Product Description

Michael Billington's new book looks at post-war Britain from a theatrical perspective. It examines the constant interplay between theatre and society from the resurgent optimism of the Attlee years to the satire boom of the Sixties and the growth of political theatre under Tony Blair in the post-Iraq period. Written by Britain's longest-serving theatre critic, the book also offers a passionate defence of the dramatist as the medium's key creative figure. Controversial, witty and informed, "State of the Nation" offers a fresh and challenging look at the vast upheavals that have taken place in Britain and its theatre in the course of sixty turbulent years.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51410 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 416 pages

About the Author
Michael Billington has been theatre critic of the Guardian since 1971 and of Country Life since 1986. He is the author of biographies of Harold Pinter and Peggy Ashcroft, and critical studies of Tom Stoppard and Alan Ayckbourn, and frequently lectures and broadcasts on the arts.

Customer Reviews

The theatre, but much, much more
I've just finished this awesome book, which has kept me pleasantly occupied on a wet and windy weekend in England. Billington's limpid prose makes this a real page turner, and is a timely reminder of just how rich and varied English theatre has been since the war. His summaries and commentaries on the plays are little gems in themselves, and one of the many delights of this tome is the discovery of little-known/played masterpieces which I shall endeavour to reacquaint myself with in the weeks ahead. More than this, however, Billington also includes a neat overview of 'theatre politics' in the period, and effortlessly links the history of the theatre with the various themes of the political history of post-war Britain. His left-wing sympathies might grate with some but are, for me, an additional bonus. Awesome.

Excellent and highly readable
As someone who finds Michael Billington's Guardian theatre reviews frequently illuminating and sometimes frustrating this is a fascinating book in which he has the time to develop at length his perspective on the social and political role of theatre which informs his theatre criticism. He has a blind spot about devised and movement-based theatre so lots of new theatre companies like Shunt, Improbable and Forced Entertainment pass him by and he is frustrated by the escapism of contemporary musicals so with the National Theatre full of devising companies and the West End full of musicals it feels at times as if the theatre world he is addressing is shrinking but the stuff he knows about he knows a LOT about and he is always worth paying attention to.

A fascinating read
Thoroughly enjoyed State Of The Nation. Billington is a good writer who cares passionately about theatre and, importantly, genuinely likes it. Recommended.