History of british theatre
РЕФЕРАТ
Курсовая работа: 35 страниц, 5 приложений, 20
источников
Key words: theatre,
drama, playhouse, comedy, dramatists, West End
Object: theatre
world of Great Britain
Subject: British
theatre activity throughout the centuries
Methods of research: study
and analysis of literature on the questions of British theatre history; study
of web-resources with the object of learning about the contemporary state of
theatres in UK
Purpose:
to study the main aspects of the
stages of development of the theatre, understand its role and direction in the
modern society of the United Kingdom
Objectives:
to study the major steps in the
growth of British drama influence; to describe main aspects of its work; to
find out the role it plays nowadays, its cultural and social meaning in the
life of the country
Results:
the history of the British theatre and its development have been described;
main directions of its activity have been discovered; the state of drama
nowadays has been revealed
Recommendations: the
results of the research can be used in “British Studies”
CONTENTS
Introduction
1.
HISTORY OF BRITISH THEATRE
1.1 Early
British theatres
.2 Elizabethan
theatre
.3
British theatre of the 19th century
.4
Modern British theatre
.
FAMOUS PEOPLE OF THE BRITISH THEATRE THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES
Bibliography
INTRODUCTION
During the
Interregnum 1649-1660, English theatres were kept closed by the Puritans
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At the same
time, commercial theatre advanced full force, manifesting itself in the development
of vastly popular forms of drama such as major musicals beginning with
Ziegfield's Follies and developing into full-blown musical plays such as
“Oklahoma!”, “Porgy and Bess”, and “Showboat”. Ever greater technological
advances permitted spectacular shows such as “The Phantom of the Opera” and
“Miss Saigon” to offer competition to another new innovation: film. Ultimately,
the cost of producing major shows such as these, combined with the organization
of actors and technical persons in theatre, have limited what a theatre can do
in competing with Hollywood.
Serious drama also advanced in the
works of Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953) in his trilogy “Mourning Becomes Electra”
and in “The Iceman Cometh”; Arthur Miller (1915- ), in “The Crucible” and
“Death of a Salesman”; and Tennessee Williams (1911-1983), whose “Glass
Menagerie”, produced immediately after World War II, arguably changed the
manner in which tragic drama is presented. Serious drama was accompanied by
serious acting in the form of the Actor's Studio, founded in 1947 by Elia Kazan
and others, later including Lee Strasberg. The art of writing comedy was
brought to a level of near-perfection (and commercial success) by Neil Simon
(1927- ), whose plays such as “Rumors”, “The Odd Couple”, and “The Prisoner of
Second Avenue”, are among the favorites for production by community theatres
<http://www.tctwebstage.com/comunity.htm> [12, pp. 10-11]'s theatrical
strength continued in the second half of the twentieth century with the talent
of its many important playwrights. John Osborne, Peter Shaffer, Edward Bond,
Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, David Storey, and David Hare are some of the
writers who have helped make Britain a center of theatrical creativity.
British
post-war theatre. English drama experienced many of
its most emphatic innovations in the late 1950's. By the end of the decade the
first plays of John Arden, Harold Pinter and Peter Shafter were establishing a
marked tone for the development of English drama.
