Kitchen sink realism (or kitchen sink drama)

It is a sintagm coined to describe a British cultural movement which took place

in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre art novels !ilm and television
plays whose "heroes" usually could be described as angry young men# It was
prone to a social realism which o!ten depicted the domestic situations o!
working$class Britons living in rented accommodation and spending their o!!$
hours drinking in lousy pubs ready to e%plore social issues and political
controversies#
&hat is prado%ical about this movement is that it combines domestic dull li!e
with an intensity o! emotions attained only in the great 'reek tragedies# (he
characters may seem hysteric but their overreaction is motivated by colonialist
mentalities and smug sel!ish lives o! those who yielded to compromises#
(he !ilms plays and novels employing this style are set !re)uently in poorer
industrial areas in the *orth o! +ngland and use the rough$hewn speaking
accents and slang heard in those regions# (he !ilm It Always Rains on Sunday
(19,-) is a precursor o! the genre and the .ohn /sborne play Look Back in
Anger (1956) is thought o! as the !irst o! the idiom#
(he gritty love$triangle plot o! Look Back in Anger is centred on a cramped
one$room !lat in the +nglish 0idlands# (he conventions o! the genre have
continued into the 1000s !inding e%pression in such television shows as
Coronation Street and Eastenders#
In art 23itchen 4ink 4chool2 was a term used by critic 5avid 4ylvester to
describe painters who depicted in dark colours social realist$type scenes o!
domestic li!e#
History
(he cultural movement was rooted in the ideals o! social realism an artistic
movement e%pressed in the visual and other realist arts which depicts working
class activities# 0any artists who subscribed to social realism were painters with
socialist political views# &hile the movement has some commonalities with
4ocialist 6ealism the 2o!!icial art2 advocated by the governments o! the 4oviet
7nion and other +astern Bloc countries the two had several di!!erences#
7nlike 4ocialist realism social realism is not an o!!icial art produced by or
under the supervision o! the government# (he leading characters are o!ten "anti$
heroes" rather than part o! a class to be admired as in 4ocialist realism#
(ypically they are dissatis!ied with their lives and the world8rather than being
idealised workers who are part o! a 4ocialist utopia (supposedly) in the process
1
o! creation# 9s such social realism allows more space !or the sub:ectivity o! the
author to be displayed#
;artly social realism developed as a reaction against 6omanticism which
promoted lo!ty concepts such as the 2ine!!able2 beauty and truth o! art and
music and even turned them into spiritual ideals# 9s such social realism
!ocused on the 2ugly realities o! contemporary li!e and sympathi<ed with
working$class people particularly the poor#2 ('eorge 4hi)#
The origins of term
In the UK the term !kitchen sink! deri"ed from an e#$ressionist $ainting %y
&ohn Brat%y which contained an image of a kitchen sink# (he critic 5avid
4ylvester wrote an article in 195, about trends in recent +nglish art calling his
article 2(he 3itchen 4ink2 in re!erence to Bratby"s picture# 4ylvester argued that
there was a new interest among young painters in domestic scenes with stress
on the banality o! li!e#
Bratby painted several kitchen sub:ects o!ten turning practical utensils such as
sieves and spoons into semi$abstract shapes# =e also painted bathrooms and
made three paintings o! toilets# /ther artists associated with the 2kitchen sink2
style include 5errick 'reaves +dward 0iddleditch and .ack 4mith# (he term
was then applied to a then$emerging style o! drama which !avoured a more
realistic representation o! working class li!e# (he term was adopted in the 7nited
4tates to re!er to the live television dramas o! the 1950s by ;addy >haye!sky
and others# 9s >haye!sky put it this 2drama o! introspection2 e%plored 2the
marvelous world o! the ordinary#2
'()*s and '(+*s
Be!ore the 1950s the 7nited 3ingdom"s working class were o!ten depicted
stereotypically in ,oel Coward-s .rawing room comedies and British !ilms# It
was also seen as being in opposition to the "well$made play" the kind which
theatre critic 3enneth (ynan once denounced as being set in "?oamshire" o!
