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1. IN-YER-FACE
THEATRE
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
- You will understand the
context and background
of In-Yer-Face theatre.
- You will engage with
theories that inform the
styles of In-Yer-Face
theatre.
TRIGGER WARNINGS
- Non-explicit mentions of sexual assault, addiction,
and loss; discussion of the representation of violence.

2. DO YOU THINK
WE SHOULD
REPRESENT
VIOLENCE IN
THEATRE?

3. REPRESENTATIONS OF VIOLENCE
DON’T SHOW IT
= IT’S BAD! DO SHOW IT
= IT’S LIFE
AS IT
REALLY IS
SHOW IT =
BUT NOT IN AN
OVERLY
SPECTACULAR
WAY

4. THE 1990S: THEATRICAL CONTEXT
-Why, in the 1990s, did many new British
theatre-makers use explicit representations
of violence?
-Theatre censorship had been abolished in the
UK in 1968 - think of Edward Bond’s Saved
(1965).
-Theatre-makers had slowly been
experimenting with conceptions of what was
appropriate to show onstage – think of
Howard Brenton’s The Romans in Britain (1980).
-Newer theatre audiences would not have
lived through censorship, and so had less
conservative tastes in terms of the
representation of violence.
-Since the neoliberal reforms of Margaret
Thatcher in the 1980s, theatres were less
beholden to the state and more to the
consumer – theatres would increasingly put on
what audiences would want to see and pay
for, rather than worry about public education.
William
Stewart
(Barry),
Richard Butler
(Harry), Dennis
Waterman
(Colin), and
John Bull
(Mike) in
William
Gaskill’s
production of
Edward Bond’s
Saved (1965)
at the Royal
Court Theatre.
Photo by Zoe
Dominic.
The cast of Michael Bogdanov’s
production of Howard Brenton’s The
Romans in Britain (1980) at the
National Theatre. Photo by Rex
images.

5. 1990S
LIFE IN BRITAIN
Decline of the ‘traditional’ family, rise of the ‘two-earner’.
Cappuccino at Costa: £1; pint of milk: 26p; beer: £1.73;
average West End theatre ticket: £28; average price of
a new house: 1992 – £70,000; 1999 – £112,000.
The Black teenager Stephen Lawrence is killed by a gang
of white racists in 1993. In 1999, an inquiry around his
death finds the Met. Police to be institutionally racist.
Age of consent for homosexuality reduced from 21 to 18 in 1994.
Lots more queer representation in the media.
Princess Diana dies in a car crash in 1997 – crisis of public support
for the monarchy.
In 1997, ‘New’ Labour win a landslide election under Tony Blair,
ending 18 years of Tory rule under Thatcher and John Major.
Films: Lion King (1994); Titanic (1997); Pulp Fiction (1994).
Music: Britney Spears; Prodigy; acid house and rave culture;
‘Britpop’ like Oasis and Blur – not to mention the Spice Girls – help
sell British culture to the world as ’Cool Britannia’.

6. -Just as Martin Esslin defined ‘Theatre of the Absurd’ in response to theatre-
makers doing similar things and exploring related themes, so did Aleks
Sierz coin the term ‘In-Yer-Face Theatre’ and define it in his book (2001) to
categorise a wave of new playwrights in the 1990s. Though the limits of
putting such definitions on theatre has been criticised (Zarhy-Levo, 2011),
they are useful for generally referring to styles of plays.
-‘In-yer-face theatre is the kind of theatre which grabs the audience by the
scruff of the neck and shakes it until it gets the message. […]
It implies being forced to see something close up, having your personal
space invaded. It suggests the crossing of normal boundaries. In short, it
describes perfectly the kind of theatre that puts audiences in just such a
situation.
In-yer-face theatre shocks audiences by the extremism of its language and
images; unsettles them by its emotional frankness and disturbs them by its
acute questioning of moral norms. […]
Most in-yer-face plays are not interested in showing events in a detached
way and allowing audiences to speculate about them; instead, they are
experiential - they want audiences to feel the extreme emotions that are
being shown on stage. In-yer-face theatre is experiential theatre’
(Sierz, 2010; emphasis in original).
IN-YER-FACE
THEATRE
http://www.inyerfacetheatre.com/what.html

