Roots by Arnold Wesker
It’s 1958. Beatie Bryant has been to London and fallen in love with Ronnie, a young socialist. As she anxiously awaits his arrival to meet her family at their Norfolk farm, her head is swimming with new ideas. Ideas of a bolder, freer world which promise to clash with their rural way of life. Roots is the remarkable centrepiece of Wesker’s seminal post-war trilogy. It was first performed in 1959 at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, before transferring to the Royal Court. It is the second play in a trilogy comprising Chicken Soup with Barley and I’m Talking About Jerusalem. It went on to transfer to the Duke of York’s Theatre in the West End. A true classic, Roots is an affecting portrait of a young woman finding her voice at a time of unprecedented social change.
Wesker ranks among the seminal figures in British theatre historyWith John Osborne and Harold Pinter, he was one of the Angry Young Men who, from the stage of the Royal Court, led the revolution against the vacuity of drawing room theatre with a more visceral, working-class model. The Wesker trilogy, long a staple of the school syllabus, has sold more than 500,000 copies, propelling it into modern theatre's top-10 bestseller list. * Guardian *
Roots (1959) is a beautiful, rich and at times infuriating piece that has a strong claim to being Arnold Wesker's greatest dramatic achievement . . . extraordinarily moving in the last act . . . The detail and truth of this production . . . combine to make Roots feel very special indeed. * Telegraph *
[T]he cumulative power of the piece is quietly devastating . . . * Independent *
Quietly mesmerising. * Mail on Sunday *
Roots (1959) is a beautiful, rich and at times infuriating piece that has a strong claim to being Arnold Wesker's greatest dramatic achievement . . . extraordinarily moving in the last act . . . The detail and truth of this production . . . combine to make Roots feel very special indeed. * Telegraph *
[T]he cumulative power of the piece is quietly devastating . . . * Independent *
Quietly mesmerising. * Mail on Sunday *
Arnold Wesker is one of Britain’s seminal post-war playwrights. His varied writings include essays, short stories, poetry, journalism and forty-nine plays, which have been translated into eighteen languages. His other plays include The Kitchen, Chicken Soup with Barley, Chips with Everything and Shylock.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781472527714 |
| ISBN 10 | 1472527712 |
| Title | Roots |
| Author | Arnold Wesker |
| Series | Modern Plays |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |
| Year published | 2013-10-03 |
| Number of pages | 96 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |