Abstract
There is a deep relationship between the patterns of working life and amateur theatre. This chapter argues that divisions between labour and leisure are often complexly configured in amateur theatre, and binaries between paid and unpaid labour, and professional and amateur identities are increasingly porous, suggesting that temporal distinctions between work and ‘free time’ demand attention. It examines the role of amateur theatre in the workplace, and using the example of Imperial Chemical Industries in Welwyn, demonstrates how amateur theatre supported by factories created life-long interest in theatre-making. The chapter takes the case study of the British Airways Cabin Crew Entertainment Society to examine the ways in which theatre-making reflects the cast’s working lives as flight attendants, and to raise broader questions about how twenty-first patterns of labour are shaping practices in amateur theatre.
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Change history
15 February 2019
The book was inadvertently published without the names of the chapter authors in the table of contents and the chapter opening pages. This has now been updated.
Notes
- 1.
www.rowntreesociety.org.uk/joseph-rowntree-theatre/. Accessed 27 June 2017.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
https://sedos.co.uk/aboutus/index.htm. Accessed 14 June 2018.
- 5.
www.rbstheatrecompany.co.uk. Accessed 12 Dec 2017.
- 6.
Interview Helen Nicholson with Rob Wallace, Hitchin. 15 May 2015.
- 7.
Interview Heather Gill with Helen Nicholson, The Barn Theatre, Welwyn Garden City. 17 June 2016.
- 8.
Interview Denise Duffy with Helen Nicholson, The Barn Theatre, 28 April 2015.
- 9.
Robert Gill in conversation with John Davey, recorded at The Questors. 16 June 2015.
- 10.
Interview of Erin Walcon with Chris Jaeger, Swan Theatre Worcester, 9 November 2014.
- 11.
Interview with Helen Nicholson and Diane Goatcher, 12 July 2016.
- 12.
Terry Hunt, in conversation with Helen Nicholson and other company members, 5 July 2016. All other quotations are taken from this event.
- 13.
Jane Bowditch in conversation with Helen Nicholson and other company members, 5 July 2016.
- 14.
Conversation Jane Bowditch with Helen Nicholson and other company members, 5 July 2016. All other quotations are taken from this event.
- 15.
Collette Lucas, in conversation with Helen Nicholson and other company members, Egham. 5 July 2016.
- 16.
Terry Hunt, in conversation with Helen Nicholson and other company members, Egham. 5 July 2016.
- 17.
Diane Goatcher, in conversation with Helen Nicholson, Egham. 12 July 2016.
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Nicholson, H., Holdsworth, N., Milling, J. (2018). Making Time for Amateur Theatre: Work, Labour and Free Time. In: The Ecologies of Amateur Theatre. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50810-2_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50810-2_5
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