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John Osborne denies that Look Back in Anger is at least in part autobiographical. Read by Simon Shepherd and Amanda Root.

John Osborne denies that Look Back in Anger is at least in part autobiographical, despite significant resemblances to his early relationship with Pamela Lane.

Peter Whitebrook's completely fresh insight into the mind of one of the UK's greatest playwrights.

The letters between John Osborne and his first wife, actress Pamela Lane, are also a love letter to a now defunct system of repertory theatre and life in post-war Britain.

As these letters reveal, soon after their divorce, Osborne and Lane began a mutually supportive, loyal, frequently stormy and sometimes sexually intimate alliance lasting 30 years until Osborne's death. By the mid-1980s, they had become closer and more trusting than they had been since their earliest years together.

Acerbic, witty, candid and heartbreaking, the letters reveal a unique relationship - troubled, tender and enduring.

Read by Simon Shepherd and Amanda Root.

Abridged by Polly Coles.

Producer: Clive Brill

A Brill production for 大象传媒 Radio 4, first broadcast in April 2018.

15 minutes

Last on

Wed 7 Dec 2022 02:00

Credits

Role Contributor
Reader Simon Shepherd
Reader Amanda Root
Author Peter Whitebrook
Abridger Polly Coles
Producer Clive Brill

Broadcasts

  • Tue 17 Apr 2018 09:45
  • Wed 18 Apr 2018 00:30
  • Tue 6 Dec 2022 07:00
  • Tue 6 Dec 2022 12:00
  • Tue 6 Dec 2022 17:00
  • Wed 7 Dec 2022 02:00