Modern Playhouses - An Architectural History of Britain''s New Theatres, 1945-1985

The first detailed study of the major programme of theatre-building in Britain between the 1950s and the 1980s, Modern Playhouses draws on a vast range of archival material to present the history of post-war theatre buildings as a history of ideas relating not only to performance but also to culture, citizenship, and the modern city.

List of contents

• Introduction: 'The Pattern is Now Quite Different'


• 1: 'An Instrument of Policy and Something Socially Desirable': Public Funding and Theatre


• 2: 'Housing the Arts': Funding Capital Projects


• 3: Towards a New Theatre Architecture, 1945-1960


• 4: 'The Second Positive Stage': Modern Public Buildings, c.1958-1971


• 5: 'A New Image of the Town Centre': Theatres, Civic Pride, and Urbanity


• 6: 'The Modern Concept of a Community Theatre': The Social Centre


• 7: 'At the End of a Boom'? Frugality and Contextualism, c.1968-1985


• 8: 'Theatre of the Future': Rethinking the Auditorium


• 9: 'The Most Revolutionary Thing?' Modern Proscenium-arch and End-stage Auditoria


• 10: Escaping From Boarded Concrete and Modern Finishes'? Impermanency, Mobility, Rehabilitation - And Emulation


• Conclusions: 'Out Of Its Sick Bed'

About the author

Alistair Fair is Reader in Architectural History at the University of Edinburgh. He is a specialist in the history of British architecture since 1945, with a particular interest in public and institutional buildings.

Summary

The first detailed study of the major programme of theatre-building in Britain between the 1950s and the 1980s, Modern Playhouses draws on a vast range of archival material to present the history of post-war theatre buildings as a history of ideas relating not only to performance but also to culture, citizenship, and the modern city.

Product details

• Authors: Alistair Fair, Alistair (Reader in Architectural History Fair
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 27.07.2020
• EAN: 9780198864080
• ISBN: 978-0-19-886408-0
• No. of pages: 320
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Architecture; European History, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, ARCHITECTURE / History / General, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, British & Irish history, HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / General, Social and cultural history, History of Architecture, HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century / General