In 1956, the Royal Court Theatre was
taken over by the newly formed English Stage Company, under the artistic
directorship of George Devine. Initially formed to promote new and experimental
drama, the company soon established itself as the determinant of English
dramatic developments. The Court's production of John Osborne's "Look Back
in Anger"(1956) has been held generally to mark a watershed in postwar
British theatre. Jimmy Porter, Osborne's working-class antihero, expresses a social
rage and disillusionment that immediately identified the spirit of the
"Angry Young Men". The phrase was originally coined by the Royal
Court Theatre's press officer to promote John Osborne's scandalous play and It
was destined to define a group of mostly working and middle class British
playwrights and novelists who became prominent in the 1950s. Their political
views were usually seen as identifying with the left, sometimes anarchistic,
and they described social alienation of different kinds. They also often expressed
their critical views on society as a whole, criticizing certain behaviors or
groups in various ways [19, p. 87-88].enshrined in theatre history for causing
a watershed in British theatre with "Look Back in Anger"(1956), John
Osborne was to make history again as the author of a "Patriot for
Me"(1965) at the Royal Court. The play's depiction of a homosexual sex
scene and a transvestites' ball aroused the authorities' ire as expected. To
avoid any restrictions, the director of the playhouse, George Devine turned a
Court into a club theatre and the performance went ahead. This was a turning
point in a battle against censorship
The 1970's. The
end of censorship gave playwrights and directors a new freedom [2, p.89]. Sex,
swearing and less-than-flattering representations of the monarchy, the
government and their political allies became the order of the day as a new
generation of middle- and working-class writers and actors tried to express the
contemporary living experience. Women were given a significant and sustained
voice on the stage for the first time since the Restoration, exploring the
boundaries of gender and sexuality in "Cloud Nine"(1979)the late
1970's and the following two decades British theatre became far more inclusive.
Female dramatists took a prominent role in theatre, and a great number of
regional, multiethnic, and lesbian and gay theatre groups were established. New
forms of cultural creativity gave voice to formerly silent sections of society.
However in the late 1980's such groups resulted in funding cuts. It happened
because of acceptance of Margaret Thatcher's government's legislated Clause 78,
which limited discussion of homosexuality in the arts and education
Black theatre. The
term “Black theatre” is used to a dramatic movement encompassing plays written
by, for, and about ethnic minorities. New black theatre companies of the 1970's
and 1980's included Carib, Temba, and the Black Theatre Co-operative. Temba
presented new plays such as "Back Street Mommy"(1989) by Trish Cooke,
portraying adolescent pregnancy, and "The Pirate Princess"(1981) by
Barbara Gloudon, with Jamaican pantomime [20, p. 24]. There was directed a
number of successful productions. Black theatre in Britain began to achieve
recognition in the mid-1980's with the establishment of the Talawa Theatre,
founded in 1985 by Yvonne Brewster, Mona Hammond and Carmen Munroe. The most
notable and successful contemporary plays suggest the future direction of
British theatre in the new millennium. Contemporary fine plays represent a
progressive spirit of inclusion and cultural and historical reconciliation that
moves past trends forward and gives hope for the continued development of
British theatre.
British
theatre today. There are several thousands of
amateur dramatic societies in Britain (some 200 amateur youth theatres among
them). Most Universities have active amateur drama clubs and societies. People
throughout Great Britain participate in amateur theatre as performers, crew or
audience members and many children first experience live theatre during local
amateur performances of the annual Christmas pantomime. Amateur theatre can
sometimes be a springboard for the development of new performing talent
The centre of theatrical activity in
Britain is London. There are some 48 principal theatres in or near the West End
and some 8 in the suburbs. Most of the theatres are let to producing
managements on a commercial basis but some are occupied by important subsided
companies, including the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Companies. The
former stages classical and modem plays from all countries; the latter presents
Shakespearean plays in Stratford-upon-Avon and a mixed repertoire in London.
Many non-repertoire theatres outside London present all kinds of drama and many
also put on variety shows and other entertainment.
London's vibrant West End
theatre scene. London's legendary
West End Theatre scene, the finest in the world. With numerous celebrities
making their way across the ocean to embrace London's theatre crowd and to
complement their acting profiles. Though New York's Broadway may have all the
flamboyant decorations, the West End theatre scene has become increasingly
vibrant in the past years. With shows such as; 'The Jerry Springer Musical',
'Daddy Cool' and 'Billy Elliot' just to mention a few. All drawing in hordes of
theatre goers from all over the world, and attracting the non-theatre crowds in
addition [9, pp. 47-48].the West End has something for everyone; no longer is
it associated with the aristocratic upper class, but a sanctuary for all types
of people seeking no more than a thrilling production and electrifying
performances by the old and new actors of today. Even more than New York,
London is the theatre capital of the world. The number and array of
productions, the standards of acting and world renowned directors have gone
unrivalled in the world. London's West End theatre scene plays host to both the
traditional and the avant-garde. Importantly London's Theatre scene is accessible
and very reasonably priced. The West End has just welcomed the new Globe
Theatre, which has become another exciting addition to the already amazing
theatre district. The world's longest running production is 'The
Mousetrap' by Agatha Christie, the play has been running for 54 years and is
still going strong drawing in crowds from afar. Some of the West End's most
famous productions are 'Les Miserables', 'The Phantom of the Opera', 'Blood
Brothers', 'The Woman In Black', 'Chicago', 'The Lion King' and 'Stomp'.
