Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction: Amateur Theatre and History Chapter 1: ‘A Theatrical Revival on Democratic Lines’: Drama and the People after the Great War Chapter 2: 'A Co-operative Community Effort': Educational Settlement Theatre Chapter 3: Social Control or Self-expression? Amateur Drama and the Unemployment Crisis Chapter 4: Competitions, Festivals, Politics Chapter 5: ‘The Terribly Urgent Struggle’: The Left Book Club Theatre Guild 1936-39 Chapter 6: ‘A Remarkable Revival in Dramatic Work and Interest’: Amateur Drama during the Second World War Conclusion: The Contribution of Theatre with a Purpose Notes Bibliography Index

Promotional Information

A new evaluation of amateur theatre and social action between 1919 and 1949.

About the Author

Don Watson is an independent historian based in North East England. His previous publications include Squatting in Britain 1945-1955: Housing, Politics, and Direct Action (2016) and No Justice Without A Struggle: The National Unemployed Workers’ Movement in the North East of England 1920-1940 (2014). He has been contributing to historical journals for more than thirty years.