Abstract
In 1964 the television journal Contrast published three articles on ‘Style in Drama’, of which the longest and most interesting was written by the director Don Taylor.1 Referring to ‘a recent article’ by Roger Manville which claimed that original television drama in the early 1960s was comparable to the Elizabethan theatre of the early 1590s, Taylor proceeded to explain why, contrary to Manville’s ‘optimistic statement’, he felt that television drama was ‘barely at the Gorboduc stage’ (Taylor, 1964: 208). Gorboduc was a 16th-century play written by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville, first performed in 1561 in the early years of Queen Elizabeth I’s reign, which was notable for being the first verse drama in English to use blank verse (unrhymed verse). Although Taylor did not elaborate on the reference to Gorboduc, the significance of the play in theatre history resides in its departure from dramatic tradition, becoming the forerunner of a new form of drama which was taken up by other playwrights, including Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare.KeywordsTelevision DramaDigital ChannelStylistic HybridOverseas SaleStudio LightingThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call