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Afore Night Come
''Afore Night Come'' is a 1962 British Play (theatre), play written by David Rudkin, first staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The subject matter of the play meant that any production in a public theatre would probably have been vetoed by the Lord Chamberlain, so the RSC mounted the play at the members-only Arts Theatre. As a result of the widespread critical acclaim that the play received, Rudkin was awarded the Evening Standard Theatre Awards, ''Evening Standard'' Drama Award for most promising playwright of 1962.Lambert (1963, 10). The play is set in an orchard in the Black Country region of England's English Midlands, Midlands. Two young men and a tramp arrive one morning looking for work picking fruit, but as the day wears on there is violence and bloodshed. Rudkin harks back to a pagan era where the crops were fertilised by human blood. Kenneth Tynan, reviewing the play in The Observer, wrote "Not since ''Look Back In Anger'' has a playwright made a debut more striking th ...
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Play (theatre)
A play is a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for theatre, theatrical performance rather than mere Reading (process), reading. The creator of a play is known as a playwright. Plays are staged at various levels, ranging from London's West End theatre, West End and New York City's Broadway theatre, Broadway – the highest echelons of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world – to Regional theater in the United States, regional theatre, community theatre, and academic productions at universities and schools. A stage play is specifically crafted for performance on stage, distinct from works meant for broadcast or cinematic adaptation. They are presented on a stage before a live audience. Some dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, have shown little preference for whether their plays are performed or read. The term "play" encompasses the written texts of playwrights and their complete theatrical renditio ...
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Tramp
A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round. Etymology Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English ''trample'') and "to go hiking". In Britain, the term was widely used to refer to vagrants in the early Victorian period. The social reporter Henry Mayhew refers to it in his writings of the 1840s and 1850s. By 1850, the word was well established. In that year, Mayhew described "the different kinds of vagrants or tramps" to be found in Britain, along with the "different trampers' houses in London or the country". He distinguished several types of tramps, ranging from young people fleeing from abusive families, through to people who made their living as wandering beggars and prostitutes. In the United States, the word became frequently used during the American Civil War, to describe the widely shared experience of undertaking long marches, ...
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British Plays
British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture * British English, the English language as spoken and written in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and, more broadly, throughout the British Isles * Celtic Britons, an ancient ethno-linguistic group * Brittonic languages, a branch of the Insular Celtic language family (formerly called British) ** Common Brittonic, an ancient language Other uses *People or things associated with: ** Great Britain, an island ** British Isles, an island group ** United Kingdom, a sovereign state ** British Empire, a historical global colonial empire ** Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) ** United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922) * British Raj, colonial India under the British Empire * British Hong Kong, colonial ...
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1962 Plays
Year 196 ( CXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dexter and Messalla (or, less frequently, year 949 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 196 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Emperor Septimius Severus attempts to assassinate Clodius Albinus but fails, causing Albinus to retaliate militarily. * Emperor Septimius Severus captures and sacks Byzantium; the city is rebuilt and regains its previous prosperity. * In order to assure the support of the Roman legion in Germany on his march to Rome, Clodius Albinus is declared Augustus by his army while crossing Gaul. * Hadrian's wall in Britain is partially destroyed. China * First year of the Jian'an Era, during the reign of the Xian Emperor of the Han. * The Xian Emperor returns to w ...
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John Russell Taylor
John Russell Taylor (born 19 June 1935) is an English critic and author. He is the author of critical studies of British theatre; of critical biographies of such figures in film as Alfred Hitchcock, Alec Guinness, Orson Welles, Vivien Leigh, and Ingrid Bergman; of ''Strangers in Paradise: The Hollywood Emigres 1933–1950'' (1983); and several books on art. Personal Taylor was born in Dover, England, the son of Arthur Russell and Kathleen Mary (Picker) Taylor, and now lives in London and West Wales. He attended Dover Grammar School, took a double first in English at Jesus College, Cambridge, and studied Art Nouveau book illustration at the Courtauld Institute of Art. In 2006, he entered a civil partnership with his longtime companion, the artist and photographer Ying Yeung Li. Career In the 1960s, Taylor wrote on cinema for ''Sight and Sound'' and the ''Monthly Film Bulletin'', on the theatre in '' Plays and Players'', on television for '' The Listener'' and the ''Times Edu ...
