Histories of British Theatre

Michael Billington, State of the Nation: British Theatre Since 1945 (Faber and Faber, 2007)

Aleks Sierz and Lia Ghilardi, The Time Traveller’s Guide to British Theatre: The First Four Hundred Years (Oberon Books, 2015)

Although very different books, taken together Michael Billington’s State of the Nation and Aleks Sierz and Lia Ghilardi’s The Time Traveller’s Guide to British Theatre provide a comprehensive introduction to the history of British theatre.  The Sierz and Gilardi book is intended for younger audiences, but has plenty of useful information for everyone.  It suggests that British theatre began in the Elizabethan era in the mid-16^th century (1558-1603), and then takes the story up to the mid-twentieth century.  Michael Billington starts his story in the mid-twentieth century and takes it up to the early 2000s.  Both books chart the ups and downs of British theatre over time, and make connections to wider social and political events. 

The Time Traveller’s Guide divides the history of British theatre into eight periods, and in each period offers short biographical sketches of some of the major players.

Elizabethan Theatre (1550-1603) (Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare)

Jacobean Theatre (1603-1642) (Ben Jonson, John Webster)

Restoration Theatre (1660-1714) (George Etherege, William Wycherley, Aphra Behn, William Congreve)

Georgian Theatre (1714-1780) (John Gay, (David Garrick), Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Regency Theatre (1780-1837)

Victorian Theatre (1837-1901) (Oscar Wilde)

Edwardian Theatre (1901-1918) (George Bernard Shaw)

Modern Theatre (1918-1955) (Noel Coward, Terence Rattigan)

Billington adopts a similarly chronological approach, although his time frames are obviously much shorter. 

Many common themes stood out as I read the two books.  There has always been a strong tension between top down ‘state subsidised’ theatre (initially royal patronage) and bottom-up commercial theatre, although there have also been lots of interactions.  This attests to the complexity of the process of putting on a play: it needs funding, a building (initially outdoors), scenery, lighting, actors, a director, a writer, critics, and above all an audience.  All of these elements need to come together for a play to be successful, and these elements have changed over time.  Another important theme is the importance of international influences on the history of British theatre.  At least three of the fourteen playwrights mentioned by Sierz and Ghilardi are Irish, and others (e.g. Wycherley, who spent time in France) were strongly influenced by continental trends.  Ibsen, Chekov, Brecht, Beckett, etc. all had an important influence on British theatre.  Billington’s book is structured on the idea that theatre both reflects and influences broader social and political trends, perhaps to a greater degree than other art forms.  This perhaps explains the importance of control and censorship (and its lifting) in the history of British theatre.  Another important theme is the relationship between popular theatre and ‘art’ theatre, which was particularly prominent, for example, in the 1980s. 

What does the history of British theatre have to do with religion, environment, and history?  These books have been holiday reading, and I was looking for something a little different.  But as I’m studying for self-supporting ministry in the Church of England, I’m becoming increasingly aware of its theatricality.  And lecturing ‘on stage’ obviously has some connections to acting and the theatre.  I’m also really interested in the idea of theatre as a social mirror.  Within this, there has frequently been a strong antagonism between the Church and Theatre, with Christianity often on the side of censorship (I’m sure there are some interesting books about the history of the relationship between theatre and religion, e.g. David V. Mason’s The Performative Ground of Religion and Theatre [2018]).  It would be interesting to spend some time reflecting with theatre people about what happens in a Church.