Overview
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 premiered 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).