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Young Vic
The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Nadia Fall has been artistic director since 2025, succeeding Kwame Kwei-Armah, and David Lan before him. History In the period after World War II, a Young Vic Company was formed in 1946 by director George Devine as an offshoot of the Old Vic Theatre School for the purpose of performing classic plays for audiences aged nine to fifteen. This was discontinued in 1948, when Devine and the entire faculty resigned from the Old Vic, but in 1969 Frank Dunlop became founder-director of The Young Vic theatre with ''Scapino'', his free adaptation of Molière's '' The Cheats of Scapin'', presented at the new venue as a National Theatre production. It opened on 10 September 1970 and starred Jim Dale in the title role, with designs by Carl Toms (decor) and Maria Björnson (costumes). Initially part of ...
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Look Back In Anger
''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet impassive upper-middle-class wife Alison. The supporting characters include Cliff Lewis, an amiable Welsh lodger who attempts to keep the peace; and Helena Charles, Alison's snobbish friend. Osborne drew inspiration from his personal life and failing marriage with Pamela Lane while writing ''Look Back in Anger'', which was his first successful outing as a playwright. The play spawned the term " angry young men" to describe Osborne and those of his generation who employed the harshness of realism in the theatre in contrast to the more escapist theatre that characterised the previous generation. This harsh realism has led to ''Look Back in Anger'' being considered one of the first examples of kitchen sink drama in theatre. The play was r ...
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The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly''. In December 2024, Tortoise Media acquired the paper from the Scott Trust Limited, with the transition taking place on 22 April 2025. History Origins The first issue was published on 4 December 1791 by W.S. Bourne, making ''The Observer'' the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. Believing that the paper would be a means of wealth, Bourne instead soon found himself facing debts of nearly £1,600. Though early editions purported editorial independence, Bourne attempted to cut his losses and sell the title to the government. When this failed, Bourne's brother (a wealthy businessman) made an offer to the government, which also refused to buy the paper but agreed to subsidise it in return for influence over its editori ...
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Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Initially making his mark as a critic at ''The Observer'', he praised John Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) and encouraged the emerging wave of British theatrical talent. In 1963, Tynan was appointed the new Royal National Theatre, National Theatre Company's literary manager. An opponent of theatre censorship, he was the first person to deliberately say the word "fuck" during a live television broadcast in 1965, although Miriam Margolyes had earlier used the expletive accidentally. Later in life, he settled in California, where he resumed his writing career. Early life Tynan was born in Birmingham, England, to Letitia Rose Tynan and (as he was led to believe) "Peter Tynan" (#Oxford and other experiences, see below). Tynan had a stammer that was more pronounced as a child. He also possessed early on a high degree of articulate intelligence. By the age of six, he was already k ...
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English Midlands
The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Worcestershire. For statistical purposes, the Midlands is divided into two Regions of England, statistical regions: the West Midlands (region), West Midlands and East Midlands. These had a combined population of 10.9 million at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, and an area of . The northern part of Lincolnshire is part of the Yorkshire and the Humber statistical region, and not part of the Midlands. The modern borders of the Midlands also correspond broadly to the early-medieval kingdom of Mercia. The region became important in the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 1 ...
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David Rudkin
James David Rudkin (born 29 June 1936) is an England, English playwright. Early life Rudkin was born in London. Coming from a family of strict evangelical Christians, he was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and read Mods and Greats at St Catherine's College, Oxford. Beginning to write during Conscription in the United Kingdom, national service in the Royal Corps of Signals, Rudkin taught Latin, Greek and music at North Bromsgrove High School in Worcestershire until 1964,Biographical information on cover of ''The Triumph of Death'', Methuen Publishing, Methuen 1981 and ''The Saxon Shore'', Methuen Publishing, Methuen 1986 while also directing amateur theatre productions. Career Following the success of his first play ''Afore Night Come'' (1962), Rudkin translated works by Aeschylus, Roger Vitrac, the libretto of Arnold Schoenberg, Schoenberg's ''Moses und Aron, Moses and Aaron'', and wrote the book to the Western Theatre Ballet's ''Sun into Darkness'' (Sadlers Wel ...
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England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It shares Anglo-Scottish border, a land border with Scotland to the north and England–Wales border, another land border with Wales to the west, and is otherwise surrounded by the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south, the Celtic Sea to the south-west, and the Irish Sea to the west. Continental Europe lies to the south-east, and Ireland to the west. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the population was 56,490,048. London is both List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, the largest city and the Capital city, capital. The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic. It takes its name from the Angles (tribe), Angles, a Germanic peoples, Germanic tribe who settled du ...
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