Transcript KITCHEN SINK DRAMA - Nawroz University

KITCHEN SINK DRAMA
Asst. Lecturer Rayan tatarkhan
Nawroz University
Kitchen sink realism
• Kitchen sink realism (or kitchen sink drama) is a term
coined to describe a British cultural movement which
developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in
Theatre ,Art, Novels, Film and Television , whose
'heroes' usually could be described as ‘Angry young
men’. It used a style of Social realism which often
depicted the domestic situations of Working
class Britons living in rented accommodation and
spending their off-hours in grimy pubs to explore
social issues and political controversies.
Origins of Kitchen sink realism
• In the UK, the term "kitchen sink" derived
from an expressionist painting by John
Bratby, which contained an image of a
kitchen sink.
• The critic David Sylvester wrote an article in
1954 about trends in recent English art,
calling his article "The Kitchen Sink" in
reference to Bratby's picture.
• Sylvester argued that there was a new
interest among young painters in domestic
scenes, with stress on the banality of life.
John Bratby
British Social Realism
Social realism in films is
representative of real life, with all its
difficulties. The stories and people
portrayed are everyday characters,
usually from working class
backgrounds. Typically, films within
the social realist canon are gritty,
urban dramas about the struggle to
survive the daily grind.
Kitchen sink realism
• The films, plays and novels using this style are often
set in poorer industrial areas in the North of England,
and use the rough-hewn speaking accents and slang
heard in those regions.
• John Osborne’s play, ‘Look back in Anger’(1956) is
thought of as the first of the idiom.
The conventions of the genre have continued into the
2000s, with TV shows such as Eastenders and
Shameless.
JOHN OSBORNE
The man who turned anger into art
JOHN OSBORNE
• He is the Oscar-winning screenwriter, British
playwright and film producer whose Look Back
in Anger (performed 1956) ushered in a new
movement in British drama and made him
known as the first of the “Angry Young Men”.
Look Back in Anger
• The first performance of John Osborne’s
famous play Look Back in Anger at the Royal
Court Theatre on 8 May 1956 is commonly
regarded as the beginning of a new era in the
British Drama.
• One of the famous critics of its time, John
Russell Taylor, calls the play “the beginning of
a revolution in the British theatre”
• Look Back in Anger can be considered as a
moment of change and also a reaction.
• Because, since the end of World War II British
theatre was believed to have been in rapid
decline.
• Audiences were falling off and theatres were
closing all over the country.
• Some of the theatre companies were
restaging Chekhov, Ibsen, Shaw plays and
Restoration comedies.
• Most of the companies were trying to restore
Elizabethan theatre by restaging
Shakespeare’s plays over and over.
• According to Raymond Williams Look Back in
Anger is “the beginning of a revolt against
orthodox middle-class drama”
• because he believes that “what passes for
realistic drama is in fact telling lies; it is not
about real people in real situations, but about
conventional characters (superficial and
flattering) in conventional situations
(theatrical and unreal)”
• For the great number of the critics Jimmy
Porter is regarded as the first non-middle
class, provincial, antiestablishment anti-hero
in modern British drama.
• Jimmy Porter is a British man of working-class
background with a university degree and
working at a candy stall despite his graduate
degree.
• The setting is “a one-room flat in a large
Midland Town... a fairly large attic room...
most of the furniture is simple, and rather
old”.
• As for the language of the play it might be said
that it is realistic. Jimmy shouts and swears
most of the time he opens his mouth to talk.
• After the success of the play, theatre
companies began to provide platforms for a
succession of new playwrights such as Shelagh
Delaney, John Arden, Arnold Wesker, Harold
Pinter, and John Mortimer.
• Like Osborne these new and young
playwrights were mostly of working class
background.
• Most importantly these new dramatists were
mostly involved in the theatre.
• For instance, both John Osborne and Harold
Pinter were actors before they turned to
playwriting.
• When Look Back in Anger first appeared, most
of the critics of the time regarded the play
primarily as a play of political and social
rebellion and labeled the movement, as ‘angry
young men.’
• Jimmy Porter was considered as the
mouthpiece for an angry man’s disillusion
about the society he lived in.
• Therefore, John Osborne was reckoned the
first of the ‘angry young men.’
• Kitchen sink realism gave birth to social
realism, in which real life was presented to the
audience. This genre of film showed real life
situations and realistic characters.
Major Themes
• The Angry Young Man, The Kitchen Sink
Drama, Loss of Childhood, Real Life, Sloth in
British Culture, The Rise and Fall of the British
Empire.
Abdul- played by Vivek
• Abdul is a young confident
Muslim. His parents are
trying to find a young woman
for him to have an arranged
marriage. The story will
portray his struggle of being
a homosexual which do not
coincide with his religion. In
fact it is a sin.
Maya- played by Bianca
• Maya is a 16 year old girl, who is
being brought up on a council
estate by her single mum. Maya
became pregnant four months
ago by her ex boyfriend. The
story will show her struggle
through teenage pregnancy.
Dudley- played by Daniel
• Dudley, played by Daniel is facing
terrible family problems. His father
is an alcoholic who, when drunk,
takes his angry feelings out on
Dudley’s mother. During the film,
Dudley is struggling to cope with
school and family life, having to
pretend that every thing is ok,
when secretly knowing that all is
not ok behind the closed doors of
his home.