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Cool Britannia? ‘In-Yer-Face’ Writing in the British Theatre Today

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2009

Aleks Sierz
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Abstract

The appearance of a succession of controversial and attention-catching new plays on the British stage in the 'nineties has led to considerable public discussion – and not a little ostensible outrage. In ‘an interim report’, Aleks Sierz examines the rash of plays about sex, drugs, and violence – notably Trainspotting, Blasted, Mojo, and Shopping and Fucking – by twenty-something authors, and asks whether they have anything in common beyond a flamboyant theatricality and the desire to shock. After showing how Cool Britannia's manifestation on the national stage has provoked arguments for and against this ‘in-yer-face’ drama, he outlines some of the common themes – such as the crisis of masculinity and the postmodern sensibility – that characterize much contemporary new writing. He argues that while these young writers are certainly gifted and mature, only subsequent theatrical revivals of their work will show whether it has anything lasting to say. Aleks Sierz is theatre critic for Tribune, and currently writing a book about ‘in-yer-face’ drama.

Type
Research Article
Information
New Theatre Quarterly , Volume 14 , Issue 56 , November 1998 , pp. 324 - 333
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

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References

Notes and References

1. See the cover article, ‘Why London Rules’, Newsweek, 4 November 1996; Sunday Times, 5 April 1998.

2. Cleverly, Jess, fund-raising letter, Royal Court, 12 1997Google Scholar; Hemming, Sarah, The Independent, 18 02 1998, p. 14Google Scholar.

3. Billington, Michael, One Night Stands: a Critic's View of Modern British Theatre (London: Nick Hern, 1993), p. 360Google Scholar.

4. The Guardian, 13 March 1996; The Times, 1 May 1996; The Times, 14 May 1997. See also Nightingale, Benedict, The Future of Theatre (London: Phoenix, 1998), p. 17–22Google Scholar.

5. See anthologies such as Coming on Strong: New Writing from the Royal Court Theatre, including Peaches and Essex Girls (London: Faber, 1995), and Bush Theatre Plays (London: Faber, 1996). It is, however, significant that the Bush anthology features plays by women, most of which fall neither into the ‘urban ennui’ nor ‘lads’ play' categories.

6. Shank, Theodore, ed., Contemporary British Theatre (London: Macmillan, 1994), p. 18CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7. Herbert, Ian, ‘Prompt Corner’, Theatre Record, XIV, No. 1 (01 1994), p. 3Google Scholar; The Guardian, 23 April 1994.

8. See Thornton, Michael, ‘A Shop Window for Outrage’, Punch, 21–27 09 1996Google Scholar; Dromgoole, in Bradwell, Mike, ed., The Bush Theatre Book (London: Methuen, 1997), p. 70–5Google Scholar.

9. Personal interview with Aleks Sierz, March 1997; Sierz, Aleks, ‘The Write Stuff’, The Independent, 9 04 1997Google Scholar; Coveney, Michael, ‘Play Fighting’, The Observer, 20 04 1997Google Scholar; Edgar, David, ‘Eighth Birmingham Theatre Conference Paper’, in Studies in Theatre Production, No. 15 (06 1997), p. 80–1Google Scholar; Sierz, Aleks, ‘“About Now” in Birmingham’, New Theatre Quarterly, No. 51 (08 1997), p. 289–90Google Scholar; Edgar, David, ‘Plays for Today’, Sunday Times, 7 09 1997Google Scholar.

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11. Ibid.

12. Warchus, , quoted in Time Out, 15–22 04 1998, p. 137Google Scholar; Herbert, Ian, ‘Prompt Corner’, Theatre Record, XVIII, No. 6 (03 1994), p. 317Google Scholar.

13. Published as Welsh, Irvine, Trainspotting and Headstate (London: Minerva, 1996)Google Scholar; Kane, Sarah, Blasted and Phaedra's Love (London: Methuen, 1996)Google Scholar; Butterworth, Jez, Mojo (London; Nick Hern, second ed., 1996)Google Scholar; Ravenhill, Mark, Shopping and Fucking (London: Methuen, second ed., 1997)Google Scholar.

14. Theatreland, London Weekend Television, 8–9 March 1998. Books such as Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch and High Fidelity, or films such as Brassed Off and The Full Monty, indicate that the theme of masculinity in crisis is central to the wider culture.

15. See Macdonald, James in Royal Court Newsletter (03–06 1998), p. 2Google Scholar; Miller, Carl, ‘Shocking and Fussing’, http://www.royal-court.org.uk (07 1997)Google Scholar; ‘Do New Writers Have Hearts?’ New Sceptics, Session 1, Theatre Museum, 15 October 1996.

16. Ansorge, op cit., p. 60–1. See Lyotard, Jean-François, The Postmodern Condition: a Report on Knowledge (Manchester University Press, 1984)Google Scholar.

17. , Kane, quoted in Time Out, 25 03–1 04 1998, p. 27Google Scholar.

18. Herbert, Ian, ‘Prompt Corner’, Theatre Record, XV, No. 15 (07 1995), p. 945Google Scholar.