John Osborne: "Look Back in Anger": A Casebook ed. by John Russell Taylor, and: Contemporary Theatre: A Selection of Reviews 1966-67 ed. by Geoffrey Morgan (review)

214 lVIoDERN DRAMA September things, a unity which unfriendly critics have somewhat disparagingly called "sameness ." Following his examination of Fry's central themes and patterns, Mr. Roy makes an in-depth examinalion of Fry's canon, with a chapter devoted to each play, from the early The Boy with a Cart through Curtmantle~ Fry's reading of the Becket story. Roy studies each playas an individual accomplishment, examining among other concerns, the language of Fry's dramatic verse-an examination which is especially valuable because it is consistent and extensive, and dramatic in orientation. Taking his cue from the ever-present and strong role of society in Fry's plays, Roy groups the plays as they fit into the spectrum of Fry's idea of a "redeemed society," thereby giving an additional unity to Fry's somewhat queslionable variety. These approaches, individual and collective, yield a particularly fruitful reading of The Lady's Not for Burning and lead to a concluding "Overview" of Fry's canon, in which a perspective is given to the student of modern drama which will make it easier and more meaningful to deal with Fry in the fmure. The results of Emil Roy's treatment will make it hard for critics to dismiss Fry as an antic disposition or a mere purveyor of hyPerbole in a mute world. Emil Roy has taken Christopher Fry seriously and, better yet, convinces his reader that he has not found Fry wanting. DONNA GERSTENBERGER University of Washington JOHN OSBORNE: "LOOK BACK IN ANGER": A CASEBOOK, ed. John Russell Taylor. Macmillan, London, 1968, 206 pp. 30s. (Paperback 128 6d.) CONTEMPORARY THEATRE: A SELECTION OF REVIEWS 1966-67, ed. Geoffrey Morgan. London Magazine Edition, London, 1968, 202 pp. 128. 6d. Is Look Back In Anger a narrowly topical piece referring to a complacent Tory England of the mid-fifties? Is it only a landmark to be noted in literary histories, now superseded by better plays by Osborne himself and others? Or is it, as the advertisements for the revival at the Royal Court in Fall 1968 claim, "enduring and beautiful" (Daily Mail) and "an undeniable masterpiece" (Financial Times)? Taylor's collection-part of the very first "Casebook" series to appear in Britain -gives materials from which to work out answers to these questions. He reprints numerous first-night comments, which are exceedingly repetitive but enable one to check the myth thal the play was unanimously detested until Kenneth Tynan lauded it the following Sunday (Taylor points out that the later screening of an excerpt on television contributed more to 'the play's reputation). Two reviews of the Broadway production and one of the Paris version (re-titled La Paix du Dimanchel) are added. Five short articles by Osborne follow, among them the notorious "Damn you, England!" letter and pieces buried in Tribune and the Sunday Telegraph, all revealing of Osborne's offstage prose style and opinions. There are also ten fairly substantial studies, among them the essays of Charles Marowitz, Mary McCarthy and Taylor's own Osborne section from Anger and After, together with a number of very brief comments. Nearly all ignore the book's title and discuss several of Osborne's plays. Two essays are new, by A. E. Dyson and by Taylor himself. Dyson analyzes '[he character of Jimmy Porter ("he has not acquired the norml techniques for accepting suffering") and ends enthusiastically admiring the way Osborne poses the problem: "Is failure to be at 1969 HOOK REVIEWS ~15 home in our present society merely adolescent maladjustment, or might it not be at least the beginning of grace?" Taylor briefly surveys British society in 1956 to help to explain the initial impact, and concludes with a guarded judgment: much is "positively sentimental" and the opposition to Jimmy is feeble. It is unfortunate that the book has no photographs, and even more unfortunate that there is no discussion of the movie version, since this is the form in which most readers are likely to meet the play. Osborne's A Bond Honoured features in Contemporary Theatre among the reviews of forty plays staged in London in 1966 and 1967, selected by Geoffrey Morgan . All the plays are new, 27...