217

Nunn, 1Ievor 1 1 9, 1 8 1 , 183, 1 88, 1 9 1 ,

Mother Courage 7 1-3, 1 1 1 Mountain Language 2 1 2 Mousetrap, The 134 Much Ado About Nothing 15, 75, 1 1 1 , 2 15 Muggeridge, Malcolm 69

Mulberry Bush, The 50, 5 1 Murder in the Cathedral 29 Murdoch, Iris 134

Murmuring Judges 2 1 0 Musicals 190-2 Hall 28-9

Music

My Fair Lady 5 1 , 86 My Mother Says I Never Should 156 My Night With Reg 195, 196, 224 Mysteries, The 169, 203-4 Napier, John 1 9 1 , 2 1 3

192, 194, 207, 2 12, 2 14, 225 O'Casey, S ean 73

Observer 4, 18, 25, 26, 27, 33, 34, 54, 55, 72, 102, 1 1 1 , 133, 144

Occupations 1 83 Octagon, Bolton 89, 1 29-30

Oedipus 1 1 1 , 2 1 6 Oh ' Calcutta! 147 Oh, What a Lovely War' 128 Oklahoma! 7 , 1 7 , 22-3 , 24, 190 Old Ones, The 1 62 Old Times 162 Old 'Iron Kirk 17 6 Old Vic 3, 4, 30, 3 1 , 47, 48, 50, 65-6, 80, 98, 100, 1 03, 1 04, 1 1 1 , 1 12, 160, 162, 163, 1 86, 187, 192, 229

National Health, The 1 5 9

Old Vic Theatre Centre 3 1

1\'ational Lottery 1 8 7 , 189, 225

Oleanna 224 Oliver' 65

l\'ational Theatre as a concept 3 1 , 80, 95-6, 97, 98, 99

Olivier, Laurence 2, 3-4

genesis 100-1

as Archie Rice 8 1--4, 85, 96, 99-100,

rationale 10 1-3 1963-68 era 103-1 1 , 1 1 8 , 1 1 9, 122,

as director of the )Jational Theatre

140, 141, 156, 157 1969-73 era 158-161 1973-79 era 1 63-70, 178, 185, 186, 1 88, 1 93 1979-88 era 200-8 1 988-97 era 208-12, 225 National Youth Theatre 95 Naughton, Bill l35

Nekrassov 84 Neville, John 65-6, 178

Newman, Paul l32 Newman, Stanley 135

101 102-1 1 as King Lear 1 6-- 1 7, 20, 2 1 , 24 as Oedipus 5, 7 as Othello 107-8, 1 12-1 3 , 132, 146, 158-6 1 , 1 66, 1 83, 2 14, 236-7 as Richard III 27-8, 29, 3 1 , 32, 80 Olivier Theatre 166, 1 67, 1 68, 2 0 1 , 203, 205, 2 1 0 O'Neill, Eugene 160

One Way Pendulum 85 Orange 'Ii:ee, Richmond 1 93 , 228

Oresteia, The 203-4

I ndex

Ormerod, Nick 2 1 1 Orpheus Descending 84 Orton, Joe 1 19-27, 138, 159 Osborne, John 7, 17, 28, 5 1 , 74 , 75, 80, 81-3, 84, 85, 90, 91, 98, 102, 1 19, 138--40, 162 Othello 105, 1 12, 130 O'Toole, Peter 100, 103, 168 Otway, liavers 203 Our Country's Good 1 99, 220-2, 223, 224 Out of]oint 2 13, 224 Owen, Alun 129, 135 Oxford Playhouse 87

