ABSTRACT
Traditional productions, novel reinterpretations, brave new works, lively musicals and pantomime are all elements of contemporary British theatre. More specialised training can be found in drama schools; among the best known are the Royal Academy for Dramatic Art (RADA), the Royal Central School for Speech and Drama, and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Theatres without a licence could only offer musical shows, and to avoid problems with the law, lively dramas of crime, violence, sadism and seduction were combined with background music. Censorship remained unchanged until 1968, when, at a time of reform and more permissive attitudes, the Theatres Act abolished censorship of the stage in the UK. Tom Stoppard is one of the most consistently successful and critically acclaimed playwrights of British theatre. It shows how people try to make sense of a chaotic world, and how difficult this is when realities are always multiple, and truth always relative.
