The thesis addresses the contrast between the popUlarity of plays with historical characters, i.e. characters that recognisably resemble historical figures, on the British stage and the lack of academic literature that deals with this issue. On the basis of such a practical observation, a working definition is established, in which the existence of such a characters, or the reflection about the process of life-writing are included, and the consequences of the use of biographical material are outlined. A crucial effect is the establishment of a very different relationship between the world of the play and the world outside the theatre in which it is produced and received. This question is discussed in the light of different theories that deal with the idea of reference and a functional approach that concentrates on the way in which different modes of reference, such as fact or fiction, are used is suggested. On this basis scripts and productions of biographical plays are analysed with regard to the way in which they present the relationship between themselves and the past lives they portray. In addition, comments by playwrights and practitioners are presented. The second section focuses on the reception of biographical theatre, establishing a theoretical model in which its particular features are described. It is then applied to the reactions of a small group of spectators who were interviewed about various biographical plays and to published reactions to life writing in the theatre. Finally the conclusions suggest that the questions that are raised in the particular context of biographical theatre go beyond this immediate field, as the relationship between performances and the world is of importance for all theatre. The theoretical and methodological framework that is established in this thesis could therefore contribute to other areas of theatrical research as well.

This doctoral project offers a politically-inflected renegotiation of the related notions of character and subjectivity as they are currently used in Anglophone theatre studies. It proposes to strategically rethink character as “any figuration of subjectivity in a theatre text or performance” so as to enable a less prescriptive inquiry into the theatrical forms and subjective figures that veer away from the liberal-humanist ideal. This understanding of character is deployed to re-route and politicise the reception of four contemporary British, script-led works that experiment with speech attribution – a heterogeneous textual strategy that has often been interpreted as offering “no characters”. Chapter One surveys the conflicting narratives on the crisis and death of character that have been generated in the last thirty years, setting the ground for this project’s redefinition of character as a malleable category. Chapter Two examines the theories of the subject of Judith Butler, Alain Badiou and Jacques Rancière, with a brief introduction to Louis Althusser’s theory of interpellation. Their conceptualisations of subjectivity can help theatre studies to disarm liberal-humanist preconceptions about the subject, and anchor inquiries about character on political grounds. Chapter Three examines three scripts concerned with the physical and psychic aspects of the subject, alongside several productions: Sarah Kane’s Crave (1998) and 4.48 Psychosis (1999), and Ed Thomas’s Stone City Blue (2004). This thesis contends that character in Kane’s plays outlines “non-individuated characters” that performatively refuse the regulatory norms that give intelligibility to the subject; the “dividuated” characters of Stone City Blue vindicate a fragmented, melancholic and relational definition of subjectivity. Chapter Four examines Tim Crouch’s ENGLAND in relation to collective character: figurations of the subject that spill over national boundaries and that are configured through practices.

This thesis contends that continuity is evident within British theatre design practice across the second half of the twentieth century despite the concurrent emergence of new performance spaces and revolutionary approaches to theatre making. During this period, British practitioners have been internationally commended for the standard of their work at the Prague Quadrennial, yet access to knowledge about the practice which has realised this success is limited: the individual approaches of theatre designers are largely undocumented and a critical discourse of theatre design has not been firmly established. Themes of continuity and change within British theatre design 1945 - 2003 are examined on the basis of evidence from 23 in-depth oral history life story recordings created with a representative sample of theatre design practitioners. These are analysed in combination with three existing life stories available at the British Library Sound Archive to encompass almost half a century of practice. The recordings uncover a rich web of otherwise undocumented knowledge and reveal threads of commonality across generations of the profession, tracking influences and shared values across the period. The relatively isolated nature of practice, which seldom brings theatre designers into contact with one another, is shown to add especial emphasis and importance to the influence of established practitioners during education and training. The lack of critical discourse and the inaccessibility of theatre designers' own reflections on practice is understood to have contributed to a situation in which attitudes and approaches remain largely unchallenged from one generation of the profession to the next. Oral history life story methodology offers an appropriate means to capture knowledge that exists otherwise only in an ephemeral form, redressing to some extent the scarcity of reflective analysis emerging from practitioners. The recordings created for this research have been preserved and made publicly accessible at the British Library Sound Archive, providing a resource for future research.

This thesis sets out to demonstrate that my published works represent a sustained, substantial, continuous and coherent research effort and an independent and original contribution to the literature in this field. Within the broad subject of twentieth century theatre practice, the thesis looks at my published works in two main and distinct but related sub-areas, the institution and the individual. It deals with my investigation of the ideological currents and tensions within British theatre practice, particularly in relation to differing interpretations of radicalism, focusing on major and representative examples of mainstream and alternative theatre.

