Approaches To John Arden's Squire Jonathan

Abstract

JOHN ARDEN HAS LARGELY REPUDIATED the professional theater of the West End of London in the last few years, since the staging of Left-Handed Liberty in the Summer of 1965. Instead he has written such unusual works as a mime, Friday's Hiding, performed in Edinburgh, and a children's piece, The Royal Pardon, premiered at Beaford, Devon, both in 1966, together with a new translation of Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale for Bath, Somerset, in 1968. He has worked also on two semi-improvisational experiments, in collaboration with his wife and the actors: an 11-hour Viet Nam "War Carnival" at New York University in 1967, and Harold Muggins Is a Martyr at the Left-wing Unity Theater, London, in 1968. He played leading roles himself in both The Royal Pardon and Harold Muggins. Late in 1968 he directed yet another of his plays, The Hero Rises Up, in the curious setting of Center 42's Victorian locomotive shed in North London. He completed a trilogy for television, so far unperformed, based on Arthurian legends, in 1969, and in 1970 an original radio play, The Bagman, was broadcast in Britain.