This book gives an in-depth and invigorating analysis of reflexivity in recent British drama - the way drama comments on drama. The interplay of dramatic forms, the cross-fertilization of historical traditions are explored in relation to major contemporary authors and theatrical practices. When drama takes itself as its own object of study it paradoxically highlights the most vital issues of its time. Key questions are raised about the nature of theatricality in play-writing and performance in this the first full-length treatment of the subject.

This collection of essays covers the related areas of aesthetics and politics, both in the field of theatre and in everyday life. Each contributor seeks to illustrate how drama subverts the foundations of the accepted models of perception and how it mediates on its own conventions.

This book gives an in-depth and invigorating analysis of reflexivity in recent British drama - the way drama comments on drama. The interplay of dramatic forms, the cross-fertilization of historical traditions are explored in relation to major contemporary authors and theatrical practices. When drama takes itself as its own object of study it paradoxically highlights the most vital issues of its time. Key questions are raised about the nature of theatricality in play-writing and performance in this the first full-length treatment of the subject.

Drama explores the tensions between the real and the ideal, between the desires of men and the laws of the gods, between individual freedom and repressive systems. Breaking the rules is a vocation equally shared by the tragic hero an the comic spirit. Challenging established values, questioning ready-made assumptions and subverting representational codes is the purpose of art.
The essays collected in this special issue of Contemporary Theatre Review cover the related areas of aesthetics and politics, both on the stage of the world and in the world of the stage. Each contributor illustrates how drama subverts the foundations of accepted models of perception and how it mediates on its own conventions. Contributors include Nicole Boireau & Wolfgang Lippke, Margaretta D'Arcy & John Arden, MaryBeth Inverso, John Elsom, Georges Bas, Ruth Freifrau von Ledebur, Christine Dymkowski, Monique Prunet, Christa Velten, Nicole Vigouroux-Frey and Albert-Rainer Glaap.