‘The Amateur Stage as a Means of Peace Propaganda’: War Resistance and British Amateur Theatre in the 1930s

Peace organizations emerged as a significant social movement in 1930s Britain, and amateur theatre was used in support. A range of original plays were written for amateur performance to further anti-war activities. Winifred Carter’s Moloch , Shirland Quin’s Dragon’s Teeth , Joe Corrie’s And So to War , and The War Memorial by Frank Farnin are among those discussed here – all plays that have now largely been forgotten. This article examines how the interwar amateur drama articulated varied and contrasting themes in war resistance.