Theatres of War: Contemporary Perspectives

Why do so many writers and audiences turn to theatre to resolve overwhelming topics of pain and suffering? This collection of essays from international scholars reconsiders how theatre has played a crucial part in encompassing and preserving significant human experiences.

Plays about global issues, including terrorism and war, are increasing in attention from playwrights, scholars, critics and audiences. In this contemporary collection, a gathering of diverse contributors explain theatre’s special ability to generate dialogue and promote healing when dealing with human tragedy.

This collection discusses over 30 international plays and case studies from different time periods, all set in a backdrop of war. The four sections document British and American perspectives on theatres of war, global perspectives on theatres of war, perspectives on Black Watch and, finally, perspectives on The Great Game: Afghanistan. Through this, a range of international scholars from different disciplines imaginatively rethink theatre’s unique ability to mediate the impacts and experiences of war.

Featuring contributions from a variety of perspectives, this book provides a wealth of revealing insights into why authors and audiences have always turned to the unique medium of theatre to make sense of war.

Lauri Scheyer is Xiaoxiang Scholars Program Distinguished Professor, Director of the British and American Poetry Research Center, and Co-editor of Journal of Foreign Languages and Cultures at Hunan Normal University, China. She directed the British Council International Videoconference on The Great Game: Afghanistan, and co-directed (with Professor Robert Eaglestone of Royal Holloway University of London) the British Council International Videoconferences on Black Watch and the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the British Slave Trade. She publishes widely on topics relating to art as social and political action. Her books include Slave Songs and the Birth of African American Poetry, The Heritage Series of Black Poetry, and A History of African American Poetry.