Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

A Study Guide for David Edgar's "Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby"
A Study Guide for David Edgar's "Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby"
A Study Guide for David Edgar's "Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby"
Ebook46 pages35 minutes

A Study Guide for David Edgar's "Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby"

By Gale and Cengage

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

A Study Guide for David Edgar's "Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Drama For Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Drama For Students for all of your research needs.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 3, 2016
ISBN9781535827379
A Study Guide for David Edgar's "Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby"

Read more from Gale

Related to A Study Guide for David Edgar's "Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby"

Related ebooks

Literary Criticism For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for A Study Guide for David Edgar's "Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby"

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    A Study Guide for David Edgar's "Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby" - Gale

    3

    The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

    David Edgar

    1980

    Introduction

    When it appeared on the London stage in 1980, David Edgar’s Nicholas Nickleby became the longest play ever produced, and when it moved to a lavish production in New York for the eight-and-one-half hour theater endurance test (viewed either in one marathon sitting or in two long evenings), it boasted the most expensive theatre ticket price ever set, at $100 each. Edgar found himself identifying more and more with the Dickensian spirit of being generously angry as he worked on Nicholas Nickleby. This is a play that takes the social consciousness of the original Dickens novel to new dimensions, where audiences can be reminded of the need for social reform, as well as uplifted by the play’s message. Edgar sees three avenues of success in his production: "First, it looks at adaptations in a new way. It says that a group of people with a strong view about the world can take a work of art and frame it and transform it in a way that makes the adaptation one not of the original work of art but about the original work of art. Point two... it’s accessible; it’s not obscure.... [And] the third point is that it was... on the side of the underdog for the entirety of its not inconsiderable length." The play combines Dickensian social realism with modern theatrical spectacle and genuine heart.

    Author Biography

    David Edgar was born in Birmingham, England, on February 26, 1948. His father, Barrie Edgar, was a television producer, and his mother had been an actress. Birmingham’s proximity to Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford-Upon-Avon meant that David saw numerous productions of Shakespeare plays as he grew up. He attended Oundle School, a liberal private school north of London, where he acted in and directed plays and discovered his passion for socialist politics. He went on to earn his bachelor of arts in drama from Manchester University, in 1969. Edgar briefly held a position as a journalist while beginning his career as a playwright. During and after college, he wrote and acted in numerous plays, and by 1973 he had produced his first television play, The Eagle Has Landed. As Edgar’s socialist sentiments grew, he helped to found the Theatre Writer’s Union (1975) and produced primarily agitprop plays, simple pieces with a socialist agenda. These plays most often ran in small theaters to little notice, and ultimately Edgar decided, as he explained in an interview with biographer Elizabeth Swain, that he needed the arena of the larger theater with its capacity for spectacle in order to convey complex political questions which concern the relationship between historical events and the perceptions of the people who are passing through them. His chance came when his antifascist, antiracist play Destiny moved to the Aldwych Theatre in the fashionable West End theater district of London. Edgar’s political

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1