Theatre of United Kingdom plays an important part in
British culture, and the
countries that constitute the UK have had a vibrant tradition of
theatre since the
Renaissance with roots going back to the
Roman occupation.
Beginnings
Theatre was introduced from
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
to what is now the United Kingdom by the
Romans and
auditoriums were constructed across the country for this purpose (an example has been excavated at
Verulamium). By the
medieval period, theatre had developed with the
mummers' plays, a form of early street theatre associated with the
Morris dance, concentrating on themes such as
Saint George and the
Dragon and
Robin Hood. These were
folk tales re-telling old stories, and the
actors travelled from town to town performing these for their audiences in return for money and hospitality.
Medieval theatre: 500–1500
The medieval
mystery play
Mystery plays and miracle plays (they are distinguished as two different forms although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the represe ...
s and
morality plays, which dealt with Christian themes, were performed at religious festivals. The most important work of literature surviving from the Middle Cornish period is ''An Ordinale Kernewek'' ("The Cornish
Ordinalia"), a 9000-line religious drama composed around the year 1400. The longest single surviving work of
Cornish literature
Cornish literature refers to written works in the Cornish language. The earliest surviving texts are in verse and date from the 14th century. There are virtually none from the 18th and 19th centuries but writing in revived forms of Cornish bega ...
is ''
Bywnans Meriasek'' (The Life of Meriasek), a play dated 1504, but probably copied from an earlier manuscript.
There are four complete or nearly complete extant English biblical collections of plays from the late
medieval period
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
; although these collections are sometimes referred to as "cycles," it is now believed that this term may attribute to these collections more coherence than they in fact possess. The most complete is the ''
York cycle'' of forty-eight pageants. They were performed in the city of
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, from the middle of the fourteenth century until 1569. There are also the ''
Towneley plays'' of thirty-two pageants, once thought to have been a true 'cycle' of plays and most likely performed around the
Feast of Corpus Christi probably in the town of
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
, England during the late
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
until 1576. The ''
Ludus Coventriae
The N-Town Plays (also called the Hegge Cycle and the Ludus Coventriae cycle) are a cycle of 42 medieval Mystery plays from between 1450 and 1500.
The manuscript
The manuscript is now housed in the British Library, London (BL MS Cotton Vespasian ...
'' (also called the
N Town plays" or ''Hegge cycle''), now generally agreed to be a redacted compilation of at least three older, unrelated plays, and the ''
Chester cycle'' of twenty-four pageants, now generally agreed to be an Elizabethan reconstruction of older medieval traditions.
These biblical plays differ widely in content. Most contain episodes such as the ''Fall of Lucifer'', the ''Creation and Fall of Man'', ''Cain and Abel'', ''Noah and the Flood'', ''Abraham and Isaac'', the ''Nativity'', the ''Raising of Lazarus'', the ''Passion'', and the ''Resurrection''. Other pageants included the story of ''Moses'', the ''Procession of the Prophets'', ''Christ's Baptism'', the ''Temptation in the Wilderness'', and the ''Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin''. In given cycles, the plays came to be sponsored by the newly emerging Medieval
craft guilds.
Having grown out of the religiously based
mystery play
Mystery plays and miracle plays (they are distinguished as two different forms although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the represe ...
s of the Middle Ages, the
morality play is a
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other f ...
of
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
and
early Tudor theatrical entertainment, which represented a shift towards a more secular base for European theatre. In their own time, these plays were known as "interludes", a broader term given to dramas with or without a
moral theme. Morality plays are a type of
allegory in which the
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
is met by
personification
Personification occurs when a thing or abstraction is represented as a person, in literature or art, as a type of anthropomorphic metaphor. The type of personification discussed here excludes passing literary effects such as "Shadows hold their ...
s of various
moral attributes who try to prompt him to choose a Godly life over one of evil. The plays were most popular in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
during the 15th and 16th centuries.
Renaissance theatre: 1500–1660
The reign of
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
Eli ...
in the late 16th and early 17th century saw a flowering of the drama and all the arts. Perhaps the most famous
playwright in the world,
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, wrote around 40 plays that are still performed in theatres across the world to this day. They include tragedies, such as ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' (1603), ''
Othello'' (1604), and ''
King Lear
''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.
It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane a ...
'' (1605); comedies, such as ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1594—96) and ''
Twelfth Night'' (1602); and history plays, such as ''
Henry IV, part 1—2''. The Elizabethan age is sometimes nicknamed "the age of Shakespeare" for the amount of influence he held over the era. Other important Elizabethan and 17th-century playwrights include
Ben Jonson
Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...
,
Christopher Marlowe, and
John Webster.
The English playwrights were intrigued by Italian model: a conspicuous community of Italian actors had settled in London. The linguist and lexicographer
John Florio
Giovanni Florio (1552–1625), known as John Florio, was an English linguist, poet, writer, translator, lexicographer, and royal language tutor at the Court of James I. He is recognised as the most important Renaissance humanist in England. ...
(1553–1625), whose father was Italian, was a royal language tutor at the Court of
James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
*James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
*James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
*James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
, and a possible friend and influence on William Shakespeare, had brought much of the
Italian language
Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about 8 ...
and culture to England. The earliest Elizabethan plays includes ''
Gorboduc
Gorboduc ('' Welsh:'' Gorwy or Goronwy) was a legendary king of the Britons as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was married to Judon. When he became old, his sons, Ferrex and Porrex, feuded over who would take over the kingdom. Porrex tried ...