dramatists like (erence 6attigan# (he works o! the "kitchen sink" were created
with the intention o! changing all this# Their $olitical "iews were initially
la%eled as radical sometimes e"en anarchic/
.ohn /sborne"s play Look Back In Anger (1956) showed 9ngry @oung 0en not
totally dissimilar to the !ilm and theatre directors o! the movementA the hero is a
graduate but working in a manual occupation# It dealt with social alienation
the claustro$ho%ia and frustrations of a $ro"incial life on low incomes/
2
(he impact o! this work inspired 9rnold &esker and 4helagh 5elaney among
numerous others to write plays o! their own# (he +nglish 4tage >ompany at the
6oyal >ourt (heatre headed by 'eorge 5evine and (heatre &orkshop
organised by .oan ?ittlewood were particularly prominent in bringing these
plays to the public"s attention#
(his was all part o! the British *ew &ave8a transposition o! the concurrent
,ou"elle 0ague !ilm movement in Brance some o! whose works such as The
1** Blows o! 1959 also emphasi<ed the lives o! the urban proletariat# British
!ilmmakers such as (ony 6ichardson and ?indsay 9nderson channelled their
vitriolic anger into !ilm making# >on!rontational !ilms such as Saturday ,ight
and Sunday 2orning (1960) and A Taste of 3oney (1961) were noteworthy !ilms
in the genre#
?ater as many o! these writers and directors diversi!ied kitchen sink realism
was taken up by television# (he singe play was then a staple o! the medium and
Armchair Theatre (1956$6C) produced by the I(D contractor 9B> The
4ednesday 5lay (196,$-0) and 5lay for Today (19-0$C,) both BB> series
contained many works o! this kind# .eremy 4and!ord"s television play Cathy
Come 3ome (1966 directed by 3en ?oach !or The 4ednesday 5lay slot) !or
instance addressed the then$stigmati<ed issue o! homelessness#
The Kitchen Sink .rama6 5ers$ecti"es and Criticism
(hese types o! plays had several characteristics that distinguished them as a
break !rom the !orms o! theater be!ore them# (hey can be compared against
theatrical movements such as avantgarde theater or the theater o! the absurd
characteri<ed by the plays o! authors such as 4amuel Beckett#
;erhaps the !irst and most notable characteristic o! these 3itchen 4ink dramas
was the way in which they advanced a particular social message or ideology#
(his ideology was most o!ten le!tist# (he settings were almost always working
class# The $re"ious trend in 0ictorian theater had %een to de$ict the li"es of the
wealthy mem%ers of the ruling classes# (hese classes o! people were o!ten
conservative in their politics and their ideologies# (his was not the case !or
3itchen 4ink theatre# (he 3itchen 4ink drama sought instead to bring the real
lives and social ine)uality o! ordinary working class people to the stage# (he
lives o! these people were caught between struggles o! power industry politics
and social homogeni<ation#
9nother chie! characteristic o! the 3itchen 4ink drama was the way in which its
characters e%pressed their unvarnished emotion and dissatis!action with the
ruling class status )uo# (his can be seen clearly in the play considered to be the
standard bearer o! this 3itchen 4ink genreE .ohn /sborneFs Look Back in Anger#
3
In /sborneFs play &immy 5orter $lays the role of the Angry 7oung 2an/ 3e is
angry and dissatisfied at a world that offers him no social o$$ortunities and a
dearth of emotion/ 3e longs to li"e a 8real life/9 3e feels howe"er that the
tra$$ings of working class domesticity kee$ him from reaching this %etter
e#istence/ 3is anger and rage are thus channeled towards those around him/
/sborneFs play is a study in how this pent up !rustration and social anger can
wreak havoc on the ordinary lives o! the British people#
4ome critics have noted the irony in the term G3itchen 4ink drama#H (he
domestic world during this time was believed to be the domain o! the !eminine#
9lmost all o! the ma:or 3itchen 4ink works which take place in the mid$
twentieth century however are centered around a masculine point o! view#
(hese plays rarely !ocussed on the emotions and tribulations o! its women
characters# (he power dynamic between male and !emale o!ten assumed to be
masculine and is an une%amined critical component in many o! these plays#
&omen are o!ten assumed to serve the men o! their household and when
con!licts do arise it is o!ten the man who is portrayed as the su!!ering
protagonist# &omenFs su!!ering is always a result o! the su!!ering o! the male#
(hough 3itchen 4ink dramas gained notoriety in twentieth century British
culture !or their un!linching anger and criticism directed towards the social
political and economic establishment the plays were also signi!icant !or the
way they depicted the most intimate aspects o! domestic li!e# (his was in stark
contrast to popular classical or Dictorian dramas and comedies which largely
centered on the public lives o! socially established characters# Be!ore the
3itchen 4ink dramas commentators have noted that in the mid$twentieth
century British theater still produced plays as i! it were the nineteenth century#
The Kitchen Sink drama in contrast mo"ed the action and emotion of the
theater from de$ictions of the $u%lic s$ace of $eo$le:s li"es into the most
intimate of settings# The kitchen was considered to %e the realm of the domestic
of females and ser"ants and 0ictorian drama often e#cluded any mention of it/
3itchen 4ink dramas however turned this notion around and made the kitchen
the center o! !amilial and social li!e# In the case o! the ;ortersF attic apartment
the kitchen and living spaces were all one room on the stage# (he boundaries o!
