This thesis is based on material from two sources : the drama, criticism and autobiography of Noel Coward (1899-1973), and the manuscript collection of the Lord Chamberlain's correspondence files on play censorship (1900-1968), currently held at the British Library. The critique proposes a common advocacy of anti-realist representation for the British public stage, particularly during the interwar period, and relates this characteristic form to the possibility of value production. Chapter One associates anti-realism with power, economy and advantage, but from the diverse perspectives of Coward's satire and censorship policy. The discussion is topical, comparing Coward's critiques of artistic and socio-cultural value with censorship criteria, and the function of stage censorship by a Lord Chamberlain. Chapter Two regards only the censorship correspondence on plays banned between 1900 and 1930. Files are presented to show the sponsorship of unrealistic ideals and suppression of subjectively social realism, which might `become' value; also, peculiar areas of `special' permission, or 'extra' licence, produced by censorship reasoning. This provides an historicalpolitical precedent, against which the radical import of Coward's interwar plays is traced in Chanter Three. Finally, Chapter Four applies the critical findings from the interwar, Coward-Chamberlain comparison, to the contention between the Lord Chamberlain and the Royal Court Theatre in the mid-nineteen sixties, concentrating on specific methods and consequences of reclaiming realistic representation. Appendix One lists plays banned 1900-1968, according to the censorship collection; Appendix Two lists private productions mentioned in the files.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:321445 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | Fox, Christine |
| Publisher | University of Sussex |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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