'' (1561) by
Sackville and
Norton and
Thomas Kyd
Thomas Kyd (baptised 6 November 1558; buried 15 August 1594) was an English playwright, the author of '' The Spanish Tragedy'', and one of the most important figures in the development of Elizabethan drama.
Although well known in his own time, ...
's (1558–94)
revenge tragedy ''
The Spanish Tragedy
''The Spanish Tragedy, or Hieronimo is Mad Again'' is an Elizabethan tragedy written by Thomas Kyd between 1582 and 1592. Highly popular and influential in its time, ''The Spanish Tragedy'' established a new genre in English theatre, the rev ...
'' (1592). ''
The Spanish Tragedy
''The Spanish Tragedy, or Hieronimo is Mad Again'' is an Elizabethan tragedy written by Thomas Kyd between 1582 and 1592. Highly popular and influential in its time, ''The Spanish Tragedy'' established a new genre in English theatre, the rev ...
, or Hieronimo is Mad Again'' is an
Elizabethan tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
written by
Thomas Kyd
Thomas Kyd (baptised 6 November 1558; buried 15 August 1594) was an English playwright, the author of '' The Spanish Tragedy'', and one of the most important figures in the development of Elizabethan drama.
Although well known in his own time, ...
between 1582 and 1592. Highly popular and influential in its time, ''The Spanish Tragedy'' established a new
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other f ...
in English literature theatre, the
revenge play or revenge tragedy. Its
plot contains several violent murders and includes as one of its
characters a
personification
Personification occurs when a thing or abstraction is represented as a person, in literature or art, as a type of anthropomorphic metaphor. The type of personification discussed here excludes passing literary effects such as "Shadows hold their ...
of
Revenge
Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." P ...
. ''The Spanish Tragedy'' was often referred to, or parodied, in works written by other Elizabethan
playwrights, including William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Christopher Marlowe. Many elements of ''The Spanish Tragedy,'' such as the
play-within-a-play used to trap a murderer and a
ghost
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to re ...
intent on vengeance, appear in Shakespeare's ''Hamlet.'' Thomas Kyd is frequently proposed as the author of the hypothetical ''
Ur-Hamlet'' that may have been one of Shakespeare's primary sources for ''Hamlet''.
George Chapman (?1559-?1634) was a successful playwright who produced comedies (his collaboration on ''
Eastward Hoe
''Eastward Hoe'' or ''Eastward Ho!'' is an early Jacobean-era stage play written by George Chapman, Ben Jonson and John Marston. The play was first performed at the Blackfriars Theatre by a company of boy actors known as the Children of th ...
'' led to his brief imprisonment in 1605 as it offended the King with its
anti-Scottish sentiment
Anti-Scottish sentiment is disdain, discrimination, or hatred for Scotland, the Scots or Scottish culture. It may also include the persecution or oppression of the Scottish people as an ethnic group, or nation. It can also be referred to as Sco ...
), tragedies (most notably ''
Bussy D'Ambois
''The Tragedy of Bussy D'Ambois'' (1603–1607) is a Jacobean stage play written by George Chapman. Classified as either a tragedy or "contemporary history," ''Bussy D'Ambois'' is widely considered Chapman's greatest play, and is the earliest ...
'') and court masques (''
The Memorable Masque of the Middle Temple and Lincoln's Inn
''The Memorable Masque of the Middle Temple and Lincoln's Inn'' was a Jacobean era masque, written by George Chapman, and with costumes, sets, and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones. It was performed in the Great Hall of Whitehall Palace on ...
'').
David Lyndsay's ''
Ane Pleasant Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis'' (1552), is a surviving example of a
Scots dramatic tradition in the period that has otherwise largely been lost.
James Wedderburn is recorded as having written anti-Catholic tragedies and comedies in Scots around 1540 before being forced to flee into exile. Although the propaganda value of drama in the
Scottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke with the Pope, Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Church of Scotland, Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterianism, Presbyterian in ...
was important, the Kirk hardened its attitude to such public entertainments. In 1599 James VI had to intervene to overturn a prohibition on attending performances by a visiting theatre troupe from England. Scottish drama did not succeed in becoming a popular artform in the face of religious opposition and the absence of King and court after 1603. As with drama in England, only a small proportion of plays written and performed were actually published, and the smaller production in Scotland meant that a much less significant record of Scottish drama remains to us.
The ribald verse play in Scots, ''Philotus'', is known from an anonymous edition published in London in 1603.
Drama in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
as a literary tradition dates to
morality plays from north-east Wales in the second half of the 15th century. The development of Renaissance theatre in England did not have great influence in Wales as the gentry found different forms of artistic patronage. One surviving example of Welsh literary drama is ''Troelus a Chresyd'', an anonymous adaptation from poems by Henrysoun and Chaucer dating to around 1600. With no urban centres to compare to England to support regular stages, morality plays and interludes continued to circulate in
inn-yard theatre
In the historical era of English Renaissance drama, an Inn-yard theatre or Inn-theatre was a common inn with an inner courtyard with balconies that provided a venue for the presentation of stage plays.
Beginnings
The Elizabethan era is appropri ...
s and fairs, supplemented by visiting troupes performing English repertoire.
