from Part II - Theatre during the War
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 October 2023
In August 1914, foreign plays, ensembles, artists and writers suddenly stood on opposite sides: those from allied countries and those from enemy states. The Pioneer Players were significant in presenting translated plays, especially from Russian and French to British audiences outside of the limitation of the Licensing Act, and for their exploration of continental aesthetic influences. This chapter picks key areas of dialogue with European theatrical culture and looks beyond the work of the Pioneer Players to the ways in which European influences were seen despite all obstacles on the British wartime stage. From the Grand Guignol season staged in French at the Coronet and the Garrick in 1915 to the production of three of Mozart’s operas by Sir Thomas Beecham in the years 1916/17 to French variety stars such as Gaby Deslys who haunted the British revues even where she wasn’t present herself. In relation to pre-war theatrical life in Britain, continental theatre was partially ‘muted’ for different reasons during the war but persisted in form of aesthetic influences and an awareness that British political and social issues had increasingly become international and had a large influence on the theatrical culture of the 1920’s.
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