WESKER, ARNOLD

WESKER, ARNOLD
WESKER, ARNOLD (1932– ), English playwright. Born of immigrant Yiddish-speaking parents (the father was a tailor) in London's East End, Wesker held various jobs after he left school, including kitchen porter and pastry cook. These laid the foundations of his early plays, which have an autobiographical content. The Kitchen (1960), for example, is at once a literal representation of life behind the scenes in a restaurant and an allegory of the struggle, competition, and near-slavery of the social world. Wesker is best known for the trilogy of plays entitled Chicken Soup with Barley, Roots, and I'm Talking about Jerusalem (1959–60). These constitute an ambitious attempt to probe the symptoms of a sick society. Chicken Soup with Barley deals with Jewish society in the East End of London during the 1930s and 1940s; it shows the idealistic socialism, which was the main barricade against Sir Oswald Mosley's fascist movement, giving way to an easy, postwar conformity. Roots represents these same decadent values subsisting in a country community. In I'm Talking About Jerusalem, Wesker shows a young couple endeavoring to establish an ideal community in the country in the immediate postwar period of 1946. These plays are written in realistic prose with a poetic undercurrent. Though partly inspired by the disillusionment of his time, Wesker also exhibits a visionary quality and a desire for reform and renewal. In Chips with Everything (1962), apparently based upon Wesker's own period of national service in the Royal Air Force, the characters are shallow stereotypes, the officers tyrants and decadents, the men simple philistines or easily led slaves. In the 1960s a great deal of Wesker's energy went into forming and administering "Centre 42." This organization, named after a Trade Union Congress resolution supporting the arts, was intended to sponsor festivals and eventually to institute its own cultural program. Its cultural basis at the beginning rested solidly on Wesker's own plays, which took an unashamedly propagandist turn in Their Very Own and Golden City (1966). A late play is Denial (2000). Six Sundays in January has some Jewish interest. The title is that of the first story in the volume and was published in the Jewish Quarterly in 1958 and in Modern Jewish Stories in 1963. Wesker's writings have been translated into 17 languages. With harold pinter , he is probably the best-known contemporary Anglo-Jewish playwright. He has written an autobiography, As Much As I Dare (1994). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: G. Leeming and S. Trussler, The Plays of Arnold Wesker: An Assessment (1972). ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: R.W. Dornan, Arnold Wesker Revisited (1995); idem. (ed.), Arnold Wesker: A Casebook (1998); G. Leeming, Arnold WeskerThe Playwright (1982); R. Wilcher, Understanding Arnold Wesker (1991). (Philip D. Hobsbaum)

Encyclopedia Judaica. 1971.

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  • Wesker, Arnold — (b. 1932)    British writer. Wesker was born in London, left school early and worked at a variety of jobs. His plays include The Kitchen (1959), Chicken Soup with Barley (1959), I’m Talking About Jerusalem (1960), The Old Ones (1972), The Wedding …   Who’s Who in Jewish History after the period of the Old Testament

  • Wesker, Arnold — (b. 1932)    English playwright. He was born in London. He held various jobs, including kitchen porter and pastry cook, before becoming a full time writer. His plays include Chicken Soup and Barley, Roots, I m Talking about Jerusalem and Chips… …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • Wesker, Arnold — ► (n. 1932) Dramaturgo británico. Obras: La cocina (1961), Sopa de pollo con cebada (1958), Raíces (1959) y Hablo de Jerusalén (1960), entre otras …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Wesker — Wesker, Arnold …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Arnold Wesker — en el Festival Literario de Durham en 2008 Nacimiento 24 de mayo de 1932 …   Wikipedia Español

  • Arnold Wesker — (* 24. Mai 1932 in London) ist ein britischer Dramatiker. Arnold Wesker am 24. Oktober 2008 Wesker entstammt einer jüdischen Arbeiterfamilie. Bevor er seine schriftstellerische Tätigkeit begann, arbeitete er in den 1950er Jahren in… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Arnold Wesker — est un scénariste et acteur britannique né le 24 mai 1932 à Stepney (Royaume Uni). Sommaire 1 Biographie …   Wikipédia en Français

  • WESKER (A.) — WESKER ARNOLD (1932 ) Fils d’un petit tailleur juif de l’East End de Londres, Arnold Wesker devient homme de théâtre presque par hasard, après avoir vu, en 1956, la pièce d’Osborne, La Paix du dimanche (Look Back in Anger ). Un outil, une arme,… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Wesker — may refer to: *Albert Wesker, a character in Resident Evil video game *Arnold Wesker (born 1932), English playwright *Arnold Wesker, real name of the Ventriloquist (comics), a fictional Batman villain …   Wikipedia

  • Wesker — ist der Name folgender Personen: Arnold Wesker (* 1932), britischer Schriftsteller Hans Wesker (* 1950), deutscher Maler und Klangkünstler Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterscheidung mehrerer mit demselben Wort b …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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