Modern British Playwriting: The 1980s equips readers with a fresh assessment of the theatre and principle playwrights and plays from a decade when political and economic forces were changing society dramatically. It offers a broad survey of the context and of the playwrights and companies such as Complicité and DV8 that rose to prominence at this time. Alongside this it provides a detailed examination based on fresh research of four of the most significant playwrights of the era and considers the influence they had on later work. The 1980s volume features a detailed study by four scholars of the work of four of the major playwrights who came to prominence: Howard Barker (by Sarah Goldingay), Jim Cartwright (David Lane), Sarah Daniels (Jane Milling) and Timberlake Wertenbaker (Sara Freeman). Essential for students of Theatre Studies, the series of six decadal volumes provides a critical survey and study of the theatre produced from the 1950s to 2009. Each volume features a critical analysis of the work of four key playwrights besides other theatre work from that decade, together with an extensive commentary on the period. Readers will understand the works in their contexts and be presented with fresh research material and a reassessment from the perspective of the twenty-first century. This is an authoritative and stimulating reassessment of British playwriting in the 1980s.

JANE MILLING is Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Drama at the University of Exeter, UK.

General Preface by series editors Richard Boon and Philip Roberts
Acknowledgements

Introduction to the 1980s
Domestic life
Education
Culture
Media
Science, technology and industry
Political events

Theatre in the 1980s
Thinking about the recent past
Institutions, policies and funding
New writing and playwrights in the 1980s
Cultures of protest: issue as subject matter
Present pasts

Introducing the Playwrights
Crafting careers
Howard Barker
Jim Cartwright
Sarah Daniels
Timberlake Wertenbaker

Playwrights and Plays
Howard Barker by Sarah Goldingay
Jim Cartwright by David Lane
Sarah Daniels by Jane Milling
Timberlake Wertenbaker by Sara Freeman

Documents
Howard Barker: Interview with Jane Milling
Jim Cartwright: In His Own Words
Sarah Daniels: Interview with Jane Milling
Timberlake Wertenbaker: In Her Own Words

Afterword
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
Notes on Contributors