Edinburgh Critical Guides to Literature
Series Editors: Martin Halliwell and Andy Mousley
This series provides accessible yet provocative introductions to a wide range of literatures. The volumes will initiate and deepen the reader's understanding of key literary movements, periods and genres, and consider debates that inform the past, present and future of literary study. Resources such as glossaries of key terms and details of archives and internet sites are also provided, making each volume a comprehensive critical guide.
Contemporary British Drama
David Lane
This book provides a critical assessment of dramatic literature since 1995, situating texts, companies and writers in a cultural, political and social context. It examines the shifting role of the playwright, the dominant genres and emerging styles of the past decade and how they are related.
Beginning with an examination of how dramatic literature and the writer are placed in the contemporary theatre, the book then provides detailed analyses of the texts, companies and writing processes involved in six different professional contexts: new writing, verbatim theatre, writing and devising, Black and Asian theatre, writing for young people and adaptation and transposition. The chapters cover contemporary practitioners, including Simon Stephens, Gregory Burke, Robin Soans, Alecky Blythe, Kneehigh Theatre, Punchdrunk, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Edward Bond, Filter Theatre and Headlong, and offers detailed case-studies and examples of their work.
Key Features
* The first book to examine contemporary British drama from the In-Yer-Face era (1995 - 2000) to the present day and track the changes and developments through this period
* Extended case-studies of Simon Stephens, Gregory Burke and Caryl Churchill and the last decade of new writing in Britain
* Focus on recent adaptation, including Kneehigh Theatre, Punchdrunk, Filter Theatre and Headlong
David Lane is a dramaturg, playwright and freelance lecturer. He w

David Lane is a dramaturg, playwright and freelance lecturer. Formerly the Literary Assistant at Soho Theatre and Writers' Centre, he now lives in the South West and works as a dramaturg with regional theatres including the Exeter Northcott, Bristol Old Vic, Theatre West and Theatre Royal Bath. He teaches at Goldsmiths College, Brunel, City University and Exeter University, and has received several commissions to write plays for young people.

Introduction; Chapter 1: In-Yer-Face Theatre and Legacies of the New Writing Boom; Chapter 2: Verbatim Theatre - The Rise of a Political Voice; Chapter 3: Writing and Devising - The Call for Collaboration; Chapter 4: Black and Asian Writers - A Question of Representation; Chapter 5: Theatre for Young People - Audiences of Today; Chapter 6: Adaptation and Transposition - Reinterpreting the Past; Conclusion; Student Resources; Index.