• The Resistible Rise of Isli-Crouch Upon-Thames:New Metropolitanism in New British Drama
• Graham Saunders (bio)

In 2003, I attended a performance of Euan Rose and Laurie Hornsby's musical Wallop Mrs Cox at Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Here I experienced something extraordinary. Set in the city's central market and shopping area known as the Bull Ring, Wallop Mrs Cox follows the life and times of Birmingham matriarch Emily Cox through a series of neo-epic scenes, taking us from the 1930s to the 1970s. The moment that had the most memorable effect came from words spoken by the narrator figure who suddenly announced: "1939: And Birmingham was at war." At the time I was struck both by how ridiculous the statement sounded and also admiration at the sentiments it expressed. Here was the city of Birmingham, UK, unapologetically putting itself at the epicenter of a national story. In fact, this air of exceptionalism became the watchword of the entire show, never more so than in the anthemic song Birmingham, with its rousing chorus "Birmingham / We're the city of a thousand trades / Forward in mind / Forward in heart / Every tomorrow is a brand new start/ In Birmingham/ Never pulling down the shades / We roll up our sleeves / Do what we can / Forward goes Birmingham."¹ As someone with family roots in the city going back to the 1920s and who has lived there on and off for over fifteen years, I understood something of the rapturous response the song received from the audience who filled the 900-seat main auditorium. Yet, at the same time, it was highly unusual to witness a theatre that commemorated and celebrated its city in such an unequivocal manner.

Wallop Mrs Cox was an unapologetic example of nostalgic popular theatre, and in part it fulfilled the remit for the sort of work that the [End Page 15] Birmingham Repertory Theatre was originally conceived to do in 1971: to serve a wide number of constituency audiences throughout the West Midlands. This meant that part of its work would inevitably seem parochial to audiences beyond the region. This issue is directly addressed in Trevor Griffiths' play Comedians (1975) in one scene when one of its aspirant comics, Gethin Price, expresses his admiration for the veteran Lancashire music hall comedian Frank Randall to the London-based agent Bert Challenor, who has come up to Manchester to see Price and the other comics perform. A former comic himself known as "the Cockney Character," Challenor had once played on the same bill as Randall.² However, he is critical of his Lancastrian counterpart, pointing out that geography limited his comic appeal:

Price:

What was he [Frank Randall] like? Were he one of the best?

Challenor:

Best of his kind, I suppose.

Price:

How do you mean, of his kind?

Challenor:

He was local, wasn't he? South of Birmingham he was nothing.³

Unfortunately, Challenor's assessment of Randall seems to be one shared by artistic directors at several regional theatres in recent years. At the Birmingham Rep, for example, the nostalgic "Brummie" musical, as well as new writing with an emphasis on local concerns, have become much rarer occurrences. This article sets out to explore the fact that, alongside a decline in the kinds of new writing that placed localism at its center, since the 1990s it has become increasingly apparent that the tastes and preoccupations of London have steadily encroached to the point where they are now starting to dominate English playwriting culture.⁴ This, of course, is hardly a new observation. John Maynard Keynes, the chief figure responsible for setting up the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1945, had always envisaged that it would be "our business to make London a great artistic metropolis, a place to visit and to wonder at."⁵ And, as Olivia Turnbull has observed, Keynes' vision became the dominant policy adopted by the Arts Council whereby "artistic excellence was embodied primarily by London based professional companies."⁶ True, such Londoncentrism was at times curbed and modified, both through the setting up of regional arts boards and the building of theatres and arts centers across the country during the 1960s...

• 泰晤士河畔伊斯利克劳奇的抗拒崛起：新英国戏剧中的新都市主义
• 格雷厄姆·桑德斯（生物）

2003 年，我在伯明翰话剧团参加了 Euan Rose 和 Laurie Hornsby 的音乐剧Wallop Mrs Cox的演出。在这里，我经历了一些非同寻常的事情。Wallop Mrs Cox坐落在城市的中央市场和被称为 Bull Ring 的购物区通过一系列新史诗般的场景，跟随伯明翰女族长艾米丽考克斯的生活和时代，将我们从 1930 年代带到 1970 年代。最令人难忘的时刻来自叙述者人物所说的话，他突然宣布：“1939：伯明翰处于战争状态。” 当时，我对这句话听起来多么荒谬感到震惊，也对它表达的情绪感到钦佩。这是英国伯明翰市，毫无歉意地将自己置于国家故事的中心。事实上，这种例外主义的气氛成为整个节目的口号，在国歌伯明翰中更是如此，伴随着振奋人心的合唱“伯明翰/我们是一千个交易的城市/心中向前/心中向前/每个明天都是一个全新的开始/在伯明翰/从不拉下阴影/我们卷起袖子/做我们能做的 / 前锋去伯明翰。” ¹作为 1920 年代在这座城市的家庭根源并在那里断断续续地生活了 15 年以上的人，我理解这首歌从充满 900 个座位的主礼堂的观众那里得到的热烈反响。然而，与此同时，看到一个剧院以如此明确的方式纪念和庆祝其城市，这是非常不寻常的。

沃洛普·考克斯夫人是怀旧流行剧院的一个无可辩驳的例子，它在一定程度上履行了[End Page 15]伯明翰话剧团最初在 1971 年设想的工作职责：为广大选区观众服务整个西米德兰兹。这意味着它的部分工作在该地区以外的观众看来将不可避免地显得狭隘。Trevor Griffiths 的戏剧喜剧演员直接解决了这个问题（1975 年）在一个场景中，其中一位有抱负的漫画人物 Gethin Price 向伦敦经纪人 Bert Challenor 表达了他对资深兰开夏音乐厅喜剧演员 Frank Randall 的钦佩，后者来曼彻斯特看 Price 和其他漫画履行。Challenor 曾是一位被称为“伦敦人角色”的前漫画家，曾与 Randall 同台演出。²然而，他批评了他的兰开斯特同行，指出地理限制了他的喜剧吸引力：

价格：

他（弗兰克·兰德尔）是什么样的人？他是最好的之一吗？

挑战者：

最好的，我想。

价格：

你是什​​么意思，他的那种？

挑战者：

他是本地人，不是吗？在伯明翰南部，他什么都不是。³

不幸的是，Challenor 对 Randall 的评价似乎与近年来几家地区剧院的艺术总监一致。例如，在伯明翰代表处，怀旧的“Brummie”音乐剧以及强调当地问题的新作品已经变得更加罕见。本文旨在探讨这样一个事实，即随着以地方主义为中心的新写作类型的减少，自 1990 年代以来，越来越明显的是，伦敦的品味和关注点已逐渐侵蚀到它们所占据的地步。现在开始主导英语剧本文化。⁴当然，这并不是一个新的观察。1945 年负责成立英国艺术委员会的首席人物约翰·梅纳德·凯恩斯 (John Maynard Keynes) 一直设想，“我们的职责是让伦敦成为一个伟大的艺术大都市，一个值得参观和惊叹的地方”。⁵而且，正如 Olivia Turnbull 所观察到的，凯恩斯的愿景成为艺术委员会采用的主导政策，其中“卓越的艺术主要体现在伦敦的专业公司”。⁶的确，这种伦敦中心主义有时受到遏制和修正，无论是通过在 1960 年代设立地区艺术委员会还是在全国各地建立剧院和艺术中心……