a b Sierz, Aleks (2001). In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today. London: Faber and Faber Limited. pp.38–39. ISBN 978-0-571-20049-8 . Retrieved 12 November 2020. a b Sierz, Aleks (2013). The Theatre of Martin Crimp (Seconded.). Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. pp.48–49. ISBN 978-1472517012.

a b c Sierz, Aleks (24 May 2012). Modern British Playwriting: The 1990s: Voices, Documents, New Interpretations. Great Britain: Methuen Drama. p.60. ISBN 9781408181331. Sierz has stated that "the idea of writing a book about in-yer-face theatre was originally Ian Herbert's" as he originally spoke about the concept to Peggy Butcher, who was the drama editor of Faber and Faber. Herbert also decided to name the book 'In-Yer-Face Theatre' and was asked by Butcher to write an outline for it. However, Herbert was unable to provide an outline, jokingly stating that "I realised that [writing] a book would mean actual work, something to which I am not accustomed." Sierz however states that Herbert "was too busy to embark on a book" due to his many work commitments. As a result Herbert pulled out of writing the book and told Butcher that it should be written by Sierz instead because his "interest in new writing at the time made [him] an obvious candidate for the job". Early during the development of the book Sierz considered renaming it to Cool Britannia but Sierz says that this was vetoed by Butcher "on the grounds that in a couple of years no one would have any respect for that label - and how right she was." Sierz finished writing the book in January 2000, and it was published by Faber and Faber in March 2001 under the title In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today. [5] History [ edit ] Aleks Sierz's 'five mighty moments' [ edit ]a b c Sierz, Aleks (2001). In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today. London: Faber and Faber Limited. pp.234–235. ISBN 978-0-571-20049-8 . Retrieved 12 November 2020. However, despite the near ubiquity of in-yer-face theatre, the ‘movement’ burned brightly but briefly. Audiences and playwrights alike began to tire of on-stage brutality. Many established stage writers, such as Martin Crimp, Martin McDonagh and the American playwright Tracy Letts owe their careers to explosive starts in in-yer-face theatre. However, the anger of their younger work is largely missing from their recent, more ‘mature’ work. Notable Figures Font, Jeremy (18 October 2016). "Bella Hayman". Incredible Women. Series 5. BBC. BBC Radio 4 . Retrieved 3 March 2021. Taylor, Paul. "Rainbow Kiss, Royal Court Upstairs, London". The Independent . Retrieved 29 March 2021.

The phrase “in-yer-face theatre” emerged in the 1990s, and while it is often attributed to a critic named Aleks Sierz (who wrote the definitive book on the movement), he himself denies having coined the term.a b Susan Hollis Merritt, Pinter in Play: Critical Strategies and the Plays of Harold Pinter (1990; Durham and London: Duke UP, 1995) 5, 9, 225–28, 326, citing Wardle. This is why it’s easy to get wrapped up in the movement. The plays of in-yer-face theatre, even though they’re over a quarter century old, still feel fresh and brimming with energy. While the style might have gone out of vogue, there’s always joy to be found in the work of young, brilliant writers with anger on their minds (many of whom went on to enjoy amazing and varied careers). Plus, now that the critical hype/hate has died down, we’re able to more accurately appraise plays that may not have been given a proper go by audiences weary of all the eye-gouging. Conclusion

a b c d e f g h i j Sierz, Aleks (2001). In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today. London: Faber and Faber Limited. ISBN 978-0-571-20049-8 . Retrieved 12 November 2020. The theatre will never find itself again except by furnishing the spectator with the truthful precipitates of dreams, in which his taste for crime, his erotic obsessions, his savagery, his chimeras, his utopian sense of life and matter, even his cannibalism, pour out on a level not counterfeit and illusory, but interior. […] If theatre wants to find itself needed once more, it must present everything in love, crime, war and madness.’ In this article, we explore a brief history of in-yer-face theatre, review a few of its key players and their notable works. We’ll also talk about the evolution of the style into a genre, and examine where it sits today. A Brief History of In-yer-face TheatreSpencer, Charles (14 April 2006). "That kitchen sinking feeling". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009 . Retrieved 29 March 2021. In 1994 Paul Taylor in his review of Philip Ridley's Ghost from a Perfect Place described the violent girl gang in the play as "the in-yer-face castrating trio". a b Sierz, Aleks (24 May 2012). Modern British Playwriting: The 1990s: Voices, Documents, New Interpretations. Great Britain: Methuen Drama. p.231-234. ISBN 9781408181331. THE THEATREVOICE DEBATE: NEW WRITING Audio recording and Transcript. Hosted by Aleks Sierz featuring Richard Bean, Simon Stephens and Mark Ravenhill.

Sierz has been mistakenly cited as coining the term "In-yer-face theatre", saying that "Although I certainly was the first to describe, celebrate and theorise this kind of new writing, which emerged decisively in the mid-1990s, I certainly did not invent the phrase." In his piece "A brief history of in-yer-face theatre" Sierz outlines a number of instances where the phrase was used directly or indirectly by others prior to him popularising the label. Sierz, Aleks (24 May 2012). Modern British Playwriting: The 1990s: Voices, Documents, New Interpretations. Great Britain: Methuen Drama. p.233. ISBN 9781408181331. Martin Esslin, The Theatre of the Absurd, 3rd ed. With a new foreword by the author (1961; New York: Vintage [Knopf], 2004). In the 1990s, a revolution took place in British theatre. Out went all those boring politically correct plays with tiny casts portraying self-pitying victims; overthrown were all those pale imitations of European directors’ theatre; brushed aside were all those shreds of self-regarding physical theatre and long-winded, baggy state-of-the-nation plays. a b c d e f g h i j David Eldridge, "In-Yer-face and After" [ permanent dead link], Intellect 23.1 (Mar. 2003): 55–58. (Abstract.)In-yer-face drama has been staged by new writing theatres such as the Royal Court, Bush, Hampstead, Soho Theatre, Finborough, Tricycle, Theatre Royal Stratford East, and even the trendy Almeida, all of which are in London. But experiential theatre is not an exclusively metropolitan phenomenon. The Traverse in Edinburgh was really important - as were Manchester, Birmingham, Bolton, West Yorkshire, and so on. Especially Live theatre in Newcastle. Of course, this is not an exclusively English or Brit affair either. Americans such as Phyllis Nagy, Naomi Wallace and Tracy Letts made a vital contribution to new writing in English - as did Scottish writers such as David Greig and David Harrower. Funnily enough, in-yer-face theatre constitutes less of a rigid stylistic movement, and more of a cultural trend in 1990s Britain that saw the prevalence of similar works being produced at once. Some critics point to cultural events such as the AIDS epidemic or the aftermath of the Thatcher Era to explain the emergence of such anger in the art being made. a b c d e f g h i j k l Audio recording of lecture given by Aleks Sierz entitled 'Blasted and After: New Writing in British Theatre Today' at a meeting of the Society for Theatre Research, at the Art Workers Guild, London on 16 February 2010 Holden, Nicholas (17 October 2011). "Chapter 2: "In the Pursuit of New Writers": The Royal Court Young Peoples' Theatre and the Development of First-Time Playwrights in the 1990s". In Boles, William C. (ed.). After In-Yer-Face Theatre: Remnants of a Theatrical Revolution. Palgrave Macmillan. pp.27–29. ISBN 978-3-030-39426-4.