Editing Look Back in Anger (section)

{{short description|1956 play by John Osborne}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox play
| name       = Look Back in Anger
| image      =Look Back in Anger programme (1957).jpg
| caption    = Poster for 1957 production <ref>[[Victoria and Albert Museum|V&A]] archive collection.[http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O158268/look-back-in-anger-poster/]</ref>
| writer     = [[John Osborne]]
| genre      =  [[Realism (theatre)|realism]]
| setting    = A single-room flat, [[English Midlands]], 1950s
| subject    = [[Social class in the United Kingdom|British class system]], marriage, misogyny
| premiere   = 8 May 1956
| place      = [[Royal Court Theatre]], London
| orig_lang  = English
| characters = Jimmy Porter<br/>Alison Porter<br/> Cliff Lewis<br/>Helena Charles<br/>Colonel Redfern<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gradesaver.com/look-back-in-anger/study-guide/character-list|title=Look Back in Anger Characters|last=GradeSaver|website=www.gradesaver.com}}</ref>
| web        =
}}
'''''Look Back in Anger''''' (1956) is a [[Realism (theatre)|realist play]] written by [[John Osborne]]. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of [[working class|working-class]] origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet impassive [[upper-middle-class]] wife Alison. The supporting characters include Cliff Lewis, an amiable Welsh lodger who attempts to keep the peace; and Helena Charles, Alison's snobbish friend.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/an-introduction-to-look-back-in-anger|title=An introduction to Look Back in Anger|website=The British Library}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.enotes.com/topics/look-back-anger|title=Look Back in Anger Summary - eNotes.com|website=eNotes}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/mar/30/how-look-back-in-anger-john-osborne|title=Look Back in Anger: how John Osborne liberated theatrical language|first=Michael|last=Billington|date=30 March 2015|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref>

Osborne drew inspiration from his personal life and failing marriage with Pamela Lane while writing ''Look Back in Anger'', which was his first successful outing as a playwright. The play spawned the term "[[angry young men]]" to describe Osborne and those of his generation who employed the harshness of [[Realism (arts)|realism]] in the theatre in contrast to the more [[escapism|escapist]] theatre that characterised the previous generation.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_s7MwRjbySQC&q=%22Look+Back+in+Anger%22|title=The Lost Temper: Critical Essays on Look Back in Anger|first=G. J. V.|last=Prasad|date=30 November 2017|publisher=Macmillan India Limited|isbn=9781403909466|via=Google Books}}</ref> This harsh realism has led to ''Look Back in Anger'' being considered one of the first examples of [[Kitchen sink realism|kitchen sink drama]] in theatre.

The play was received favourably in the theatre community, becoming an enormous commercial success, transferring to the [[West End theatre|West End]] and [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]], and even touring to Moscow. It is credited with turning Osborne from a struggling playwright into a wealthy and famous personality, and also won him the [[Evening Standard Awards|Evening Standard Drama Award]] as the most promising playwright of 1956. The play was adapted into a [[Look Back in Anger (1959 film)|motion picture of the same name]] by [[Tony Richardson]], starring [[Richard Burton]] and [[Mary Ure]], which was released in 1959. Film production credited circa 1958.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAcMxtNQRm4C&q=%22Look+Back+in+Anger%22|title=The Tragedy of Jimmy Porter: Overview of the critical opinions about "Look Back in Anger" and development of a thesis|first=Lydia|last=Prexl|date=17 June 2009|publisher=GRIN Verlag|isbn=9783640349319|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V_jGO1YCwpoC&q=%22Look+Back+in+Anger%22&pg=PA71|title=John Osborne: A Casebook|first=Patricia D.|last=Denison|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136546679|via=Google Books}}</ref>