Beyond the Fringe: early days of alternative theatre
Wednesday 6th March 2013
PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE FROM PROGRAMME: Lecture Theatre 8W 1.1
Fringe theatre has become a familiar and comfortable part of our artistic landscape, but this is a relatively recent phenomenon, and only began to gain wide currency following the revue Beyond the Fringe in 1960. This lecture looks at the roots of alternative theatre in Britain at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries when pioneers set out to challenge the drama mainstream. Many were politically as well as artistically motivated and used theatre to promote their causes, from colonial freedom to women's and workers' emancipation.
For more lectures, see the full GULP programme.
Prof Colin Chambers, Kingston University
Colin Chambers is the first Professor of Drama at Kingston University. He has been a journalist, including a theatre critic in print and on radio, and was Literary Manager of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1981-1997. He co-wrote Kenneth's First Play and Tynan with Richard Nelson, both of which were produced by the RSC, and he selected and edited John Maddison Morton's Three Farces, which were staged at the Orange Tree Theatre. His books include The Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre (editor), The Story of Unity Theatre, Peggy (the award-winning biography of play agent Margaret Ramsay), Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company, Here We Stand and Black and Asian Theatre in Britain: A History.