1. An A-Z Of British
Culture
Theatre

2. Poetry
New Arrivals
• Philip Larkin, The Less Deceived
(1955), The Whitsun Weddings
(1964), All What Jazz (1970)
• Robert Conquest (ed.), New Lines
(1956)
• Foundation of ‘the Movement’ (Wain,
Amis, Larkin)
‘Pop Poetry’
• The Mersey Poets: Roger McGough,
Adrian Henri, Brian Patten; The
Mersey Sound (1967)
• John Cooper-Clarke
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An A-Z of British Culture

3. Hughes and Heaney
Ted Hughes (1930-1998)
• The Hawk in the Rain (1957)
• 1984: Appointed as Poet Laureate
• Rain Charm for the Duchy (1992)
• Birthday Letters (1995)
Seamus Heaney (b. 1939)
• Death of a Naturalist (1966); Door into the
Dark (1969); Wintering Out (1972); North
(1975); Fieldwork (1979); The Redress of
Poetry (1990); Seeing Things (1991)
• Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in
1995
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An A-Z of British Culture

4. New Developments
Benjamin Zephaniah
• Pen Rhythm (1980), The Dread Affair
(1985), Inna Liverpool (1998), Propaganda
(1996), Too Black, Too Strong (2001)
Linton Kwesi Johnson
• Inglan is a Bitch (1980), Bass Culture
(1980), Making History (1984)
David Dabydeen
• Slave Song (1984), Coolie Odyssey (1988)
Other figures:
Tom Paulin, Paul Durcan, Paul
Muldoon, Derek Malion (N. Ireland)
Andrew Motion, Tony Harrison,
Geoffrey Hill, James Fenton

5. Theatre
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An A-Z of British Culture

6. • ‘The Troubles’
British Theatre • Scottish Theatre
• Introduction • Women’s Theatre
• Institutions • Ethnic Theatre
• Historical Influences • Significant Figures
• Harold Pinter
• 1940s and 1950s • Caryl Churchill
• Social Realism • Tom Stoppard
• Major Influences • Comedy
• Samuel Becket
• Beyond the Fringe
• Bertolt Brecht
• Alan Bennet
• 1960s and 1970s • Alan Ayckbourn
• ‘Shock Tactics’ • Willy Russell
• ‘Alternative’ Theatre • ‘Alternative’ Comedy
• Ethnic Theatre • Pantomime
• 1980s and 1990s • Musicals
• Theatre and Thatcherism • The Future of Theatre
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An A-Z of British Culture

7. Institutions
Glasgow
Citizens’
Theatre Bristol
 Old Vic

Liverpool
Playhouse

Sheffield
Crucible
Theatre 
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An A-Z of British Culture

8. The West End
Theatre Royal Haymarket
National Theatre
Barbican, Stratford 
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An A-Z of British Culture

10. Historical Influences
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)
W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and A. Sullivan
(1842-1900)
HMS Pinafore (1878), The Mikado (1885)
Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906)
Hedda Gabler (1890)
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
Man and Superman (1903), Pygmalion (1913)
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An A-Z of British Culture

11. 1940s and 1950s: Social Realism
• John Osborne, Look Back
in Anger, 1956
• Brendan Behan, The Quare
Fellow, 1956
• Shelagh Delaney, A Taste
of Honey, 1958
• John Arden, Serjeant
Musgrave’s Dance, 1959
• Arnold Wesker, The
Kitchen, 1959
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An A-Z of British Culture

12. Samuel Beckett (1906-1989)
• Waiting for Godot, 1955
• Endgame, 1958
• Krapp’s Last Tape, 1958
• Happy Days, 1961
• Not I, 1973
• Winner of the Nobel
Prize for Literature, 1969
• Major influence on
Pinter, Ionesco, Genet
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An A-Z of British Culture

13. Bertolt Brecht (1895-1956)
• Mother Courage and Her Children,
1939/1941
• The Good Person of Sezuan, 1940
• The Caucasian Chalk Circle, 1945
Works influenced by Brecht:-
• Brendan Behan, The Hostage, 1958
• Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons,
1960
• Joan Littlewood, Oh What a Lovely
War! 1963
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An A-Z of British Culture

