Overview
Explores the contribution that amateur dramatic companies make to the experience and representation of community life
Offers a detailed account of the processes of making amateur theatre, locating contemporary practice in an historical context
Captures a new era of amateur creativity and the twenty-first century amateur turn
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Table of contents (9 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
Reviews
“This study is a hugely satisfying read, both critical and timely … . The book is both theoretically rich and immensely readable, and it will, I am sure, be a spur to many to take up its challenge; to not only pay more attention to the histories and present practices of amateur theatre, but to begin to look critically at the value hierarchies that dominate the theatre studies discipline more widely as a consequence.” (Liz Tomlin, Journal of Contemporary Drama in English, Vol. 8 (2), 2020)
“At last! A detailed, profound study which elucidates amateur theatre's unrecognised status in the UK by approaching it hands-on. This readable book analyses the contribution made by Amateur Theatre to the contemporary cultural economy and sheds a spotlight on its significance as a creative practice. It describes us as cultural omnivores, devouring every scrap of theatrical possibility and keeping the flame of new writing burning quietly until it enters, or re-enters the national repertoire. Officialdom is urged to pay attention to this excellent book, which shows how Amateur Theatre is a force for good.” (Jo Matthews, The Questors, Ealing and The Little Theatre Guild)
“This book shines a much-needed spotlight on the world of amateur theatre. It demonstrates that the art of theatre making belongs to everyone, and reminds us amateur theatre is where many of us fell in love with making and watching theatre in the first place. In learning about the UK's estimated one million amateur theatre makers, you quickly learn that theatre is much more than a profession or an industry. You find theatre making answers a very human need to gather together, to tell stories, to pretend, to show off, to act out what it means to be human beings. And the desire to perform unpaid, against the odds, often on limited resources, while juggling busy lives, demonstrates the power of a theatre as an art form that speaks to us whoever we are.” (Ian Wainwright, Producer, Royal Shakespeare Company Open Stages)
Authors and Affiliations
About the authors
Nadine Holdsworth is Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Warwick, UK. She has written Joan Littlewood’s Theatre (2011), Theatre & Nation (2010) and Joan Littlewood (2006), edited Theatre and National Identity (2014), and co-edited a special issue of Contemporary Theatre Review on amateur theatre (2017).
Jane Milling is Associate Professor of Drama at the University of Exeter, UK. She has co-authored Devising Performance (2005/2015), Modern British Playwrighting: the 1980s (2012), and co-edited The Cambridge History of British Theatre: Volume 1 (2004) and Extraordinary Actors (2004).
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Ecologies of Amateur Theatre
Authors: Helen Nicholson, Nadine Holdsworth, Jane Milling
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50810-2
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-137-50809-6Published: 05 November 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-50810-2Published: 26 October 2018
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XII, 343
Number of Illustrations: 13 b/w illustrations
Topics: Theatre and Performance Studies