The term West End theatre is a
popular expression for mainstream professional theatre in London. It is
considered to correspond to the highest level of commercial theatre in the
English speaking world. Catching a West End production is a very prevalent
tourist activity in London, which surpassed 12 million visitors in 2002 and
since has increased every year.
2.
FAMOUS PEOPLE OF THE BRITISH THEATRE THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES
Christopher
Marlowe (1564 - 1593). Born the
same year as Shakespeare <http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc12.htm>,
Christopher Marlowe was to become the first great poet. His life, much like the
lives of his characters, would be short and violent.
The son of a
shoemaker, Marlowe attended King's School, Canterbury and Corpus Christi
College where he received his Bachelor of Arts in 1584 and his Masters degree
three years later. According to university records, Marlowe disappeared
frequently during his last years at school, exceeding the number of absences
permitted him by statute and putting his degree in jeopardy. Apparently, much
of this time was spent in Rheims among the Catholics who were plotting against
Queen Elizabeth's protestant regime. Because of his absences and the fact that
he refused to take holy orders, the university refused, for a time, to confer
his degree, but the authorities intervened, and the degree was eventually
granted.
Although we
cannot be certain, Marlowe may have fought in the wars in the Low Country after
graduation. What we can be certain of is that he settled in London in 1587 and
began his career as a playwright--although he may still have been in the employ
of the secret service as well. The young poet plunged himself into a social
circle that included such colorful literary figures as Sir Phillip Sidney and
Sir Walter Raleigh. He shared a room with fellow playwright Thomas Kyd
<http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc25.html> and was often seen
frequenting the taverns of London with the likes of Robert Greene and Thomas
Nashe. His magnificent appearance, impulsiveness, and bejeweled costumes soon
became the talk of the town.by this new-found intellectual stimulation, Marlowe
soon wrote “Tamburlaine”, the first notable English play in blank verse.
Elizabethan drama had reached the foothills and was beginning its final ascent
when Marlowe came onto the scene. All that was needed was a bold leap such as
no one had yet dared or been able to make--and Marlowe was determined to make
that leap. He had the advantage of having his plays presented by the Lord
Admiral's company. While his contemporaries were watching their work performed
by church boys, Marlowe saw his dramas staged by full-chested men such as the
seven-foot-tall, majestic Edward Alleyn. No playwright had hitherto invoked the
world, the flesh, and the devil so magnificently in plays such as “Dr.
Faustus”, “The Jew of Malta”, and “Edward II”. The young poet, however, had
neither wealth nor position, and the disparity between his dreams and the
reality of his situation began to weigh upon him. He grew more and more
restless and irritable until even his friends began to lose patience with
him.1593, after pointing out what he considered to be inconsistencies in the
Bible, Marlowe fell under suspicion of heresy. His roommate, Thomas Kyd
<http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc25.html>, was tortured into
giving evidence against him, but before he could be brought before the Privy
Council, the twenty-nine-year-old poet was found dead at Dame Eleanore Bull's
tavern in Deptford. On May 30, 1593, he had gone to the tavern to have dinner
with some friends. According to witnesses, there was a quarrel over the bill
and Marlowe drew his dagger on another man who, defending himself, drove the
dagger back into the young poet's eye, mortally wounding him. There is reason
to believe, however, that Marlowe may have been deliberately provoked and
murdered in order to prevent his arrest. Had he been brought before the Privy
Council, he might have implicated men of importance such as Raleigh.Marlowe's
contribution to the drama, however, was complete. He had returned high poetry
to its rightful place on the stage and left us characters as fiery and
passionate as their creator, preparing the way for a poet even greater than
himself--William Shakespeare <http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc12.htm>.