Pack a/Lies 193 Page, Anthony 81 Page, Geraldine 132 Page, Louise 215 Paice, Eric 12 Paige, Deborah 156 Paines Plough 169, 227 Palace Theatre 23, 75, 191, 192 Palace Theatre, Manchester 88 Pal Joey 23 Park Theatre 175 Partage de Midi 2 1 Party, The 160, 163 Patriotfor Me, A 138--40, 144 Patterson, Michael 79 Pearce, Edward 53 Pear Tree Players 87 Peck, Bob 2 1 4 Peer Gynt 4 Perestrozka 212 Pericles 212 Perry, John 109 Persona Grata 8 Peter, John 196, 210, 223 Peter Hall Company, The 1 87, 200, 229 Petherbridge, Edward 213 Phantom ofthe Opera 192 Phoenix Theatre, Leicester 169, 178 Phoenix Theatre, London 200, 215 Pia/ 157 Pierrepoint, Albert 68 Pilgrim liust, The 6 Pillars ofSociety 185 Pimlott, Stephen 2 1 1 Pinter, Harold 4 1 , 85, 89-95, 1 13, 1 1 7-18, 122, 134, 1 4 1 , 162, 166, 169, 2 12, 224, 226, 227 Pirandello 134

Pitlochry Festival Theatre 175 Plantagenets, The 216 Plater, Alan 1 19, 120, 135 Platonov 85 Play 105-7 Play for Today 86 Playing with Fire 158 Play With a Tiger 134 Playsfor England 85 Plays and Players 18, 36 Plenty 163 Plough and the Stars, The 73 Plowright, Joan 50, 51, 81, 82, 101, 102, 104 Pogodin, Nikolai 73 Poke, Greville 146 Polanski, Roman 148 Polliakoff, Stephen 150 Porgy and Bess 23, 30, 32 Portable Theatre 150, 161 Porter, Eric 97 Posener, Jill 153 Potter, Dennis 135 Pravda 194, 205-7, 209 Priestley, J.B. 2, 16, 52, 2 12, 223 Prince and the Showgirl, The 132 Prince's Theatre 23 Princess Alice 25 Privates on Parade 1 85 Prowse, Philip 174, 175 Pryce, Jonathan 163 Public Enemy 2 15

Quare Fellow, The 60, 67-9, 89 Quatermass Experiment, The 135 Quayle, Anthony 1, 15, 48, 86 Queen and I, The 224 Queen's Theatre 3, 193 Racing Demon 210 Raffles, Gerry 64, 67, 68, 89, 95, 128 Ramsay, Peggy 1 19-20, 122 Rat in the Skull 225 Rattigan, Terence, 7, 14, 15, 30, 32-3, 35 on plays of ideas 45-6 use of Aunt Edna 35, 38 on Waiting/or Godot 46, 53, 57-9, 120, 196, 226 Ravenhill, Mark 195, 196, 225 Ravensdale, Baroness 25, Rayne, Max 159 Reading, Jack 69-7 1 , 236--7

255

256

Index Recruiting Officer, The 1 03 , 1 04, 1 1 0, 220, 222, 224 Redgrave, Michael 28, 103, 104 Redgrave, Vanessa 1 12, 1 13 Rees, Roger 2 13 Rees-Mogg, William 205

Royal National Theatre see National Theatre Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( RSAlvlD) 1 8 Royal Shakespeare Company 6 , 14, 15, 96-7, 98, 102

Relatively Speaking 120 , 1 7 1-2

controversy 1 1 7-18, 140, 155, 1 60, 1 69

Renaud, Madeline 2 1 Requiem for a Nun 84

The 'dirty plays', 122

Resistible Rise ofArturo Ui, The 2 15

Les Zvfisirables 1 9 1-2, 193

Rhinoceros 85 Rhys Jones, Griff 2 10

under Peter Hall ( 1 963-7) 1 1 2-1 3 , The

Rice, Tim 180

1 969-79 era 1 80-5, 1 86, 1 87

Richard II 65, 2 12 Richard III 4, 3 L 1 13 , 1 77 , 1 94, 2 1 0- 1 1 , 2 17 Richardson, Ian 97 Richardson, Ralph 2, 3-4 as Falstaff 4 as Trresias 5, 16, 2 1 , 3 1 , 32, 1 0 1 , 159, 1 66, 236-7

The Marat/Sade and US 1 14-117

Wars ofthe Roses 1 1 3-14 1979-97 era 2 12-6 Rudkin, David 1 1 3, 1 19 Rudolf Steiner Hall 1 1 Ruling Class, The 179 Russell Taylor, John 1 1 9 Rutter, Barrie 2 1 7 Rustaveli Company 177 Rylance, Mark 227

