Nation and Race in West End Revue: 1910-1930

The London West End revue was a response to social, political, and cultural insecurities at the beginning of the twentieth century, combining satire, parody, social commentary, and critique with dance, music, design, theatre, and film to reflect and respond to the new lived experiences. It was acknowledged as a reflexive action and an evolving dynamic multidisciplinary performance model, influential across British culture.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 202 pages
Publication date: 02 August 2022
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG

London's West End revue emerged as a unique response to the escalating social, political, and cultural uncertainties that plagued Britain at the dawn of the 20th century. These insecurities, particularly related to Britain's colonial rule in places like Ireland, were further compounded by the growing demands for social reform across the nation. The call for women's emancipation, the expansion of labor and trade union movements, and the emergence of new lived experiences all contributed to a climate of mounting disillusionment. Revue sought to capture the immediacy of this uncertain world by employing a fragmented vocabulary of performance that blended satire, parody, social commentary, and critique at its core. It gained popularity for its ability to reflect and respond to the diverse range of new experiences that people were encountering. Multidisciplinary in its creation and realization, revue incorporated elements of dance, music, design, theatre, and film, drawing upon pre-modern theatrical forms, techniques, and styles such as burlesque, music hall, pantomime, minstrelsy, and pierrot. Experimenting with narrative structures, expressions of speech, movement, design, and sound, revue presented ambivalent representations that mirrored the social and cultural negotiations of previously essentialized identities in the modern world. Positioned within a wide and diverse cultural landscape at the turn of the century, revue was recognized not only as a reflexive response but also as an evolving dynamic multidisciplinary performance model that exerted significant influence across British culture. It displaced the romanticism of musical comedy by combining a satirical, listless detachment with a defiant sophistication that articulated a fading British hegemonic sensibility, a cultural expression of a fragile and changing social and political order.

Weight: 285g
Dimension: 210 x 148 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783030752118
Edition number: 1st ed. 2021