Restoration theatre: 1660 to 1710
During the
Interregnum 1642—1660,
English theatres were kept closed by the
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
s for religious and ideological reasons. When the London theatres opened again with the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, they flourished under the personal interest and support of
Charles II (reigned 1660–1685). Wide and socially mixed audiences were attracted by topical writing and by the introduction of the first professional actresses (in Shakespeare's time, all female roles had been played by boys). New
genres of the Restoration were
heroic drama
Heroic drama is a type of play popular during the Restoration era in England, distinguished by both its verse structure and its subject matter. The subgenre of heroic drama evolved through several works of the middle to later 1660s; John Dryden's ...
,
pathetic drama, and
Restoration comedy. The Restoration plays that have best retained the interest of producers and audiences today are the comedies, such as
William Wycherley's ''
The Country Wife'' (1676), ''
The Rover'' (1677) by the first professional woman playwright,
Aphra Behn
Aphra Behn (; bapt. 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, prose writer and translator from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barrie ...
, and
John Vanbrugh's ''
The Relapse'' (1696). Restoration comedy is famous or notorious for its
sexual explicitness, a quality encouraged by Charles II personally and by the
rakish aristocratic ethos of his
court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...
.
Although documented history of
Irish theatre began at least as early as 1601, the earliest Irish dramatists of note were:
William Congreve (1670–1729), author of ''
The Way of the World'' (1700); late Restoration playwright,
George Farquhar (?1677–1707), ''
The Recruiting Officer'' (1706); as well as two of the most successful playwrights on the London stage in the 18th century,
Oliver Goldsmith (?1730-74), ''
She Stoops to Conquer
''She Stoops to Conquer'' is a comedy by Oliver Goldsmith, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in the English-speaking world. It is one of the few plays from the 18th ...
'' (1773) and
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as '' The Rivals'', ''The ...
(1751–1816), ''
The School for Scandal
''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777.
Plot
Act I
Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling S ...
'' (1777).
Anglo-Irish drama in the 18th century also includes
Charles Macklin (?1699–1797), and
Arthur Murphy (1727–1805).
Thomas Sydserf was behind the establishment in Edinburgh of the first regular theatre in Scotland, and his 1667 play ''Tarugo's Wiles: or, The Coffee-House'', based on a Spanish play, was produced in London to amazement that a Scot could write such excellent English.
Scottish poet
John Ogilby, who was the first Irish
Master of the Revels, had established the
Werburgh Street Theatre
The Werburgh Street Theatre, also the Saint Werbrugh Street Theatre or the New Theatre, was a seventeenth-century theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Scholars and historians of the subject generally identify it as the "first custom-built theatre in the c ...
, the first theatre in Ireland, in the 1630s. It was closed by the
Puritans
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
in 1641. The
Restoration of the monarchy in Ireland enabled Ogilby to resume his position as Master of the Revels and open the first
Theatre Royal in Dublin in 1662 in Smock Alley. In 1662
Katherine Philips went to
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
where she completed a translation of
Pierre Corneille's ''
Pompée'', produced with great success in 1663 in the Smock Alley Theatre, and printed in the same year both in Dublin and London. Although other women had translated or written dramas, her translation of Pompey broke new ground as the first rhymed version of a French tragedy in English and the first English play written by a woman to be performed on the professional stage.
Aphra Behn
Aphra Behn (; bapt. 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, prose writer and translator from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barrie ...
(one of the women writers dubbed "
The fair triumvirate of wit
The fair triumvirate of wit refers to the three 17th and 18th century authors Eliza Haywood, Delarivier Manley, and Aphra Behn
Aphra Behn (; bapt. 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, prose writer and tran ...
") was a prolific dramatist and one of the first English professional female writers. Her greatest dramatic success was ''
The Rover'' (1677).
Theatre began to spread from the United Kingdom to the expanding British Empire. Farquhar's ''The Recruiting Officer'' was the first play to be staged in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
on December 6, 1732. It was also the first play to be staged in the
Colony of New South Wales, which is now
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
.
The age of
Augustan drama
Augustan drama can refer to the dramas of Ancient Rome during the reign of Caesar Augustus, but it most commonly refers to the plays of Great Britain in the early 18th century, a subset of 18th-century Augustan literature. King George I referre ...
was brought to an end by the censorship established by the
Licensing Act 1737
The Licensing Act of 1737 is a defunct Act of Parliament in the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a pivotal moment in theatrical history. Its purpose was to control and censor what was being said about the British government through theatre. The act ...
. After 1737, authors with strong political or philosophical points to make would no longer turn to the stage as their first hope of making a living, and novels began to have dramatic structures involving only normal human beings, as the stage was closed off for serious authors. Prior to the Licensing Act 1737, theatre was the first choice for most wits. After it, the novel was.
18th-century
In the 18th century, the highbrow and provocative Restoration comedy lost favour, to be replaced by
sentimental comedy Sentimental comedy is an 18th-century dramatic genre which sprang up as a reaction to the immoral tone of English Restoration plays. In sentimental comedies, middle-class protagonists triumphantly overcome a series of moral trials. These plays aimed ...
, domestic
Bourgeois tragedy such as
George Lillo's
The London Merchant
''The London Merchant (Or The History Of George Barnwell)'' is playwright George Lillo's most famous work. A tragedy that follows the downfall of a young apprentice due to his association with a prostitute, it is remarkable for its use of mid ...
