ABSTRACT
This is a thoughtful and erudite study which approaches the subject of Brecht's influence on certain contemporary British playwrights with an enthusiasm for political theatre that is noticeably lacking in present day Britain. The author's outsider status as an American academic enables her to view the British theatre scene dispassionately. However, whilst there is a distinct clarity and objectivity throughout the book this is constantly offset by the deliberate imposition of the author's own subjective voice. It is a voice that makes a refreshing change from that characteristic of much Brecht criticism to date, neither self congratulatory nor self important; it is simply honest and unafraid in its assertion that the author's own socialist convictions will illuminate the entire work.
