Contemporary British Musicals: 'Out of the Darkness'

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by Clare Chandler and Gus Gowland

The shortest runs can have the longest legacies: for too long, scholarship surrounding British musical theatre has coalesced around the biggest names, ignoring important works that perhaps aren’t given the critical insights they deserve.

Through academic interrogation and industry insight, this unique collection of essays recognizes these works, shining a light on their creative achievements and long legacies. With each chapter focusing on a different significant musical, the key hits of the 2010s are analysed and the development and evolution of the genre is explored.

Touching on key, hit shows such as SIX, Everybody's Talking About Jamie, The Grinning Man and Bend it Like Beckham, each chapter discusses different theatrical elements, from dramaturgy and musicology to reception, and also includes an interview with a practitioner related to each musical, providing in-depth understanding and invaluable practical and industry knowledge.

Through identifying intersectionality between industry insight and academic analysis, Contemporary British Musicals: ‘Out of the Darkness’ challenges the narrative that the British musical is dead : instead, creating a new historiography of the British musical that celebrates the work being created and providing a manifesto for the future of the genre.