Anglo-American Stage and Screen Drama The Post-Democratic World Order

Anglo-American Stage and Screen Drama analyses and discusses the contemporary role of stage and screen drama as a critical forum for progressive thinking in an increasingly polarised geopolitical world. The book addresses the cultural politics of socially engaged 21st century stage plays and films, and makes the case for drama as a sociopolitical forum, in which the complex and contentious issues that confront society can be explored and debated. It conceives of Anglophone political drama as a significant intervention in today’s culture wars,  representing the latter as a convenient distraction from the ongoing depredations of neoliberalism. In the main part of the book selected case-study plays and films from each of the first two decades illustrate drama’s capacity to influence critical debate on social justice issues. All of the case-study texts under discussion express a powerful aesthetics of resistance to right-wing ideology, and promote inclusive and enlightened values. This broader orientation underlines drama’s role as a channel for critical agency in today’s putative post-socialist, post-democratic climate.

Introduction:Anglophone Drama in a Post-Democratic, Post-Truth World.- Chapter 1. Western Theatre as Sociopolitical Forum—A Short History.- Chapter 2. Progressive Western Cinema.- Chapter 3. Case-study Films and Plays from the First Decade.- Chapter 4. Case-study Films and Plays from the First Decade.- Chapter 5. Case-study Films and Plays from the Second Decade.-Chapter 6. Case-study Films and Plays from the Second Decade.- Conclusion: Progressive Drama and its Potentialities

Mike Ingham is Adjunct Professor of English Studies in the English Department at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and a dedicated tertiary teacher and former teacher-trainer. His research interests include stage and screen drama, Shakespeare studies, Hong Kong literature in English, and drama in education. Mike is also a founder member of Theatre Action, a Hong Kong-based drama group specialising in action research on literary dramatic texts. Previous monograph publications include Staging Fictions - The Prose Fiction Stage Adaptation as Social Allegory (2004), Hong Kong - A Cultural and Literary History (2007), Stage-play and Screen-play: The Intermediality of Theatre and Cinema (2017) and The Intertextuality and Intermediality of the Anglophone Popular Song (2022). He has also produced journal articles and book chapters on adaptation for stage and screen, early modern drama, documentary and feature film in Asian and Western contexts, and drama pedagogy.