William
Shakespeare (1564 - 1616). William
Shakespeare [Appendix B] was born in April of 1564. There is no specific date
of birth because at that time the only date of importance was the date of
baptism, though infants often were baptized when they were three days old.
Shakespeare's baptismal date was April 26, 1564. was born in the village of
Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. At the time of his birth, the village had
a population of 1500 people, and only 200 houses. Shakespeare's father, John
Shakespeare, came from a family of yeomen, and he gained many prestigious
positions in the community. Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, came from an
ancient family of landed gentry. The whole family was Anglican. The family's financial
situation was well off. Not much information is known about Shakespeare's
youth, although undoubtedly he was educated in the local school, where he
studied Latin and Greek, among other subjects, during a school day that often
lasted from dawn to dusk. Shakespeare's first exposure to the theatre probably
occurred when he was young. As a child his father probably took him to see
plays when traveling troupes of actors came to town, although that was not
often [5, pp. 27-35].
Shakespeare was married to Anne
Hathaway in 1582, when he was 18; she was 26, eight years his senior. The exact
wedding date is uncertain, but the marriage certificate was issued on November
27,1582. Anne was the daughter of a respected yeoman farmer. William and Anne
had their first child, Susanna, in May of 1583. This was followed by the birth
of twins, Hamnet and Judith, in January of 1585. Most historians believe that
Shakespeare was not often around his family in Stratford after that because
historical records show him in London during the following years [17, pp.
54-72].first written reference to Shakespeare's existence in London occurred in
1592, when Shakespeare was in his late twenties. He seems to have been fairly
well established in the theatre by that point, since the reference, written by
another playwright, hints of jealousy at Shakespeare's success. With his two
patrons, the Earls of South Hampton and Pembrooke, Shakespeare rose quickly in
the theatre as both an actor and an author. He joined the Lord Chamberlin's Men,
an acting company which was protected by the Queen, becoming a shareholder and
senior member in 1595. Because of his success in London, he was able to
purchase New Place, the largest and most elegant house in his home town of
Stratford, when he was in his early thirties (1597). In addition to his
popularity as both an actor and playwright, Shakespeare became joint owner of
the famous Globe theatre when it opened in 1599. His share of the company's
management added heavily to his wealth. Shakespeare's financial success in the
London theatre enabled him to retire and return to his home in Stratford around
1610. He lived there comfortably until his death on April 23, 1616 (it is
popularly believed that he died on his birthday). He is buried in Holy Trinity
Church in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Aphra Behn (1640-1689). Aphra
Behn was an English dramatist, poetess, and novel writer, highly popular in the
reign of Charles II, when nothing could exceed the licentiousness of the public
stage, but the licentiousness of private manners.
She was born in the reign of Charles
I., but the year is not known, and, as is stated, of a good family in
Canterbury, of the name Johnson. While she was yet very young, her father was
appointed governor of Surinam, but he died on the voyage out, leaving behind
him a large family who were with him on the way to the West Indies. They
proceeded on their expedition, and resided at Surinam for some years, where
Aphra Johnson became intimately acquainted with prince Oroonoko, whose history
she afterwards molded into the novel that Southern used in writing his tragedy
of that name. In Surinam she lost several other relations, and returned to
London, where her beauty and abilities procured her a husband in Mr. Behn, an
English merchant of a Dutch family. Not long afterwards (her husband, probably,
having died in the interval) it is asserted that she was employed by the court
of England, at the instance, it would seem, of Charles II himself, to proceed
to the Low Countries, in order to procure and transmit information as to the
designs of the Dutch. She went to Antwerp, and there formed, or renewed, an
acquaintance with a person of influence and information, named Vander Albert,
who let her into the secret of the intention of the Dutch, under de Witt and de
Ruyter, to sail up the Thames and burn the English ships at Chatham. This is
broadly stated in the Memoirs of Mrs. Behn, but it seems very doubtful, as
unquestionably the intelligence that she is reported to have sent over was not
credited in London. It looks like an endeavor to give importance to Mrs. Behn's
character after the attempt had been made by the Dutch, and to cast an
imputation upon the English government for not availing itself of her
information.