14. 1960s and 1970s: ‘Shock Tactics’
• Ann Jellicoe, The Knack,
1962
• Edward Bond, Saved, 1965
• Joe Orton, Loot, 1966; What
the Butler Saw, 1969
• Peter Shaffer, Equus, 1973
• David Hare, Slag, 1970;
Fanshen, 1975; Licking Hitler,
1978
• Howard Brenton,
Magnificence, 1973; Romans
in Britain, 1980
• David Edgar, The Jail Diary of
Albie Sachs, 1978

15. ‘Alternative’ Theatre
• Hull Truck, Red Ladder, Café La Mama
• Founding of Women’s Theatre Group,
1974: My Mother Says I Never Should
• Red Ladder, Strike While the Iron is Hot,
1974
• Founding of Monstrous Regiment, 1975
• Pam Gems, Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi,
1976; Piaf, 1978
• Founding of Gay Sweatshop, 1975 –
Robert Patrick, One Person, The Haunted
Host; Alan Wakeman, Ships; Roger
Baker and Drew Griffiths, Mister X
• Laurence Collinson, Thinking Straight,
1976
• Jill Posener, Any Woman Can, 1976
• Michelene Wandor, Care and Control,
1977
• Martin Sherman, Bent, 1978

16. Ethnic Theatre
• Athol Fugard, Sizwe Bansi is
Dead, 1972; The Island, 1974
• Michael Abbensetts, Sweet Talk,
1973; Alterations, 1978
• For Television: The Museum
Attendant, 1973; Inner City Blues,
1975; Crime and Passion, 1976;
Black Christmas, 1977; Empire
Road, 1978-9
• For Radio: Home Again, 1975;
The Sunny Side of the Street,
1977; Brothers of the Sword, 1978
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An A-Z of British Culture

17. 1980s and 90s: Theatre and Thatcherism
• David Hare, Plenty, 1978; A Map of
the World, 1983; Secret Rapture,
1988; Racing Demon, 1990;
Murmuring Judges, 1991; Absence of
War, 1993
• Howard Barker, Victory, 1983
• David Hare and Howard Brenton,
Pravda, 1985
• David Edgar, Maydays, 1983
• Howard Brenton, The Genius, 1983
• Louise Page, Falkland Sound, 1983
• Howard Brenton and Tariq Ali, Iranian
Nights, 1989
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An A-Z of British Culture

18. ‘The Troubles’
Brian Friel
• Freedom of the City, 1973
• Translations, 1980
• Making History, 1988
• Dancing at Lughnasa,
1990
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An A-Z of British Culture

19. Scottish Theatre
• John McGrath, Blood Red
Roses, 1986 (TV); There is a
Happy Land, 1987; Border
Warfare, 1989; John Brown’s
Body, 1990
• Liz Lochhead, Blood and Ice,
1982; Mary Queen of Sots Got
Her Head Chopped Off, 1987;
Jock Tamson’s Bairns, 1990
• Bill Bryden, The Ship, 1990
• 1990: Glasgow European City
of Culture
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An A-Z of British Culture

20. Women’s Theatre
• Sarah Daniels, Ripen Our Darkness, 1981;
Masterpieces, 1984; The Madness of Esme
and Shaz, 1994
• Timberlake Wertenbaker, New Anatomies,
1981; The Grace of Mary Traverse, 1985;
Our Country’s Good, 1988; The Love of the
Nightingale, 1989
• Pam Gems, Camille, 1984; Stanley,
Marlene, 1996
• Deborah Levy, Pax, 1985; Heresies: Eva
and Moses, 1986; The B-File, 1992; Shiny
Nylon, 1994
• Clare McIntyre, I’ve Been Waiting, 1986
• Sarah Kane, Blasted, 1995; Cleansed, 1998
Dewhurst: WS 2004/05
An A-Z of British Culture

21. Ethnic Theatre
• Hanif Kureishi, Outskirts, Borderline, 1981;
Birds of Passage, 1983; Sleep with Me, 1999
• Farrukh Dhondy, The Bride, Romance,
Romance, 1985
• Derek Walcott, Beef, No Chicken, 1985; The
Odyssey, 1993
• Killian Gideon, England is de Place for Me,
1985
• Caryl Philipps, Strange Fruit, 1981; Where
There Is Darkness, 1982; The Shelter, 1984;
The Wasted Years, 1985
• Winsome Pinnock, A Hero‘s Welcome, 1989;
Rock in Water, 1989, Mules, 1996
• Trish Cooke, Back Street Mammy, 1991;
Running Dream, 1992
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An A-Z of British Culture