(1731), and by an overwhelming interest in Italian
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
. Popular entertainment became more important in this period than ever before, with fair-booth burlesque and mixed forms that are the ancestors of the English
music hall. These forms flourished at the expense of legitimate English drama, which went into a long period of decline. By the early 19th century it was no longer represented by stage plays at all, but by the
closet drama
A closet drama is a play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader or sometimes out loud in a large group. The contrast between closet drama and classic "stage" dramas dates back to the late eighteenth century. Al ...
, plays written to be privately read in a "closet" (a small domestic room).
Romanticism: 1798–1836
Percy Bysshe Shelley and
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
were the most important literary dramatists of their time (although Shelley's plays were not performed until later in the century). Shakespeare was enormously popular, and began to be performed with texts closer to the original, as the drastic rewriting of 17th and 18th century performing versions for the theatre (as opposed to his plays in book form, which were also widely read) was gradually removed over the first half of the century.
Melodramas, light comedies, operas, Shakespeare and classic English drama,
pantomimes
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speakin ...
, translations of French farces and, from the 1860s, French operettas, continued to be popular, together with
Victorian burlesque.
Scotland
Scottish "national drama" emerged in the early 1800s, as plays with specifically Scottish themes began to dominate the Scottish stage.
The existing repertoire of Scottish-themed plays included
John Home's ''
Douglas
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
*Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
* Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...
'' (1756) and Ramsay's ''
The Gentle Shepherd'' (1725), with the last two being the most popular plays among amateur groups.
[I. Brown, ''The Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature: Enlightenment, Britain and Empire (1707-1918)'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007), , p. 231.] ''Douglas'' elicited the famous "Whaur's Yer Wullie Shakespeare Noo?" jeer from a member of one of its early audiences, and was also the subject of a number of pamphlets for and against it. It also arguably led to
James MacPherson's Ossian cycle.
[Keay, J. & Keay, J. (1994) '']Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland
''Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland'' is a reference work published by HarperCollins, edited by the husband and wife team, John and Julia Keay.
History
Scots had provided the impetus for a number of well-known references works, ''Chambers Dic ...
''. London. HarperCollins. Home was hounded by the church authorities for ''Douglas''. It may have been this persecution which drove Home to write for the London stage, in addition to ''Douglas success there, and stopped him from founding the new Scottish national theatre that some had hoped he would.
[ ]Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...
was keenly interested in drama, becoming a shareholder in the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh.[ Baillie's Highland themed ''Family Legend'' was first produced in Edinburgh in 1810 with the help of Scott, as part of a deliberate attempt to stimulate a national Scottish drama. Scott also wrote five plays, of which ''Hallidon Hill'' (1822) and ''MacDuff's Cross'' (1822), were patriotic Scottish histories.][I. Brown, ''The Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature: Enlightenment, Britain and Empire (1707-1918)'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007), , pp. 185-6.] Adaptations of the Waverley novels, largely first performed in minor theatres, rather than the larger Patent theatres, included ''The Lady in the Lake'' (1817), '' The Heart of Midlothian'' (1819), and ''Rob Roy'', which underwent over 1,000 performances in Scotland in this period. Also adapted for the stage were '' Guy Mannering'', '' The Bride of Lammermoor'' and '' The Abbot''. These highly popular plays saw the social range and size of the audience for theatre expand and helped shape theatre going practices in Scotland for the rest of the century.[
]
Victorian era: 1837–1901
In 1847, a critic using the pseudonym ''Dramaticus'' published a pamphlet describing the parlous state of British theatre. Production of serious plays was restricted to the patent theatres, and new plays were subjected to censorship by the Lord Chamberlain's Office
The Lord Chamberlain's Office is a department within the British Royal Household. It is concerned with matters such as protocol, state visits, investitures, garden parties, royal weddings and funerals. For example, in April 2005 it organised the ...
. At the same time, there was a burgeoning theatre sector featuring a diet of low melodrama and musical burlesque; but critics described British theatre as driven by commercialism and a 'star' system. Kotzebue's plays were translated into English and Thomas Holcroft's ''A Tale of Mystery'' was the first of many English melodramas. Pierce Egan, Douglas William Jerrold, Edward Fitzball
Edward Fitzball (20 March 179327 October 1873) was a popular English playwright, who specialised in melodrama. His real surname was Ball, and he was born at Burwell, Cambridgeshire.
Fitzball was educated in Newmarket, was apprenticed to a Nor ...
, James Roland MacLaren
James Roland MacLaren (10 June 1839 – 30 June 1912) was a Scottish actor and playwright.
Biography
MacLaren was born in Bonhill, Dunbartonshire to Archibald MacLaren and Anne McIntyre. The family later moved to Liverpool, where James Roland ...
and John Baldwin Buckstone
John Baldwin Buckstone (14 September 1802 – 31 October 1879) was an English actor, playwright and comedian who wrote 150 plays, the first of which was produced in 1826.
He starred as a comic actor during much of his career for various periods ...
initiated a trend towards more contemporary and rural stories in preference to the usual historical or fantastical melodramas. James Sheridan Knowles
James Sheridan Knowles (12 May 1784 – 30 November 1862) was an Irish dramatist and actor.
Biography
Knowles was born in Cork. His father was the lexicographer James Knowles (1759–1840), cousin of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The family mo ...
and Edward Bulwer-Lytton established a "gentlemanly" drama that began to re-establish the former prestige of the theatre with the aristocracy.