She
continued to reside for some time in Antwerp, and is said to have entered all
the gaieties and gallantries of the city. Why she returned to England does not
appear; but sailing from Dunkirk she was wrecked on our coast, and was only
saved by boats from the shore. At this period she could not have been much more
than twenty-three or twenty-four years old, and it seems probable that during
the rest of her life she was mainly indebted to her pen for support. That she
was a woman of beauty and gallantry cannot be doubted; and it is asserted, with
some appearance of truth, that she devoted herself much to the pleasures of the
town. Two of her plays were printed in 1671, “The Amorous Prince” and “The
Forced Marriage”; and between that year and 1687, she produced no fewer
than thirteen other comedies or tragi-comedies, and one tragedy, entitled
“Abdelazar”, which made its appearance in 1677. It is founded upon the old
play, long falsely attributed to Marlowe
<http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc24.html>, called “Lust's
Dominion”. Two of her dramas, “The Widow Ranter”, and “The Younger Brother”,
were posthumous; the first having been brought out at the Theatre Royal in
1690, and the second at Drury-lane Theatre in 1696. There is no one of her
plays totally devoid of merit, although it is evident that she sometimes wrote
under the pressure of necessity. Their indecency she seeks to excuse in the
preface to her “Lucky Chance”, 1687, which says that she offended in
this respect no more than her neighbors, and that her productions ought not to
be examined with greater severity. She had, however, probably better talents
than many of these worthless neighbors, and was, besides, a woman.
George
Bernard Shaw (1856-1950). The first published work of
the noted satirist and playwright, George Bernard Shaw [see Appendix C], was
inspired by the American "revival" team, Moody and Sankey. Young Shaw
attended one of their revival services in Dublin, and on his return home was
moved to write a letter to “Public Opinion” in which he remarked that "if
this sort of thing is religion, then I am an atheist."
Shaw was the son of a financially
impractical father and a remarkable mother whose musical talent not only helped
out the family income but provided young George with an excellent musical
background. In his regular schooling which ended when he was fifteen, Shaw was
generally near the bottom of the class [15, pp. 38-46]. When Shaw was fifteen,
a friend secured him a position in the office of a Dublin land agent where he
endured the drudgery of routine and figures for five years. At twenty he
followed his mother to London where she had set up as a music teacher and
joined the ranks of unpublished novelists with
five novels that nobody would buy. During the first nine years of his London
sojourn, Shaw's literary efforts brought him something like £30 and an
ardent interest in the socialistic theories that fill
most of his subsequent plays [7, pp. 90-105].was first acted on the stage of
the Royalty Theatre, London, in 1892, but created not even a little ripple. He
continued his efforts with “Widower's Houses” and “Mrs. Warren's Profession”
which latter play was refused London production by the censor. His first
success came when, on September 17, 1894, “Arms and the Man”, a strictly
realistic comedy was presented by Richard Mansfield at the Herald Square
Theatre, New York. From that point on, Shaw's rise to popularity, both on the
American and world stages, was steady and swift. He was not, however,
conclusively accepted in the English theatre until 1904.
“Candida”
written in 1894 won a decisive success on the German stage with Frau Edith
Sorma. London would have none of it, and in America Richard Mansfield lacked
the courage to produce it even after he had gone so far as to put it into
rehearsal. It was left for Arnold Daly to make theatrical history with his
production of “Candida” in the season of 1903-4, thus marking the real
beginning of the Shaw vogue. “Man and Superman
<http://www.theatredatabase.com/20th_century/george_bernard_shaw_002.html>”
was the success of the season of 1904-5 both in London and New York. Shaw's
other important plays include “Caesar and Cleopatra” (1899), “Major Barbara”
(1905), “Pygmalion” (1914), “Heartbreak House” (1920), and “Saint Joan” (1923).
