National Identity and the British Musical

From Blood Brothers to Cinderella

Grace Barnes

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English

Methuen Drama
22 February 2024

Theatre Studies; Musicals; Musical scores, lyrics & libretti

National Identity and the British Musical: From Blood Brothers to Cinderella examines the myths associated with national identity which are reproduced by the British musical and asks why the genre continues to uphold, instead of challenging, outdated ideals.

All too often, UK musicals reinforce national identity clichés and caricatures, conflate ‘England’ with ‘Britain’ and depict a mono-cultural nation viewed through a nostalgic lens.

Through case studies and analysis of British musicals such as Blood Brothers, Six, Half a Sixpence and Billy Elliot, this book examines the place of the British musical within a text-based theatrical heritage and asks what, or whose, Britain is being represented by home grown musicals. The sheer number of people engaging with shows bestows enormous power upon the genre and yet critics display a reluctance to analyse the cultural meanings produced by new work, or to hold work to account for production teams and narratives which continue to shun diversity and inclusive practices.

The question this book poses is: what kind of industry do we want to see in Britain in the next ten years? And what kind of show do we want representing the nation in the future?

By: Grace Barnes
Imprint: Methuen Drama
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781350243576
ISBN 10: 1350243574
Pages: 268
Publication Date: 22 February 2024
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Say It's Just a Show: The Musical as a British Cultural Artefact 2. ‘Kyan Wait to get to Inglan’: National Identity and the British Musical 3. Solidarity Forever!: Depictions of the Class Divide 4. Too Many Years Lost in His Story: The Absent Female Voice 5. A Cat So Clever: Andrew Lloyd Webber and the Reinvention of the British Musical 6. I Can Smile at the Old Days: Nostalgia and the British Musical 7. We Can Turn Over and Start Again…: The Way Forward Selected Bibliography

Grace Barnes is an independent scholar, director/playwright who has worked as an associate or resident director on productions of My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, The Threepenny Opera, Into the Woods, Sunset Boulevard, The Witches of Eastwick, Martin Guerre, West Side Story and Guys and Dolls in the UK, Germany and Australia. She is the author of Her Turn on Stage (2015).

Reviews for National Identity and the British Musical: From Blood Brothers to Cinderella

This clearly written and robustly argued new book … provides an excellent overview of the relationship between musicals and our sense of ourselves as a country. Highly knowledgeable and thoroughly researched. -- Aleks Sierz