Billy Howle as Jimmy Porter
and Ellora Torchia as Alison
Look Back in Anger
Almeida Theatre, London, September 2024
Photo by Marc Brenner
087 – Look Back in Anger by John Osborne
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John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger is one of the landmark plays of twentieth century British theatre. Since its premiere at the Royal Court theatre in May 1956, it has been defined as marking a breakthrough in dramatic style and subject matter, its frank depiction of a generation of disaffected youth and its working-class setting inspiring a group of writers who would also be labelled angry young men. In the words of the writer Alan Sillitoe, in Look Back in Anger, “John Osborne didn’t just contribute to British theatre, he set off a landmine…and blew most of it up.”
In the nearly eighty years since its premiere, the seminal role of the volatile Jimmy Porter has attracted many renowned actors, including Michael Sheen, Kenneth Branagh, and David Tennant, and as we record this episode the first revival in London for twenty-five years is on stage at the Almeida theatre, directed by Atri Banerjee, and with Billy Howle playing Jimmy.
Given the iconic reputation of this play, I am very keen to explore how well it stands the test of time. Is Jimmy’s dangerous anger still relatable, or even acceptable?
I’m very glad to have not one but two experts who are well qualified to help us address this question and more. First, is Dan Rebellato, Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London, and author of 1956 and All That: The Making of Modern British Drama, which takes a forensic look at how Look Back in Anger emerged in its time. Dan has appeared on the podcast three times previously, having joined me on our very first episode on A Doll’s House, as well as on our episodes on Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea and Chekhov’s The Seagull.
My second guest is the director of the current revival of Look Back in Anger at the Almeida here in London, Atri Banerjee
Atri Banerjee has previously been a member of the Almeida Theatre’s Resident Director Scheme, where he directed Name, Place, Animal, Thing (as part of Six Artists in Search of a Play). He is also a recipient of the 2022-24 Peter Hall Bursary at the National Theatre, Creative Associate at the Gate Theatre, and was previously Trainee Director at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester.
His other directing credits include: Julius Caesar for the RSC, The Glass Menagerie at the Royal Exchange Theatre, in Manchester, the Rose Theatre Kingston and on UK tour; and Hobson’s Choice at the Royal Exchange for which he won The Stage Debut Award for Best Director. Atri is also a Trustee of the Regional Theatre Young Directors’ Scheme.
113 – Arcadia by Tom Stoppard
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Tom Stoppard’s 1993 play, Arcadia, is viewed by many as his finest play, renowned for the breadth of its intellectual interrogations and its formal invention. The play is a structural masterpiece of ideas, as well as a teasing detective story, joyous comedy, and emotionally rich exploration of love and loss.
As we record this episode a wonderful new production of Arcadia is playing at the Duke of York’s theatre in London’s West End, following its acclaimed run at the Old Vic theatre earlier this year. I am delighted to share the challenge and the pleasure of exploring Stoppard’s dazzling drama with the director of the new production, Carrie Cracknell.
112 – Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet
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David Mamet’s modern American classic, Glengarry Glen Ross, is a blistering commentary on the cut-throat reality of the American dream, and its poisonous impact on those who have bought into the myth and machismo of that dream. The play had its world premiere in the small Cottesloe theatre at the National Theatre in London in September 1983, and was first performed in New York the following year, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Mamet also wrote the extended screenplay for the star-studded 1992 film version.
As we recorded this episode a new production of the play was playing at the Old Vic theatre in London, with an all-female cast. This is a particularly provocative idea, because one of the primary themes of this play is masculine identity, and the salesmen in this Chicago office do not hold back in their display of machismo.
To explore Mamet’s unflinching slice of 1980s dog-eat-dog capitalism, I am joined by arts journalist Mark Lawson.
111 – The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht
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Bertolt Brecht’s ‘gangster spectacle’, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, is both an exuberant and funny piece of theatre, and a chillingly topical political satire. Set in the 1930s Chicago of Al Capone, Brecht presents a parody of the rise of Hitler through the character of the gangster Arturo Ui. The play is a universal cry for vigilance against the rise of unscrupulous, populist leaders who threaten democratic societies and global peace.
As we recorded this episode a new production of the play by the Royal Shakespeare Company was playing in Stratford-upon-Avon, starring Mark Gatiss as the title character.
I am delighted to be joined by both the show’s translator, playwright Stephen Sharkey, and by Brecht scholar, Professor Tom Kuhn, to guide us through Brecht’s political parody.
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