The research group “Contemporary British Theatre Barcelona” has as its main field of research the outburst of theatrical energy and creativity that has, since the early 1990s, decisively contributed to widening the parameters of British theatre.
Although it is never a straightforward matter to determine the point in time when a major cultural inflexion takes place, the moment around the premiere of Sarah Kane’s Blasted in January 1995 does tend to stand out as pivotal. The media uproar that greeted Kane’s play focused attention on an emergent generation of playwrights who were writing what was then perceived to be a new kind of raw, deeply disturbing play. By the end of the 1990s, this ‘in-yer-face’ sensibility was fading out, but the outburst of theatrical creativity certainly was not – new forms of theatre, new playwrights, new companies and new artistic directors have continued to take contemporary British theatre in fresh directions to the present day.
