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This book engages with ideas that are highly topical and relevant: nationalism, nationhood and national identity as well as the relationship of these to postcolonialism. However, it does so within the broad field of drama. Examining the debates around the relationship between culture and national identity, the book documents the contributions of actual dramatists and film-makers to the chronicling of an important historical moment. The book breaks down what have been traditional barriers between theatre, film and television studies, considering the very broad range of ways in which the creators of dramatic fictions are telling us stories about ourselves at a time when the idea of being British is increasingly problematic. Much has been written on the break up of Britain, but there has been very little to-date about the impact that this is having on drama in the thetre, on television and on film. A very wide range of material is discussed in the book, ranging from box office hits such as "The Full Monty" to community based theatre in Scotland and Wales.
List of contents
Chapter 1: 'Introduction' - Page 7 - Steve Blandford Chapter 2: 'Last Orders in Wonderland: England and Cinema' - Page 19 - Steve Blandford Chapter 3: 'Beyond "Priests, Pigs and Poverty": Ireland and Cinema' - Page 47 - Steve Blandford Chapter 4: '"We Can't Even Pick a Decent Country to be Colonised By": Scotland and Cinema' - Page 65 - Steve Blandford Chapter 5: '"A Beautiful Mistake": Wales and Cinema' - Page 87 - Steve Blandford Chapter 6: '"An Evaporation of Certainty": England and Theatre' - Page 105 - Steve Blandford Chapter 7: '"Protestants Don't Write Plays, You See": Ireland and Theatre' - Page 125 - Steve Blandford Chapter 8: 'No More "Cultural Cringe": Scotland and Theatre' - Page 145 - Steve Blandford Chapter 9: 'Behind "the Facade of Cool Cymru": Wales and Theatre' - Page 163 - Steve Blandford
About the author
Steve Blandford is Associate Head of the School of Humanities and Social Science at the University of Glamorgan. He is also a playwright whose work has been performed on the fringes of Edinburgh and elsewhere.