John Osborne
(1929-1941). Born on December 12, 1929, in
London, John Osborne [see Appendix D] would eventually change the face of
British theatre. His father, an advertising copywriter, died in 1941, leaving
Osborne an insurance settlement which he used to finance a boarding school
education at Belmont College in Devon. Still heartbroken, however, over his
father's death, Osborne could not focus on his studies and left after striking
the headmaster.returned to London and lived briefly with his mother, a barmaid.
He became involved in the theatre when he took a job tutoring a touring company
of young actors. Osborne went on to serve as actor-manager for a string of
repertory companies and soon decided to try his hand at playwriting. When
George Devine placed a notice in “The Stage” in 1956, Osborne decided to submit
one of his plays, “Look Back in Anger”. Not only was his play produced, but it
is considered by many critics to be the turning point in postwar British
theatre. Osborne's protagonist, Jimmy Porter, captured the angry and rebellious
nature of the postwar generation, a dispossessed lot who were clearly unhappy
with things as they were in the decades following World War II. Jimmy Porter
came to represent an entire generation of "angry young men" [10, pp.
389-395].his next play, “The Entertainer” (1957), Osborne continued to examine
the state of the country, this time using three generations of a family of
entertainers to symbolize the decline of England after the war. Laurence
Olivier played Archie Rice, a struggling comedian, and the role resulted in one
of his most famous performances. An experimental piece, “The Entertainer”
alternated realistic scenes with Vaudeville performances, and most critics
agreed that it was an appropriate follow-up to the wild success of “Look Back
in Anger”. After this, however, the quality of Osborne's output became erratic.
Although he produced a number of hits including “Luthor” (1961), a play about
the leader of the Reformation, and “Inadmissible Evidence” (1965), the study of
a frustrated solicitor at a law firm, he also produced a string of unimportant
works. Critics began to accuse him of not fulfilling his early potential, and
audiences no longer seemed effected by Osborne's rage. Recognizing this,
Osborne described himself in his last play as "a churling, grating note, a
spokesman for no one but myself, with deadening effect, cruelly abusive, unable
to be coherent about my despair."died as a result of complications from
Diabetes on December 24, 1994, in Shropshire, England. He left behind a large
body of works for the stage as well as several autobiographical works. Several
of his plays were also adapted for film including “Look Back in Anger” and “The
Entertainer”. In 1963, Osborne won an Academy Award for his screenplay for “Tom
Jones”.
Tom Stoppard
(Born 1937. )Tom Stoppard [see Appendix E] was
born "Tom Straussler" in Zlin, Czechoslovakia on July 3, 1937. His
family moved to Singapore in 1939 to escape the Nazis. Then, shortly before the
Japanese invasion of Singapore in 1941, young Tom fled to Darjeeling, India
with his mother and brother. His father, however, Eugene Straussler, remained
behind and was killed during the invasion. In 1946, the family emigrated to
England after Tom's mother married Kenneth Stoppard, a major in the British
army.the age of 17, after just his second year of high school, Stoppard left
school and began working as a journalist for the “Western Daily Press”
(1954-58) and the Bristol Evening World (1958-60). He began to show a talent
for dramatic criticism and served for a time as freelance drama critic for
“Scene” (1962-3), a British literary magazine, writing both under his own name
and the pseudonym William Boot. He also started writing plays for radio and
television and soon managed to secure himself a literary agent.'s first
television play, “A Walk on the Water” (1963) would later be adapted for the
stage as “Enter a Free Man” (1968). Over the next few years, he wrote various
works for radio, television and the theatre including “"M" is for
Moon Among Other Things” (1964), “A Separate Peace” (1966), and “If You're Glad
I'll Be Frank” (1966). He also wrote 70 episodes of “A Student's Diary: An Arab
in London” for the BBC World Service.first major success came with “Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern are Dead” (1966) which catapulted him into the front ranks of
modern playwrights overnight when it opened in London in 1967. The play, which
