Reappropriating the Pace-Egging tradition: Ewan MacColl’s St George and the Dragon

dc.contributor.authorWarden, Claireen
dc.date.accessioned2016-03-02T15:15:20Z
dc.date.available2016-03-02T15:15:20Z
dc.date.issued2010
dc.description.abstractBest known as a folk singer, Ewan MacColl wrote upwards of twenty plays; some of his most effective works are his adaptation plays, contemporary dramatic works using canonical playtexts as catalysts. In 1964–65 MacColl wrote a modernized version of the Lancastrian Pace-Egging Play, St. George and the Dragon. Taking this indigenous theatrical form, often associated with the industrial rather than rural landscape, MacColl wrote a play for and about the people, in a specific tradition of urban folk drama. By changing and modifying the traditional play, including new characters, and altering plot, the playwright was able to create a piece that specifically explores some of the key aspects of twentieth-century society. Furthermore, MacColl weaves in a highly politicized narrative thread that culminates in a call for revolutionary change. This unpublished play is a prime example of MacColl's “vandalism” of established forms. This article examines the play, presenting it as a key example of MacColl's experimental aesthetic, a way of appropriating techniques and narrative methods for a new audience, a new society, and a new political objective.en
dc.funderN/Aen
dc.identifier.citationWarden, C. (2010) Reappropriating the pace-egging tradition: Ewan MacColl's St George and the Dragon. Modern Drama, 53 (2), pp. 232-243en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3138/md.53.2.232
dc.identifier.issn0026-7694
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2086/11566
dc.language.isoenen
dc.peerreviewedYesen
dc.projectidN/Aen
dc.publisherModern Dramaen
dc.researchgroupPerformance Research Groupen
dc.subjecttheatreen
dc.subjectavant-gardeen
dc.titleReappropriating the Pace-Egging tradition: Ewan MacColl’s St George and the Dragonen
dc.typeArticleen

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