In-yer-face Theatre: British Drama Today

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Finally, it’s time for a publisher to spread the word. About a month after Neilson’s interview, Ian Herbert, critic and editor of Theatre Record, gave the expression “in-yer-face theatre” an enormous new lease of life, plugging several different variations of it in his ‘Prompt Corner’ column in Theatre Record. Happily, he chose the more direct “in-yer-face” formulation over the more staid “in-your-face”. His first foray was published in January 1996: “Last year’s in-yer-face theatre gets the welcome addition of in-yer-heart emotional commitment.” In the next issue, Herbert was talking again about “in-yer-face playwrights” and, anticipating critic David Nathan’s comment on Kane’s Phaedra’s Love, he also wrote: “it’s vital, engaged work, going on in tiny spaces where the actors are as likely to be in your lap as in yer face”. Even at an early stage, this style of experiential theatre was associated with small studio spaces. In March, Herbert was taking a historical perspective on the new young Turks, or — to give one of his preferred formulations — the “in-yer-face school”, commenting that veteran playwright Bill Morrison “was doing in-yer-face a decade or more ago”. a b Sierz, Aleks (2013). The Theatre of Martin Crimp (Seconded.). Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. pp.48–49. ISBN 978-1472517012. Spencer, Charles (24 May 2001). "Bleak but brilliant slice of modern British life". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 August 2012 . Retrieved 2 April 2021.

a b Sierz, Aleks (24 May 2012). Modern British Playwriting: The 1990s: Voices, Documents, New Interpretations. Great Britain: Methuen Drama. p.231-234. ISBN 9781408181331. 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". Ridley, P., & Sierz, A. (2009). 'Putting a New Lens on the World': The Art of Theatrical Alchemy. New Theatre Quarterly, 25(2), 109-117. doi:10.1017/S0266464X09000207 Funnily enough, in-yer-face theatre constitutes less of a rigid stylistic movement, and more of a cultural trend in 1990s Britain that saw the prevalence of similar works being produced at once. Some critics point to cultural events such as the AIDS epidemic or the aftermath of the Thatcher Era to explain the emergence of such anger in the art being made. Sierz, Aleks (March 2001). In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today. London: Faber and Faber Limited. pp.215–219. ISBN 0-571-20049-4.Another "mighty moment" that Sierz attributes to the development of in-yer-face theatre is the real-life murder of James Bulger, who was only two years old when he was abducted, tortured and killed by two ten-year-old boys in 1993. Sierz states that this was "arguably a key event" of 1990s culture. [6] Spencer, Charles (14 April 2006). "That kitchen sinking feeling". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009 . Retrieved 29 March 2021. Eyre, Richard and Nicholas Wright. Changing Stages: A View of British Theatre in the Twentieth Century. London: Bloomsbury, 2001. ISBN 0-7475-5254-1.

Taylor, Paul. "Rainbow Kiss, Royal Court Upstairs, London". The Independent . Retrieved 29 March 2021.Sierz also states that the murder "resulted in calls for the censorship of films, of television and of art works" [18] because "in 1994 the judge in the boys' trial explained the murder by speculating that they had been exposed to a violent video, ' Child's Play 3', this created a media storm which, I would argue, is the cultural context for the media uproar over Blasted". [6] Stephen Daldry at The Royal Court Theatre [ edit ] In-yer-face theatre has often been mistakenly categorised as being a 'movement' [43] [44] [45] which Sierz has disputed: [46]

Sierz, Aleks (2001). In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today. London: Faber and Faber Limited. p.47. ISBN 978-0-571-20049-8 . Retrieved 12 November 2020. Sierz, Aleks (24 May 2012). Modern British Playwriting: The 1990s: Voices, Documents, New Interpretations. Great Britain: Methuen Drama. p.233. ISBN 9781408181331.

A Brief History of In-yer-face Theatre

Eldridge, David (2014). 'Serving It Up' & 'A Week With Tony' . Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. p.162. ISBN 978-1-4081-7630-6. Sierz, Aleks (March 2001). In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today. London: Faber and Faber Limited. pp.210–214. ISBN 0-571-20049-4. The Life of Stuff and In-Yer-Face Theatre – Theatre503 The Life of Stuff and In-Yer-Face Theatre – Book online or call the box office 020 7978 7040". theatre503.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 . Retrieved 31 May 2017. Holden, Nicholas (17 October 2011). "Chapter 2: "In the Pursuit of New Writers": The Royal Court Young Peoples' Theatre and the Development of First-Time Playwrights in the 1990s". In Boles, William C. (ed.). After In-Yer-Face Theatre: Remnants of a Theatrical Revolution. Palgrave Macmillan. pp.27–29. ISBN 978-3-030-39426-4.