Re-Placing British Theatre: Class and Regionality on the Contemporary Stage

Abstract

In this thesis, I bring together discussions surrounding the London-centricity of the English theatre industry (in terms of the distribution of public subsidy and that of theatre venues, production companies and performances) with discussions surrounding the representation of human geography on stage in order to analyse a set of stage representations of regional England. I argue that the aforementioned London-centricity of English theatre production is mirrored in the performance texts that industry produces. This manifests in a tendency to represent regional England as viewed from the privileged position of the capital and for the benefit of an assumed metropolitan spectator. Through the analysis of nine theatrical productions which each engaged with one of the three regional locations—Nottingham (and the surrounding region of Nottinghamshire), Hull and Bristol—and which premiered during the timeframe of this research, I then seek to consider how contemporary playwrights and theatre-makers might be responding to dominant London-centric national spatial imaginaries. My primary focus is on regional, post-industrial cities. Much of the previous scholarship on the intersection between theatre, performance and the city has focussed on “global” cities or has otherwise sought to connect the cities (and performances) being discussed to a supposed globalised urban experience. In this thesis, I consider what might be gained from viewing these cities as regional, viewing the marginalisation of the post-industrial regions in “national” politics, economy and culture as being a key context to perceptions and experiences of these sites. I both explore how contemporary theatre-makers might be engaging with this dynamic of marginalisation and consider more broadly how theatre and performance might be contributing to ongoing processes of place identity negotiation.