Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

How is Arnold Wesker’s Roots, which resembles an Archers episode, considered a classic?

Plus: why has the National Theatre hired an EastEnders writer to create their latest drama A Tupperware of Ashes?

Morfydd Clark as Beatie in Arnold Wesker’s Roots at the Almeida Theatre [Marc Brenner] 
issue 12 October 2024

The Almeida wants to examine the ‘Angry Young Man’ phenomenon of the 1950s but the term ‘man’ seems to create difficulties so the phrase ‘Angry and Young’ is being used instead. It’s strange to encounter a theatre that’s scared of words.

The opening play, Roots, by Arnold Wesker, looks at the conflict between town and country in 1950s Norfolk.

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