Description
Analyses appropriations of King Lear in post-war British drama
- Provides the first dedicated study on appropriations of King Lear in British playwriting of the post-war, developing valuable new perspectives on the legacy of Shakespeare in post-war drama and culture.
- Features original case studies on Edward Bond, David Rudkin, Howard Barker, Sarah Kane, Forced Entertainment and Dennis Kelly.
- Situates appropriations of King Lear in a wider literary, theatrical and philosophical discourse around the play and the Holocaust.
- Brings Shakespeare and post-war British drama into conversation with Continental philosophy and theory.
Since the events of the Holocaust, playwrights have variously appropriated King Lear to respond to the catastrophes of modern times. With case studies on the works of Edward Bond, David Rudkin, Howard Barker, Sarah Kane, Forced Entertainment and Dennis Kelly, the book explores a range of theatres of catastrophe in post-war British drama and the role that Lear has played in new forms of post-Holocaust tragedy and tragic freedom. Plays are situated in a wider critical and cultural discourse around Shakespeare and the Holocaust and the post-Auschwitz philosophical aesthetics of Theodor Adorno, whose influence on post-war playwriting remains profound.
Author: Richard Ashby
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Published: 08/25/2022
Pages: 344
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.07lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.72d
ISBN13: 9781474477994
ISBN10: 1474477992
BISAC Categories:
- Literary Criticism | Shakespeare
- Literary Criticism | Drama
- Literary Criticism | Renaissance
About the Author
Dr Richard Ashby obtained his PhD from Royal Holloway, University of London and is now a Visiting Research Fellow at Senate House Library and an Honorary Research Associate at Royal Holloway, University of London. His research concentrates on the afterlives of Shakespeare and other early modern writers and dramatists, particularly in periods of crisis and catastrophe. He has published articles in Shakespeare, Textual Practice, Adaptation, Contemporary Theatre Review, Cahiers ĂlisabĂ©thains and Comparative Drama and has spoken at various national and international conferences. He is currently working on the presence and meanings of Shakespeare in Holocaust testimony.