This series of three volumes provides a groundbreaking study of the work of many of the most innovative and important British theatre companies from 1965 to the present. Each volume provides a survey of the political and cultural context, an extensive survey of the variety of theatre companies from the period, and detailed case studies of six of the major companies.

Volume Two, 1980–1994, covers the period when cuts under Margaret Thatcher's Tory government changed the landscape for British theatre. Yet it also saw an expansion of companies that made feminism and gender central to their work, and the establishment of new black and Asian companies.

Leading academics provide case studies of six of the most important companies, including:
* Monstrous Regiment, by Kate Dorney (The Victoria & Albert Museum)
*Forced Entertainment, by Sarah Gorman (University of Roehampton, London, UK)
* Gay Sweatshop, by Sara Freeman (University of Puget Sound, USA)
* Joint Stock, by Jaqueline Bolton (University of Lincoln, UK)
* Theatre de Complicite, by Michael Fry
* Talawa, by Kene Igweonu (Canterbury Christ Church University, UK)