7. INFLUENCES & PRECURSORS
Antonin Artaud – the
theatre of cruelty
The Theatre and its
Double (1938)

8. SIERZ’S IN-YER-FACE PLAYS
Baby (Ben Wishaw), Sweets (Rupert Grint), Skinny (Colin
Morgan), Potts (Daniel Mays), and Mickey (Brendan Coyle) in
Jez Butterworth’s Mojo (1995), directed by Ian Rickson at the
Harold Pinter Theatre, London (2014). Photo by Geraint Lewis.
Philip Ridley - Ghost from a Perfect Place (1994)
Phyllis Nagy – Butterfly Kiss (1994)
Tracy Lett – Killer Joe (1993)
Harry Gibson – Trainspotting (1995)
Anthony Neilson – Normal (1991); Penetrator (1993);
The Censor (1997)
Mark Ravenhill – Shopping and Fucking (1996); Faust is Dead
(1997); Sleeping Around (1998); Handbag (1998); Some Explicit
Polaroids (1999)
Naomi Wallace – The War Boys (1993)
Jez Butterworth – Mojo (1995)
Simon Block – Not a Game for Boys (1995)
David Eldridge – Serving it Up (1996)
Nick Grosso – Peaches and Sweetheart (1996)
Patrick Marber – Closer (1997)
Che Walker – Been So Long (1998)
Richard Zajdlic – Dogs Barking (1999)
Joe Penhall – Some Voices (1994)
Judy Upton – Ashes and Sand (1994); Bruises (1995)
Martin McDonagh – The Beauty Queen of Leenane (1996)
Rebecca Prichard – Yard Gal (1998)

9. David Woods (Ian) and Eloise Mignon (Cate)
in Blasted, directed by Anne-Louise Sarks at
the Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne (2018).
Photo by Pia Johnson.
SARAH KANE One of the most influential British playwrights.
Known for her lyricism, unflinching look at depression, representations and
issues of violence, and her deep dive into the human psyche.
Wrote 5 full-length plays before her suicide in 1999.
Nicholas Shaw (Hippolytus) in Phaedra’s Love,
directed by Bronwen Carr at the Arcola,
London (2011). Photo by Simon Kane.
Phaedra’s Love
(1996)
Adaptation of
Seneca’s
Phaedra: issues
of desire,
passion, and
excess.
Blasted (1995)
Issues of the
media, war, and
sexual violence:
the Yugoslavian
war is ‘blasted’
onto the stage.
Cleansed
(1998)
Set in a torture
institution:
mixes love and
violence.
Peter Hobday (Carl) in Cleansed,
directed by Katie Mitchell at the
National Theatre (2016). Photo by
Stephen Cummiskey.
The cast of Crave, directed by Tinuke Craig at
the Chichester Festival Theatre (2020). Photo by
Marc Brenner.
Crave
(1998)
Four dis-
connected
voices:
despair,
loneliness,
love.
The cast of 4.48 Psychosis, directed by Andy
Ng at the Drama Centre, Singapore (2020).
Photo by Bernie Ng.
4.48
Psychosis
(2000)
Depression
and mental
health,
alienation,
salvation.

10. Jack Tinker’s review of Blasted in the Daily Mail, 19 Jan. 1995.

11. Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Cosmo Disney) and Mariah Gale (Haley) in Edward
Dick’s production at the Arcola, London (2012). Photo by Scott Rylander.
PHILIP RIDLEY –
THE PITCHFORK DISNEY
(1991)
First performed at the Bush Theatre, London
A four-hander between the twins Presley and Haley;
and the mysterious Cosmo Disney with his silent
assistant Pitchfork Cavalier.
The twins live an agoraphobic life where tell each
other stories and occasionally leave the house to buy
chocolate. After Haley falls asleep, a showman
(Cosmo) enters their flat and begins enticing Presley
with his beauty and glamorous lifestyle.
Issues of consumerism, trauma, alienation, sexuality,
and narratives.
Created by Philip Ridley after writing two monologues
for two different characters (Presley and Cosmo) then
writing a play placing the two characters together.
Has extended monologues full of unsettling, surreal,
violent imagery.

12. Alex Arnold (Mark), Sam Spruell (Robbie), and Sophie Wu (Lulu) in Sean Holmes’ production at the
Lyric Hammersmith, London (2016). Photo by Tristram Kenton.
MARK RAVENHILL –
SHOPPING AND FUCKING (1996)
First performed at the Royal Court, London.
Follows five characters: Robbie, Lulu, Mark,
Gary, and Brian (most of them named after
the members of Take That).
Robbie, Lulu, and Mark are flatmates; Mark
leaves for rehab, but checks out and hooks
up with a teenage sex worker, Gary; Lulu
tries to get a job with Brian (a gangster),
who tasks her with selling pills; Robbie loses
them all and they have to raise the money to
give back to Brian; Robbie and Lulu lead
Gary through a violent sex game in return
for his money; the play ends with Robbie,
Lulu, and Mark back together in their flat
after having paid Brian off.
Issues of consumerism, violence, and sex.
Writing is funny, fast-paced, and merges
high art with popular culture.

13. Liza Walker (Alice) and Clive Owen (Dan) in Patrick Marber’s original production at the National
Theatre, London (1997). Photo by Tristram Kenton.
PATRICK MARBER–
CLOSER (1997)
First performed at the National Theatre.
A four-hander between Alice, Anna, Dan, and
Larry.
A searing look at love and relationships: the
four characters change (hetero) relationships
throughout the play.
The writing is punchy and overtly sexual.
Dan meets Alice when she nearly gets run
over; he writes a book about her life, but
starts an affair with the photographer Anna;
as a joke, he poses as a horny woman on an
online chatroom and talks to Larry; Larry and
Anna later meet and begin a relationship;
Dan and Anna then get together; Alice and
Larry have sex; Dan and Alice then get back
together, but Alice leaves him; at the end of
the play, Larry, Anna, and Dan meet after
Alice has been killed crossing the road.

14. Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Boo) and Amelia Lowdell (Marie) in Gemma Bodinetz’s original
production at the Royal Court, London (1998). Photo from Clean Break.
REBECCA PRICHARD–
YARD GAL (1998)
First performed at the Royal Court.
A two-hander between the best friends Boo and
Marie.
They speak in short monologues, re-enacting and
telling the story of their life as teenagers in
Hackney getting high, shoplifting, clubbing,
hanging out, and aspiring to be ‘yard gals’
(girlfriends of drug dealers).
By the end of the play their friendship has
disintegrated and their language becomes more
‘grown up’.
Focuses on young, lower-class women in east
London and the transition from adolescence to
adulthood and the loss of close friendships.
Fast-paced dialogue full of ’90s east London
slang, fearlessly speaks about drugs, sex, crime,
and violence.

15. The cast of Rough Magic theatre company’s production, directed by Tom Creed at the Project
Arts Centre, Dublin (2007). Photo by Ros Kavanagh.
MARTIN CRIMP–
ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE (1997)
First performed at the Royal Court.
Made up of various different scenes with no
place or time referenced, with no character
names and no lines assigned to characters.
Each scene has different styles (monologue,
realism, surrealism, musical number) and
contexts (producers discussing a film, a car
advert, a terrorist plot, an answering machine).
All the scenes revolve around a central figure –
Anne – who is variously described as a
terrorist, a film star, or a new car. Each scene is
an ‘attempt on her life’: to define who she is.
Has shocking and violent dialogue to do with
consumerism, globalisation, and war.
Is postdramatic in form: the text allows the
creatives to shape the performance; and is less
about story.

16. Peter McDonald (Brendan), Brian Cox (Jack), Ardal O'Hanlon (Jim), Risteard Cooper
(Finbar) and Dervla Kirwan (Valerie) in Josie Rourke’s production at the Donmar
Warehouse, London (2014). Photo by Alastair Muir.
CONOR MCPHERSON–
THE WEIR (1997)
First performed at (you guessed it) the Royal
Court.
A five-hander set in a pub in Ireland.
Each male character tells a ghost story related to
local folklore as Valerie – who has recently
moved to the area from Dublin – sits somewhat
distantly from them. She then tells her own story,
of her child drowning, who then haunted her.
The writing is not In-Yer-Face like the other plays
explored, but deals with difficult and violent
themes such as child death and personal loss.
Themes of trauma and interdependency.
Demonstrates how even though not all new plays
in 1990s British theatre were In-Yer-Face, they
still often dealt with difficult themes.

17. CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY
-In-Yer-Face theatre is the most recognised form from 1990s British theatre: using shock
tactics like explicit representations of violence, extreme language, and subjects around
sex, drugs, consumerism, mental health, and trauma.
-This is to ‘wake the audience up’ and present them with urgent socio-political issues.
-In-Yer-Face theatre practices have influenced British, European, and American writers
since the 1990s, and many ’90s British playwrights are still writing and popular today.
-Informed by a long history of shock and violence in theatre (the Ancient Greeks,
Seneca, Shakespeare, avant-garde writers, Edward Bond, Howard Brenton)
-Although In-Yer-Face was the dominant form of new British theatre in the ’90s, not all
new plays used its shock tactics (The Weir).
-British theatre has arguably now moved away from explicit representations of violence
onstage, instead focusing on structural and systemic violence after the movements of
Black Lives Matter, Occupy, and MeToo, for example.

18. Reference List
Sierz, A. (2001) In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today. London: Faber & Faber.
Sierz, A. (2010) ‘In-Yer-Face Theatre’ (online). 5 Oct. Available at:
http://www.inyerfacetheatre.com/what.html (Accessed 07.03.23).
Sierz, A. (2012) Modern British Playwriting: The 1990s. London: Methuen.
Tinker, J. (1995) ‘This disgusting feast of filth’. Daily Mail. 19. Jan.
Zarhy-Levo, Y. (2014) ‘Dramatists under a label: Martin Esslin's The Theatre of the Absurd
and Aleks Sierz' In-Yer-Face Theatre’. Studies in Theatre and Performance, 31 (3). pp. 315-
326.

19. FOR THE SEMINAR
You will have an In-Yer-Face/’90s
monologue allocated to you.
Look into the play from which the
monologue is from: read it if you
can, and research the
play/character.
Practice the monologue, and be
ready to perform it on Thursday.
No, you don’t need to know it off-
script!
The cast of Crave, directed by Tinuke Craig at the Chichester
Festival Theatre (2020). Photo by Marc Brenner.