Contemporary Black British playwrights
Subtitle: margins to mainstream
By: Lynette Goddard
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2015
Place of publication: Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 255
ISBN-13: 9780230237483
Subjects: English literature; Black authors; History and criticism; English drama; English Dramatists; Political and social views; PERFORMING ARTS / Theater / History & Criticism
Description: "The first decade of the twenty-first century has been described as witnessing a 'cultural renaissance' of black British playwriting, demonstrated by an increased visibility at London's main theatres, including the National Theatre, the Royal Court, the Soho Theatre, the Tricycle, and even in the West End. At the forefront of this increased visibility are four key playwrights, Kwame Kwei-Armah, debbie tucker green, Roy Williams, and Bola Agbaje, whose plays arguably exemplify twenty-first century black British playwrights' engagement with topical social issues, which have warranted their increased recognition by the mainstream. Through an exploration of these four playwrights' portrayal of a range of topical themes, such as urban crime and violence, domestic and sexual abuse, immigration and asylum, the prison system, global poverty, genocide, and the Iraq War, this book explores both the critical frameworks for analysis of new black playwriting, while mapping the socio-political and theatrical conditions that have heralded the shift from the margins to the mainstream"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 228-244) and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note:; title: PART I: CONTEXTS1.Beyond Identity Politics: Black British Playwrights on the MainstreamPART II: PLAYWRIGHTS, PLAYS, THEMES2.Street Life: Black Masculinity and Youth Violence in Roy Williams' 'Urban' Plays3.Past and Present: Legacies of Slavery in Kwame Kwei-Armah's National Theatre Triptych4.Breaking the Silence: Women's Solidarity in debbie tucker green's Abuse and Trauma Plays5.Playing the Game: Race Relations, Racism, and Nation in Roy Williams' Sports Plays6.Around the World: African and Caribbean Human Rights in debbie tucker green's Global Plays7.A Slice-of-Life: British-African Social Comedy in Bola Agbaje's Council Estate Plays8.State-of-the-Nation? Black British Playwrights at the Tricycle TheatrePART III: CONCLUSIONS9.Social Issues and Social Debates: Snapshots, Headlines, Conclusions.