New British Drama in 15 Scenes

This is a wide-ranging account of new writing in British theatre during the 2010s, written in a boldly experimental style. A guide to the key plays and dramatic innovations, it enlightens, amuses and provokes in equal measure. Across 15 chapters, each written in a different form, it takes the reader on an engaging tour of new drama in British theatre from 2010 until the arrival of COVID -19. It features mega hits such as Fleabag and Matilda the Musical, as well as accounts of some 250 completely new plays which premiered in those years, all arranged in sections that speak to to some of the big concerns of the decade. Subjects covered by the plays include social issues, politics, Brexit, dystopias, experimental theatre, family, gender, race, history, adaptations and the West End. Bold and experimental in format, each chapter assumes a different voice and literary style to bring a decade of drama into sharp relief: these include dialogues, monologues, a diary, a listings magazine, an experimental A to Z, informal notes, quotations from real-life interviews, a documentary script and a memoir. The variety of perspectives mirrors the richness of our contemporary culture and the innovations in theatre form that are a hallmark of current creativity.