Here is a basic reading list relating to the topics we get asked about most frequently. If you think we’ve overlooked something, we’d welcome your own suggestions too – email us at [email protected]

Max Stafford-Clark, the Royal Court and Directing

  • Taking Stock by Max Stafford-Clark and Philip Roberts (Nick Hern Books) – this can be purchased from Out of Joint shop at a special discounted price.
  • Letters to George by Max Stafford-Clark (Nick Hern Books) – this can be purchased from Out of Joint shop at a special discounted price.
  • The Royal Court Theatre and the Modern Stage by Philip Roberts (Cambridge University Press)
  • Inside the Royal Court Theatre by Gresdna A Doty (Louisiana State University Press)
  • Making Plays: Interviews with Contemporary British Dramatists and Their Directors by Duncan Wu (Macmillan Press Ltd, 2000)
  • The Royal Court Theatre Inside Out, by Ruth Little & Emily McLaughlin

April de Angelis, Caryl Churchill, Timberlake Wertenbaker and essays on Feminist Theory

  • Feminist Stages by Lizbeth Goodman & Jane de Gay (Harwood Academic – Performing Arts)
  • Feminist Theories for Dramatic Criticism by Gayle Austin (University of Michigan Press)
  • Contemporary Feminist Theatres by Lizbeth Goodman (Routledge, an imprint of Taylor & Francis Books Ltd)
  • Feminist Theatre and Theory by Helene Deyssar (Mcmillan Press Ltd)
  • Making A Spectacle: Feminist Essays on Contemporary Women’s Theatre edited by Lynda Hart (University of Michigan Press)
  • A Sourcebook on Feminist Theatre and Performance edited by Carol Martin (Routledge, an imprint of Taylor & Francis Books Ltd)
  • The Subject’s Tragedy: Political Poetics, Feminist Theory and Drama by Linda Kintz (University of Michigan Press)
  • Caryl Churchill by Elaine Aston (Northcote House Publishers)
  • Essays on Caryl Churchill edited by Sheila Mary Rabillard (Blizzard Publishing Ltd)
  • The Plays of Caryl Churchill by Amelia Howe Kritzer (Macmillan Press Ltd)
  • The Cambridge Companion to Modern British Women Playwrights eds Elaine Aston and Reinelt Janelle (Cambridge University Press, 2000)
  • Caryl Churchill Victoria D. Sullivan (Scribners, 1997)
  • Caryl Churchill: A Casebook ed. Phyllis R. Randall [Garland Publishing, 1998]

Sebastian Barry and Irish drama

  • Far from the Land: Contemporary Irish Plays by Daragh Carville et al (Methuen Paperback)
  • The Politics of Irish Drama by Nicholas Grene (Cambridge University Press)
  • British and Irish Political Drama in the Twentieth Century: Implicating the Audience by David Ian Rabey (Macmillan, 1986)

Mark Ravenhill and essays on censorship and homosexuality in theatre

  • Impertinent Decorum by Ian Lucas (Continuum Publishing Group)
  • Gay Voices in Contemporary Theatre by Brian Roberts (Continuum Publishing Group)
  • Out on Stage by Alan Sniffled (Yale University Press)
  • Stages of Desire by Carl Miller (Continuum Publishing Group)
  • In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today by Alex Sierz (Faber & Faber, 2001]

History of Political Theatre in Britain

  • State of the Nation: British Theatre Since 1945 by Michael Billington
  • Stages in the Revolution: Political Theatre in Britain Since 1968 by Catherine Itzin (Methuen, 1968)
  • Other Theatres: The Development of Alternative and Experimental Theatre in Britain by Andrew Davies (Macmillan Education, 1987)