Welcome

The group “Contemporary British Theatre – Barcelona” has as its main field of research the outburst of theatrical energy and creativity that has, since the mid-1990s, decisively contributed to widening the parameters of British theatre. Although it is never a straightforward matter to determine the point in time when a major cultural inflexion takes place, the moment around the premiere of Sarah Kane’s Blasted on 12 January 1995 does tend to stand out as pivotal. The media uproar that greeted Kane’s play focused attention on an emergent generation of playwrights who were writing what was perceived to be a new kind of raw, deeply disturbing play. By the end of the 1990s, this ‘in-yer-face’ sensibility was fading out, but the outburst of theatrical creativity certainly was not – new forms of theatre, new playwrights and new artistic directors have continued to take contemporary British theatre in fresh directions to the present day.

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The research group “Contemporary British Theatre – Barcelona” is formed by Dr. Mireia Aragay (director), Dr. Clara Escoda, Dr. Hildegard Klein, Dr. Enric Monforte, Ms. Verónica Rodríguez, Ms. Isabel Seguro and Dr. Pilar Zozaya. The group is currently conducting a three-year research project on “The representation of politics and the politics of representation in post-1990 British drama and theatre”, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (FFI2009-07598/FILO). A previous three-year project, “Contemporary English Theatre since 1995”, financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education (BFF2002-00257), focused mainly on ‘in-yer-face’ theatre produced in London from the mid-1990s onwards and resulted in the publication of the book British Theatre of the 1990s: Interviews with Directors, Playwrights, Critics and Academics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).