In pursuit of a new theatre: the case of the Malvern festival

ABSTRACT

This article considers the impact of the not-for-profit motive promoted by radical campaigners of the New Theatre movement on accounts of British theatre history. Using the Malvern Festival (1929–1949) as a case study of similar ventures associated with the New Theatre movement, this article explores the ways in which influential figures involved with these projects have distorted narratives of theatre through their emphasis on the not-for-profit/commercial binary opposition. The correspondence between key collaborators in the Festival – Bernard Shaw, Sir Barry Jackson and the lessee of the Malvern Theatre, Roy Limbert – discussed in this article reveals the flaws in such narratives, contradicting previous accounts of the Festival. These letters reveal that Shaw and Jackson failed to adhere to their own condemnations of profitmaking as they struggled to reconcile this outlook with the reality of the Malvern Festival and more broadly the material conditions of theatre.

KEYWORDS:

• George Bernard Shaw
• twentieth century
• new theatre
• Malvern Festival
• Barry Jackson

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. I have not listed Shaw's puppet play, Shakes Versus Shav performed in Malvern in 1949, as it was not included in the official repertoire of the Festival. The play, however, was shaped by Shaw's involvement with Malvern.

2. In addition to inventive lighting and scenic capabilities, the playhouse only seated 464 people to provide a then uncommonly intimate theatre experience.

3. In a brief biography of Limbert, the Festival book for the 1929 season emphasised the co-founder’s achievements in the military; before his involvement with theatre, he served with the Bedfordshire Regiment between 1914 and 1919.

4. All the correspondence used is taken from the same location unless stated otherwise: The Barry Jackson Archive. The Library of Birmingham. MS 978, Box 23. Last names only will be employed after first reference.

5. This letter is addressed to Norton – a first name is not given.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Nottingham [International Research Excellence Scholarship].

Notes on contributors

Soudabeh Ananisarab

Soudabeh Ananisarab is a Lecturer in Drama at Birmingham City University. Her PhD thesis, which she completed at the University of Nottingham in 2017, explored the development of the Malvern Festival and Shaw’s involvement with this venture. She is currently completing her first monograph, examining Shaw’s relationship with the British regional repertory movement. In addition to her work on Shaw, she has also previously published on the dramatic writings of D. H. Lawrence and John Millington Synge and reviewed for the Theatre Notebook and International Yeats Studies.