For much of the first half of the 19th century, drama in London and provincial theatres was restricted by a licensing system to the Patent theatre companies, and all other theatres could perform only musical entertainments (although magistrates had powers to license occasional dramatic performances). By the early 19th century, however, music hall entertainments had become popular, and provided a loophole in the restrictions on non-patent theatres in the genre of melodrama which did not contravene the Patent Acts, as it was accompanied by music. The passing of the Theatres Act 1843 removed the monopoly on drama held by the Patent theatres, enabling local authorities to license theatres as they saw fit, and also restricted the Lord Chamberlain's powers to censor new plays. The 1843 Act did not apply to Ireland where the power of the Lord Lieutenant
A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibilit ...
to license patent theatres enabled control of stage performance analogous to that exercised by the Lord Chamberlain in Great Britain.
James Planché was a prolific playwright. He revolutionised stage productions of Shakespeare and the classics by introducing the use of historically appropriate costume design, working with antiquarians to establish what was known about period dress.[Reinhardt, ''The Costume Designs of James Robinson Planché'', p526–7]
Dion Boucicault (1820–90) made the latest scientific inventions important elements in his plots and exerted considerable influence on theatrical production. His first big success, '' London Assurance'' (1841) was a comedy in the style of Sheridan, but he wrote in various styles, including melodrama. T. W. Robertson wrote popular domestic comedies and introduced a more naturalistic style of acting and stagecraft to the British stage in the 1860s.
A change came in the late 19th century with the plays on the London stage by the Irishmen George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
and Oscar Wilde and the Norwegian Henrik Ibsen, all of whom influenced domestic English drama and vitalised it again. The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) (originally called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) is a grade II* listed 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakes ...
was opened in Shakespeare's birthplace Stratford upon Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-w ...
in 1879; and Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager.
Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous progra ...
founded an Academy of Dramatic Art at Her Majesty's Theatre in 1904.
Producer Richard D'Oyly Carte brought together librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan, and nurtured their collaboration. Among Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...
's best known comic opera
Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue.
Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a n ...
s are ''H.M.S. Pinafore
''H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which ...
'', '' The Pirates of Penzance'' and '' The Mikado''. Carte built the Savoy Theatre in 1881 to present their joint works, and through the inventor of electric light Sir Joseph Swan, the Savoy was the first theatre, and the first public building in the world, to be lit entirely by electricity. The success of Gilbert and Sullivan greatly expanded the audience for musical theatre. This, together with much improved street lighting and transportation in London led to a late Victorian and Edwardian theatre building boom in the West End.
20th-century
At the end of the century, Edwardian musical comedy came to dominate the musical stage.[The first "Edwardian musical comedy" is usually considered to be '' In Town'' (1892). See, e.g., Charlton, Fraser]
"What are EdMusComs?"
FrasrWeb 2007, accessed May 12, 2011
Irish playwrights George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
(1856–1950) and J. M. Synge
Edmund John Millington Synge (; 16 April 1871 – 24 March 1909) was an Irish playwright, poet, writer, collector of folklore, and a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival. His best known play ''The Playboy of the Western World'' was poorly r ...
(1871–1909) were influential in British drama. Shaw's career as a playwright began in the last decade of the nineteenth century, while Synge's plays belong to the first decade of the twentieth century. Synge's most famous play, '' The Playboy of the Western World'', "caused outrage and riots when it was first performed" in Dublin in 1907. George Bernard Shaw turned the Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
theatre into an arena for debate about important political and social issues, like marriage, class, "the morality of armaments and war" and the rights of women.
In the 1920s and later Noël Coward (1899–1973) achieved enduring success as a playwright, publishing more than 50 plays from his teens onwards. Many of his works, such as '' Hay Fever'' (1925), '' Private Lives'' (1930), ''Design for Living
''Design for Living'' is a comedy play written by Noël Coward in 1932. It concerns a trio of artistic characters, Gilda, Otto and Leo, and their complicated three-way relationship. Originally written to star Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt and Cowa ...
'' (1932), ''Present Laughter
''Present Laughter'' is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 but not produced until 1942 because the Second World War began while it was in rehearsal, and the British theatres closed. The title is drawn from a song in Shakespeare's ''T ...
'' (1942) and '' Blithe Spirit'' (1941), have remained in the regular theatre repertoire. In the 1930s W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood co-authored verse dramas, of which The Ascent of F6 (1936) is the most notable, that owed much to Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
. T. S. Eliot had begun this attempt to revive poetic drama with ''Sweeney Agonistes
''Sweeney Agonistes'' by T. S. Eliot was his first attempt at writing a verse drama although he was unable to complete the piece. In 1926 and 1927 he separately published two scenes from this attempt and then collected them in 1932 in a small ...
'' in 1932, and this was followed by '' The Rock'' (1934), '' Murder in the Cathedral'' (1935) and '' Family Reunion'' (1939). There were three further plays after the war.
Saunders Lewis
Saunders Lewis (born John Saunders Lewis) (15 October 1893 – 1 September 1985) was a Welsh politician, poet, dramatist, Medievalist, and literary critic. He was a prominent Welsh nationalist, supporter of Welsh independence and was a co-found ...
