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1 - Introduction

Political commitment and performative practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2011

Janelle Reinelt
Affiliation:
University of Warwick
Gerald Hewitt
Affiliation:
University of the Pacific, California
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Summary

Anybody who used to call themselves a Marxist now has fairly intense self-definitional problems.

David Edgar (1994)

He is an optimist who has been around.

John Peter (1994)

Of the distinctive voices in the contemporary British theatre, David Edgar’s provides the most comprehensive articulation of major political questions. His career spans more than four eventful and politically complex decades, and encompasses every variety of writing for performance, including agitprop and touring pieces; community plays; radio, film and television plays; and large-scale plays produced in major national venues such as the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. In addition, Edgar has maintained a high profile as a public intellectual, engaging in depth with a wide variety of political issues through newspaper opinion pages, journal essays, and book reviews, as well as via frequent public speaking engagements before a variety of organizations, including the Commission on Racial Equality; the Royal Society of Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce; the Fabian Society; and the annual Marxism conference. Thus, well beyond his own creative work, Edgar has been a central figure in British public life, particularly with regard to the relationships among the arts, government, and society.

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Chapter
Information
The Political Theatre of David Edgar
Negotiation and Retrieval
, pp. 1 - 34
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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  • Introduction
  • Janelle Reinelt, University of Warwick, Gerald Hewitt, University of the Pacific, California
  • Book: The Political Theatre of David Edgar
  • Online publication: 05 August 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511984723.001
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  • Introduction
  • Janelle Reinelt, University of Warwick, Gerald Hewitt, University of the Pacific, California
  • Book: The Political Theatre of David Edgar
  • Online publication: 05 August 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511984723.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Janelle Reinelt, University of Warwick, Gerald Hewitt, University of the Pacific, California
  • Book: The Political Theatre of David Edgar
  • Online publication: 05 August 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511984723.001
Available formats
×