"Arnold Wesker - the unique outsider in the British Theatre"
Ronald Bryden reviewing
Their very Own and Golden City
ARNOLD WESKER, FRSL, Hon. Litt.D. born London 1932, is the author of 42 plays mainly for the stage, four books of short stories, two collections of essays, a book for young people, three more of non-fiction, and an autobiography. His plays include The Kitchen (1957), The Wesker Trilogy (1958/60, comprising Chicken Soup with Barley, Roots, I'm Talking about Jerusalem. Over 400,000 copies sold in Penguin Books), Chips with Everything (1962), The Four Seasons (1965), Love Letters on Blue Paper (1976). Shylock (1976). Annie Wobbler (1982), When God Wanted a Son (1986), Caritas (1988) Circles of Perception (1996), Denial (1997), Groupie (2001), Longitude (2002).
His work, which includes scripts for TV, radio and film is continually performed world-wide, and translated/published in 18 languages. They have won prizes here and abroad. Over the last 40 years Penguin have published seven paperback volumes of his collected plays and one of his stories. These are now gradually being taken over by Methuen Books.
He has directed his plays in Havana, Stockholm, Munich, Aarhus, London, Oslo, Madison & Denison universities (U.S), and Rome.
In 1989 Wesker received his first Honorary Degree (D.Litt.) from the University of East Anglia. His second from Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, was awarded March 1995. A third - Doctor of Humane Letters - was awarded from Denison University, Ohio, May 1997.