John Arden facts for kids
John Arden (born October 26, 1930 – died March 28, 2012) was an English writer who created plays for the stage and radio. People remembered him as one of the most important British playwrights of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
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About His Life and Work
John Arden was born in Barnsley, England. His father managed a glass factory. John went to school at Sedbergh School and then studied at King's College, Cambridge. He also studied architecture at the Edinburgh College of Art.
He first became well-known in 1956. This was shortly after he finished his studies, when his radio play called The Life of Man was broadcast.
Early Plays and Influences
Arden started working with the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre in London. His play Serjeant Musgrave's Dance (1959) is thought to be his most famous work. In this play, four soldiers who left the army arrive in a mining town. They want to get revenge for a violent act that happened in a faraway land.
His plays were influenced by a German playwright named Bertolt Brecht. Brecht used a style called Epic Theatre. This style tries to make the audience think about big ideas, rather than just feel emotions. An example of this influence is Arden's play Left-Handed Liberty (1965). This play was written for the anniversary of the Magna Carta, an important historical document about rights.
Other plays by John Arden include Live Like Pigs, The Workhouse Donkey, and Armstrong's Last Goodnight. The Royal National Theatre performed Armstrong's Last Goodnight in 1965.
Later Works and Collaborations
In 1978, his radio play Pearl was named one of the best radio plays ever in a survey. John Arden also wrote several books. One of his novels, Silence Among the Weapons, was even considered for the Man Booker Prize in 1982. He also wrote Books of Bale, which was about a Protestant writer named John Bale. John Arden was a member of the Royal Society of Literature, a group for important writers.
John Arden often worked with his wife, Margaretta D'Arcy. They wrote many plays together. They were very critical of Britain's presence in Ireland. From 1971, John and Margaretta lived in Ireland. They even protested the first performance of their play The Island of the Mighty. They felt the play's production made it seem like they supported imperialism, which is when a country extends its power over other lands.
Advocacy and Beliefs
In 1961, John Arden helped start the Committee of 100. This group was against nuclear weapons. He also led a pacifist newspaper called Peace News. Pacifists are people who believe that war and violence are wrong.
In Ireland, he was part of a political group called Official Sinn Féin for a while. He strongly supported civil liberties, which are the basic rights and freedoms of citizens. He was against laws that he felt limited these freedoms, like anti-terror laws. His radio play The Scam (2007) showed his views on this topic.
Final Years
John Arden was chosen to join Aosdána in 2011. Aosdána is an Irish group that honors artists. He passed away in Galway, Ireland, in 2012.
Awards and Recognition
John Arden received several awards for his writing:
- Evening Standard Award, 1960
- John Whiting Award, 1973
- V. S. Pritchett Award, 2003
- He was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1982
- Giles Cooper Award, 1978 and 1982
Selected Works
John Arden wrote many plays and books. Here are a few of his well-known works:
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
- Pearl: a play about a play within the play (1979)
Plays written with Margaretta D'Arcy
John Arden and Margaretta D'Arcy wrote many plays together, often focusing on political and social themes. Some of these include:
- The Happy Haven (1960)
- The Island of the Mighty trilogy (1972)
- The Non-Stop Connolly Show: a dramatic cycle of continuous struggle in six parts (1977)
See also
In Spanish: John Arden para niños
- List of winners and shortlisted authors of the Booker Prize for Fiction