22. Major Figures: Harold Pinter (b. 1930)
• The Birthday Party, 1958
• The Homecoming, 1965
• Old Times, 1971
• No Man’s Land, 1975
• Mountain Language,
1988
• New Word Order, 1991
Dewhurst: WS 2004/05
An A-Z of British Culture

23. Caryl Churchill (b. 1938)
• Vinegar Tom, Light
Shining in
Buckinghamshire, 1978
• Cloud Nine, 1979
• Top Girls, 1982
• Serious Money, 1987
• Mad Forest, 1990
• The Striker, 1994
• A Number, 2002
Dewhurst: WS 2004/05
An A-Z of British Culture

24. Tom Stoppard
• Rosenkranz and Guildenstern Are
Dead, 1967
• The Real Inspector Hound, 1968
• Jumpers, 1972
• Travesties, 1974
• Dirty Linen, 1977
• Night and Day, 1978
• The Real Thing, 1982
• Squaring the Circle, Professional
Foul, 1984
• Arcadia, 1993
• Indian Ink, 1995
Dewhurst: WS 2004/05
An A-Z of British Culture

25. Comedy
1960: Beyond
the Fringe
appears at
Edinburgh
Festival
1961: Transfer
of show to
London
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An A-Z of British Culture

26. Alan Bennett (b. 1934)
• Habeus Corpus, 1973
• Enjoy, 1980
• Talking Heads, 1988
Screenplays:
• An Englishman Abroad,
1983; Talking Heads,
1998; The Madness of
George III, 1992
Dewhurst: WS 2004/05
An A-Z of British Culture

27. Alan Ayckbourn (b. 1939)
• Relatively Speaking, 1967
• Absurd Person Singular, 1972
• Joking Apart, 1978
• It Could Be One of Us, 1983
• A Chorus of Disapproval, 1984
• Woman In Mind, 1985
• A Small Family Business,
1987
• Man of the Moment, 1988
• House and Garden, 1999
• Snake in the Grass, 2002
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An A-Z of British Culture

28. Michael Frayn (b. 1933)
• Alphabetical Order, 1975
• Clouds, 1976
• Donkey’s Years, 1977
• Make or Break, 1980
• Noises Off, 1972
• Look Look, 1990
• Copenhagen, 1998
Dewhurst: WS 2004/05
An A-Z of British Culture

29. Willy Russell (b. 1947)
• When the Reds, 1973
• John Paul George
Ringo… and Bert, 1975
• Our Day Out, 1976
• Stags and Hens, 1978
• Educating Rita, 1979
• Shirley Valentine, 1986
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An A-Z of British Culture

30. ‘Alternative’ Comedy
• The Comedy
Store (Soho)
• The Comic Strip:
Alexei Sayle, Rik
Mayall, Robbie
Coltrane, Ben Elton,
Dawn French,
Jennifer Saunders
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An A-Z of British Culture

31. Pantomime
• Originated in 18th
century with John
Weaver, dance master at
Drury Lane Theatre
• Use of gesture, singing,
dancing, standard
routines and jokes
• ‘Dame’ played by man;
hero played by young
woman
Dewhurst: WS 2004/05
An A-Z of British Culture

32. Musicals
• 1968: Hair opens in London (Galt McDermot,
Gerome Ragni, James Rado)
• 1968: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour
Dreamcoat, 1968
• 1969: Oh! Calcutta! (Kenneth Tynan)
• 1971: Godspell, (Steven Schwarz)
• 1971: Jesus Christ Superstar (Tim Rice,
Andrew Lloyd-Webber)
• 1978: Evita (Rice, Lloyd-Webber)
• 1982: Guys and Dolls (Richard Eyre)
• 1985: Les Miserables (RSC Production)
• 1989, Blood Brothers (Willy Russell)
• Andrew Lloyd-Webber: Cats (1981), Starlight
Express (1984); Phantom of the Opera (1986)
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An A-Z of British Culture

33. Next Week
TV and Radio
Dewhurst: WS 2004/05
An A-Z of British Culture