Jonsonians: Living Traditions

by Brian Woolland (Editor)

Jonsonians explores the theatrical traditions within which Ben Jonson was working, investigates the ways in which his work has influenced and informed the development of theatre from the early 17th century to the present day, and examines Jonson's theatre in relation to 20th- and 21st-century traditions of performance. It argues that although Jonsonian traditions are rarely acknowledged, they are vibrant and powerful forces that are very much alive today in the theatre of writers and directors as diverse as Caryl Churchill, David Mamet, Spike Lee, John Arden, Alan Ayckbourn and Peter Barnes. The New Inn and The Magnetic Lady - each of which interrogates, in a variety of ways, the notion of Jonsonian theatre and considers the relationships of Jonson's theatre to classical traditions, to his contemporaries in England and Europe, and to modern performance practice and theory. The second section of the book includes essays on The Sons of Ben (including Richard Brome) Aphra Behn and Daughters of Ben (women working in the theatre in the post-Restoration period). Jonsonians, exploring how reading their work as Jonsonian might alter perceptions of contemporary theatre, and how seeing them as contemporary Jonsonians might affect our understanding of Jonson's theatre.

264 pages, Hardcover

First published March 11, 2004

About the author

Brian Woolland’s new novel, The Invisible Exchange , was published in July 2022. It’s a historical novel, set in the early C17th, and is the first in a proposed trilogy.

His first novel, Dead in the Water , an eco-thriller was published in July 2010.

He was a Senior Lecturer in theatre and drama at the University of Reading before resigning his post to develop a career as a writer, educator and theatre director. He has published extensively on theatre, film and educational drama. His book The Teaching of Drama in the Primary School , published by Longman’s (now Routledge), was in print for 15 years, before the publisher commissioned a substantially reworked new edition, which was published in 2009 by Pearson under the Longman imprint with the title Teaching Primary Drama .

He is the co-author and editor of Ben Jonson and Theatre , and has edited editions of The Alchemist and The Cherry Orchard for Cambridge University Press. Ben Jonson and Anton Chekhov are great passions of his.

He also works as a director and a playwright. His plays have been produced and toured in England, France, Spain and Germany. Five of these plays have been published – Gulliver, Away Games, Double Tongue, Stand or Fall and This Flesh is Mine. Double Tongue premiered in London, and was subsequently revived for a national and international tour. This Flesh is Mine is loose adaptation of Homer’s Iliad. It was first produced in a co-production between Border Crossings and Ashtar Theatre (of Ramallah, Palestine). It opened in London in 2014, and was revived in 2016, when it ran in repertory with a newly commissioned adaptation of The Odyssey, When Nobody Returns.

Brian’s play, Stand or Fall was commissioned by Playing for Time Theatre Company with the benefit of an Arts Council Award; and was performed in Winchester Prison in April 2008. It subsequently won a Koestler Award. It is published by Oxford University Press.