Richardson, Tony 47, 48-9, 5 1 , 52, 83, 98, 1 08, 144 Rickman, Alan 194 Rickson, Ian 226 Rigg, Diana 1 1 3

St Denis, ;'1.1ichel 3 1 , 73 St James' s Theatre 32, 57 Sandford, Jeremy 135 Sartre, Jean-Paul 17, 84, 85

Ring Round the lvioon 7 , 2 1 , 2 9 , 96 Ripen Our Darkness 2 1 8

Saved 1 3 8, 1 40-6, 225

Road 2 1 9, 224

Schell, Maximilian 139, 169

Robinson, Ann 8

Schiller, Friedrich 6 1

Saunders, James 1 1 9

Rodgers, Richard 1 7 , 22, 2 3

Sclumberg, Hans 6 1

Romans in Britain , The 162, 1 86 , 1 94,

Schoolfor Scandal, The 3 1

201-2

Schwartz, Stephen 180

Romeo and Juliet 1 59, 2 1 5

Scofield, Paul 1 5 , 29, 1 1 3 , 1 1 5, 1 65

Romersholm 85 Rosenthal, Jack 1 3 5

Scott, Elizabeth 14

Room, The 85, 9 1 , 92-3

Scott, JD. 47

Roots 84, 85, 86,

Scottish Theatre Archive 17 6 Scullion, Adrienne 177

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead 111 Roundhouse, The 148 Rowell, George 4 Royal Academy of D ram atic Art (RADA) 1 8, 60, 94 Royal Court 47-5 1 , 59, 75, 80, 8 1 , 83 1 957-62 era 84-6, 89, 9 1 , 97, 98, 99, 1 05, 122, 139, 144, 155, 159, 1 6 1 , 1 62, 1 87, 193, 195, 199, 2 1 7-26 Royal Exchange, Manchester 89, 163, 2 1 3 , 218 Roya! Hunt ofthe Sun, The 109- 1 1 , 1 15, 1 64

Scott, George C. 133

Seagull, The 229 Secret Rapture, The 209- 1 0 See You Inside 1 3 6 Semi-Monde 1 75 Seneca 1 1 1 Senora Carrar's Rifles 7 1 Sense ofDetachment, A 1 62 Separate Tables 15, 35, 46, 5 7-9 Serious Money 199, 200, 2 1 9 Serjeant Afusgrave's Dance 7 9 , 85 7 : 84 152, 1 99 7 : 84 Scotland 152, 176 Severed Head, The 134

Index Shadwell, Thomas 199

Stewart, John 175

Shaffer, Peter 109- 1 1 , 160, 164

Stewart, Patrick 1 8 1

Shaftesbury Theatre 3

Stoddart, Hugh 150

Shakespeare, William 4, 27, 28, 30, 34, 6 1 ,

Stoll Theatre 23

66, 8 1 , 85, 100, 1 15 , 1 3 0, 159,

Stoppard, Tom 1 1 1 , 162, 163, 1 83 , 199, 208, 212

1 87, 2 17

Shakespeare Memorial Theatre (SMT) 1 ,

Storey, David 159, 1 6 1 , 225

Strange Case ofDr Jekyll and Mr Hyde 2 1 6

6 1945-50 era 14-15, 47, 48, 96, 97, 1 86,

Strasberg, Lee 1 7 , 1 07 , 1 3 1-3 Strauss, George 146

214

Shakespeare Our Contemporary

1 14

Streetcar Named Desire, A

Shaw, G.B. 48

Strinberg, August 1 1 1

Sheen, Martin 195 Sher, Antony 193 , 194, 2 14-15, 2 1 6

Suchet, David 224

Sheridan, Richard Brinsley 5 Sherman, Martin 154

Shopping and Fucking

7, 8, 24-6, 193

film version 132

Shaw, Fiona 2 1 1 , 212

195, 196--8 , 225

Shulman, Milton 43, 54, 196 Simpson, N.F. 8 1 , 85, 102

Summerfolk 169 Sunday Express 5 1 Sunday in the Park With George 2 1 1 Sunday Telegraph 1 66 Sunday Times 2, 1 7 , 18, 3 8 , 4 3 , 54, 55,

