Chaos, culture and fantasy: The television plays of Howard Schuman

Panos, L. (2013) Chaos, culture and fantasy: The television plays of Howard Schuman. Journal of Screenwriting, 4 (3). pp. 287-303. ISSN 1759-7137 doi: 10.1386/josc.4.3.287_1

Abstract/Summary

The single plays of American ex-pat playwright Howard Schuman produced for British television between 1973 and 1983 have received little critical attention. Written in a distinctly un-British madcap, non-naturalistic and often pulpy 'B movie' style, they centre around caricatured, hysterical and/or camp characters and make frequent references to popular culture. This article provides a general survey of Schuman's plays and analyses his sensibility as a screenwriter, drawing extensively on material from interviews with the writer. The article's particular focus is how and why different cultural forms including music, film and theatre are used and referred to in Schuman's plays, and how this conditions the plays' narrative content and visual and aural form. It also considers the reception of Schuman's plays and their status as non-naturalistic dramas that engage heavily with American pop culture, within the context of British drama. Finally, it explores the writer's relationship to style and aesthetics, and considers how his written works have been enhanced through creative design decisions, comparing his directions (in one of his scripts) with the realized play to reflect on the use of key devices.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/35605
Identification Number/DOI	10.1386/josc.4.3.287_1
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Arts and Communication Design > Film, Theatre & Television
Uncontrolled Keywords	1970s; British; aesthetics; non-naturalism; single play; studio; television; trans-atlantic
Publisher	Intellect Ltd
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