Modern British Drama (Goldentree Bibliographies) by Charles A. Carpenter (review)

440 Book Reviews On the whole. then, the essays in this volume represent an uneven mixture in Chekhov criticism of the old and the new, the stodgy and the perceptive. Even so, the fourhest by Karlinsky, Nilsson, Bristow and Barricelli make this a book worth reading and pondering. JAMES M. CURTIS, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA CHARLES A. CARPENTER. Modern British Drama (Goldentree Bibliographies). Arlington Heights, Illinois: AHM Publishing 1979. Pp. x, 120. Professor Carpenter should be given credit for dealing with a span of over 100 years in a space of little over 100 pages. He has even broken up the period into eras: to the 18905; 18905to 19305; 19305 to 19505; and 19505 to 19705. There is also a section dealing with the "Modem Scottish and Welsh Drama and Theatre" and another on the "Modem Irish Drama." Furthennore, he has tried to distinguish between drama and theatre by including separate sections on "Theatre in England" and ''Theatre in Ireland." These ambitious divisions and subdivisions, however, do not seem to suit a bibliography of this size. Many books dealing with the above eras overlap: and perhaps it would have been easier if there had been only two periods: Modem (to the 1950s) and Contemporary (from the 19505 to the present). The same overlapping occurs in the sections dealing with the theatre and the drama. For instance, under ''Theatre'' we find such books as Hogan, The Modern Irish Drama and Kennedy, The Drama in Ulster; whereas under "Drama" we have: O'Driscoll, Theatre and Nationalism; Robinson, The Irish Theatre; and Wilson, Edwardian Theatre. All of these deal exclusively with drama. Since ProfessorCarpenter himselftells us that "the emphasis has been placed on literary rather than theatrical aspects of the field," the subdivision was unnecessary and might even be confusing to students. The compiler must also have had a hard time deciding on his selections. Since we are told that "the listing is deliberately selective," Professor Carpenter might have had his reasons, for example, for excluding Terence Rattigan from the Jist of individual dramatists. The deliberate selection might also explain the absence from the "Reference Works" ofsuch guides as John Gassner and Edward Quinn, The Reader's Encyclopedia of World Drama; Helen H. Palmer and Anne J. Dyson, European Drama Criticism; James M. Salem, A Guide to Critical Reviews; and Gordon Samples, The Drama Scholars' Index to Plays. Again, Professor Carpenter might have intentionally excluded the following items from the "Anthologies of Modem British Plays": B.A. Cerf and V.H. Cartmen, Sixteen Famous British Plays; Donald Fitzjohn, English One·Act Plays of TodaYi and Robert Warnock. Representative Modern Plays. However, since he included an Irish anthology under "British Plays," i.e., Curtis Canfield, Plays of Changing Ireland, because it deals with "the early thirties," perhaps he should have included as wen an English one that reflects the same period, such as J.M. Charlton, Plays ofthe Thirties, 2 vols. The deliberate selection also affects the "Modem British Dramatists" section. Why, for instance, has J.W. Stedman's edition ofW.S. Gilbert's earlier plays, Gilbert Before Sullivan, been omitted from the list of "editions of significance"? The most serious limitation of the book, however, is the entire absence of Book Reviews 44[ hibHographies of several individual dramatists. Professor Carpenter's statement in the headnote to this section makes it clear that he will include under each dramatist "bibliographies and reference material if any." Failure to include a bibliography of any dramatist under his name, therefore, implies that a bibliography of this dramatist does not exist. This, however. is not always the case. For instance, there are two known bibliographies of 1.B. Priestley which are inexplicably absent: L.A. Jones, "The First Editions of Priestley," Bookman (London), 80 (193[); and L.J. Teagarden, ''The J.B. Priestley Collection," Library Chronicle oj the University oj Texas, 7 ([963). There are at least three bibliographies of Austin Clarke, none of which is'given: Gerard Lyne, "Austin Clarke: A Bibliography," Irish University Review, 4 (Spring 1974), 137-55; M.L MacManus, "Bibliographies of Irish Writers, No.8: Austin Clarke," Dublin Magazine, 10 (Apr.-June 1935), 41-3; and Liam Miller, "The Books of Austin Clarke...