Joy and Tyranny

(Paperback)

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My preoccupation, says Arnold Wesker in his interview/portrait Ambivalences (published by Oberon Books) with-violence-stemming from-perceived-intimidation-by-the-bright-ones who dare to be cleve ror simply different, began with an incident at school. While queuing for a school meal, one of the other boys wanted me to try his liquorice stick .I didnt want to. This other pupil insisted. I continued to decline. I didntlike liquorice! That I didnt want to share what he liked, what he thought was good, enraged the other boy who couldnt bear my indifference to his taste, and he hit me. Ive never lost this image of violence induced by the outsider, the one who dissents, the one who doesnt share in what others like or believe. One day, Wesker vowed, I may write a play beginning with that image of the boy who wants another boy to share his taste in liquorice and hits him because he doesnt. Itll be an exploration of the nature of violence. In late 2010 he wrote just such a play, Joy and Tyranny, but the playwright doesnt describe it as a play, rather as: Arias and variations on the theme of violence. In fact it is a patchwork quilt knitting together many extracts from other of his works, as though throughout his career he was infusing those works, ghost-like, with a hidden play waiting the right time to emerge.

Author Bio

SIR ARNOLD WESKER is one of Britains most prolific and well-known playwrights. Knighted in 2006 for services to drama, he is the author of 42 plays and volumes of short stories, essays, poetry and journalism. His work has been translated into 18 languages, and his played are performed worldwide.