In-yer-face Theatre: British Drama Today

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It might seem strange to attribute so much time and effort to in-yer-face theatre, given that the movement—in contrast to the rest of the history of drama—is a flash in the pan. So what is its legacy? Or, to be more frank: why should we care? Sierz has stated that "the idea of writing a book about in-yer-face theatre was originally Ian Herbert's" as he originally spoke about the concept to Peggy Butcher, who was the drama editor of Faber and Faber. Herbert also decided to name the book 'In-Yer-Face Theatre' and was asked by Butcher to write an outline for it. However, Herbert was unable to provide an outline, jokingly stating that "I realised that [writing] a book would mean actual work, something to which I am not accustomed." Sierz however states that Herbert "was too busy to embark on a book" due to his many work commitments. As a result Herbert pulled out of writing the book and told Butcher that it should be written by Sierz instead because his "interest in new writing at the time made [him] an obvious candidate for the job". Early during the development of the book Sierz considered renaming it to Cool Britannia but Sierz says that this was vetoed by Butcher "on the grounds that in a couple of years no one would have any respect for that label - and how right she was." Sierz finished writing the book in January 2000, and it was published by Faber and Faber in March 2001 under the title In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today. [5] History [ edit ] Aleks Sierz's 'five mighty moments' [ edit ] Sierz, Aleks (March 2001). In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today. London: Faber and Faber Limited. p.36. ISBN 0-571-20049-4. In-yer-face theatre has often been mistakenly categorised as being a 'movement' [43] [44] [45] which Sierz has disputed: [46]

STR Events: February 2010 Lecture". str.org.uk. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 . Retrieved 31 May 2017. Sierz, Aleks (21 October 2015). Introduction. The Pitchfork Disney. By Ridley, Philip. Modern Classics (Reissueed.). Great Britain: Methuen Drama. pp.1–24. ISBN 978-1-4725-1400-4. In response to Trainspotting being performed at the Bush Theatre, critic Charles Spencer wrote that "You may not like these in-your-face productions; but they are quite impossible to ignore." Later that year when the play transferred to the West End, The Times's Jeremy Kingston remarked that the previous two productions of the play had brought "actors within inches of the audience, and such in-yer-face realism". a b Sierz, Aleks (2001). In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today. London: Faber and Faber Limited. pp.39–40. ISBN 978-0-571-20049-8 . Retrieved 12 November 2020.a b Sierz, Aleks (March 2001). In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today. London: Faber and Faber Limited. pp.90–107. ISBN 0-571-20049-4. a b Susan Hollis Merritt, Pinter in Play: Critical Strategies and the Plays of Harold Pinter (1990; Durham and London: Duke UP, 1995) 5, 9, 225–28, 326, citing Wardle. Sierz credits three events, which for him "suggested that the tide was turning and that an era of confrontation had come to an end", signalling the decline of in-yer-face theatre: [33] Spencer, Charles (14 April 2006). "That kitchen sinking feeling". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009 . Retrieved 29 March 2021.

In-Yer-Face? British Drama in the 1990s”. University of the West of England, Bristol.( 6–7 September 2002), Writernet 2003. (Conference report posted on writernet.co.uk, in both HTML and PDF versions). To answer your question, in yer face theatre did not first originated in sports journalism, but the colloquial expression ‘in your face’ was used for the first time by sports commentators, and that’s when the expression became popular. Later on, this new wave of British playwrights decided to use the term to describe their theatre, but the theatre itself didn’t originate in sports journalims at all!a b c d e f g h i j Sierz, Aleks (2001). In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today. London: Faber and Faber Limited. ISBN 978-0-571-20049-8 . Retrieved 12 November 2020. The theatre will never find itself again except by furnishing the spectator with the truthful precipitates of dreams, in which his taste for crime, his erotic obsessions, his savagery, his chimeras, his utopian sense of life and matter, even his cannibalism, pour out on a level not counterfeit and illusory, but interior. […] If theatre wants to find itself needed once more, it must present everything in love, crime, war and madness.’ Eyre, Richard and Nicholas Wright. Changing Stages: A View of British Theatre in the Twentieth Century. London: Bloomsbury, 2001. ISBN 0-7475-5254-1. This is why it’s easy to get wrapped up in the movement. The plays of in-yer-face theatre, even though they’re over a quarter century old, still feel fresh and brimming with energy. While the style might have gone out of vogue, there’s always joy to be found in the work of young, brilliant writers with anger on their minds (many of whom went on to enjoy amazing and varied careers). Plus, now that the critical hype/hate has died down, we’re able to more accurately appraise plays that may not have been given a proper go by audiences weary of all the eye-gouging. Conclusion

Sierz, Aleks (March 2001). In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today. London: Faber and Faber Limited. pp.42–43. ISBN 0-571-20049-4. If a play is good, it breathes its own air and has a life and voice of its own. What you take that voice to be saying is no concern of mine. It is what it is. Take it or leave it.’ Works Cited In-Yer-Face Theatre: A Contemporary Form of Drama Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis performed at the 2008 Edinburgh festival. Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian In-yer-face drama has been staged by new writing theatres such as the Royal Court, Bush, Hampstead, Soho Theatre, Finborough, Tricycle, Theatre Royal Stratford East, and even the trendy Almeida, all of which are in London. But experiential theatre is not an exclusively metropolitan phenomenon. The Traverse in Edinburgh was really important - as were Manchester, Birmingham, Bolton, West Yorkshire, and so on. Especially Live theatre in Newcastle. Of course, this is not an exclusively English or Brit affair either. Americans such as Phyllis Nagy, Naomi Wallace and Tracy Letts made a vital contribution to new writing in English - as did Scottish writers such as David Greig and David Harrower.

Works Cited

a b c d e Sierz, Aleks (2008). "1. 'we all need stories': the politics of in-yer-face theatre". In D'Monté, Rebecca; Saunders, Graham (eds.). Cool Britannia?: British Political Drama in the 1990s. Palgrave Macmillan. p.34. ISBN 978-1-4039-8813-3.