Dramatic Verse, 1973-1985

Tony Harrison is 'a major dramatic poet' (TLS), 'our finest theatrical translator' (The Times) and 'the greatest modern theatrical poet' (Punch). His National Theatre Oresteia is 'the best acting translation of Aeschylus ever written' (TLS), and won him the European Poetry Translation Prize in 1983. The publication of Tony Harrison's theatre poetry in Dramatic Verse 1973-1985 follows the appearance of his Penguin Selected Poems. Like Brecht, Harrison is both a major social poet and an innovative dramatist. In his work for theatre, opera and television he has extended the Brechtian tradition of music theatre, collaborating with major modern composers: Harrison Birtwistle, Dominic Muldowney and Jacob Druckman. His bold and brilliant versions of classics (Molière, Racine, Aeschylus) both respect and so transform them that they have come to be regarded as original pioneering pieces of modern theatre. His Misanthrope has been played by theatre companies throughout Europe ever since its National Theatre premiere in 1973, and has since been re-translated into other languages, and even back into French. Tony Harrison has been responsible for some of the National Theatre's outstanding successes. Dramatic Verse 1973-1985 includes verse drama, opera librettos and music theatre, and contains the full texts of The Misanthrope (1973), Phaedra Britannica (1975), Bow Down (1977), The Bartered Bride (1978), The Oresteia (1981), Yan Tan Tethera (1983), The Big H (1984) and Medea: a sex-war opera (1985). The Mysteries (1985), his adaptation of the English Mystery plays, is available from Faber. The publication of Dramatic Verse 1973-1985 coincides with the appearance of two new poetry titles by Tony Harrison from Bloodaxe, v. and The Fire-Gap.