ABSTRACT
In a competition for playwrights sponsored by the London Observer in 1956, Arnold Wesker submitted a manuscript of The Kitchen, his first written work for the theater, which was subsequently rejected by the judges, mostly directors and managers, who read it. Therefore, the former restaurant worker's first work to be staged was Chicken Soup with Barley, the initial play in his famous Trilogy, which also includes Roots and I'm Talking About Jerusalem. The Kitchen was introduced as a one-act play at the Royal Court's small, experimental stage, Theatre Upstairs, in a Sunday afternoon performance in 1959. Two years later, the Royal Court staged a two-act version of The Kitchen for a six weeks run. In its blend of socialism and humanism The Kitchen is thematically related to the Wesker Trilogy. Contrasting Wesker to two American playwrights whose careers made a significant impact on the theatre of the 1930's, Lillian Hellman and Clifford Odets, reveals the modernity of Wesker's dramaturgy.
