Fight For Shelton Bar by Peter Cheeseman, and: Strawberry Fields by Stephen Poliakoff, and: "Huggy Bear" & Other Plays by David Mercer (review)

BOOK I North, while in the South that response may be reserved for a purely theatrical experience. All the persons interviewed attest to this irreducible difference. While the South may be theatrically less sophisticated and receptive of innovations than the North, its audiences arc also described as mOTe responsive and immediate, and in that sense also more stimulating for the performing actor. The younger generation, dissatisfied perhaps with other forms of entertainment and searching for a new set of values, seems to be more open to the theatrical experience and to show an increased interest in it as a means of self-perception and social revelation. The motivation for that interest may be found in a broad program of education and appreciation for the theatre instituted in the schools, a program that promises a generation of audiences wellprepared and responsive. With the exception of some pessimistic assessments. these interviews reveal a cautious hope for the Italian theatre in the future : a theatre which will address itself to a larger public. more sophisticated in its preferences, more sensitive through education to the theatrical experience. The volume contains an introduction by the interviewer, which purports to present a "socio-political view of the Italian theatre today." That title promises more than it can deliver; but it outlines two valid premises which are essential considerations for anyone who approaches, in any capacity, the Italian theatre. The first premise is sociological in nature, with necessary repercussions for the theatre: "culturally, Italy is handicapped by the fact that basically it is not one country," and consequently, "there is no one theatre that suits all Italians" (p. 2). My only difficulty with this statement is the inference that lack of cultural uniformity necessarily implies a form of handicap. I consider Italian diversity a fonn of cultural richness, not deprivation, even insofar as it influences the theatre. The second premise is a reminder that any consideration of the Italian theatre, even in its present moment, should see it as part of a larger historical reality. The fact that the Italian theatre, with some notable exceptions, has never intended to present a mirrored image of society, finds its explanation in a long historical tradition. ANTONINO MUSUMECI University of Illinois (Urbana) FIGHT FOR SHELTON BAR; a documentary, introduction and notes, by Peter Cheeseman. London: Eyre Methuen, 1977.63 pp. $3.95. STRAWBERRY FIELDS. by Stephen Poliakoff. London: Eyre Methuen, 1977.53 pp. $3.95. "HUGGY BEAR" & OTHER PLAYS, by David Mercer. London: Eyre Methuen, 1977. 142 pp. $15.95 ($6.50 paperback). These are three texts of new British plays from Eyre Methuen, having in common only publication at the same time. Two are in their new, cheap, two-columns -to-the-page Theatrescripts series, while Mercer's work has the dignity of hard covers. I doubt whether anyone would make high claims for Fight for She/ton Bar HUUK KEY IEWS as dramatic literature- in fact, it is unlikely ever to be staged again. Shelton Bar is a steelworks in North Staffordshire, and in 1972, a plan to fire 2,(X)() employees was announced. The workers united and eventually defeated the plan. The workers' Action Committee invited Peter Cheeseman's Stoke-onTrent theatre company to create a play in support of their cause. The play was researched over several months and staged in 1974, while the issue was still being fought. Each night, a member of the Action Committee spoke during the show to bring the events up to date. The play is not only the account of a successful struggle: the redundancy issue alternates with scenes to show what steelworkers are like and how steel is made (some of these latter make unexciting reading). Fight attracted a massive workers' audience, as Alan Plater's Close the Coo/house Door did with Newcastle miners. These are shows of that very rare kind that can take theatre beyond the middle classes. Cheeseman has worked with the form of local documentary at Stoke since 1964. Fight is his seventh of this kind; one other, The Knotty (1970), a nostalgic account of the local railroad, is published. The short scenes alternating with songs suggest Passe Muraille creations; my phrase "documentary drama" recalls...