Description
(Text)
This collection of essays examines the contribution of British plays to key social, political, and intellectual debates since 2000. It explores some of the most pressing concerns that have dominated the public discourse in Britain in the last decade, focusing on their representation in dramatic texts. Each essay provides an in-depth analysis of one play, assessing its particular contribution to the debate in question. The book aims to show how contemporary drama has developed unique ways to present the complexities and ambiguities of certain issues with aesthetic as well as emotional appeal.
(Table of content)
Kerstin Frank and Caroline LusinIntroduction: Current Debates and British Drama since 2000I. PoliticsMerle TönniesStill / Again 'Political'? New Approaches to Questioning Powerin Mike Bartlett's 13 (2011)Peter Paul SchniererImmigration as Farce: Richard Bean'sEngland People Very Nice (2009)Ariane de WaalExpel, Exploit, Exfoliate: Taking on Terror inMark Ravenhill's Shoot / Get Treasure / Repeat (2007)II. Finance and AusterityCaroline LusinSurviving Boom and Bust: Finance, Responsibility,and the State of the World in Nicholas Pierpan'sYou Can Still Make a Killing (2012)Annika GonnermannHomo Homini Rhino Est: April De Angelis' Wild East (2005)and the Deconstruction of Responsibility in Corporate CultureDorothee BirkeThe 'Underclass' Talks Back: Poverty and Homelessness inNadia Fall's Home (2013)III. Science and TechnologyChristine SchwaneckeData Streams, Post-Human Lives, and (Virtual) Realities:Jules Horne's Gorgeous Avatar (2006)Maurus RollerA Critical Review of Science: Caryl Churchill's A Number (2002),Individual Identity, and Human CloningStefan Glomb"No View from Nowhere": Science, Freedom,and Determinism in Nick Payne's Incognito (2014)IV. Cultural IdentityLisa SchwanderRe-Visiting the British Empire: Neo-Victorian Perspectives onMulticultural Britain in Tanika Gupta's The Empress (2013)Kerstin FrankDefusing Stereotypes with Comedy: Conflicting Afro-CaribbeanBritish Identities and Urban Street Culture in Bola Agbaje'sGone Too Far! (2007)Abir Al-LahamApple Stores and Jihadi Brides: Hassan Abdulrazzak'sLove, Bombs and Apples (2016) and the Role of Religion inContemporary British Society
(Short description)
This collection of essays examines the contribution of British plays to key social, political, and intellectual debates since 2000. It explores some of the most pressing concerns that have dominated the public discourse in Britain in the last decade, focusing on their representation in dramatic texts. Each essay provides an in-depth analysis of one play, assessing its particular contribution to the debate in question. The book aims to show how contemporary drama has developed unique ways to present the complexities and ambiguities of certain issues with aesthetic as well as emotional appeal.
(Text)
This collection of essays examines the contribution of British plays to key social, political, and intellectual debates since 2000. It explores some of the most pressing concerns that have dominated the public discourse in Britain in the last decade, focusing on their representation in dramatic texts. Each essay provides an in-depth analysis of one play, assessing its particular contribution to the debate in question. The book aims to show how contemporary drama has developed unique ways to present the complexities and ambiguities of certain issues with aesthetic as well as emotional appeal.
