PLAYS, BOOKS - WRITTEN, PUBLISHED
and PERFORMED; PRIZES.
 
   
  1990 - 1999
   
1990 Lady Othello and other plays. Volume 6 of collected plays published by Penguin Books. Include: Lady Othello, One More Ride on the Merry-Go Round, Caritas, When God Wanted a Son, Bluey.January.

Love Letters and other Stories. Reissued by Penguin Books. With addition of Said The Old Man to the Young Man. January.

The Kitchen and other plays. Volume 2 of collected plays. Re-issued with new version of The Four Seasons.

Chips With Everything and other plays. Volume 3 of collected plays. Re-issued with changes to The Friends, The Old Ones and Love Letters.

Three Women Talking (Working title). New play. 2nd typed draft completed 30 July.

Shylock and other plays. Volume 4 of collected plays. Re-issued with changes made to Shylock (new title), The Wedding Feast, and The Journalists. Pub. Oct.

The Kitchen - author directs and substantially revises play at University of Wisconsin, Madison. October.

Letter to a Daughter. New ‘One Woman’ play requiring songs to be specially composed, for a singer who is also an actress’. Written specially for Norwegian Jazz singer, Susanne Fuhr, loosely based on her biographical notes dictated to the author. First draft begun 4 August completed 6 August. Filmed Oct/Nov 1991, transmitted Norwegian TV Sept.1992.

 

 

1991 Barcelona. Re-write of film script for Hudson Films, based on novel ‘Homage to Catalonia’ by George Orwell. Never made.

Blood Libel. Commissioned to open new Norwich Playhouse in spring 1993. Play completed September 1991

The Mistress. Author directed world premiere of play. Opened at Festival of One Act Plays in Arezzo 18 November with actress Claretta Carotenuto. In Rome, Teatro Flaiano, opened November 23. Des. Hilary Baxter.

Caritas. Opera. Music Robert Saxton. Open Wakefield Opera House, produced by Opera North 21 November, director Patrick Mason. Role of Christine: Eirian Davies. Cond: Diego Masson. Des. Joe Vanek.

Understanding Arnold Wesker. An analysis of the plays, stories, lectures by Robert Wilcher, Senior Lecturer of English at University of Birmingham. Published by the University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, S. Carolina. 1991.

   
1992

Three Women Talking, premiered 15 January Northlight Theatre, Evanston, Chicago.

Roots, new production filmed and scheduled for autumn by BBC TV2, directed by Simon Curtis, with Jane Horrocks and Pam Ferris.

Letter to a Daughter, world stage premiere, Sanwoolim Theatre Company, Seoul, Korea, 20 March, 1992. Directed by Young-Woong Lim.

The Kitchen - musical. Author has written book. Music commissioned from Barrington Pheloung, lyrics from Nigel Forde. Projected for autumn 1996.

Wild Spring, play written specially for Brenda Bruce. Began writing 20 February, 2nd typed draft completed 18 May.

Lady Othello. Revised film script. Incorporated some of the changes into the play. Early May.

Voices On The Wind. Revised children’s play previously variously named FATLIPS and TAMAK – Island of Lethagy. Based on the book. 20/23 May. Entered for W.H.Smith’s Children’s Play Competition to be announced in December. Later: Won nothing!

Yardsale and Four Portraits (‘Meres – Portraits’) wins £10,000 prize at 7th Festival Georges Bressens at Sete, France. Actress, Josiane Stoleru.

Breakfast. Original TV play revised August. Never made.

Phoenix. Originally entitled ‘Whitsun’ adapted for TV from story The Visit. Revised October. Never made.

   
1993

The Confession. Five minute monologue commissioned via John Francis Lane for Colpo di Scena Company of Mola di Bari. Written January 1993. Never performed.

Shylock. Educational edition to be printed in paperback in English. Licensed to Societa Editrice Internazionale in Italy.

As Much as I Dare. An autobiography. Begun 21 February 1993, final draft 12 July 1994. Commissioned and published by Century. 27 October 1994.

The Wesker Trilogy. Mounted as co-production between eighteen theatres in France.

