Theatres of the Left 1880-1935 (1985): workers' theatre movements in Britain and America - 5

First published in 1985, this book examines how workers theatre movements intended their performances to be activist - perceiving art as a weapon of struggle and enlightenment - and an emancipatory act.

An introductory study relates left-wing theatre groupings to the cultural narratives of contemporary British socialism.

The progress of the Workers' Theatre Movement (1928-1935) is traced from simple realism to the most brilliant phase of its Russian and German development alongside which the parallel movements in the United States are also examined.

A number of crucial texts are reprints as well as stage notes and glimpses of the dramaturgical controversies which accompanied them.