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British Theatre and the Red Peril: The Portrayal of Communism, 1917-45 (Exeter Performance Studies)

Steve (He Nicholson

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Description for British Theatre and the Red Peril: The Portrayal of Communism, 1917-45 (Exeter Performance Studies) Paperback. British Theatre and the Red Peril examines how communism was portrayed in plays in the British theatre between 1917 and 1945, and how at a time when the capitalist system seemed on the verge of collapse, the theatre played a significant part in communicating and manipulating political propaganda in order to influence audiences. Series: Exeter Performance Studies. Num Pages: 224 pages, 5 halftones. BIC Classification: 1DBK; 3JJF; 3JJG; 3JJH; AN; HBJD1; HBLW; JFC; JPFC. Category: (UP) Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly; (UU) Undergraduate. Dimension: 234 x 156 x 14. Weight in Grams: 380.

British Theatre and the Red Peril examines how communism was portrayed in plays in the British theatre between 1917 and 1945, and how at a time when the capitalist system seemed on the verge of collapse, the theatre played a significant part in communicating and manipulating political propaganda in order to influence audiences. It reveals explicit right-wing propaganda produced within mainstream British theatre and questions the assumption that political theatre is almost always left-wing.

The book draws on published and unpublished scripts and archive documents to demonstrate how the theatre became a key site for propaganda ... Read more

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Product Details

Format

Paperback

Publication date

2000

Publisher

University of Exeter Press

Number of pages

192

Condition

New

Series

Exeter Performance Studies

Number of Pages

224

Place of Publication

Exeter, United Kingdom

ISBN

9780859896375

SKU

V9780859896375

Shipping Time

Usually ships in 15 to 20 working days

Ref

99-2

About Steve (He Nicholson

Steve Nicholson is Professor of 20th-Century and Contemporary Theatre, and Director of Drama, in the School of English at the University of Sheffield. He is the series editor for Exeter Performance Studies and the author of UEP's four-volume series Censorship of British Drama 1900-1968.

Reviews for British Theatre and the Red Peril: The Portrayal of Communism, 1917-45 (Exeter Performance Studies)

'This book appears to be that extreme rarity, a genuinely original contribution to our knowledge and understanding of twentieth-century British theatre. I don't know of anybody else besides Steve Nicholson who has delved so deeply or so keenly into the archives of the Lord Chamberlain to uncover a shoal of apparently subversive, politically-motivated play scripts, as well as the extraordinary ... Read moreand devious machinations of the censor and his friends in high places to block and suppress them. The result is a book which is at once refreshingly original and depressingly predictable . . . British Theatre and the Red Peril emerges as a truly significant and courageous work.' (New Theatre Quarterly , 2002) 'Political theatre comes in many shapes and sizes and, more often than not, is assumed to be left-wing in character. Steve Nicholson's fascinating study of the impact the Bolshevik revolution had on the British theatre shows that, whilst this common assumption is frequently correct, there is another and seldom recounted history of political theatre associated with the right.' (Theatre Research International, Vol. 26:2 , 2001) 'An attractively produced volume carefully researched and accessibly written. The book is likely to become (and remain) a standard work on the subject.' (Albion, Vol. 33, Issue 1 , Spring 2001) 'Steve Nicholson offers us a meticulously researched and critically astute study of a fascinating period of theatre in the UK. The main text is supported by a very useful chronological chart of plays and events between 1918 and 1946, a series of mini-biographies of the leading characters involved, a good number of pertinent and informative illustrations and a very helpful bibliography.' (Studies in Theatre and Performance, Vol 20, no 2 , June 2000) 'I know of no other book that investigates the depiction of the Soviet Union between 1917 and 1945. The author charts the response to plays dealing with the 'Red Peril' from the terrified reaction of the early twenties, through the more inquisitive tone of the 'intellectual' thirties to the paradoxical situation of the war years when the 'evil empire' became an essential ally.' (Dominic Shellard, Department of English Literature, The University of Sheffield) ‘After discussing censorship in the first two chapters, Nicholson turns to the plays themselves and the rest of the book is largely a series of plot summaries. But what plots! It is to Nichols’s credit that after reading the book I immediately wanted to run out and read many of the plays he describes. This would be no easy feat, since many of the plays Nicholson examines were never published.’ (Theatre Journal, Dec 2002) Show Less

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British Theatre and the Red Peril: The Portrayal of Communism, 1917-45 (Exeter Performance Studies)

Steve (He Nicholson

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