This thesis is a case study following Peter Nichols' career from his first major stage play in 1967 to his announced retirement from the theatre in 1982, focussing primarily on his work at the National Theatre (NT) and Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and looking in detail at the following plays: A Day in the Death ofJoe Egg, The National Health, Beasts of England, The Freeway, Privates on Parade, Passion Play, and Poppy. A great deal of its research comes from Peter Nichols' personal papers, which the British Library acqUired in 1999. It also includes material from firstperson interviews conducted with Nichols himself, with the director Michael Blakemore, and with other theatre practitioners, Throughout the thesis, Nichols is treated not only as the author of a series of interesting plays, but as the centre of a network of relationships and an array of forces. Nichols' experiences at the NT and RSC therefore provide insights into the means of production at these/two companies during a key period in their development. This thesis also addresses the geographical, historical, and cultural scope that Nichols brings to his portrayal of the post-war Britain. Nichols' Britain is not 'white', nor is it restricted to the confines of a single island. Instead, his plays address both the outward spread of the British Empire and the arrival of immigrants from former colonies. Finally, this thesis examines Nichols' 'mixed' theatrical style, which draws on a variety of. theatrical (as well as cinematic and musical) sources, particularly genres such as pantomime and variety theatre which are not constrained by the conventions of 'naturalism'. Nichols' plays are therefore riddled with violations of the terms that have been tacitly agreed by performers and audience, and these violations are discussed throughout the chapters.

The focus of this thesis is the performance of African diasporic identities through a unique theatre emerging from the second and third generations of peoples and communities of the African Diaspora in Britain. The politics, the dynamics, articulation and representation of these identities on the British stage, forms a major part of this investigation, which also goes beyond the stage to comment on British society itself. The discipline of theatre and performance are appropriate vehicles to research the notion of African diasporic identity because they continue to be an essential part of any nation’s cultural discourse on who, what and why they are. Nadine Holdsworth argues that theatre at a basic level is: intrinsically connected to nation because it enhances “national” life by providing a space for shared civil discourse… Theatre as a material, social and cultural practice, offers the chance to explore histories, behaviours, events and preoccupations in a creative communal realm that opens up potential for reflection and debate. (2010, p. 6) The relationship between the current context of Britain and an emotional or physical link to Africa or the Caribbean and the negotiations that characterize that relationship underpin the examination of the constantly shifting diasporic identities in this study. The theatre coming from these African diaspora communities is exhibiting characters on the British stage that are a reflection of African diasporic individuals who are no longer agreeing to be confined to the margins of society by claiming their rightful place in the public domain, in the centre themselves. The theatre is reflecting that by beginning to move outside the confines of the margins. This investigation looks at a spectrum of African diasporic dramatists and theatre companies, examining how they use the theatre to explore the complex, multifaceted and subtly layered identities that the African in the diaspora has become, whilst revealing whether the current prominence of African diasporic dramatists in the mainstream is only perceived or confirm that indeed African diasporic identity has claimed the space to articulate being ‘here’ and also relating to ‘there.'

This thesis examines space within the context of scenography and investigates its presence as a theme exposing the unstable condition of identity. It does this by examining how 'national' identity has been presented through the medium of design on the stages of the UK's National Theatre during an era where identity is being used as a political tool. The 'new ideologies' of regionalism,multiculturalism and globalisation are identified as provocative catalysts that are expressed within selected designs and are seen as challenging fixed notions of identity. Influenced by Henri Lefebvre's Production of Space, the production of scenography is examined within this thesis by combining three perspectives. It sets up a dialogue which looks to reveal a 'code', which explains the space produced on stage, by considering the following: The three different Artistic Directors operating during this period (Richard Eyre, Trevor Nunn and Nicholas Hytner) and their intentions for the relevance of the institution. This is considered by comparing each Artistic Director's public mission statement about their direction for the institution with selected productions that they have personally directed when in this role Through interview with the designers who produced the scenography for these selected shows. And by re-examining reviewer reactions to the shows produced, where the selected productions are seen to be either challenging or reflecting national meaning. The criticism levelled at design is particularly focused upon within these reviews. Space is considered as a key theme within scenography as it has been identified by the scenographer Jaroslav Malina as a significant constant within this art form. The thesis concludes that design, the production of space on stage, is under acknowledged in wider theatre criticism but is nevertheless shown to be a significant aspect in the reading and composition of conveying 'national' identity upon the National Theatre's stages.

