"This is spell-binding, mind-challenging drama that touches greatness: and what is more, it is written in that wonderful Arden language that seems to be hewn out of granite." Michael Billington (The Guardian)
John Arden (1930-2012) was a British dramatist, noted for his
politically challenging and linguistically rich plays in the
tradition of Brecht; he has written for radio and television as
well as for the stage. After 1965 he collaborated on many works
with his wife, the Irish playwright Margaretta D'Arcy.
Arden's first professionally produced play was a radio drama, The
Life of Mars, broadcast in 1956. In the late 1950s Arden was
associated with the Royal Court Theatre, where his stark anti-war
play Serjeant Musgrave's Dance opened in 1959. The play was
something of a commercial failure at the time, but has been
frequently revived since. It was during the 1960s that Arden
produced most of his major stage works; these include The Happy
Haven (1960), The Workhouse Donkey (1963), which concerns municipal
corruption in Arden's native Barnsley, Armstrong's Last Goodnight
(1964), which drew parallels between contemporary political events
in the Congo and machinations in medieval Scotland, and Left-Handed
Liberty (1965).
In 1972 Arden and D'Arcy had a major argument with the RSC about
the staging of their Arthurian play The Island of the Mighty. The
argument culminated in Arden picketing the theatre and vowing that
he would not write for the British stage again.
He settled in Galway, Ireland, in 1971. He was elected to Aosdána
in 2011, a year before his death.
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
