Wesker Plays: 1: The Wesker Trilogy: Chicken Soup with Barley; Roots; I'm Talking About Jerusalem

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This first volume of Wesker's Collected Plays contains the Wesker Trilogy - 'A trilogy which will act as a monument to its era' Daily Mail

This trilogy of plays was premired at the Royal Court Theatre in the 60s and concern Wesker's own background, growing up in a Jewish family in the 30s in the East End of London. 'The action of the trilogy takes place between the middle thirties and the late fifties and has as its background three wars - the Spanish Civil, the Second World, and the Cold. Its purpose is to show the ways in which these huge disturbances impinge on a Jewish working-class household, altering their habits of work and thought, and thus determining the course of their lives. The theme is a vast one and Mr Wesker is splendidly equipped to handle it. Like many Jewish writers, he thinks internationally, yet feels domestically; and it is this combination of attributes that enables him to bring gigantic events and ordinary people into the same sharp focus' (Kenneth Tynan, Observer)

'A trilogy which will act as a monument to its era' (Daily Mail)

"The passion of Mr Wesker's theme is matched by the living fire in his writing ... its quality is undiminished by the passing years" Bernard Levin

"The theme is a vast one and Mr Wesker is splendidly equipped to handle it. Like many Jewish writers, he thinks internationally, yet feels domestically; and it is this combination of attributes that enables him to bring gigantic events and ordinary people into the same sharp focus" Kenneth Tynan, Observer

Author Bio

Arnold Wesker F.R.S.L was knighted in 2006 for services to drama. He has written over forty-three plays, two opera libretti, various mechanical adaptations; four volumes of short stories, a childrens book, and a novel; two volumes of essays, an autobiography, a diary,and a book on journalism; and recently his first volume of poetry. His plays have been produced in cities from Rio de Janeiro to Tokyo, from Paris to Moscow, from Montreal to Zurich, and The Kitchen his most performed play has been performed yearly somewhere or other around the world for the last fifty years, and recently was revived by The National Theatre in 2011. Arnold Wesker was the recently featured in the Guardian ahead of revivals of his plays Chicken Soup With Barley (The Royal Court) and The Kitchen (The National Theatre): Guardian interview | Arnold Wesker