(1893–1985), writer in Welsh, was above all a dramatist. His earliest published play was ''Blodeuwedd'' (The woman of flowers) (1923–25, revised 1948). Other notable plays include ''Buchedd Garmon'' (The life of Germanus) (radio play, 1936) and several others after the war.
James Bridie
James Bridie (3 January 1888 in Glasgow – 29 January 1951 in Edinburgh) was the pseudonym of a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and physician whose real name was Osborne Henry Mavor.Daniel Leary (1982) ''Dictionary of Literary Biography: ...
, the pseudonym used by Osborne Henry Mavor (1888–1951), was a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and surgeon, considered to be a founding father of modern Scottish theatre, following his involvement with the founding of both the Citizens Theatre
The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and is based in Glasgow, Scotland as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat Main Auditorium, and has also included various s ...
and Scotland's first college of drama, now known as the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
After 1945
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
started life when eight theatre companies turned up uninvited to the inaugural Edinburgh International Festival in 1947. Seven performed in Edinburgh, and one undertook a version of the medieval morality play "Everyman" in Dunfermline Abbey, about 20 miles north, across the Firth of Forth, in Fife. These groups aimed to take advantage of the large assembled theatre crowds to showcase their own, alternative, theatre. The Fringe got its name the following year (1948) after Robert Kemp, a Scottish playwright and journalist, wrote during the second Edinburgh International Festival: ‘Round the fringe of official Festival drama, there seems to be more private enterprise than before ... I am afraid some of us are not going to be at home during the evenings!’. The artistic credentials of the Fringe were established by the creators of the Traverse Theatre, John Calder, Jim Haynes and Richard Demarco
Richard Demarco CBE (born 9 July 1930 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish artist and promoter of the visual and performing arts.
Early life
He was born at 9 Grosvenor Street in Edinburgh on 9 July 1930 the son of Carmino Demarco and his wife Elizabe ...
in 1963. While their original objective was to maintain something of the Festival atmosphere in Edinburgh all year round, the Traverse Theatre quickly and regularly presented cutting edge drama to an international audience on both the Edinburgh International Festival and on the Fringe during August.
Sadler's Wells, under Lilian Baylis, nurtured talent that led to the development of an opera company, which became the English National Opera (ENO), a theatre company, which evolved into the National Theatre, and a ballet company, which eventually became the English Royal Ballet.
The Royal Shakespeare Company operates out of Stratford-upon-Avon, producing mainly but not exclusively Shakespeare's plays. The RSC was formally established on 20 March 1961 with the royal announcement that the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre would henceforth be known as the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the company as the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1962 the RSC established the Aldwych Theatre as its London base for productions transferred from Stratford to London, its stage redesigned to match the RST's apron stage. In 1982, the company took up London residence in both the Barbican Theatre and The Pit studio space in the Barbican Centre under the auspices of the City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
. The RSC was closely involved in the design of these two venues. Since 2002 the RSC has had no regular London home, concentrating its work in Stratford at the Swan Theatre
The Swan was a theatre in Southwark, London, England, built in 1595 on top of a previously standing structure, during the first half of William Shakespeare's career. It was the fifth in the series of large public playhouses of London, af ...
and the redeveloped Royal Shakespeare Theatre (re-opened in 2010).
An important cultural movement in the British theatre that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s was Kitchen sink realism
Kitchen sink realism (or kitchen sink drama) is a British cultural movement that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre, art, novels, film and television plays, whose protagonists usually could be described as "angry young men" w ...
(or ''kitchen sink drama''), art (the term itself derives from an expressionist painting by John Bratby), novels, film, and television plays. The term angry young men was often applied members of this artistic movement. It used a style of social realism which depicts the domestic lives of the working class, to explore social issues and political issues. The drawing room play A drawing room play is a type of play, developed during the Victorian period in the United Kingdom, in which the actions take place in a drawing room or which is designed to be reenacted in the drawing room of a home. The common practice of entertai ...
s of the post war period, typical of dramatists like Terence Rattigan and Noël Coward were challenged in the 1950s by these Angry Young Men, in plays like John Osborne's '' Look Back in Anger'' (1956). Arnold Wesker and Nell Dunn also brought social concerns to the stage.
Again in the 1950s, the absurdist play '' Waiting for Godot'' (1955) (originally '' En attendant Godot'', 1952), by the Paris-based Irish expatriate Samuel Beckett profoundly affected British drama. The Theatre of the Absurd
The Theatre of the Absurd (french: théâtre de l'absurde ) is a post– World War II designation for particular plays of absurdist fiction written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1950s. It is also a term for the style o ...
influenced Harold Pinter (1930-2008), (The Birthday Party, 1958), whose works are often characterised by menace or claustrophobia. Beckett also influenced Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and polit ...
(1937-) ('' Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead'',1966). Stoppard's works are however also notable for their high-spirited wit and the great range of intellectual issues which he tackles in different plays. Both Pinter and Stoppard continued to have new plays produced into the 1990s.
'' Beyond the Fringe'' was a comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
stage revue written and performed by Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, and Jonathan Miller. It played in London's West End and then on New York's Broadway in the early 1960s, and is widely regarded as seminal to the rise of satire in 1960s Britain.
