John Arden
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John Arden (26 October 1930 – 28 March 2012) was an English
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...
who at his death was lauded as "one of the most significant British playwrights of the late 1950s and early 60s".


Career

Born in
Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
, son of the manager of a glass factory, he was educated at
Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school, day school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, North West England. It comprise ...
in Cumbria,
King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...
, and the
Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...
, where he studied architecture. He first gained critical attention for the radio play ''The Life of Man'' in 1956 shortly after finishing his studies. Arden was initially associated with the English Stage Company at the
Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...
in London. His 1959 play, '' Serjeant Musgrave's Dance'', in which four army deserters arrive in a northern mining town to exact retribution for an act of colonial violence, is considered to be his best. His work was influenced by
Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
and
Epic Theatre Epic theatre () is a theatrical movement that arose in the early to mid-20th century from the theories and practice of a number of theatre practitioners who responded to the political climate of the time through the creation of new political ...
as in ''Left-Handed Liberty'' (1965, on the anniversary of
Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...
). Other plays include ''Live Like Pigs'', ''The Workhouse Donkey'', and ''Armstrong's Last Goodnight'', the last of which was performed at the 1965 Chichester Festival by the National Theatre after it was rejected by the Royal Court. In 1964 he joined the ''Who Killed Kennedy? Committee'' set up by
Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...
. His 1978 radio play ''
Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...
'' was considered in a ''Guardian'' survey to be one of the best plays in that medium. He also wrote several novels, including ''Silence Among the Weapons'', which was shortlisted for the
Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...
in 1982, and ''Books of Bale'', about the
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
apologist
John Bale John Bale (21 November 1495 – November 1563) was an English churchman, historian controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory in Ireland. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English (on the subject of King John), and developed and ...
. He was a member of the
Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...
. With his wife and co-writer Margaretta D'Arcy he picketed the RSC premiere of his
Arthurian According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a leader of the post-Ro ...
play ''The Island of the Mighty'', because they thought the production was pro-imperialist, and they wrote several plays together which were highly critical of the British presence in Ireland, where he and D'Arcy lived from 1971 onward. In 1961, he was a founder member of the anti-nuclear Committee of 100, and he also chaired the pacifist weekly '' Peace News''. In Ireland, he was for a while a member of Official Sinn Féin. He was an advocate of civil liberties, and opposed anti-terror legislation, as demonstrated in his 2007 radio play ''The Scam''.


Last years and death

He was elected to Aosdána, an Irish arts academy, in 2011 before dying in
Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...
in 2012. He was waked in a wicker casket.


Awards

* Evening Standard Award, 1960 * John Whiting Award, 1973 * V. S. Pritchett Award, 2003 *
Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...
shortlist, 1982 * Giles Cooper Award, 1978 and 1982


Works

(Selected)


Books

* * *Arden, John, (2009), Gallows and other Tales of Suspicion and Obsession, Original Writing, Dublin, * * *


Plays by John Arden

* '' Serjeant Musgrave's Dance: an Unhistorical Parable'' (1960) * ''Live Like Pigs'' (1958) * ''The workhouse donkey: a vulgar melodrama'' (1964) * ''Armstrong's last goodnight'' (1965), based on the story of Johnnie Armstrong * ''Ironhand: adapted by John Arden from Goethe's Goetz von Berlichingen'' (1965) * ''Left-handed liberty'' (1965) * ''Two autobiographical plays: the true history of Squire Jonathan and his unfortunate treasure, and The bagman, or the impromptu of Muswell Hill'' (1971) * ''
Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...
: a play about a play within the play'' (1979) * ''Books of Bale'' (1988) * ''Cogs tyrannic'' (1992) * ''Jack Juggler and the emperor's whore: seven tall tales linked together for an indecorous toy theatre'' (1995) * ''Stealing Steps'' (2003) Plays written in collaboration with Margaretta D'Arcy include: * ''The Happy Haven'' (1960) * ''The Business of Good Government: a Christmas Play'' (1963) * ''Ars Longa Vita Brevis'' (1965) * ''The Royal Pardon'' (1967) * ''The Hero Rises Up'' (1969) * ''The Island of the Mighty'' trilogy (Part I, "Two Wild Young Noblemen: Concerning Balin and Balan and How Ignorant They Were"; Part II, "Oh the Cruel Winter: Concerning Arthur – Flow He Refused to See That the Power of His Army Was Finished"; and Part III, "A Handful of Watercress: Concerning Merlin – How He Needed to Be Alone and Then How He Needed Not to Be Alone") (1972) * ''The Ballygombeen Bequest'' * ''The Non-Stop Connolly Show: a dramatic cycle of continuous struggle in six parts'' (1977) * ''Vandaleur's folly: an Anglo-Irish melodrama: the hazard of experiment in an Irish co-operative, Ralahine, 1831'' (1981) * ''The little gray home in the west: an Anglo-Irish melodrama'' (1982) * ''Keep the People Moving'' (BBC Radio); * ''Portrait of a Rebel'' (RTÉ Television); * ''The Manchester Enthusiasts'' (BBC 1984 and RTÉ 1984 under the title ''The Ralahine Experiment''); * ''Whose is the Kingdom?'' (9-part radio play, BBC 1987).


See also

*
List of winners and shortlisted authors of the Booker Prize for Fiction The following is a list of winners and shortlisted authors of the Booker Prize for Fiction. The prize has been awarded each year since 1969 to the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of ...


References


External links


Britain's Brecht – Guardian Article






* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arden, John 1930 births 2012 deaths Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Aosdána members British expatriates in Ireland British anti-war activists British male dramatists and playwrights British male novelists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature People educated at Sedbergh School Writers from Barnsley 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights 20th-century British novelists 20th-century British male writers 20th-century British writers