The Theatre and Films of Jez Butterworth

Jez Butterworth is the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful new British dramatist of the 21st century: his acclaimed play Jerusalem has had extended runs in the West End and on Broadway. This book is the first to examine Butterworth's writings for stage and film and to identify how and why his work appeals so widely and profoundly. It examines the way that he weaves suspenseful stories of eccentric outsiders, whose adventures echo widespread contemporary social anxieties, and involve surprising expressions of both violence and generosity.

This book reveals how Butterworth unearths the strange forms of wildness and defiance lurking in the depths and at the edges of England: where unpredictable outbursts of humour highlight the intensity of life, and characters discover links between their haunting past and the uncertainties of the present, to create a meaningful future. Supplemented by essays from James D. Balestrieri and Elisabeth Angel-Perez, this is a clear and detailed source of reference for a new generation of theatre audiences, practitioners and directors who wish to explore the work of this seminal dramatist.

Autorentext

David Ian Rabey is Professor of Drama and Theatre Studies at Aberystwyth University, UK. His writing includes Howard Barker: Politics and Desire (1989, 2009), Howard Barker: Ecstasy and Death (2009), English Drama Since 1940 (2003), David Rudkin: Sacred Disobedience (1997); as co-editor, Theatre of Catastrophe (with Karoline Gritzner, 2006) and Howard Barker's Art of Theatre (with Sarah Goldingay, 2012).

Inhalt

Acknowledgments
References and Abbreviations
A Prologue, with questions: 'The isle is full of noises...'

1. Fairy Tales of Hard Men
2. Mojo, Birthday Girl: What Will Happen?
   Mojo: Shakin' All Over
   Birthday Girl: The brave, and the reasonable
3. The Night Heron: A Noose of Briars
4. The Winterling and Leavings: Becoming a Stranger
5. Parlour Song: Men Have Their Uses
6. JERUSALEM: The Keys to the Forest
7. Fair Game, The River: Hunter and Game
   Fair Game: Freedom and Security
   The River: Trophies of My Lovers Gone
8. Performance and Critical Perspectives
   Jerusalem in Gotham, or Butterworth on Broadway, by James D. Balestrieri
   Still Puzzling it Out: Jez Butterworth's The River: Puzzling as Process, by Mary Karen Dahl
   Butterworth's poetics of absence, by Elisabeth Angel-Perez
9. Inconclusion: Burn the Plans
   Notes
   Chronology
   Bibliography
   Notes on Contributors
   Index