The British theatre tradition was upended after World War II. Theretofore, it had focused on serious historical drama, comedies of manners, operettas and farce. The end of the War seemed to release a flood of plays with themes and styles outside the mainstream. Plays now dealt with economic and personal problems after the War, non-realistic situations and characters and idiosyncratic (and sometimes dystopian) takes on modern life. One example of this change: Lawrence Olivier was known for roles in classic English plays and Shakespeare, but after the War started playing more down-to-earth roles, as in John Osborne’s “The Entertainer.”
I have chosen four playwrights to illustrate the post-War theatre. Their plays are excellent in themselves as well as representing their era. The playwrights are Tom Stoppard, Harold Pinter, John Osborne and Alan Ayckbourn. We will discuss the lives of the playwrights, the themes and meanings of the plays and their relationship to their time. Where appropriate, I hope to have presenters do short readings from the plays. There are, of course, many more playwrights during the period who are worthy of reading and discussion. The decision here is read several works of each of a smaller number of playwrights and gain a fuller understanding of each of them.
I’m not aware of a single book that covers all of the plays, but there is plenty of material on line on the lives of the playwrights and all aspects of the plays. Most of the plays have been made into movies.
We will devote the first week to a discussion of both British pre-War theatre and to Stoppard’s background and life. As indicated below, we will spend more time on Stoppard than the other playwrights. His plays are so varied and provocative that they are entitled to the disproportionate amount of time assigned to him and to his plays. Participants will also be encouraged to read a new biography of Stoppard: “Tom Stoppard: A Life” by Hermione Lee. After the first week, we will then discuss the plays, as indicated below.
