The Last Public Space: Understanding the Tension Between Politics and Drama in Contemporary British Theatre

Abstract

In the following interview, which took place on 26 November 2022 in Norwich, Hakan Gültekin talks to playwright Steve Waters about his theatrical universe and the current state of British Theatre. In the interview, the place of hope and truth on earth suffering from climate crisis is discussed through Waters’ double bill play, the Contingency Plan alongside mentions of other major contemporary plays and playwrights. The impetus behind this argument is to place contemporary political playwriting in its historical context. Steve Waters’ understanding of theatre as the last public space in the contemporary arts is also discussed. Steve Waters is a playwright working for the stage, radio and screen. Waters is also the author of Secret Life of Plays (Nick Hern Books, 2010) and A Life in 16 Films: How Cinema Made a Playwright (Methuen/Bloomsbury, 2021). His more recent works include Limehouse (Nick Hern Books, 2017), Temple (Nick Hern Books, 2015), Ignorance/Jahiliyyah (Nick Hern Books, 2012). Hakan Gültekin is an assistant Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at Artvin Coruh University in Turkey. He is the author of The Critique of Neoliberalism in David Hare’s Plays (Çizgi, 2021). He is currently a visiting postdoctoral scholar at the University of East Anglia in the UK.

Keywords

• Contemporary British Drama
• Political Playwriting
• the Contingency Plan
• Climate Crisis
• Steve Waters