Skip to main content

Introduction: A Snowy Night in December

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Staging the Past in the Age of Thatcher

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Theatre and Performance History ((PSTPH))

  • 159 Accesses

Abstract

Pennino introduces the argument and theoretical framework for the rest of his study: that the British institutional playhouses of the 1980s and early 1990s offered an oppositional historical perspective to the heritage culture narrative promulgated by the Thatcher and Major Governments. The chapter contends that the history presented on stage depicted a larger and more diverse community that included traditionally marginalized voices than did heritage culture projects. It establishes a definition of history as a conversation between past and present and outlines the criteria for the plays/productions—those that directly engage with the events or literature of the British past—under investigation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ackroyd, Peter. 2013. Foundation: The History from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors. London: St. Martin’s.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amoko, Apollo. 1999. Casting Aside Colonial Occupation: Intersections of Race, Sex, and Gender in Cloud Nine and… Modern Drama 42 (1) (Spring): 45–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin, James, and Raoul Peck. 2016. I Am Not Your Negro (the script). New York City: Vintage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benjamin, Walter. 1968. Illuminations: Essays and Reflections, trans. Harry Zohn. New York: Schoken.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, Tony. 1995. The Birth of the Museum: History, Theory, Politics. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billington, Michael. 2007. State of the Nation: British Theatre Since 1945. London: Faber & Faber.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brecht, Bertolt. 1974. Brecht on Theatre, trans. John Willett. London: Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Churchill, Caryl. 1990. Mad Forest: A Play from Romania. London: Nick Hern Books.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • de Angelis, April. 2012. Caryl Churchill: Changing the Language of Theatre. The Guardian. September 7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jameson, Frederic. 1981. The Political Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Little, Ruth, and Emily McLaughlin. 2007. The Royal Court Theatre: Inside Out. London: Oberon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milling, Jane. 2012. Modern British Playwriting: The 1980s. London: Methuen.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Osipovich, David. 2006. What Is a Theatrical Performance? The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 64 (4) (Autumn): 461–470.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, Richard H. 1998. The Contemporary British History Play. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poore, Benjamin. 2012. Heritage, Nostalgia and Modern British Theatre: Staging the Victorians. Hampshire: Palgrave.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Riddell, Peter. 1989. The Thatcher Era and Its Legacy. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robins, Kevin. 1991. Tradition and Translation: National Culture in Its Global Context. In Enterprise and Heritage, ed. John Corner and Sylvia Harvey, 22–45. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shakespeare, William. 1999. Henry V. New York: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, Raymond. 1976. Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wohlfarth, Irving. 1996. Smashing the Kaleidoscope: Walter Benjamin’s Critique of Cultural History. In Walter Benjamin and the Demands of History, ed. Michael P. Steinberg, 190–205. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anthony P. Pennino .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Pennino, A.P. (2018). Introduction: A Snowy Night in December. In: Staging the Past in the Age of Thatcher. Palgrave Studies in Theatre and Performance History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96686-1_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics