Theatre with a Purpose
Authors: Watson Don , Roberts David , Sisson Elaine , Niziołek Grzegorz , Kruger Loren , Double Oliver , Gardiner Jesse , Wagner Meike 
Published: January 2024

This study of British amateur theatre in the inter-war period examines five different but interwoven examples of the belief, common in theatrical and educational circles at the time, that amateur drama had a purpose beyond recreation.

Amateur theatre was at the height of its popularity as a cultural practice between the wars, so that by 1939 more British people had practical experience of putting on plays than at any time before or since.

Providing an original account of the use of drama in adult education projects in deprived areas, and of amateur theatre in government-funded centres for the unemployed in the 1930s, it discusses repertoires, participation by working- class people and pioneering techniques of play-making. Amateur drama festivals and competitions were intended to raise standards and educate audiences. This book assesses their effect on play-making, and the use of innovative one-act plays to express contentious material, as well as looking at the Left Book Club Theatre Guild as an attempt to align the amateur theatre movement with anti-fascist and anti-war movements. A chapter on the Second World War rectifies the neglect of amateur theatre in war-time cultural studies, arguing that it was present and important in every aspect of war-time life.

Don Watson builds on current scholarship and makes use of archival sources, local newspapers, unpublished scripts and the records of organizations not usually associated with the theatre. His work explores the range and diversity of amateur drama between the wars and the contributions it made to British theatre.

A study of British amateur drama during the period when it was at its most popular as a cultural practice. The theme is the conviction in educational, theatrical, and some political circles that amateur drama could have a purpose beyond the recreational. Five distinct but inter-related examples of this, drawn from around Britain, are examined in their socio-political contexts. Building on current scholarship it makes use of archival sources, local newspapers, unpublished scripts, and the records of organizations not usually associated with the theatre.

Included is an original study of the use of drama in the adult education provided by educational settlements in deprived areas. Another is a similarly original account of amateur theatre in government-funded centres for unemployed people in the 1930s. The book examines repertoires, participation by working class people, and pioneering techniques of play-making.

Amateur drama festivals and competitions were intended to raise standards and educate audiences. An assessment is made of their effect on play-making, and the use of innovative one-act plays to express contentious material. The Left Book Club Theatre Guild is examined as an attempt to align the amateur theatre movement with anti-fascist and anti-war movements. A chapter on the Second World War rectifies the neglect of amateur theatre in war-time cultural studies, arguing that it was present and important in every aspect of war-time life. The conclusion affirms that these five examples achieved a social class diversity in amateur theatre-making and made an actual contribution to British theatre and theatre studies.