Montagu Slater facts for kids

Charles Montagu Slater (born September 23, 1902 – died December 19, 1956) was an English writer. He was a poet, a novelist (someone who writes novels), a playwright (someone who writes plays), a journalist, a critic, and a librettist (someone who writes the words for operas).

Montagu Slater's Early Life

Montagu Slater was one of five children. He was born in Millom, a small mining port in Cumberland, England. His father, Seth Slater, was a tailor and ran the town's post office. He was also a Wesleyan lay preacher.

Both Montagu and his sister Rosa were very smart. They both won scholarships to go to university from their local school. Montagu went to Magdalen College, Oxford, and Rosa went to University College London. After finishing university, Montagu became a reporter for the Liverpool Post newspaper.

Becoming a Writer and Activist

While living in Millom and Liverpool, Slater wrote a lot of poetry. He often connected the busy life of northern ports with old stories from classical legends and philosophy. Many of his poems still exist, but not many have been published yet.

Slater was also an activist. He joined the Communist Party in 1927. In 1928, he moved from Liverpool to London to work for The Morning Post. By 1934, he stopped most of his journalism work. He started a magazine called Left Review and became its editor. In this magazine, he published his own literary reviews, plays, poems, short stories, and film scripts. Sometimes, he used the pen name 'Ajax'.

Slater's Work in Theatre

Montagu Slater was always interested in theatre. He wrote introductions for special editions of old melodramas. These were plays about famous murder cases, like the Red Barn Murder and the story of Sweeney Todd, the barber. He wrote these in 1928 and 1933.

During this time, he also worked with the famous composer Benjamin Britten. Britten wrote music for three of Slater's plays. One of these plays was Easter 1916, which was about a workers' strike in 1913 and a rebellion in 1916. The Unity Theatre, London put on this play in 1935.

In 1937, the Unity Theatre produced a very successful play called "Busmen." This play was about a bus strike in London. Slater wrote it with Herbert Hodge, a London taxi driver, and Alan Bush wrote the music. The play used a special "living newspaper" style, which was like watching a movie on stage. Other plays from this time include David and Touch and Go.

Large Public Shows

Slater also helped create big public shows called pageants. In 1938, he wrote a story for a pageant at Wembley Stadium. This show, called Pageant of Co-operation, had music by Alan Bush.

In 1948, Slater was part of a group of writers who celebrated a special anniversary. They put on a pageant at the Royal Albert Hall to mark 100 years since the Communist Manifesto was published. Slater wrote the script for the entire event. Many composers, including Malcolm Arnold and Alan Bush, provided music for the show.

Writing for Opera and Film

In 1942, Benjamin Britten chose Slater to write the words (called the libretto) for his opera Peter Grimes. This opera was based on a poem by George Crabbe. For the libretto, Slater used a more modern and natural way of writing, like people really talk.

Slater published his original libretto for Peter Grimes himself. A famous writer named Anthony Burgess said in 1964 that the excellence of Peter Grimes had a lot to do with Slater's libretto. He said it was so good you could read it like a poem on its own. Slater also wrote the libretto for another opera called Yerma.

Slater worked on many documentary films with Britten and the poet W. H. Auden. One of these was Coal Face (1935). In 1936, he wrote a book called Stay Down, Miner, which was about a strike at a coal mine. This book was also turned into a play with music by Britten.

Novels and Film Scripts

In 1944, Slater published a novel called Once a Jolly Swagman. This book was about the popular sport of motorcycle speedway racing. It explored ideas about workers' unions and young people who felt lost. Later, in 1949, this novel was made into a film starring Dirk Bogarde.

Slater also wrote scripts for other films, like The Brave Don't Cry (1952), which was about a mining disaster.

Benjamin Britten dedicated some of his music to Montagu Slater. He dedicated his Temporal Variations to Slater and his Ballad of Heroes to Slater and his wife, Enid.

Montagu Slater passed away in London at the age of 54. His writings and letters are kept at the University of Nottingham.

Published Works

• Maria Marten & Sweeney Todd: Two Classic Melodramas. London: Gerald Howe, 1928.
• Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street ... A traditional acting version, edited, with an introduction (Barnstormer Plays. no. 2.). London: Gerald Howe, 1928.
• The Second City. London: Wishart & Co, 1931.
• Haunting Europe. London: Wishart & Co, 1934.
• Easter : 1916 (a play). London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1936.
• Stay Down Miner. An account of a strike at Nine Mile Point Colliery. London: Martin Lawrence, 1936.
• New Way Wins, a play from Stay Down Miner. London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1937.
• Barnstormer Plays. Edited with an introduction to each play. John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1943.
• Once a Jolly Swagman (a novel). London: John Lane, 1944.
• Peter Grimes and other poems. London: John Lane, 1946
• Peter Grimes: Essays by B. Britten, E.M. Forster, M. Slater, E. Sackville-West. Designs by K. Green (Sadler's Wells Opera Books No. 3). London: John Lane, 1946.
• Century for George (a play). London: John Lane, 1946.
• Who rides a tiger. A novel. London: The Bodley Head, 1947.
• ‘Communist Manifesto Centenary Pageant’, to a script by Montagu Slater, with music for military band and chorus; MSS British Mus. 411–413. Alan Bush Collection. Vols lxxxvi-lxxxviii, 1948.
• The inhabitants. London: Bodley Head, 1948.
• The Centenary Poe. Tales, Poems, Criticism. London: Bodley Head, 1949.
• Theatre Today with Arnold Rattenbury. London: Saturn Press, 1948.
• Englishman With Swords. London: The Bodley Head, 1949.
• Round the world in eighty days: A stage spectacle (Barnstormer plays series-no.5). London: John Lane, 1951.
• Caste: a traditional acting version. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1951.
• Cure of Minds. London: Williams & Norgate, 1952.
• New Poems: a PEN anthology: edited by C. Dyment, R. Fuller, M. Slater. London: Michael Joseph, 1952.
• The Trial of Jomo Kenyatta. London: Secker & Warburg, 1955.
• Yerma, opera (libretto, Montagu Slater, revised by the composer, based on the play by Federico Garcia Lorca), op. 28; 1955–1958. * Four volumes. Pivor Manuscripts (Series II). Vols. VII-X. British MS 64826-64829 : 1955–1958.

See also

In Spanish: Montagu Slater para niños