The Chichester Festival Theatre was Britain's first modern thrust stage theatre. It was inspired by the Festival Theatre of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival launched by Tyrone Guthrie
Sir William Tyrone Guthrie (2 July 1900 – 15 May 1971) was an English theatrical director instrumental in the founding of the Stratford Festival of Canada, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at ...
in the Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
city of Stratford, Ontario. The inaugural Artistic Director of the Chichester Festival was Sir Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...
, and it was at Chichester that the first National Theatre company was formed. Chichester's productions would transfer to the National Theatre's base at the Old Vic in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.
The Theatres Act 1968
The Theatres Act 1968 abolished censorship of the stage in the United Kingdom, receiving royal assent on 26 July 1968, after passing both Houses of Parliament.Howard Brenton
Howard John Brenton FRSL (born 13 December 1942) is an English playwright and screenwriter. While little-known in the United States, he is celebrated in his home country and often ranked alongside contemporaries such as Edward Bond, Caryl Chu ...
's ''The Romans in Britain
''The Romans in Britain'' is a 1980 stage play by Howard Brenton that comments upon imperialism and the abuse of power. It was the subject of a private prosecution brought by the conservative moral campaigner Mary Whitehouse for gross indecency. ...
'', first staged at the National Theatre during 1980, and subsequently the focus of an unsuccessful private prosecution in 1982.
The height of Alan Ayckbourn's commercial success included '' Absurd Person Singular'' (1975), '' The Norman Conquests'' trilogy (1973), ''Bedroom Farce
A bedroom farce or sex farce is a type of light comedy, which centres on the sexual pairings and recombinations of characters as they move through improbable plots and slamming doors.
Overview
The most famous bedroom farceur is probably George ...
'' (1975) and ''Just Between Ourselves'' (1976), all plays that focused heavily on marriage in the British middle classes. Throughout his writing career, all but four of his plays were premièred at the Stephen Joseph Theatre
The Stephen Joseph Theatre is a theatre in the round in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England that was founded by Stephen Joseph and was the first theatre in the round in Britain.
In 1955, Joseph established a tiny theatre in the round on ...
in Scarborough in its three different locations.[Biography on the official Alan Ayckbourn website]
accessed 5 January 2009 The Stephen Joseph Theatre was the first theatre in the round in Britain.
Other playwrights whose careers began later in the century are: Caryl Churchill ('' Top Girls'', 1982), Michael Frayn (1933-) playwright and novelist, David Hare (1947- ), David Edgar (1948- ). Dennis Potter
Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Singing Detective'' (198 ...
's most distinctive dramatic work was produced for television.
'' Translations'' by Brian Friel
Brian Patrick Friel (c. 9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. He had been considered one of the greatest living English-language dramatists. (subscription requ ...
was first performed at the Guildhall, Derry
The Guildhall in Derry, Northern Ireland, is a guildhall in which the elected members of Derry City and Strabane District Council meet. It is a Grade A listed building.
History
The current building was preceded by an earlier town hall called ...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
, in 1980. An Irish-language version of the play has been produced. The play has also been translated into Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
by Elan Closs Stephens. The Welsh version has visited a number of venues in Wales and was first published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, under its Welsh title ''Torri Gair'' ("Breaking the Word"), in 1982. It is "a play about language and only about language", but it deals with a wide range of issues, stretching from language and communication to Irish history and cultural imperialism. Friel responds strongly to both political and language questions in modern-day Northern Ireland.
In 1970, American actor and director Sam Wanamaker
Samuel Wanamaker, (born Wattenmacker; June 14, 1919 – December 18, 1993) was an American actor and director who moved to the United Kingdom after becoming fearful of being blacklisted in Hollywood due to his communist views. He is credited a ...
founded the Shakespeare Globe Trust and the International Shakespeare Globe Centre, with the objective of building a faithful recreation of Shakespeare's Globe close to its original location at Bankside, Southwark. Shakespeare's Globe opened to the public in 1997. Performances are engineered to duplicate the original environment of Shakespeare's Globe; there are no spotlights, plays are staged during daylight hours and in the evenings (with the help of interior floodlights), there are no microphones, speakers or amplification.
Radio drama
During the 1950s and 1960s, many major British playwrights either effectively began their careers with the BBC, or had works adapted for radio. Most of playwright Caryl Churchill's early experiences with professional drama production were as a radio playwright and, starting in 1962 with ''The Ants'', there were nine productions with BBC radio drama up until 1973 when her stage work began to be recognised at the Royal Court Theatre. Joe Orton's dramatic debut in 1963 was the radio play ''The Ruffian on the Stair'', which was broadcast on 31 August 1964.[Tim Crook, "International radio drama"](_blank)
/ref> Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and polit ...
's "first professional production was in the fifteen-minute ''Just Before Midnight'' programme on BBC Radio, which showcased new dramatists". John Mortimer made his radio debut as a dramatist in 1955, with his adaptation of his own novel ''Like Men Betrayed'' for the BBC Light Programme. But he made his debut as an original playwright with '' The Dock Brief'', starring Michael Hordern as a hapless barrister, first broadcast in 1957 on BBC Radio's Third Programme, later televised with the same cast, and subsequently presented in a double bill with ''What Shall We Tell Caroline?'' at the Lyric Hammersmith in April 1958, before transferring to the Garrick Theatre. Mortimer is most famous for Rumpole of the Bailey a British television
Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection ...
series which starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an aging London barrister who defends any and all clients. It has been spun off into a series of short stories, novels, and radio programmes.