intimate domestic li!e and public li!e were blurred and created a realism not seen
be!ore in British theater#
&hether social or domestic the 3itchen 4ink drama changed the tra:ectory o!
British theater# (hough many o! the authors considered to have written in this
genre such as /sborne 9rnold &esker 4helagh 5elaney and .ohn 9rden never
claimed the title o! 3itchen 4ink dramatist these authorsF plays contained
themes o! common li!e that deeply resonated with British culture o! the period#
4
(hese types o! plays signaled a resolute shi!t o! British theater into the 10th
century#
Look Back in Anger by .ohn /sborne
(he play begins in the attic !lat apartment o! .immy ;orter and 9lison ;orter#
(he setting is mid$1950"s small town +ngland# .immy and 9lison share their
apartment with >li!! ?ewis a young working class man who is best !riends with
.immy# >li!! and .immy both come !rom a working class background though
.immy has had more education than >li!!# (hey are in business together running
a sweet$stall# 9lison comes !rom a more prominent !amily and it is clear !rom
the beginning that .immy resents this !act#
(he !irst act opens on a 4unday in 9pril# .immy and >li!! are reading the
4unday papers while 9lison is ironing in a corner o! the room# .immy is a hot
tempered young man and he begins to try and provoke both >li!! and 9lison# =e
is antagonistic towards >li!!"s working class background and makes !un o! him
!or his low intelligence# >li!! is good natured and takes the antagonism# .immy
attempts to provoke his wi!e 9lison by making !un o! her !amily and her well$
heeled li!e be!ore she married him# .immy also seems to display nostalgia !or
+ngland"s power!ul past# =e notes that the world has entered a 2dreary2
9merican age a !act he begrudgingly accepts# 9lison tires o! .immy"s rants and
begs !or peace# (his makes .immy more !evered in his insults# >li!! attempts to
keep peace between the two and this leads to a play!ul scu!!le between the two#
(heir wrestling ends up running into 9lison causing her to !all down# .immy is
sorry !or the incident but 9lison makes him leave the room#
9!ter .immy leaves 9lison con!ides to >li!! that she is pregnant with .immy"s
child though she has not yet told .immy# >li!! advises her to tell him but when
>li!! goes out and .immy re$enters the room the two instead !all into an intimate
game# .immy impersonates a stu!!ed bear and 9lison impersonates a toy
s)uirrel# >li!! returns to tell 9lison that her old !riend =elena >harles has
called her on the phone# 9lison leaves to take the call and returns with the news
that =elena is coming to stay !or a visit# .immy does not like =elena and goes
into a rage in which he wishes that 9lison would su!!er in order to know what it
means to be a real person# =e curses her and wishes that she could have a child
only to watch it die#
(wo weeks later =elena has arrived and 9lison discusses her relationship with
.immy# 4he tells o! how they met and how in their younger days they used to
5
crash parties with their !riend =ugh (anner# .immy maintains his a!!ection !or
=ugh"s mother though his relationship with =ugh was strained when =ugh le!t
to travel the world and .immy stayed to be with 9lison# .immy seems to regret
that he could not leave but he is also angry at =ugh !or abandoning his mother#
=elena in)uires about 9lison"s a!!ectionate relationship with >li!! and 9lison
tells her that they are strictly !riends#
>li!! and .immy return to the !lat and =elena tells them that she and 9lison are
leaving !or church# .immy goes into an anti$religious rant and ends up insulting
9lison"s !amily once again# =elena becomes angry and .immy dares her to slap
him on the !ace warning her that he will slap her back# =e tells her o! how he
watched his !ather die as a young man# =is !ather had been in:ured !ighting in
the 4panish >ivil &ar and had returned to +ngland only to die shortly a!ter#