   
1994

The Kitchen. Spectacular (if blurred) revival by Stephen Daldry at The Royal Court Theatre, February.

Wild Spring. World Premiere, Bungaku-za Theatre Company, Tokyo, 14 October.

As Much As I Dare. Autobiography publish by Century, Random House.

Wild Spring and other plays. Volume 7 published by Penguin Books. 27 October 1994. Volume includes:
Badenheim 1939
Beorhtel’s Hill
Three Women Talking
Letter to a Daughter
Blood Libel
Wild Spring.

Arnold Wesker Revisited. A study of the plays and stories by Reade Dornan (Lecturer in English, University of Michigan - Flint). Published by Twayne (MacMillian) 1995.

Happy Coward: ten minute sketch for French TV requested by Michel Ribes, to be (possibly) used in a series in celebration of ‘The Coward’. Written 21st December 1994. (Revised 2001, for no reason.) Tape exists of early version read by author and Jan Morris.

   
1995

The Wedding Feast. Directed by author at the University of Denison, Ohio, in November. During rehearsal further changes were.

Maudie. Film script based on TV adaptation of Doris Lessing’s novel ‘The Diary of Jane Somers.’ Requested by producer but never made.

As Much as I Dare: Paperback published by Arrow Books 7 September.

Mini-season of readings at Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court:
When God Wanted a Son November 25
Three Women Talking December 2
Wild Spring December 9

The Trilogy: France. Directed by Jean Pierre-Loriol. Tour, and Paris opening at the T.E.P the following year.

   
1996

Blood Libel. Rehersals began 2nd January, opened 1st February at the new Norwich Playhouse, directed by Irina Brown, designed by Paul Andrews, music by Derek Barnes.

The Journalists. Questors Theatre, London. First London (amateur) production. Directed by Spencer Butler.

   
1997 When God Wanted a Son. Rehearsals began 6th January. First preview
4th February, opened 6th February till 9th March at The New End Theatre, Hampstead, London, directed by Spencer Butler, designed by Andy Wilson, with Julie Clare, Jacqueline Pearce, Lawrence Weber.

The Confession. Five minute monologue commissioned via John Francis Lane for Colpo di Scena Company of Mola di Bari. Written January 1993. Never performed. Slightly extended for a play reading as part of The London ‘New Play Festival’ dir. Katie Valentine, performed by Victoria Davar at The Lyric Hammersmith Studio 12 April.

Break, My Heart. 30 minute play commissioned by Sherman Theatre Cardiff and Penderyn Films for season of lunch-time plays to be performed 4 to 6th June at lunch times and 6 p.m. Directed by Michael Bogdanov who also directed TV version for HTV.

Chips With Everything. Revival, The Lyttleton Theatre, opened September 4, directed by Howard Davies.

Denial. First airing. Read at Hay Festival of Literature 29 May 1997 selected scenes for 45 minutes assisted by playwright/actress (from Hay Festival Masterclass), Tracy Spoteswood.

The BIRTH of Shylock and the DEATH of Zero Mostel. Journal of the writing, marketing, rehearsals and Broadway opening of ‘Shylock’ (The Merchant) in 1977. Pub. Quartet Books. (US edition published May 1999)

   
1998 Roots. UK tour of co-production between Watford Palace Theatre and The Oxford Stage Company. March/June 1998.

Arnold Wesker: A Casebook edited by Reade W Dornan, published by Garland Publishing. Eighteen essays on various aspects of Wesker’s plays by lecturers from different countries.

The King’s Daughters. A collection of erotic stories about twelve princesses inspired by the fairy tale of the brothers Grimm. Begun May 1979, completed seven years later in June 1987. Rewritten over the years till published by Quartet Books. October 1998. (One of them, Dionis, published in The Erotic Review Nov-Dec 1998)

   
1999 Texas University at Austin purchase archives – 90 boxes. Bulk despatched from Welsh home on 9 December.

The BIRTH of Shylock and the DEATH of Zero Mostel: film option purchased by BBC for a film to be scripted by Martin Sherman and directed by Simon Curtis.

   
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