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List of contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Revisiting Brecht’s Dialectical Theatre
Rethinking Dialectics via Adorno and Rancière
Towards a Post-Brechtian Theatre
1. ‘In-Yer-Face’ Theatre and the Crisis of Dialectics: Mark Ravenhill’s Post-Brechtian Drama in Anti-Dialectical Times
1.1 The Post-Brechtian Parable: Some Explicit Polaroids
1.2 Resisting the Banal Dialectic of (Counter-)Terrorism: Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat
1.3 Conclusion
2. Reimagining Brecht: David Greig’s Theatre of Dissensus
2.1 Appropriating the Imagination in Dunsinane
2.2 Interrupting Empathy: The Events
2.3 Conclusion
3. Strategic Naivety: The Dialectic of Sincerity in Andy Smith and Tim Crouch’s Work
3.1 Post-Brechtian Meta-Theatre: all that is solid melts into air
3.2 The Limits of Sincerity: The Author
3.3 Conclusion
4. Political Theatre Between Dialectics and Absurdity: Caryl Churchill’s Twenty-First-Century Plays
4.1 Dystopian Negativity: Escaped Alone
4.2 Deconstructing the Dialectic: Here We Go
4.3 Conclusion
Conclusion
Bibliography
About the author
Anja Hartl is Assistant Professor at the Department of English at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. She is the author of Brecht and Post-1990s British Drama: Dialectical Theatre Today and editor of the Methuen Drama Student Edition of The Threepenny Opera. Her research focuses on contemporary British theatre, Victorian fiction and adaptation studies. She co-edits the Methuen Drama Agitations Series.
Summary
Can theatre change the world? If so, how can it productively connect with social reality and foster spectatorial critique and engagement?
This open access book examines the forms and functions of political drama in what has been described as a post-Marxist, post-ideological, even post-political moment. It argues that Bertolt Brecht’s concept of dialectical theatre represents a privileged theoretical and dramaturgical method on the contemporary British stage as well as a valuable lens for understanding 21st-century theatre in Britain.
Establishing a creative philosophical dialogue between Brecht, Walter Benjamin, Theodor W. Adorno and Jacques Rancière, the study analyses seminal works by five influential contemporary playwrights, ranging from Mark Ravenhill’s ‘in-yer-face’ plays to Caryl Churchill’s 21st century theatrical experiments. Engaging critically with Brecht’s theatrical legacy, these plays create a politically progressive form of drama which emphasises notions of negativity, ambivalence and conflict as a prerequisite for spectatorial engagement and emancipation.
This book adopts an interdisciplinary and intercultural theoretical approach, reuniting English and German perspectives and innovatively weaving together a variety of theoretical strands to offer fresh insights on Brecht’s legacy, on British theatre history and on the selected plays.
The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.
Foreword
By analysing the work of five influential British playwrights, this book argues that Brecht’s dialectical legacy plays a fundamental role in post-1990s British drama and examines the productivity and challenges of making Brechtian-inspired political theatre today.
Additional text
An eloquent, lucidly argued investigation of Brecht’s legacy in post-1990s British theatre, this book probes “the potential of Brechtian-inspired theatre to spur resistance and ideological critique in a decidedly anti-dialectical age.” Anja Hartl incisively clarifies dialectics as a worldview rooted in openness rather than dogma, illuminating the ways in which Brechtian concepts find renewed urgency and fresh forms in the work of an exciting and important cluster of contemporary playwrights.