chronicles the tale of “Hamlet” as told from the worm's-eye view of the
bewildered Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters in Shakespeare's
play, was immediately hailed as a modern dramatic masterpiece. Over the next
ten years, Stoppard wrote a number of successful plays, the most popular of
which include “Jumpers” (1972) and “Travesties” (1974). He also translated a
number of plays including those of Mrozek, Nestroy, Schnitzler and Havel, and
was heavily influenced by the work of the Polish and Czech absurdists. Then, in
1977, after visiting Russia with a member of Amnesty International, Stoppard
became concerned with a number of human rights issues which have manifested
themselves in his work. “Every Good Boy Deserves Favour”
(1977) was actually written at the request of André Previn and was
inspired by a meeting with Russian exile Viktor Fainberg. And “Professional
Foul” (1977), a television play, was Stoppard's contribution to Amnesty
International's declaration of 1977 as Prisoner of Conscience Year. Other works
such as “Dogg's Hamlet”,” Cahoot's Macbeth” (1979) and “Squaring the Circle”
(1984) are direct attacks on the oppressive old regimes of Eastern Europe. Not
all of Stoppard's plays, however, are political. One of his most recent works,
“The Invention of Love” (1997), examines the relationship between famous
scholar and poet A.E. Housman and the man he loved his entire life, Moses
Jackson--a handsome athlete who could not return his feelings. The play opened
to rave reviews at the Royal National Theatre in 1997.addition to his work for
the stage, Stoppard has written a number of screenplays including “The Human
Factor” (1979), “Empire of the Sun” (1987), and “Billy Bathgate” (1991). His
screenplay for “Brazil” (1985), which he coauthored with Terry Gilliam and
Charles McKeown, was nominated for an Academy Award in 1985, and in 1999, he
won an Oscar for "Best Screenplay" for “Shakespeare in Love” (1998)
which he coauthored with Marc Norman. Other awards include the John Whiting
Award (1967), the Evening Standard Award (1967, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1983), the
Italia Prize for radio plays (1968), three Tony Award (1968, 1976, 1984), the
Shakespeare Prize (1979), an Outer Circle Award (1984), and a Drama Desk Award
(1984).
CONCLUSION
The purpose of this research term
paper was to define the main characteristics of the development of the British
theatre. I tried to tell of the many aspects and stages of the professional
evolution of the theatre beginning from the very first trivial stage plays and
up to modern most experimental projects.work depicts the British theatre
history as it’s an essential moment in understanding its role in the history o
the United Kingdom. Great Britain has always been associated with certain
things characterizing the country and the character of its people. Just think
about tea, umbrellas, Big Ben, red telephone booths and other symbolic things.
Famous British theatre stage may be included in this list as well for it
perfectly reflects all the historical steps the country has undergone. More
than that theatre is a great art dealing with living beings and their energy.
Paintings are fixed impressions and thoughts, music may be recorded and copied
and theatre is absolutely different art. One will never see a play performed
twice in the same manner, because stage and its servers are living
creatures.the centuries theatre has been the place of the outburst of people’s
most strong ideas and social protests. Unsuccessful monarchs would be laughed
at, revolutionary ideas would be acted out, strong patriotic calls would go
into masses and it moved people forward. Times went by and so new tendencies
appeared till it came to nowadays. It’s no secret that from the 20th
century on times weren’t easy. Many questions turned up such as Nazism, racism,
feminism, homosexuality as well as public attitude towards it and many others.
Their appearance gave soil for new genres and new authors who weren’t afraid of
bringing painful problems to public vision. British theatre continues to
develop and brings its audience many surprises. I tried my best to collect the
most useful information and analyze it in order to make the theme clear. I also
hope that my work will be useful for those who are interested in British
culture and its origin and for those who will take up a course of “British
studies”.
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