Other notable radio dramatists included Brendan Behan
Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ga, Breandán Ó Beacháin; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican activist who wrote in both English and ...
and novelist Angela Carter. Novelist Susan Hill also wrote for BBC radio, from the early 1970s. Irish playwright Brendan Behan
Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ga, Breandán Ó Beacháin; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican activist who wrote in both English and ...
, author of '' The Quare Fellow'' (1954), was commissioned by the BBC to write a radio play ''The Big House'' (1956); prior to this he had written two plays ''Moving Out'' and ''A Garden Party'' for Irish radio.
Among the most famous works created for radio are Dylan Thomas's ''Under Milk Wood
''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, commissioned by the BBC and later adapted for the stage. A film version, ''Under Milk Wood'' directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released in 1972, and another adaptation of ...
'' (1954), which was later adpated into the 1972 film starring Richard Burton and Glynis Johns, Samuel Beckett's ''All That Fall
''All That Fall'' is a one-act radio play by Samuel Beckett produced following a request from the BBC. It was written in English and completed in September 1956. The autograph copy is titled ''Lovely Day for the Races''. It was published in F ...
'' (1957), Harold Pinter's '' A Slight Ache'' (1959), Robert Bolt's '' A Man for All Seasons'' (1954), and Terence Rattigan's ''Cause Célèbre
A cause célèbre (,''Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged'', 12th Edition, 2014. S.v. "cause célèbre". Retrieved November 30, 2018 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre ,''Random House Kernerman Webs ...
'' (1975), which earned starring actress Glynis Johns a Variety Club Award for Best Actress and Laurence Olivier Award nomination.
Samuel Beckett wrote a number of short radio plays in the 1950s and 1960s, and later for television. Beckett's radio play '' Embers'' was first broadcast on the BBC Third Programme on 24 June 1959, and won the RAI prize at the Prix Italia awards later that year.
National theatres
From the 1840s there was a demand to commemorate serious theatre, with the "Shakespeare Committee" purchasing the playwright's birthplace for the nation demonstrating a recognition of the importance of 'serious drama'. The following year saw more pamphlets on a demand for a National Theatre from London publisher, Effingham William Wilson. The situation continued, with a renewed call every decade for a National Theatre. In 1879 the residency of the Comédie-Française at the Gaiety Theatre inspired further demands, including: a structure in the capital that would present "exemplary theatre"; that would form a permanent memorial to Shakespeare; a supported company that would represent the best of British acting; and a theatre school. A London Shakespeare League was founded in 1902 to develop a Shakespeare National Theatre and – with the impending tri-centenary in 1916 of his death – in 1913 purchased land for a theatre in Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions.
Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest ...
. This work was interrupted by World War I. Finally, in 1948, the London County Council
London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kn ...
presented a site close to the Royal Festival Hall for the purpose, and a "National Theatre Act", offering financial support, was passed by Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
in 1949.[Findlater, Richard ]
The Winding Road to King's Reach
' (1977), also in Callow. Retrieved 1 July 2008. In July 1962, a board was set up to supervise construction of a National Theatre on the South Bank site and a separate board was constituted to run a National Theatre Company and lease the Old Vic theatre. The Company was to remain at the Old Vic until 1976, when the new South Bank building was opened.
The theatrical landscape has since been reconfigured, moving from a single national theatre at the end of the 20th century to four as a result of the devolution of cultural policy. National theatre companies were founded in Scotland and Wales as complements to the Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...
in London: Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru
Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru is the Welsh language national theatre of Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to ...
(the Welsh language national theatre of Wales, founded 2003), National Theatre of Scotland
The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at h ...
(founded 2006), National Theatre Wales
National Theatre Wales (NTW) is a theatre company known for its large-scale site-specific productions and its grassroots work with diverse Welsh communities. It is the English-language national theatre of Wales, and refers to Theatr Genedlaeth ...
(the English language national theatre company of Wales, founded 2009). Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru attempts to shape a distinctive identity for drama in Welsh while also opening it up to outside linguistic and dramatic influences.
West End theatre
The West End of London
The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government build ...
has a large number of theatres, particularly centred around Shaftesbury Avenue
Shaftesbury Avenue is a major road in the West End of London, named after The 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. It runs north-easterly from Piccadilly Circus to New Oxford Street, crossing Charing Cross Road at Cambridge Circus. From Piccadilly ...
.
''West End theatre'' is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
's "Theatreland".[Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195. .] Along with New York's Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''T ...
, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking
Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...
world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...
activity in London.
A prolific composer of musical theatre in the 20th century, Andrew Lloyd Webber has been referred to as "the most commercially successful composer in history".[Sondheim and Lloyd-Webber: the new musical]
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''.. referred to Andrew Lloyd Webber as "the most commercially successful composer in history" His musicals have dominated the West End for a number of years and have travelled to Broadway in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and around the world as well as being turned into film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...
s. Lloyd Webber's musicals originally starred Elaine Paige, who with continued success has become known as the First Lady of British Musical Theatre.BBC - Radio 2 - Elaine Paige
'' BBC Radio''
See also
* Theatre of Scotland
* Theatre of Wales
* Theatre of Ireland
*List of theatres in the United Kingdom
The following is a list of active professional theatres and concert halls in the United Kingdom. They are organised alphabetically in name order.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Z
...
References
{{Europe topic, Theatre of, GR=Modern Greek theatre