Join a one-day conference in London about British Theatre in the 1920s.

Location: Wilton’s Music Hall, London

Date: Friday 11th July 2025

Time: 10:15am – 5:00pm

Are you a fan of theatrical history? Interested in the drama and performers of the 1920s? This free event organised by the School of Creative Arts at the University of Hertfordshire is a must-attend for anyone passionate about British theatre in the roaring twenties. Get ready to dive into the **glamour* and **innovation** of this pivotal era. Meet fellow scholars, and enthusiasts, and immerse yourself in a day filled with talks about the decade’s entertainments: detective plays, Somerset Maugham, George Bernard Shaw, the theatrical legacy of the First World War, the emergence of radio drama and the 1920s craze for horror plays all feature. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to explore the **magic** of British Theatre from the 1920s – see you there! The event which takes place at the iconic Wilton’s Music Hall is free but places are limited.

Schedule

10:15: Welcome & Introduction. Andrew Maunder, University of Hertfordshire.

10.30: Keynote Talk: ‘Blood on the Boards: the development of the crime plays in the 1920s. Michael Wilson, University of Loughborough.

11.15: Coffee break.

11.30: Panel 1: Sociopolitical engagements.

“The abomination of desolation”: contemporaneous critical responses to English drama of the First World War. Jeremy Newton, Birkbeck College, University of London.

“‘The Wind has Changed’: Shaw’s Allegorical Advocacy for Sociopolitical Upheaval. Jarrod DePrado, University of Connecticut.

Q&A.

12.30: Lunch break. [Lunch is provided.]

1.15: Keynote Talk: “Theatre of the Air”: The Emergence of Radio Drama. Jean Chothia, University of Cambridge.

2.00: Panel 2. Women on the stage and off.

Sylphish Women: The Ballets Russes and Virginia Woolf’s Modernism in 1920s London. Chloe Leung, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong.

Hidden in Plain Sight: Queer Women and British Theatre in the 1920s. Vivian Colbert, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.

Clemence Dane at the West End. Louise McDonald, Birmingham Newman University.

Q&A.

3.30. Tea Break

3.45. Panel 3: Horrors real and imagined

W. Somerset Maugham’s The Sacred Flame: Euthanasia as an Ethical Case of Radical Responsibility. Ghadeer Alhasan, University of Jordan.

The Six-Legged Problem! A Trio of 1920s Plays and a Scarab on the Stage. Janette Leaf, Birkbeck College, University of London.

Q&A.

4.45: Close.

Book your free ticket on Eventbrite here.