Derby Theatre and Octagon Theatre Bolton are to celebrate the 60th anniversary of John Osborne’s seminal play, the ground-breaking classic Look Back in Anger with a new revival directed by Derby Theatre’s artistic director, Sarah Brigham.
The production will run at Derby March 4-26, and then transfer to the Octagon from April 7-30.
Look Back in Anger changed the face of British theatre in the mid-1950s, by placing on stage the voice of the Angry Young Man. The play has a huge local resonance in Derby, as it is a strongly autobiographical piece which suggests it is based on Osborne's unhappy marriage to actress Pamela Lane and their life living in a cramped flat in Derby during the '50s.
Osborne worked as as an actor and stage manager at Derby Playhouse. He pitched the play to the Playhouse before he offered it to the Royal Court, but the Theatre’s board turned it down as they thought it may not show his ex-wife (Pamela Lane), who was a leading actress in the rep company at that time, in a good light.
It’s 1956 and, in a cramped flat in Derby, Jimmy Porter is angry. His upper-class wife Alison is the perfect target for his anger whilst his flatmate Cliff is the perfect sounding board. An unwanted pregnancy and the arrival of a glamorous actress take the couple into a love triangle which questions how they live.
As companion piece to Look Back in Anger, Derby Theatre will also present a new play, Jinny written by Jane Wainwright, who hails from Derbyshire. Jinny will look at the play afresh and offer a contemporary response built on research and development with women living in Derby in 2015/16.