9lison and =elena begin to leave !or church and .immy !eels betrayed by his
wi!e#
9 phone call comes in !or .immy and he leaves the room# =elena tells 9lison
that she has called 9lison"s !ather to come get her and take her away !rom this
abusive home# 9lison relents and says that she will go when her !ather picks her
up the ne%t day# &hen .immy returns he tells 9lison that 0rs# (anner =ugh"s
mother has become sick and is going to die# .immy decides to visit her and he
demands that 9lison make a choice o! whether to go with =elena or with him#
9lison picks up her things and leaves !or church and .immy collapses on the
bed heartbroken by his wi!e"s decision#
(he ne%t evening 9lison is packing and talking with her !ather >olonel 6ed!ern#
(he >olonel is a so!t spoken man who reali<es that he does not )uite understand
the love that e%ists between .immy and 9lison# =e admits that the actions o! him
and his wi!e are partly to blame !or their split# (he >olonel was an o!!icer in the
British military and served in India and he is nostalgic !or his time there# =e
considers his service to be some o! the best years o! his li!e# 9lison observes that
her !ather is hurt because the present is not the past and that .immy is hurt
because he !eels the present is only the past# 9lison begins to pack her toy
s)uirrel but then she decides not to do so#
=elena and >li!! soon enter the scene# 9lison leaves a letter !or .immy
e%plaining why she has le!t and she gives it to >li!!# 9!ter 9lison leaves >li!!
becomes angry and gives the letter to =elena blaming her !or the situation#
.immy returns bewildered that he was almost hit by >olonel 6ed!ern"s car and
that >li!! pretended not to see him when he was walking by on the street# =e
reads 9lison"s letter and becomes very angry# =elena tells him that 9lison is
pregnant but .immy tells her that he does not care# =e insults =elena and she
slaps him then passionately kisses him#
6
4everal months pass and the third act opens with .immy and >li!! once again
reading the 4unday papers while =elena stands in the corner ironing# .immy and
>li!! still engage in their angry banter and =elena"s religious tendencies have
taken the brunt o! .immy"s punishment# .immy and >li!! per!orm scenes !rom
musicals and comedy shows but when =elena leaves >li!! notes that things do
not !eel the same with her here# >li!! then tells .immy that he wants to move out
o! the apartment# .immy takes the news calmly and tells him that he has been a
loyal !riend and is worth more than any woman# &hen =elena returns the three
plan to go out# 9lison suddenly enters#
9lison and =elena talk while .immy leaves the room# =e begins to loudly play
his trumpet# 9lison has lost her baby and looks sick# =elena tells 9lison that she
should be angry with her !or what she has done but 9lison is only grieved by
the loss o! her baby# =elena is driven to distraction by .immy"s trumpet playing
and demands that he come into the room# &hen he comes back in he laments
the !act that 9lison has lost the baby but shrugs it o!!# =elena then tells .immy
and 9lison that her sense o! morality $$ right and wrong $$ has not diminished
and that she knows she must leave# 9lison attempts to persuade her to stay
telling her that .immy will be alone i! she leaves#
&hen =elena leaves .immy attempts to once again become angry but 9lison
tells him that she has now gone through the emotional and physical su!!ering
that he has always wanted her to !eel# =e reali<es that she has su!!ered greatly
has become like him and becomes so!ter and tender towards her# (he play ends
with .immy and 9lison embracing once again playing their game o! bear and
s)uirrel#
Study questions:
1# &hat is the reason !or .immy ;orterFs angrinessI
1# 5well upon the colonial aspects o! the kitchen$sink drama#
J# ;oint out naturalistic elements in this type o! theatre#
7