This thesis examines key developments in theatre design in Britain between 1935-1965 through the lens of the praxis of the design trio known as Motley (active 1932-78) and of theatre designer Jocelyn Herbert (1917-2003). Analysis of their roles in the creation of the four theatre productions that are used as case studies, Romeo and Juliet (1935), Three Sisters (1938), The Kitchen (1959 & 1961) and Happy Days (1962) enables an evaluation of the complex threads of influence on Motley and Herbert both from within the UK and from the USA and Europe. Furthermore, it offers a close study of their working process including their relationships with directors and playwrights considering not only what they designed, but how and why. Critical engagement with theatre design practice has increased since the early 1990s but there is still very little evaluative literature about British theatre design during the period of this study, 1935-1965. To date there are only three books and three journal articles that specifically cover the seminal designers Motley and Herbert so there is scope for a broadened analysis and contextualisation of their practice. One of the original contributions to knowledge of this thesis is that it assesses the confluence of influences on Motley and Herbert and draws together the threads of connections between British, European and American theatre and the ethos of Michel Saint-Denis illustrating how these fed into Motley’s and Herbert’s work. Whilst acknowledging the complexity of theatre practice and of reconstructing past events, this thesis assesses a combination of archival design material, such as set and costume renderings and sketches, as well as written texts, press reviews and recorded interviews, and draws on my own experience as a theatre design practitioner. The four case studies enable an in-depth investigation of Motley’s and Herbert’s processes and practice, the circumstances in which they operated and how they negotiated these conditions, as well as indicating how the role of the theatre designer developed across the period 1935-1965. In approaching the four case studies from the point of view of design the thesis contributes a new layer to their intricate histories. By emphasising the significance of the professionalisation of the role of the theatre designer during this time and by revealing the connections between Motley, the London Theatre Studio, Herbert and the Royal Court Theatre it expands understanding of the period and reinforces the substantial contribution of design to British theatre history.

This thesis argues that American experimental theatre practice was one key factor in the development of an important phase in the history of the alternative theatre movement in Britain during the period 1956-1980. The data for this thesis has been collected through interviews, archival work and a review of existing literature on post-war British theatre including the alternative theatre movement. The theoretical superstructure and modes of analysis build upon key concepts and theories in the work of Elizabeth Burns (1972) and Baz Kershaw (1992, 1999). The main historical developments or phenomena referred to are the activities of the experimental theatre groups associated with Jim Haynes, Charles Marowitz, Nancy Meckler and Ed Berman, four expatriate American theatre practitioners living in Britain during the time period 1956 1980. In addition this thesis examines important American based groups, Living Theatre (1947), Open Theatre (1964), La MaMa (1960) and Bread and Puppet (1965), which performed in Britain and which made an impact during the same period. The study also examines a wide range of indigenous British groups, Pip Simmons (1968), Foco Novo (1972-1989), Joint Stock (1974- 1989), as well as institutions, RSC (1961), Royal Court (1956) and individuals such as Max Stafford-Clark, Thelma Holt, John Arden, Anne Jellicoe and the Portable playwrights (1968- 1972) which in one way or another were influenced by American exemplars. It is important to state clearly that this study does not claim that American experimental theatre and performance practices were the only influence on this important phase in the history of alternative theatre in Britain. This study simply claims that prevailing themes as well as American experimental theatre groups and performance practices had a key impact which has not been properly acknowledged or examined by scholars. Such an examination will contribute to a more comprehensive and dynamic understanding of the forces which shaped the alternative theatre movement in Britain.

This thesis questions how theatre can act as a site of resistance against the political structures of madness. It analyzes a variety of plays from the past 25 years of British and Irish theatre in order to discern what modes of resistance are possible, and the conceptual lines upon which they follow. It questions how these modes of resistance are imbibed in the representation of madness. It discerns what way these modes relate specifically to the theatrical, and what it is the theatrical specifically has to offer these conceptualizations. It achieves this through a close textual and performative analysis of the selected plays, interrogating these plays from various theoretical perspectives. It follows and explores different conceptualizations across both political and ethical lay lines, looking at what composes the theatrical practical critique, how theatre can alter and play with space, how theatre capacitate the act of witnessing, and the possibility of re-invigorating the ethical encounter through theatrical means. It achieves this through a critical engagement with thinkers such as Michel Foucault, Henri Lefebvre, Jacques Derrida and Emmanuel Levinas. Engaging with the heterogeneity of madness, it covers a variety of madness’s different attributes and logics, including: the constitution and institutional structures of the contemporary asylum; the cultural idioms behind hallucination; the means by which suicide is apprehended and approached; how testimony of the mad person is interpreted and encountered.