- In full:
- John James Osborne
- Born:
- December 12, 1929, London, England
- Died:
- December 24, 1994, Shropshire (aged 65)
- Awards And Honors:
- Academy Award (1964)
- Movement / Style:
- Angry Young Men
John Osborne
-
Who was John Osborne?
John Osborne (1929ā1994) was a British playwright and screenwriter, best known for his 1956 play "Look Back in Anger". This work is credited with ushering in a new era of British drama and making him a prominent figure among the "Angry Young Men". Osborne's plays often featured rebellious protagonists and explored themes of social class, disillusionment, and national decline, as seen in works like "The Entertainer". He also co-founded Woodfall Film Productions, contributing to film adaptations of his plays and other works, including the Academy Award-winning screenplay for Tom Jones.
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What is John Osborne best known for?
John Osborne is best known for his groundbreaking play, Look Back in Anger, which premiered in 1956. This work is credited with ushering in a new era of British drama and establishing Osborne as a leading figure of the "Angry Young Men" movement. The play's raw realism and focus on the frustrations of post-war Britain resonated deeply, marking a significant shift from traditional theatrical themes and depictions of upper-class life to a more vigorous and realistic portrayal of contemporary society. His subsequent play, *The Entertainer*, further explored themes of national decline.
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What was Osborne's most famous play?
John Osborne's most famous play is Look Back in Anger, performed in 1956. This play is credited with ushering in a new movement in British drama and introducing the concept of the "Angry Young Men". The play features Jimmy Porter, a working-class character struggling with his marginal position in society and venting his frustrations. While not revolutionary in form, its content was groundbreaking for its time, reflecting the disaffection of post-World War II British youth. Osborne's subsequent play, The Entertainer (1957), also explored themes of national decline.
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How did John Osborne change British theatre?
John Osborne revolutionized British theatre by introducing a new era of realism and social commentary. His seminal play, "Look Back in Anger", performed in 1956, brought the voices and frustrations of the post-World War II generation to the stage for the first time. Osborne's work, characterized by its raw, energetic dialogue and focus on working-class and lower-middle-class characters, challenged the prevailing theatrical conventions. He is credited with restoring the passionate tirade as a significant dramatic element and reorienting British drama towards contemporary life, earning him the label of an "Angry Young Man".
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What themes are common in Osborne's works?
John Osborne's works often explore themes of disillusionment and social critique, particularly concerning the post-World War II era in Britain. His characters frequently grapple with a sense of anger and frustration stemming from a perceived lack of promise and opportunity in contemporary society.
Key themes include:
- Disaffection and Anger: Many of his protagonists are young, working-class individuals who feel marginalized and express their rage against societal structures and privilege.
- Decline of British Vitality: Osborne uses metaphors, such as the fading music-hall tradition, to depict a Britain diminished from its former self-confidence.
- Class and Social Mobility: His plays often feature characters in marginal social positions, highlighting the struggles and resentments associated with class boundaries.
- Rebellion and Nonconformity: Osborne frequently creates actable, rebellious central figures who challenge established norms and institutions.
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How did John Osborne's plays influence other writers and society?
John Osborne's play Look Back in Anger (1956) significantly influenced British drama by reorienting it towards realistic portrayals of contemporary life and the struggles of the working and lower-middle classes. This play, and Osborne himself, became synonymous with the "Angry Young Men" movement, a group of writers who expressed disdain for the established social and political order and the perceived hypocrisy of the upper classes. Osborne's work gave voice to a generation disillusioned by the post-World War II era, focusing on their frustrations and anger, which resonated widely and impacted subsequent literary and theatrical trends in Britain.
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John Osborne (born December 12, 1929, London, Englandādied December 24, 1994, Shropshire) was a British playwright and film producer whose Look Back in Anger (performed 1956) ushered in a new movement in British drama and made him known as the first of the Angry Young Men.
The son of a commercial artist and a barmaid, Osborne used insurance money from his fatherās death in 1941 for a boarding- school education at Belmont College, Devon. He hated it and left after striking the headmaster. He went home to his mother in London and briefly tried trade journalism until a job tutoring a touring company of juvenile actors introduced him to the theatre. He was soon acting himself, later becoming an actor-manager for various repertory companies in provincial towns and also trying his hand at playwriting. His first play, The Devil Inside Him, was written in 1950 with his friend and mentor Stella Linden, an actress and one of Osborneās first passions.
Osborne made his first appearance as a London actor in 1956, the same year that Look Back in Anger was produced by the English Stage Company. Although the form of the play was not revolutionary, its content was unexpected. On stage for the first time were the 20- to 30-year-olds of Great Britain who had not participated in World War II and found its aftermath shabby and lacking in promise. The hero, Jimmy Porter, although the son of a worker, has, through the state educational system, reached an uncomfortably marginal position on the border of the middle class from which he can see the traditional possessors of privilege holding the better jobs and threatening his upward climb. Jimmy Porter continues to work in a street-market and vents his rage on his middle-class wife and her middle-class friend. No solution is proposed for Porterās frustrations, but Osborne makes the audience feel them acutely.
Osborneās next play, The Entertainer (1957), projects a vision of a contemporary Britain diminished from its days of self-confidence. Its hero is a failing comedian, and Osborne uses the decline of the music-hall tradition as a metaphor for the decline of a nationās vitality. In 1958 Osborne and director Tony Richardson founded Woodfall Film Productions, which produced motion pictures of Look Back in Anger (1959), The Entertainer (1959), and, from a filmscript by Osborne that won an Academy Award, Tom Jones (1963), based on the novel by Henry Fielding.
Luther (1961), an epic play about the Reformation leader, again showed Osborneās ability to create an actably rebellious central figure. His two Plays for England (1962) include The Blood of the Bambergs, a satire on royalty, and Under Plain Cover, a study of an incestuous couple playing games of dominance and submission.
The tirade of Jimmy Porter is resumed in a different key by a frustrated solicitor in Osborneās Inadmissible Evidence (1964). A Patriot for Me (1965) portrays a homosexual Austrian officer in the period before World War I, based on the story of Alfred Redl, and shows Osborneās interests in the decline of empire and the perils of the nonconformist. West of Suez (1971) revealed a measure of sympathy for a type of British colonizer whose day has waned and antipathy for his ideological opponents, who are made to appear confused and neurotic. Osborneās last play, DĆ©jĆ vu (1992), a sequel to Look Back in Anger, revisits Jimmy Porter after a 35-year interval.
As revealed in the first installment of Osborneās autobiography, A Better Class of Person (1981), much of the fire in Look Back in Anger was drawn from Osborneās own early experience. In it he attacks the mediocrity of lower-middle-class English life personified by his mother, whom he hated, and discusses his volatile temperament. The second part of his autobiography appeared in 1991 under the title Almost a Gentleman. Osborne was married five times.
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Having come to the stage initially as an actor, Osborne achieved note for his skill in providing actable roles. He is also significant for restoring the tiradeāor passionately scathing speechāto a high place among dramatic elements. Most significantly, however, he reoriented British drama from well-made plays depicting upper-class life to vigorously realistic drama of contemporary life.