Faber & Faber

State of the Nation: Michael Billington

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Synopsis:

Michael Billington’s new book looks at post-war Britain from a theatrical perspective. It examines the constant interplay between theatre and society from the resurgent optimism of the Attlee years to the satire boom of the sixties and the growth of political theatre under Tony Blair in the post-Iraq period. Written by Britain’s longest-serving theatre critic, the book also offers a passionate defence of the dramatist as the medium’s key creative figure. It provides detailed evaluations of writers from Priestley and Rattigan to Bennett and Hare, questions established myths such as the notion that Look Back in Anger launched an overnight revolution in 1956 and charts the links between Thatcherism and the musical.

Controversial, witty and informed, State of the Nation offers a fresh and challenging look at the vast upheavals that have taken place in Britain and its theatre in the course of sixty turbulent years.

Tags:

Categorised as:

Music, Stage & Screen

Sub-categories:

Current Affairs; Theatre Books

Genres & Themes:

British Theatre; Culture; Modern Britain; Society

Awards & Prizes:

Theatre Book Prize - Winner