Overview

The theatrical world Terence Rattigan built is vital but disturbing and uniquely constructed. His sentences are not impacted or fractured, and his plots usually obey a linear time sequence. Yet his realism isn't all that real. Though sentence by sentence, his dialogue sounds natural, the creative pulse behind it is idiosyncratic and self-lacerating. As a gay man writing at a time when homosexuality was a felony in the UK, Rattigan wrote at a skewed angle to his culture, making his plays at times easy to follow but hard to fathom. Terence Rattigan: The Playwright as Battlefield examines the ways in which Rattigan’s works turn their audiences into participants, encouraging intellectual independence and freeing them to make decisions for themselves as to the deeper meanings of the works. The playwright’s omission of outright explanations deepens the audience’s emotional commitment to the outcomes of the performance, and walks a fine line between restraint and invention. His works convey subtly and deceptively the cold obstinacy that thwarts our everyday actions in a way which that is felt viscerally by the audience. This book engages works from throughout Rattigan’s early and late career to examine the unique methods by which the playwright conveys meaning to various audiences within an ever-changing sociocultural context.

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9781498598736

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Reviews

Peter Wolfe, one of our most steadfast and discerning critics, repositions Terence Rattigan as a playwright who deftly anticipated `audience expectation' yet displayed `everyday regrets' that bespoke a profound inner loneliness. Wolfe argues convincingly that Rattigan is central to twentieth-century British drama. -- Nicholas Birns, New York University The recent surge of interest in the work of Terence Rattigan is well-augmented by Peter Wolfe's thorough re-appreciation of Rattigan's relevance to modern British drama. It was about time. 'Terence, the next generations hardly knew ye or your plays.' Peter Wolfe has done us all a favor with this necessary book. -- Terrence McNally

Author Information

Peter Wolfe is curators’ professor of English emeritus at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

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