The Cambridge Companion to British Theatre of the First World War

The first comprehensive guide to British theatre's engagement with the First World War over the last century.

Helen E. M. Brooks (Edited by), Michael Hammond (Edited by)

9781108481502, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 October 2023

300 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 2.1 cm, 0.58 kg

'Helen Brooks' and Michael Hammond's Companion to Theatre of the First World War is a significant milestone in critical scholarship on British theatre and the First World War. The Companion brings together fifteen expert scholars who range widely over the topic, and collectively remind us of the importance of remembering 'ordinary' people's lives during wartime. The essays in the Companion offer original and thoughtful approaches to a period of European history all too often subject to kneejerk patriotism and pompous memorialisation. The Companion to Theatre of the First World War is about more than the Great War: it is a guide to the foundations of twentieth-century popular modernity.' Kate Newey, University of Exeter

This is the first comprehensive guide to British theatre's engagement with the First World War over the last century, from 1900 to the Armistice Day centenary in 2018. Considering theatre as both an industry and literary-cultural artform, it provides a contextual grounding in the prelude to the conflict and coverage of post-war plays as well as wartime performances. Lively chapters from leading scholars explore diverse genres and practices, from Shakespeare to melodrama, while focusing on topics including regionality, national identity, propaganda, commemoration, gender, censorship and international influences. Presenting original scholarship in an accessible and engaging manner, this Companion establishes theatre as a vital means of understanding wartime experiences, and a central feature in commemoration and remembrance.

Introduction: British theatre and the first world war Helen E. M. Brooks
Part I. Mobilising for War: 1. Foreshadowing the war: future war and invasion plays, 1900–1914 Ailise Bulfin
2. Mobilising the nation: the comic revue in wartime Robert Dean
Part II. Theatre During the War: 3. Challenging times: making theatre during the war Claire Cochrane
4. Everyone's a playgoer now!: theatregoing and theatregoers 1914–1918 Viv Gardner
5. Theatre in the war zone Emma Hanna
6. The classics at war Ailsa Grant Ferguson
7. War on the popular stage: 'spy' plays and the one act domestic comedy Maggie B. Gale
8. Cinema and theatre in the great war Michael Hammond
9. American invasions Philippa Burt
10. European theatre on the British stage 1914–1918 Eva Krivanec
11. Resistance and objection Anselm Heinrich
Part III: The Memory of War: 12. Reflecting on the war Rebecca D'Monté
13. Re-imagining the war Helen E. M. Brooks
14. Commemorating the war Rebecca Benzie
Chronology of events and productions
Further reading
Index.

Subject Areas: Theatre studies [AN]