Question of Class in Post-War British Theatre

This book is an analysis of the treatment of social classes and class consciousness with particular references to the works of the prominent exponents of the New Wave of British theatre. The study roughly covers the years 1956-1965, a crucial period in modern British dramatic history when once again the theatre took its position as a leading form of art and the British drama began to achieve an international reputation again. With post-war British society becoming polarized along the class lines, working-class realism, debates about class consciousness, class conflict and other topics related to social stratification moved on in a new and unprecedented way, and found a considerable coverage in the New Wave of the theatre. Even after the Socialist Labour Government, class walls remained virtually intact and class conflict permeated every section of the society in its most intense form. Naturally, the compartmentalization of the post-war Britain became a fertile hunting ground for the dramatists under discussion, who all happened to be young, disaffected with, and rebellious to hegemonic values and class walls determining whole societal system.