Synopses & Reviews
The Angry Young Men of the mid-1950s revolutionized British theater over the following decade. The revival of the theater was kickstarted by the staging of Becket's Waiting for Godot (1955) and John Osborne's Look Back in Anger (1956). Unleashing Britain looks at this seminal decade in British theater and its impact on the wider society. The ten years of British theatre that started with the British premiere of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (1955) and John Osborne's Look Back in Anger (1956) put Britain at the hub of the cultural map. Focusing on iconic productions of the time, this book relates those heady days in the performing arts to the fashion design, popular music, and style of the moment. This book recreates an era of constant flux, of a rebel spirit pushing the boundaries in every direction: on stage, in music, dance, and satire. Drawing on the Theatre Museum's rich archive this book celebrates a generation that reshaped British culture: Harold Pinter, Peter Hall on stage, Alan Bennett, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore beyond the fringe and the Beatles in the clubs. The results is a telling portrait of an a key period in the evolution of theater whose influence can still be felt worldwide.
About the Author
Jim Fowler is Head of Collections at the Theatre Museum, London.