Time Frames : A century of proscenium playwrights

Author: Dominic Dromgoole

Theatre studies

Published on 27 August 2026 by FABER & FABER in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 528 pages
164 x 243 x 42 | 722g

As Shakespeare and his contemporaries wrote for the epic scale, the imaginative commitment and the 360-degree embrace of the Globe so, three hundred years later, generations of playwrights wrote for the velvety darkness, the enclosed acoustic and the picture framing of the proscenium arch.

For a century, the story of the changing world was told inside proscenium theatres, by a series of remarkable playwrights. In over sixty irreverent, illuminating pen portraits - of both famous giants and lesser-known talents - Dominic Dromgoole takes us on a journey from 1865 to 1965, revealing how these writers used the framed stage to reflect the social upheavals of their times.

Brought vividly to life by a generously erudite and experienced theatre director, Time Frames is a hugely entertaining journey through a fascinating theatrical century, the era of the proscenium playwrights.