Sinclair, Upton 60

Sunset Boulevard

Singing Jailbirds 60 Sink the Belgrano 1 200 Six Degrees of Separation 223 Sl.rylight 212

Suzman, Janet 1 14 , 1 8 1

192

Swan Theatre, Stratford 2 1 4 , 2 1 6

Smith, Dodie 134

Table Number Seven 5 7 , 5 9 Tales/rom Hollywood 203 Tales/rom the Vienna Woods 169 Tamburlaine 168, 2 15, 2 1 6 Taming ofthe Shrew, The 1 1 3

Smith, Maggie 102, 105

Tara Arts Group 157, 1 89, 190

Society for Theatre Research, The ( STR)

Taste a/Honey, A 58,

Slade, Peter 87 Sleep, Wayne 191

Small Family Business, A 207

1 8, 193

64, 69-70, 86, 89,

127, 134

Sondheim, Stephen 180, 2 1 1

Tatler, The 25 Tartuffe 157

Sophocles 6 1 , 2 1 1 , 2 1 6

Taylor, Lib 134

South Pacific 23, 30,

147

Television Drama 1 3 4-5

89 127

Tenschert, Joachim 160 Terson, Peter 95, 1 1 9

Soldiers

90 ,

137, 139, 164, 196, 2 1 0, 223

103, 158

Tempest, The 22,

Soyinka, Wole 128

Sparrers Can't Sing Spectator 193

Spender, Stephen 8 1

Theatr Clwyd 156 Theatre Centre 87, 95

Spinetti, Victor 128

Sport ofMy Mad Mother, The

166, 179

84, 134

St Barbe-West, Frances 8

Theatre de Complicite 2 12 Theatre-in-Education 86--9

Stafford Clark, Max 2 13 , 2 1 9

Theatre Notebook

Stanley, Kim 133

Theatre of Action 7 1

Starlight Express Steaming 2 1 8

Theatre Royal, Lincoln 8 8 , 1 7 8

191

18

Theatre of Cruelty 1 17 , 1 1 8, 1 3 0

Stein, Peter 169

Theatre Royal, Newcastle 88, 2 1 3

Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough 1 3 0

Theatre Royal, Norwich 88

Stephens, Robert 5 0 , 8 1 , 98-100, 102, 103, 106, 1 1 0, 1 1 1 , 2 1 6

Stevenson, Juliet 2 16

Theatre Royal, Nottingham 89 Theatre Royal, Stratford East 37, 59, 60, 63, 64 , 90, 127, 2 1 8

257

258

Index Theatre Workshop 33, 35, 37 genesis of 60-63 production of The Quare Fellow 67-9, 86, 89, 105, 1 13 , 127-8, 176, 179, 192 reinterpretation of classics 63-7 Theatres Act 1968 146, 147

Thebans, The 2 16 They Might Be Giants 128

on Separate Tables 35, 47, 49 Soldiers affair 158-9, 186, 192

Uncle Vanya 22, 102, 103-4, 105, 1 10 Unicorn Theatre Company 95 Unity Theatre 12-13, 7 1 University Theatre, Newcastle 1 7 8 Uranium 235 33, 62 us 1 1 4, 1 1 7

Thorndike, Sybil 32, 81

Three Birds Alighting On a Field 222 Threepenny Opera, The 207 Three Sisters, The 1 3 1 , 133, 224 Till Death Us Do Part 135 Times, The 14, 24, 148, 166, 204 Times Educational Supplement 201 Titus Andronicus 81, 96, 1 82 , 2 1 1 , 2 15

Valle Inclan, Ramon de 1 69 Vanbrugh, Irene 3

·variation on a Theme 58, 59 Venetian Twins, The 2 1 6 \1enice Preserv'd 203 Venus Observ'd 2 1 , 29 Verma, Jatinder 157

Toller, Ernst 1 1

Verner, James 147

Top Girls 2 1 8-19 Torch Song Trilogy, The 215

Veterans 1 62 Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-'frent 89, 129,

