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British Theatre of the 1990s
Edited by Mireia Aragay, Hildegard Klein, Enric Monforte and Pilar
Zozaya
Palgrave Macmillan £45
208 pages
Dateline: 23rd September, 2007
This book is firmly aimed at academics, judging by the price, but this
is a shame since some of the interviews that it contains are very much
of general interest.
Without wishing to seem nationalist, it is somewhat surprising that
a book about theatre in Britain should have been funded by a Spanish
University and edited by academics from Barcelona and Malaga.
They decided that the best way to get a complete view of their subject
was to interview a selection of directors, playwrights, critics and
academics, each of whom had a specific interest in contemporary British
theatre. It helps that several are major players in their fields and
significantly influenced the direction that British theatre took during
the period.
This book has taken some time to reach bookstores since most of the
interviews took place in the period between 2003 and 2005 and to an
extent, some have dated. As that comment suggests, the interviewees
did not stick strictly to the period and much of the interest can lie
in their prognostications for the future of theatre, as well as their
thoughts on a specific decade.
The Directors section can hardly be described as eclectic, since
the three people chosen to represent their profession were all directors
at the Royal Court at some point in the 1990s. The implication is that
all significant new writing during the period emanated from that theatre.
This is rather unfair to the likes of the Bush, Hampstead and Soho,
as well as the National and RSC, both of which presented new writing
though generally by established playwrights.
Between them, Max Stafford-Clark, Stephen Daldry and Ian Rickson, in
chronological order of directorship but not interview, present a great
overview of the theatre that certainly in the mid-and late-1990s became
the powerhouse of new British writing and in particular, in-yer-face
following the thrilling impact of Sarah Kane and Blasted.
The effect of that play on British theatre cannot be overestimated
and resounds through this book, regularly being compared with another
Royal Court favourite four decades before, John Osborne's Look Back
in Anger.
Five playwrights had been selected to represent their art. Led by Enric
Monforte, the first of them, the multitalented Neil Bartlett begins
a series of reflections running through the book on gay and queer theatre
- the distinction is politically significant if not immediately obvious
to the layman. These then involve another playwright, Mark Ravenhill,
with particular reference to his National Theatre success, Mother
Clap's Molly House; Evening Standard theatre critic and author of
Not in Front of the Audience: Homosexuality on Stage, Nicholas
de Jongh; and English professor Alan Sinfield who has published Out
on Stage, a study of lesbian and gay theatre the 20th century.
Bartlett is succeeded by the ever-interesting Martin Crimp explaining
why he always chooses to explore different areas and styles, rather
than repeating successes; Kevin Elyot given a less gay overview by a
different pair of interviewers; Joe Penhall talking about society's
dispossessed and Ravenhill.
The last-named is another Monforte subject and the pair once again
look closely at gay issues. However, having created the seminal Shopping
and Fucking, Ravenhill is also closer to the explosion that in-yer-face
created than anyone else interviewed, with the possible exception of
Stephen Daldry.
As a fellow critic, it is pleasing to be able to say that the best
and most detached view of British theatre during the 1990s is presented
by the trio of critics. Michael Billington and Aleks Sierz proved to
be superb chroniclers of the in-yer-face phenomenon in numerous
newspaper and magazine articles and the definitive book on the subject.
They also spread their wings more widely, talking about other influences
during the period, such as Caryl Churchill, and setting them in a historical
context, which Billington has also done at greater length in his soon-to-be
published State of the Nation.
Last but not least come the academics, who in addition to Sinfield,
feature Sarah Kane expert Graham Saunders and Dan Rebelato, whose pungent
views on both this period and the 1950s stir strong feelings from other
contributors, particularly Michael Billington who is no fan.
This is a pricey little book that contains much of interest to those
who love theatre in this country, although by asking the same questions
again and again it runs the risk of seeming repetitive.
British Theatre of the 1990s is of particular value because
it documents the Sarah Kane and in-yer-face phenomena from numerous
angles, takes a good look at gay and queer theatre and makes a strong
case for the Royal Court as the leader of what in retrospect and even
at the time seemed like an extremely exciting period for theatre in
Great Britain. The only thing missing is the actor's viewpoint.
Philip Fisher
Articles from 2007
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