Townsend, Sue 224

Trackers of Oxyrhyncus, The 2 1 0 1bverse Theatre Club 17 6

Travesties 183 Treadwell, Sophie 2 1 2

Trees in the Wind 152 The Winslow Boy 16, 19, 23, 25 , 29, 30 Tribute to the Lady, A 168

'frewin, J.C., description of

Thcycle Theatre 227 Troubridge, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir St Vincent 1 3

1 7 1 , 179

\fiew from the Bridge, A 207 Vinegar Tom 157 \lisit, The 2 1 2 Volpone 65 , 207 Volunteers, The 199 Von Horvath, Odon 169

\Vaitingfor Godot 27, 38-45, 46, 56, 69-70, 96, 1 87, 229

Wall, Max 226 \Vall-Dog, The 222

Tushingham, Rita 81

Walter, Harriet 2 1 6

Tutin, Dorothy 97 Twelfth Night 96

Wannamaker, Sam 204

Tynan, Kenneth

Wansell, Geoffrey 59

description of Binkie Beaumont 8, 19, 22, 27; Ok.rier as Oeclipus 5 disagreement with George Devine over

Play 105-7, 1 09, 1 13 as Dramaturg of the National Theatre 1 02- 1 1

Obseruer criticism 34-6 on The Entertainer 83-4, 95-6 on Look Back in Anger 55-6, 57, 59,

early

68 on the Lord Chamberlain 13 7 on Mother Courage and Epic Theatre 7 1-3, 74, 80

V?altz ofthe Torreadors, The 96

Wardle, Irving 144, 148 Warner, David 1 1 8 Warner, Deborah 2 1 1 , 2 1 2 , 2 1 6, 228

\Fars ofthe Roses, The 80, 108, 1 85 \Faste 229 \.Faters ofthe lv!oon 32 Way, Brian 87, 95

Way of the \.'(/ortd, The 27 Wlay to the Tomb, The 29 Way Upstream 192, 203 Weapons ofHappiness 151 Webster, John 61

\Fednesday Play, The (BBC) 86 Weigel, Helene 49, 7 1-3

as producer of Qh t

\Veir, The 226

on

Weiss, Peter 1 15 , 17 6

Calcutta:' 147-8 The Quare Fellow 69

Index

Welles, Orson 85 Werkerth, Manfred 160 Wertenbaker, Timberlake 79, 1 99, 2 1 6, 219-22, 224 Wesker, Arnold 1 7 , 8 1 , 84, 85, 86-9, 9 1 , 102, 1 19, 128, 162, 224 West 199 West Side Story 50, 86 West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds 89, 156, 190, 196, 228 What the Butler Saw 126, 159 When I Was a Girl I Used to Scream and Shout 2 1 8 When We Are Married 2 White, Michael 127, 130, 136, 159 Whitehead, Robert Whitehall Theatre 3 Whitehead, Robert 58 Whitehouse, Mary 201-2 Whitemore, Hugh 94, 1 19, 193, 195 Whiting, John 8 , 3 3 Wilde, Oscar 88 Wild Honey 203 Wilder, Thornton 1 77 Wilkinson, Marc 109 Willett, John 79 Williams, Emlyn 7, 16 Williams, Stephen 43

Williams, Tennessee 7, 17, 24, 25, 45, 84, 196, 2 12 Willis, Ted 13 5 Wilson, Angus 50, 5 1 Wilson, Colin 54 Wilson, Donald 134 W!lson, Effingham 31, 100, 101 Wilson, Snoo 150 Wind in the Willows, The 210 Wmdsor, Barbara 64 Winslow Boy, The 7, 15-16 Winter's Tale, The 32 Wmters, Shelley 132 Wolfit, Donald 170 Woman, The 163 Wood, Charles 1 1 9, 162 Workhouse Donkey, The 80 Worm's Eye Viezo3 W)rcherle); William 84, 85 Wymark, Patrick 97 W)rndhams Theatre 127, 128 W)rnyard, Diana 8

Yeats, WB. 29 Z Cars 1 35 Zeffirelli, Franco 1 08 , 1 1 1, 1 12

Zigger Zagger 95

259